Still Talking about Remodeling

To set the scene:  We are doing a bit of remodeling in the kitchen.  Orion pulled out the pantry and is putting in cupboards.  Before he can put in the cupboards, though, the wall he ripped out needed mudded and resurfaced.  He had another guy come over to do this.  He applied one thick coat and cautioned me to keep the kids away from it (a wall right in the middle of our living area).  Cue sarcastic laugh and crazy mom screeching, "Don't go near the wall!!!"  Eventually the mud dried with only a few kid fingerprints.  A couple days later the second coat went on.  This is the smooth coat.  This must be left alone but the kids knew the crazy screeching woman drill and respected the space, plus we were gone for a couple hours while it set.  Life is okey-dokey.

When we got home Libby wanted to make brownies "all by herself."  Ethan decided to be a booger and kept interfering with her.  He was grabbing the cook book and demanding his turn to crack eggs.  He ended up in time out.  He was not happy.  There was screaming and banging of cupboards.  I was irritated but life was manageable.  Then I checked on Libby.  She had dumped the frozen butter and cut-up unsweetened chocolate into the bowl with the flour, sugar, and eggs.  She got very upset when I told her it wasn't going to work and she may have ruined the whole batch.  I fished the butter out and stuck it in the microwave to melt, hoping we could save her brownies.  Remember that Ethan is still yelling and carrying on so stress levels are high.  And then I hear Libby screaming, "No, Sam, NO, NO, NO!!!"  I turn and look.  While I was helping Libby, Sam was not three feet from me and he had found the pie server.  He used said pie server to gouge chunks from my newly mudded wall.  By the time I noticed him he had taken out over a dozen huge chunks of my brand new wall.

My stellar parenting method shone through as I swore, yelled "Sam! No!", then stomped outside to swear some more.  After a couple of moments I came in to find crying, subdued, apologetic children.  I was still mad, so I called Michael at work to yell some more.  He let me vent and by the time I was done I was a little calmer.  I realized Sam had the decency to destroy the wall behind where the new cabinet would sit.  About this time Ethan's timer went off and he crept into the kitchen, apologized and crept back out. The butter finished melting and I stirred it into Libby's concoction and put it in the oven.  Ethan calmed down, the drywall guy didn't need to come back, and Libby got to make another batch of brownies (although the first batch ended up pretty good).  The day was saved, even if I spent the rest of the evening in a very stressed and snappish state.

How can I love four little people that are going to be the death of me so very much?

P.S. I do have to wonder what people will make of the gouges in the wall behind the kitchen counter if it's ever remodeled again.

P.P.S. I figure I will get the whole calm, zen, perfect non-cursing mom thing down about the time Sam moves out.  Then I will tell my kids all the things they are doing wrong with my precious grand-babies.  I'm looking forward to it.

Sam decided to meditate on my new cupboards (real counter coming soonish).  Nope, can't stay mad at him.  Maybe zen will come sooner for me with a Master living in my house. "Om..."