At the end of a long day...

It was the roughest of afternoons, complete with tantrums, screaming, and tears from all of us. The kind of afternoon that leaves you questioning every parenting decision and doubting the impact of every word that passes your lips. The kind of afternoon where your almost 2 year-old pushes back in his chair at dinner despite your repeated warnings and flings himself backwards onto the ground and all you can think is oh my gosh, I am going to lose my freaking mind if I don't get just 30 seconds of peace in this house.

But now the boys are in bed and at least one of them is asleep and I am taking a moment to just breathe. Seems when you have a late afternoon meltdown because you are so tired and subsequently fall asleep while tantruming in your beanbag it takes a bit longer to fall asleep. I am flipping the monitor back and forth between their rooms and just letting my heart swell a little as I watch Beck sleep soundly and, although not even close to falling asleep, Anderson happily play with his dinosaurs and babble to himslef in his bed (last I checked he was counting to thirty?).

It's funny how these days always end the same, with me sitting and watching them, glued to the monitor with the happiest of hearts. It's almost as if these terrible, nearly unbearable hours moments are thrown in the mix for that very reason. Tomorrow is a new day and will, undoubtedly, bring a few challenges of its own but at least I know at the end of every not-so-hot day there is peace. Even if it does only come after they are behind closed doors for the night.