I am trying to be better, not judge people or get angry. But after one of my girls having their bike stolen from right outside my front door, in the middle of the day, puts me over my limit. This is the fourth bike that I have had stolen here. Yes, they were told do not leave your bikes out, if someone steals it, I will not replace it.

A neighbor girl saw another girl in the neighborhood on said stolen bike. She apparently went to her fathers house and took the bike with her. I do not know if the bike will be coming back, but as soon as she does, her mother, her, and I are going to have a little chat.

What kind of parent does not question when their child comes home with a new bike? “Oh, did she tell you she borrowed it from a friend? And you believe everything your kids say too?”

This is so frustrating to me. I hope the bike comes back, mainly for the fact of there is a bike lock wrapped around the center bar that unless if they cut it off, they will not be able to get it off. So, if she has an issue believing me, then after I call the police, I will kindly remove the lock to prove the bike is mine.

It is shameful when you cannot trust anyone any more. What happened to respecting others belongings, property, etc?

…my kids turn it into a qualifying Olympic sport. I love how they complain about someone else, then sit there and instigate them just to hear them whine some more. They spent all day yesterday at a local festival, and I think they all got too much sun and not enough rest. My sleep schedule has been thrown off for the entire weekend, so I have felt a bit grouchy myself. Throw in some cloudy weather, put them all in the same room, and watch them go!

I for one cannot wait until school starts again. I also hope our local schools wise up and implement year-round school before all of my kids get out of school 🙂

…in about another half hour. My girls are spending the day together at a local festival, and will not be home until after the fireworks tonight 🙂 Which makes me happy. A much needed day of no kids. The fact that I have been up since 3pm yesterday afternoon, worked 8 hours last night, and need to get some sleep before I lose my mind makes me not happy.

The fact that I had to go grocery shopping to get picnic supplies for my girls, make 8 sandwiches, pack chips, salads, drinks, plates, silverware, etc, while the 2 children here sat watching tv, makes me not happy.

The fact that I am still telling them to find their sunscreen, beach towels, and swimsuits when they need to leave in 25 minutes makes me not happy. Their pets not being checked for food and water yet makes me very, very not happy.

So, in honor of my not-happiness (yes, I just made that up), I am going to bed, and hope I can keep the sleeping to a minimum nap, and not sleep my whole entire kid-free day away.

What are your exciting plans for the weekend?

…I ended up with an extra child at my house, not sure how or who he belongs to, but I am pretty sure he is the sibling of another child who is here quite often. 3 kids in the kitchen and me in the living room =

Unknown, unnamed kid: “Did all of this stuff come with your house, or did you have to bring it with you?”

My 9 year old: “We brought it with us, from our old house. Which was infested with bats. Yeah, and then we all had to get rabies shots. It was horrible and hurt really bad. And we have lived here 5 or 6 years.”

Unknown, unnamed kid: “whaaat?”

LOL, I love hearing how kids tend to exaggerate things. Yes, the things about the bat-infested house and rabies shots did happen, but she was two and cannot remember it. She has heard about it so often though, that we have managed to project the entire horrible incidence into her memory 🙂

…really has me wondering what my children have repeated while they were at the neighbors!

9 year old girl: “I can’t call my Mom “Mommy”, she says I am too old for that and to not act like such a baby.”

Different 9 year old girl: “He is so retarted.”
Me: “What? What did you just say?” “Unless if you are talking about someone who has a genuine mental disability, you are not allowed to say that in our home. The same goes for ‘dumb’, ‘stupid’, and ‘idiot’.”

Another different 9 year old girl: “My mom has to get a 3rd job because my Dad is too lazy to help take care of me so she has to do everything by herself.”

I do not know, and am pretty positive I would not want to know, the things my children have said to the neighbors! But it certainly is a great reminder for all of us to mind our words, because once they are out there, you cannot get them back. And once they are out there, you never know who may be repeating them.

…of knowing in 2 days when I pick up my 13 year old from camp, she is going to have a bit of a struggle adjusting back to life with her sisters. Yes, this is the same child who asked me to “not leave her” at camp.

I am expecting she is going to have a bad attitude, so I am preparing now to help make her transition easier. She will have only been gone for 6 days, but 6 days to her is like a month to anyone else.

I think the 4 hour ride home while she gets to tell us everything she saw and did will be a great start. And I will cook her favorite dinner for her, and make sure she knows how much we missed her, and how happy we are that she is back home.

I hope this is an experience she will now want to do every year. Working up to being a camp counselor would be an amazing thing for her to do!

How did your children handle coming back from camp?

…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?