We all headed to the beach as a family on Thursday. I must say so far it has been very eventful, stressful and tiring – but fun!

First, traveling with four kids is hard. When I say hard, that’s putting it lightly. The baby has a sinus infection accompanied by a double ear infection. It has been very challenging. He’s back on antibiotics and is finally starting to feel better. It’s so terrible when he hurts because having no words means he has trouble expressing to us what is wrong. It is very hard for me, but we are doing our best.

When we got to the beach and into our first day, my husband was the cranky one, not me. Go figure. He doesn’t like when they kids get all fussy on vacation because he feels it should be a time for fun and relaxing. I wish I could get through to him that there is nothing relaxing about a vacation with four kids!

Anyway, last night we escaped for an hour to have an appetizer and a beer for happy hour. That was really nice. We also did a little event called MagiQuest, wow, how exhausting! This thing lasted an hour and a half, running around finding different things with a stupid wand. Taking a 2 ½ year old to something like that – not (and I repeat) NOT a good idea. Trust me.

By the time we got back to the condo we were all so wiped out that everyone crashed pretty hard. I will say it was probably the best night sleep I’ve had in a while. The kids were so exhausted we didn’t have anyone fussing, or creeping into our room, or waking us up at the crack of dawn. Ahhh.

My oldest son, 15, has a lot of friends. He has more female friends than male friends and he is very protective of those girls. In fact, he is very protective of all of his friends. He is very content with his home life and doesn’t really have a lot of gripes but the closer he gets to these other kids, the more upset he gets over their situations.

I’ve always made certain he understands that if anything were to escalate beyond what he feels he can handle emotionally that I will always be there to help him make the right decisions. I encourage him to be a good support for his friends within reason, as long as it does not impact his grades and his personal emotional well-being. With that said, he came to me last night with some grave concerns.

He was visibly shaken and upset, and he sat down with me for a heart to heart about a couple of friends he is worried about. While at a friend’s house last night, her parents began their usual verbal abuse towards their daughter. She is 15 and very sensitive (as is every 15 year old girl I’ve ever met) and she ran off.

Her older brother is physically aggressive towards her as well, frequently beating up on her. I worry about my son getting so angry in these situations because I am concerned he will get into a physical altercation. While he is a wonderful kid with a huge heart, he has a very violent streak when provoked.

Last night, he was provoked.

The past few months have been pretty difficult. In fact, the past couple of years have been pretty hard. However, over the past week or so, things have felt a little smoother around here. I don’t know if it is the Welbutrin, or just life getting a little better, but I feel pretty good.

My dad and step-mom have had a rough time for the past couple of years as well. I’m that person that worries about everyone else first and myself last. Knowing my dad and step-mom have been having such a tough time has been extremely stressful for me too. I talked to them both yesterday, and was delighted to hear how wonderfully they are doing now.

My step-mom, who was in pretty severe heart failure, has received a clean bill of health. Whew! Also, my dad has moved to a different real estate company where they are very good to him. His previous office was a very shady one (at best) and they were basically screwing him over. He’s a very hard working man and always has been, and he deserves respect and finally has it. Yay!

Hearing the joy in my dad’s voice last night really gave me a wonderful sense of peace. I no longer feel like I have to worry so much about them, and that feels great. My mom, however, is still over in Germany and isn’t doing too good herself. She is homesick and misses everyone, but she should be moving back sometime in the next year or so, which is exciting for everyone. It will be nice when she’s home.

I have always considered myself a lucky mom. I had managed to make it through 15 years of parenting without any major medical mishaps other than a broken bone and the occasional scrape or scratch. Until now!

On Thursday my 2-year-old was running away from me, tripped, and landed head first on the brick fireplace hearth. From the kitchen I heard the slam of his head. My heart stopped and I tore into the living room. My husband had already picked him up and there was blood everywhere. I went into a panic, my chest hurt, my head was exploding. I was a complete mess.

My husband was perfectly okay - of course. Men usually handle the blood and yuck way better than women. He began barking orders at me, I was running around trying to find a towel for his head as I was watching blood just pour everywhere. Then my other two, my 7 and 5 year old, went hysterical. I am sure seeing mommy unravel was not a pleasant (or reassuring) moment for them. We were all crying.

My husband was holding the towel to my toddler’s head as he was crying. He was hurting so bad that I began to cry. I didn’t know what to do so we rushed out the door. I dropped the two older ones at a neighbor’s so we could take the baby to the ER.

I had a really good weekend. Yesterday I crashed. I felt like I was coming completely undone. I guess I was suffering from some sort of overload because today I feel okay again. It’s so crazy.

Easter is always a big deal in our Christian family. We always get together and have a blast. This Easter wasn’t so bad for me either. Saturday my brother and his wife and children came over to dye eggs with our kids. It was a lot of fun, the kids had a blast. We all enjoyed ourselves. I didn’t feel violated or overwhelmed either, which was very nice. It was my brother though and I am pretty sure that made a difference.

Easter Sunday we had a house full of my family. I was so busy that I didn’t have time to stop and panic over the crowd here. When I say a house full, I mean a house full! My brother and his family came back over, my Grandmother and her “friend” (chuckle) were in from out of town, an aunt I don’t see often joined us as well with my cousin that I haven’t seen in several years. I finally got to meet his wife and his beautiful little girl. I hadn’t seen his son since he was an infant, and he is now seven. Wow. I feel like I’ve been hiding under a rock.

I know that “picking” is just what kids do. I understand that and I try so hard to teach my kids the importance of respecting each other. Just because they are siblings does not give them a free ticket to abuse one another. Now, my frustration level has reached an all time high – with my son!

He was always very, very sweet. An amazing boy who would do anything for anyone, and loved life and everything about it. He would whine (probably excessively) but he was all around just a great kid. What happened to my sweet and loving kid? He’s started bullying – everyone!

I watched my 5-year-old daughter sit side by side with him on a tree that was lying on the ground. My husband was chopping away and they were watching him. My daughter leaned in and tried to hug her big brother and he shoved her off of him with a look of total disgust. He’s always been so affectionate to her that this action really hurt her feelings. She’s not used to her big brother being so mean.

She will ask him to help her reach something, or turn a light on, or to help her do things she’s still just too small to do. His answer every time: No. He teases and taunts her, puts her down, picks at her, and is outright mean.