There are weekends when I think I have this parenting thing down. The early mornings don’t bother me, I deal effortlessly with minor crises, negotiate peace treaties between the two boys, and generally feel like I am completely in control.

This was not one of those weekends.

Maybe it’s my head cold, general fatigue, poor weather, whatever, but I have mostly been impatient and irritable. This is not a good mood to be in when you have two young boys in the house for four straight days.

17% of the weekend was spent wiping snot from Kieran’s upper lip. 14% was spent cleaning the house, although it only took 2% of the kids’ time to bring back the grime and clutter. 3% of the weekend was spent trying to convince the boys to go back to bed in the morning, an unsuccessful endeavour that robbed me of 27% of my required sleep. 6% was laundry, 4% was re-organizing the basement, and 1% was filling Easter eggs and hiding them on Saturday night.

Don’t get me wrong – the weekend wasn’t without some fun moments. We saw Meet the Robinsons on Saturday afternoon (a surprisingly good kids movie), went to the Children’s Museum for an Easter egg hunt on Sunday, and took a ride on the O-Train on Monday. We braved the cold to play at the park, and built numerous forts out of cushions and blankets. I may have even cracked a smile or two.

In the end, I self-medicated with Diet Coke and little chocolate eggs and coasted through the last few hours on a caffeine / sugar rush. It’s not a habit yet, so please hold the intervention for a later date.