Super Mommy Has Left the Building.

*Blogger, why do you hate me so?!? It's still deleting all paragraph breaks and I can't make it stop. I apologize, once again, for the giant paragraph.* My husband has called me SuperMom three times in the past three days. *I know, "awwwww", right?* There's been little sleep, many middle-of-the-night wake-ups, way too much puke, three days of the little one out of school - two of which I was working full-time while watching her, a coffee pot malfunction, and a few crafts thrown in for T and a friend. Needless to say, I'm a bit frazzled and running on adrenaline at this point. But I've been holding it together - getting stuff done, keeping her as happy as a 3 year old with a high fever and strep throat can be, and helping him out here and there. But at the end of day three, after working a full day at work while keeping a whiney toddler safe and pacified, when I was rushing to get myself showered and both of us dressed for church (I assure you, she'd been on antibiotics for more than 24 hours before I took her to church, which is when the doctor said she was safe), and I got the 400th "evil smirk" before she did the opposite of what I was asking her, SUPERMOMMY LEFT THE BUILDING!!!!! Gone was the Mommy who rarely yells, and instead gets on her child's level and secures her child's attention before presenting her with acceptable options, thus gaining the desired behaviors/actions without a battle of wills. Gone was the Mommy who patiently lets her child do it herself, thus developing both her independence and intelligence. Gone was the Mommy who laughs at all the silliness that, even though entirely precious, usually doubles getting ready time. Do you want to know who showed up in her place? The Mommy who yells, "If you don't stop that RIGHT NOW!!!!" 10 times in 30 minutes; the Mommy who counts to three adding sidebars such as, "If I get to three and you don't have your shoes on..."; the Mommy who yells middle names. I went from SuperMommy to SuperLOUDMommy!!! *sigh* I'm quite ashamed of my alter-ego. I really work hard at keeping her hidden deep within. She's WAY less effective at getting things done. And she makes my head hurt (and usually my knees, shoulders, and elbows as well, since when she's around, I'm in a huff and tend to bump into things more frequently). She is NOT my favorite person. Who knew the super hero and her nemesis could reside in the same body?!? Hopefully today, when I get to do my two full-time jobs consecutively, rather than concurrently, SuperLOUDMommy will go back to her cave. Love & Shipoopies, Leslie