Tears, prayers, big emotions, and small victories.

So during the past week school kicked into high gear under our new "normal". In my house getting ready with no crisis negotiations is a miracle. This year seemed different and it has been. We have been up and out the door early every day. That has meant getting up at 5am or earlier everyday for myself. I get up do all of my stuff, get myself ready, then wake her up. She has her routine which I have to closely monitor. Then came the weekend which included a holiday which we discover quite a bit of school work is missing. So begins a train wreck of tears, tantrums (on both mine and her part), losing patience, and working through the toughest part of parenting. I haven't seen my child throw herself in the floor like that in a long time. She had a lot of missing work and was determined she was NOT going to do it. We had plans with friends which were delayed at this point. It finally took me standing behind her in the chair, locking the playroom door, and taking every privilege I could think of away. I was crying at one point. She was screaming and there was no breaking through to her. I had to ride the storm and then attempt to get through to her. Monday arrives and I was hoping we made it to day two with an understanding. Nope. Attitude was abundant and she was determined to win this day. The not so glamorous part of single parenting that nobody wants to talk about. Housework got put on hold so I could stand over her and monitor progress. Laundry got put on hold so I could attempt to calm her down when she got frustrated.

She wanted to play, I wanted a quiet low key day, we needed some down time. I was frustrated she did not do her work and we were spending the weekend doing it. I was frustrated with her attitude and complete defiance. She was frustrated at being forced to complete school work on weekend. She was frustrated with my inability help her. She was not adapting to the 80's way of math. She was frustrated with school work at home. Overall, nobody was winning in this situation. It takes a lot of prayer to parent a child especially in the world we are living in right now. As a single parent running a household on my own it really takes a lot of prayer and patience.

Parenting is definitely not for the faint of heart. It literally hurts us more than it does them to stick with discipline and punishments. It is a challenge to find what will get through to a child so they understand. Every child is different. Growing up in today's world is definitely challenging. Parenting a child in today's world is an even bigger challenge. At this point I am not sure who is more ready for bedtime in this house. But we are accomplishing school work and housework simultaneously. There have been a lot of tears, prayers, big emotions, and small victories this weekend. Here is hoping this week we have learned to complete all work, double check google classroom, and find a little patience when you think all hope is lost.