…is okay if it is for their own good, right?
I had to drop off my 13 year old, anti-social-extremely shy daughter to camp on Saturday morning. After being super-excited for the whole week about going, as soon as we were there and out of the vehicle, she said “Mom, please don’t leave me here”.
What? We just drove 4 hours to get you here, bought you all kinds of stuff you needed, and you want to go home?
I cannot say I was too surprised, because I know she is so shy around people she does not know. Seeing so many people there she didn’t know put her in a panic mode. Which made me feel terrible. I think we both knew she was not coming back home, but I still felt sad for her. She is not one for showing emotions, but I could have read those emotions that were on her face from a mile away.
As she is going on her second night there, and I have not been called, I know she is fitting in just like I expected she would. I told her by the time I got there Saturday morning to pick her up, she would not want to leave with me. She is very kind and caring, and is quick to make friends once she allows herself to be in that type of situation.
I am hoping this camp is a positive influence on her and she will be excited about going next year. This is the type of activity I want her to stay involved in, and I know her getting to the point of being able to be a camp counselor herself would be wonderful for her.
I left her stamped, addressed envelopes and notecards, and cannot wait to get a letter from her to see how much she is loving it already!

I did not think my girls could fight any more than I had seen before. Yesterday took the cake. And the frosting. And all of the cookies. Oh. My. Goodness.

I will not put up with today, what I had to listen to yesterday. Not for one second.

And they should know me enough to know that when I say if they do not stop fighting over the laptop, that it is going in the dumpster, that I really will do it.

I will not even begin to explain the number of cell phones I have thrown away.

So I am hoping that yesterday truly was a “Manic Monday” for my girls, and that all is calm and peaceful on the homefront today.

…you have had those weeks, right? Those weeks where no matter what you do, or say, or finish, it is like someone is just hitting you in the head with an aluminum baseball bat.

I have had that week. I have worked 24 out of 48 hours, I have had employee issues, I have had kid issues, I have had boyfriend issues.

One of those weeks where you just want to say “Leave me alone…walk away…do not talk to me…” etc, etc, you get the drift.

So what I normally do is crawl into my bed, and stay there. Or yell at my kids because they are being kids. Or pout like a two year old (yes, I do this). But I know no matter what happened today, or 5 minutes ago, will only affect my next 5 minutes, if I let it.
So today I am all about letting go; not saying anything to my girls because they had a bake-fest in the middle of the night, making 2 desserts, and leaving me the mess.

Not getting mad about things I cannot control, when my whole world seems to be about controlling everything around me.

So I am bound and determined to enjoy my Saturday, what I have left of my Friday (after I sleep), and letting it go!

What are your plans for the middle of July weekend?

I have been dealing with, for several years, having a child who cannot seem to leave things alone that do not belong to her. Now, I need to be clear on the fact that she is not going into a store or any type of business and stealing things. But she seems to think it is okay to takes things that belong to her sisters or myself.

I keep my bedroom door locked at all times, even when I am home but downstairs. What she seems to think, is that if it is in the house, she has permission to use or take it.

Case in point: there are certain foods that I need to eat due to a pre-existing medical condition that these foods keep in check without me having to take prescription medication. This food needs to stay in the refrigerator, and she will not stay out of it. It is not like there is no other food in the house and she is starving, it is the fact that she is asked to leave it alone that seems to be why she cannot leave it alone. I have contemplated on more than one occasion of getting a dorm size fridge and putting it in my bedroom.

Energy drinks? Yes, they are not good for you, but that is my adult decision to make of if I choose to drink them or not. I work 3rd shift, so I choose to drink them. I generally do not leave these in the fridge, but when I do, she drinks them. Even though she has an adverse reaction to caffeine.

So before you tell me I am a bad parent, and I should not put energy drinks in my fridge, at what point should I reasonably expect my 12 year old daughter to stop taking things that do not belong to her?

I tend to take the foods I need at work, to work, at the beginning of the week, but unfortunately, I have a thief at work as well.

Have you had a child that seemed to not be concerned with what is right and what is wrong? How did you resolve it?

…is likely what I will be doing if I invest one more penny into my laptop.

Ehhh, “Just replace the whole hard drive” I said.

Needless to say, so I am going to say it anyhow, it has been over a week, and I still cannot get my laptop working correctly. I had to buy Microsoft Office again (luckily I get a good deal through my employer). Then I had to buy some more Microsoft software because it will no longer read my SD cards. So after $40.00 and another4 hours yesterday of it updating 9 drivers, I get to see very shortly if it will now read an SD card.

I despise electronics, I despise their little error boxes, their misguided instructions, their loopholes that require 4 college degrees to figure out, but mostly I despise feeling like I have been outsmarted by a machine.

I really have no one to blame, because I stopped keeping up an the latest and greatest tech trends quite a while ago, when I used to be very, very good and all things tech.

I have a feeling my lack of sleep will equal lack of patience and I should probably just go straight to bed, and try the SD card after I get my day’s worth of sleep. Or I will likely be so mad, while being sooo tired, that I will be chucking my laptop into the trash.

…I struggled through my last two weeks of my class with a laptop that apparently downloaded who-knows-what with some software that I was told I needed for homework. It is what it is, and I am hoping it is only a short visit at the repair shop. So until then, I am going to be catching up on chores, getting ready to enjoy my week off for the upcoming holiday!