Dinner and a show

Date night. Husband, wife, husband's best mate and three kids, what could go wrong?
remember I was so in shock when I found out many parents don't take their kids out to restaurants or cafes. 
Secretly feeling a little smug that besides being cheeky, my kids usually listen to us, I have literally taken them everywhere with me. The last few months have been testing times, however, and tonight I realized WHY parents leave their kids at home.
Was there conversation? No. Was the meal shared lovingly? Yes. Were we in good company? Definitely. Did something get broken? A few things...a glass and well, just my spirit.
Having children is like playing cards (not that I know how to do that either), you just never know the hand you've been dealt. Each day is so different. Today Reef was such a clingy, frustrated little man and Raine was terrifically dramatic at every opportunity. She literally threw a tantrum because I didn't want her to continue playing with the broken ear of her headband while she NEEDED to keep it in her pocket. She also kept picking up her friend Oscar and topped off the arvo by randomly head butting me in the mouth. Reef screamed at me for ten minutes, inconsolable because he wanted to sit on the bench and I didn't know what "bien" meant. He's now fast asleep, nappy free and I think I'd find it much harder if he wasn't so damn gorgeous.
Today River's attitude is stinkier than ever - it seems to get worse and worse then a day of good before the downward spiral starts again. He hates everything, everything is boring, he cannot think of things to be grateful for and even "there's plenty of better things than the skyyyyyy, mum" when I pointed out how beautiful the pastel sunset was tonight.
I'm finding it hard to squeeze in any reconnection after school with him and I honestly don't know how other parents manage to balance it all? It seems like my kids save all the shitty behaviour for me, and I literally have them 24/7 except for a few hours of work two nights and one morning each week. I feel like my kids always come home worse and I can't even imagine working full time then having to squeeze in parenting before bedtime. Why is motherhood so.damn.hard?!
So much hard. I look like the crazy person for crying into my ginger ninja at vegie bar after my toddler has smashed a glass on the floor and thrown a dirty mi goreng stained napkin at another family. Riv sat there giving the finger to everyone and Raine was running around like a wildling.
I was supposed to study today and now it's 8.30pm and I have to prepare for a new day of work and school. GAH! I haven't even seen my husband today except for the drive to the city (me passing books to the kids and him opening and closing Reefs window on command - super fun stuff) and the drive home which was filled with serious conversations about why we can't go out to dinner if that behaviour continues and negotiations on how many books we will read the kids before bed. 
The light side of this whole situation is that I was experiencing writers block...and now the word flow through me.
Have a good night Mummas (or a good long sip of something alcoholic)