Dusk lights....

Today has been a very long and tiring day. It wasn't that I was constantly busy, or did a lot of strenuous work, it's just been long. Dallas started out the day in a good mood, we cleaned the living room together (he loves to hold the dust pan), and did some laundry. Well, I did the laundry, he just snuggled down in my bed and played peek-a-boo with the covers. Then he decided to only take an hour-long nap. The day went down hill from there.
While I tried to take care of the rest of the laundry and big pans, he got into everything. I ended up with food on the freshly-mopped kitchen floor, crushed goldfish in my carpet, my vacuum cord entirely unwound and the attachments missing, two discs crammed into Josh's cd drive (yeah, he doesn't know about that one), diapers scattered around the house, and bag balm in Dallas' hair. To top it off, he was in "tantrum mode", and everytime I tried to tell him "no" in even the nicest way, he would throw himself on the floor and howl like I'd taken a strap to him (and don't think that didn't cross my mind).
By the time Josh got home I was ready to have my own tantrum. Instead I fixed dinner while Josh got in the shower. He didn't feel well, and ended up in the tub, not wanting to eat anything. I threw Dallas in with him to wash out the bag balm, and after he ate dinner, promptly put him to bed. Five minutes later Josh crawled out of the tub and into bed. I haven't seen him since.
Thoroughly frustrated by my day, I've taken it out on the dinner dishes and my kitchen stove. I still didn't feel calm, though, and stepped outside to see what havoc I could wreak on Dallas' toys in the yard. No sooner had I closed the door, when I noticed the (newly clipped) lawn. All around me were the tiny lights of fireflies, and I stood there watching for several minutes while the dusky sky faded to purple. I felt all my frustrations just slip away as I witnessed the peaceful scene, and when I came back into the house I didn't see the pile of clean dishes waiting to be put away, or the kitchen table piled high with things that shouldn't be there. Instead I checked on my little boy, all scrunched up and holding his "puppy"; and on my beloved husband, stretched out with the covers up to his chin on our bed.
I've promised myself that I'll make it up to both of them, for being in such a foul mood the entire evening, and so I'm going to go snuggle up with my husband and look forward to a better day than today was.