Grumpy Evenings

One thing that I notice about myself is that towards the end of the night, I have less and less patience with my kids. It’s usually because after a long day, I need the last bits of the night to go well so I can get them to bed (and start my longer break in the evenings). My kids go to sleep pretty late compared to other kids, so even my evenings do not consist of a lot of free time unless I choose to stay up late (sometimes I do!).

One evening, I was getting particularly grumpy with the kids because they were not listening to me when it was time to do their bed time routine. Ever since I came back after some time away, they seem to be going haywire some evenings. Lucky for me, this was one of the evenings.

My wife ended up taking charge of the bedtime routine and I took a break. We ended up talking about what happened and I told her that when I get in a mood (and when the kids are in a mood as well), it’s best that I get some help before I make the situation worse. I don’t want to be overly grumpy with my kids and they also are just being kids. It’s hard at times to recognize that by stepping away and looking at these moments objectively.

I’m glad that I did get help that night from my wife and I also let her know that I’ll proactively ask for help when needed. I love that both of us try to help each other instead of dividing tasks equally. When we are committed to doing what is best for the family, it helps provide some stability in a whirlwind of chaos that is my household!