Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Mischief mode

By the time Spring Break is over for the boys, I will probably weigh 300 pounds.
 
I'm a "stress" eater.  I've always known this.  When I am blissfully happy, I forget to eat.  For some unknown reason <sarcasm font> I haven't done that in years. 

This week is especially tough because all Alan wants to do is go out to eat lunch -- and we all know that fast food is sooooooooo good for you.

 
Meanwhile, Alan no longer likes to go to the zoo or the park or anything remotely like this.  So after taking him out to lunch, he climbs and gets into mischief and I eat.  And it is only Wednesday. 

DH was hoping to take a few days off work to help me out but he is having problems and vacation isn't a great thing at the moment.  We are still hopeful that will change tomorrow or Friday.

We had to get rid of all our home workout equipment because Alan liked to climb on it (that is a bit hard on an elliptical or a weight machine) and so I don't have any easy way to work out here at home.

I had some faint hopes before Spring Break that I could race up to the gym and do a fast workout and leave Joe in charge of Alan but unfortunately for that plan, Alan has been in mischief mode this week.

Alan knows what he is allowed to do outside.  Really, I think we are pretty darn lenient about that but we do draw a few lines.

We do not allow him to climb on the neighbors' swing set.  While he is unlikely to fall, 160 lb kid could easily break something.  And, if he does fall and hurts himself, I am sure they would come up with some way to sue us for that.

We also do not allow him to climb over our deck rails.  We have reinforced all the rails but still don't think that is a good thing.  We also don't allow him to climb the siding of our house.  And yes, he has tried to do all of these things especially when he gets in mischief mode.

He is actually sort of entertaining to watch when he gets into mischief mode.  He goes outside and looks over his shoulder to see if I am watching.  When he sees that I am, he happily walks over to the tree or the swing-set and climbs and plays.  Then he casually glances over his shoulder and studies the sliding glass door and any of the windows in which he has seen me watching him.  If he doesn't spot me he scampers off to one of the places he knows he's not allowed to climb and starts climbing.

Yesterday was a fairly pleasant day so I figured I would take my book and read outside while he climbed.  That worked for awhile and then I went inside and as soon as I went away from the windows to do something mundane like laundry or dishes, he struck!  I came back to find him hanging on the railing from the outside of our deck.  Grrrrrrrrr

After a time out, he wanted to go outside again so I followed him out with my trusty book.  I got a deck chair set up and ... he decided to go back inside.  I put away the deck chair and followed him and ... he decided to go back outside so I followed him and then he gave up and decided to play inside for a little while.  Thank goodness for small favors. 

Of course, being inside makes it easier for me to eat.  There is always a downside.

5 comments:

  1. I have also decided to eat constantly :)

    For us it is the end of winter and we are suffering those winter troll blues.

    Between activities and speech work I find the most delicious and fattiest things trying to cram their way into my face... successfully at that *lol*

    who would deny a hard workin' mom a slice of chocolate cake happiness now and again?...and again..

    Hugs*

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  2. With Girl Scout cookies recently delivered and having made corned beef and Irish potatoes on Monday also give me several favorites to snack on! Thank goodness for school next week!!

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  3. I am the exact same way with regard to sadness/happiness eating/not eating. I used to always be so nervous and happy at the beginning of a relationship, I could never eat and oh, I was thin! Now I'm - not miserable but regular stressed out and unhappy and I stress eat alllll the time. Also, my son is only eight but boy oh boy do I feel like I have a glimpse of what he'll be up to when he is older, I have many pictures like yours with him on the swingset, ha!

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  4. Could you imagine how much fun our lives would be if we could harness their energy and use it for good rather than mischief?

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  5. Loved this post and yes, I am eating a lot of junk too this week too. It is a horrible coping mechanism and I won't be able to model my own clothes on my website once they get back to school, lol. Thank God, it is just a week and two days and we can all go back to normal, hopefully. I agree with Kerri, our kids seem so smart when it comes to mischief! lol.

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