So, how are we doing without Paul? Eh. OK. There has been one small disaster after another, but I'm keeping my cool so far...

Last night I was too lazy to make a good, healthy dinner, so I made one from the freezer -- it wasn't very good. The kids didn't care for it, and neither did I. None of us ate much. But, I still let them have dessert (I normally would not), and I even offered a bowl of cereal before bed as an extra-special treat! My mom tells me I used to have cereal before bed quite often.

Today, Alyssa was a crab. She did not want to go to the gym with me -- but I didn't give her a choice. Today was one of the only days I might make it there due to my schedule with my clients, Tyler's school and Paul's absence.

Then, she didn't sleep during nap time, which made dinner a real bear for the rest of the day. I tried putting on some fun music to lighten her mood and get her to eat -- no luck. I took a "mommy time out" in my bedroom for 3 minutes -- no luck, still crying. Then, I put her in her bed for a 3 minute time out -- you guessed it, still crying.

I sent Tyler in to try and calm her down. I think it helped a little. She then ate three more bites of her dinner and had some pudding for dessert. Whatever.

Her next demand was to take a shower instead of a bath. At first I said, "no," but then decided to take one with her since I hadn't had time to take one myself yet. It worked out just fine and helped her mood quite a bit.

I read a blog posting from MOPS today about taking mothering too seriously. I am so guilty. I tried to keep that in mind as I went about the bewitching hour tonight. It helped keep my spirits up!

It's only 7:13 and both kids are in bed! Time for me to journal, read and work a little. How can I complain about that? Hopefully the kids can't complain either.