Schedule

Not that this is going to come as much as a surprise for anyone that knows me but I am a schedule person!  I cannot function if my schedule is not fulfilled and in the manner in which I pre-planned it.  So needless to say when things are off I find myself being very grumpy.  I am not a minute by minute scheduler but I do have my morning routines and I have my afternoon routines followed by my night time routines.  If one of those does not go as planned then I am off kilter.
My mornings are usually spent doing a variety of things, the contents of that time frame from wake up until noon varies from day to day.  Around noon the house starts to calm down, lunch is made and eaten and then the boys and I head to my room for bathroom/diaper changes and then lay down for book time followed by nap time.  The amount of time for any given nap day can range from an hour to three.  The remaining of the afternoon is spent with the boys playing around the house (backyard, basement, or front living room) and I am usually getting emails done and preparing for dinner.  It is my every day aim to have dinner ready between 5:30 and 6pm and we all sit down as a family for dinner.  Dinner time is used for Michael and I try to catch up on our days and then talk with the boys about their days.  After dinner is done I clean up the kitchen.  Once dinner is cleaned up from (usually around 7pm) I take the boys upstairs and get them showered.  From post shower time the boys play quietly while Michael finishes his daily paper and emails in his office and I get the house tidied up from the day.  We will either all sit down as a family and watch some television or send the boys to bed and Michael and I will watch some of our recorded shows.  And then the day begins all over again the next morning.
Predictable... yes, but I like it that way.  It allows me some control over my life with two very rambunctious boys - I feel like there is something that I can always hold to.  Having such a predictable day also helps me cope when Michael has to leave for work for a few days.  Knowing that everything will still run... with or with out him gives me comfort as well. 
Now with all of that said - on days that my boys buck my comfort schedule and think they run the house I find myself banging my head against the wall, I feel out of control and like they have taken hold of my helm!  Today is one of those days! 
Everything was fine until the decided that they were not going to nap.  Granted everything was off a little to start off with... I had to run the rent check to the property managers office so our time that we would have been laying down post lunch was spent in the car.  I thought that would still be fine, they could fall asleep in the car and then I would move them into the house post the drive - Um no!  We got back from our drive and they were wound up.  I took the upstairs to try and regain the control of our afternoon and it was lost.  Five books read and twenty minutes of laying there trying to get them to go to sleep ended in me getting frustrated and calling it quits.  I think in my admitting defeat in the nap portion of our day has given them the chance to run me ragged.  I think they (both of them are in on it) realize that they got the best of me earlier and they are seeking to get the best of me for the remainder of the afternoon.  I know that once Michael gets home he will make a comment about my lack of control on them and I can sense tears will be closely follow a possible comment - so let's hope that something changes in the next hour or two for me emotional well being.  I am off to try and regain control... I am mom hear me roar (unfortunately our neighbors have been hearing my roars since two this afternoon!).