Rainy Days Are Hard

Today was a toughy. Both kids sick. Pouring rain most of the day. So LOTS of time inside. We certainly took advantage of TV and youtube, but the day was still LONG. Lots of whining. It would be a huge understatement to say that parenthood really does test one's patience. Neither Josh nor I totally lost our shit, but by 8:30 when I was putting Isaiah to bed and he was crying about how his grey socks were too boring to wear to bed, I came very close. With Shayna already asleep, any temper tantrum at that hour had better be nipped in the bud or she'll wake up...pushing my few minutes of peace at the end of the night that much further away.

Instead of totally digging in against the notion of changing socks, I finally said "OK, I'll look for a more interesting pair after we brush your teeth" which calmed him down and then he forgot about the whole thing by the time we were in bed reading books. Lately I'm realizing that it's so much better to avoid direct confrontation with him but where do you draw the line between reasonably indulging your kid's eccentricities (and knowing when they are so tired that saying "no" is just going to cause a temper tantrum) versus having no backbone whatsoever and raising a spoiled brat? I feel like this is my daily struggle lately. I'm really trying to be more accepting of Isaiah's quirks (extreme sensititivity to discomfort in his clothing, for example) and not get annoyed by them, but again, where do you draw the line?