Adjusting

I have learned in this short month that children do not adjust to change easily at all. Losing a parent, by any means, will mess up an entire family system...nor does it do anything for my sanity. I see issues in the way both of the girls are handling daddy being gone.
Harli was so little the last time we had to deal with something that lasted this long. In the past three years the longest he was gone was a month for training. But now...
Harli, who is five, is learning the fine art of the attitude. Not fun. Not fun at all. I can't count how many times I have taken something away, put her in time out, denied her something just because she seems to have forgotten how to follow simple instructions. It's hard, and if this is a sign of things to come I am dreading the teenage years already.
Ryanne, who is just 23 months, can no longer sleep through the night. At about 3am she is screaming in her room. I cannot let her cry it out, she will cry for hours. I have to eventually let her share the couch with me. She is also taking lessons from her sister in the selective hearing department.
It's only been a month and I am exhausted.

On the upside, we are ready for Christmas. Gifts are wrapped and under the tree. I hope that they enjoy their new things.

I wish I could have gotten Ryanne the Elmo Live doll that we were playing with at Walmart the other day, but I have already gotten her holiday presents.