chores

All posts tagged chores

As November Comes To A Close…

Published November 30, 2014 by Angela

…I cannot help but question the means and manner I am likely to wish my December away as well; in a hurry for this Christmas season to just be done already, and a new year to begin. I am unsure what is different this year, compared to last year when I thoroughly enjoyed the entire Thanksgiving and Christmas season. I am sure there were days when I was not in the best of moods, but this complete blanket of the blues that I cannot get out from under is really wearing on me.

Some things I know that are not helping; the non-stop bickering of my children. Case in point; this is exactly what I have been listening to for the past hour: Erin and Cassidy are bickering over the most ridiculous crap that I would honestly just like to knock their noggins together and see if it brings some sense to them. Erin is yelling at Cassidy because she is playing Mario, and Erin does not want to listen to the music from the video game. She is also fighting with Cassidy because she is listening to music via headphones (that Erin cannot hear) and whenever Erin does 2 things at once, Cassidy yells at her.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME? What in the hokey hell is wrong with these two? Erin is pissed because Cassidy always gets her way, and is telling Cassidy she is an idiot. Cassidy is telling Erin she always gets her way, and to stop acting like a brat. I just let them both know if I hear one more word out of either of them, they will both go upstairs, to the bedroom they share, and they can stay in there for the entire day and fight it out amongst themselves.

So anyhow, back to me and this depression that has taken hold of me. There have been some life changes going on with me, and I am not quite sure how they could possibly be playing a role in me feeling as terrible as I do.

I got a new position at work that I signed a posting for. It took me off from third shift, and back to first shift. Definitely a bonus, but it involved a significant pay cut. I have also had several unexpected expenses come up, such as having my car go to the shop twice in two months. I also doubled my car payment and insurance prior to this pay cut, and have had to dig into my savings account much more than I ever wanted to. I have had other expenses happen as well, and to say I am stressing about Christmas gifts is truly an understatement. And no matter how many times I told my girls I took a pay cut, they do not seem to care one way or the other; it is non-stop “I want, I want, I want…”

My year + of sobriety hit the curb for a couple of weeks, but I am back on track. The 30+ lbs I initially lost when I quit drinking has slowly found its way back to me. I can admit that yes, I did get too thin, and needed to put about 10 lbs back on. Well, I indeed managed that. Along with another 20 lbs from stress eating that now has me not only depressed, but now feeling very unhealthy and uncomfortable.

I am tired. So very tired, all of the time. I am doing all of the housework, and yes, I have tried just leaving things until my girls can no longer stand it and they start helping. Other than their bedrooms and laundry, all of their other messes infringe on my living areas as well, and therefore my comfort levels. They will literally not empty the kitchen garbage, even if they throw something in there and it falls out on the floor because it is already overfilled. It does not bother them to live in a messy house. It absolutely drives me bonkers.

The only motivation I have as of late is to stay in my bedroom with my cat, my books, and Netflix to pass the time.

I certainly hope that the extra vitamins I bought yesterday, along with my Prozac and Xanax, bring about a quick change to my terrible sadness. I hate feeling like this, and really did not expect the long Michigan winter that began on Halloween to effect me so negatively this year, since it did not last year.

I am now more than ever relying on my faith,and making an effort to bury myself in reading the bible daily, and watching anything and everything that is inspirational and reminds me of how truly lucky and blessed I am, even if I am momentarily blue.

Please let it be momentarily!

…and my 16 year old just asked when I was going to cook dinner…….WTH. I am not eating it, I am dieting. The thought for her to cook it would never cross her mind, or any of the other girls’ for that matter.

The Things That Used To Frustrate Me The Most…

Published November 3, 2014 by Angela

…now bring a smile to my face  🙂 Yes, just like that, but bigger.

Case-in-point:

I announced in the living room on Thursday, while all of my girls were in there and I had their attention; that their clothes hamper was starting to overflow (it is located in the hall outside of our 3 bedroom doors) and someone should probably think about starting laundry before they run out of something they need.

I told them the same thing Friday, and I also told them Saturday.  They were looking at me, so I knew they heard me; they just didn’t care at the time.

Fast-Forward to Monday morning, 6:05am, I am about to head out the door to work, and 16 year old is getting in the shower.

“Ugh. Why are there no bath towels in the closet?”

Me: “Probably because none of you girls took it upon yourselves to do the laundry after I had warned you 3 times.” And I left for work.

I have no idea what she used to dry herself off with, but I am about 98% sure that there will be laundry getting done tonight. I wash all of my clothes by themselves (i.e. not with my kids laundry) and I do 1 or 2 loads of laundry every Sunday. I have clothes and bath towels for the week, and whether or not they do is not my issue.

See, I used to feel responsible for making sure they had clean clothes, but all that happened was that I was always doing their chores and they were not learning any responsibility. So a few days of no bath towels or clean bras usually gets them back on task.

Honestly, if you can drive a car, kiss a boy, or swear at your sisters, you can start the washer and dryer.

Doing It Old-School, Kind Of…

Published October 20, 2014 by Angela

…Erin was not very happy yesterday with the you-don’t-go-to-confirmation-classes-no-laptop rule. She was literally up about an hour before she asked if she could get on the laptop.

“No.”

2 hours later…”If I clean can I get on the laptop?”

“No.”

The next hour “Can I please get on the laptop, I just want to play my game.”

“No. You didn’t feel good enough to go to class, you should be resting, not playing games.”

What she really wanted to do was talk to her friend whom she had seen the day before, and the only way he could contact her was through the internet. He must have panicked when she was not online all day, because by 8pm, the neighbor kid came over to see Erin. Apparently Erin’s friend talked to the neighbor online, asked him to come over and see what was going on, and the neighbor likely went back and reported that Erin was fine, and I was just being mean 🙂

I found it rather funny and cute at the same time. I mean, when I was growing up, we would use the telephone, or just walk to the neighbors, but we were always sending a friend to go do the talking for us 🙂

When You Are Always Wrong…

Published October 17, 2014 by Angela

…no matter what you say or do. This is what my girls and I have been going through for the last couple of weeks. I am not quite sure what is happening or why, but things have become very tense in our home, between the girls, and between the girls and I. Yes; some of it is hormones. When you have 4 daughters, you have hormones. But I cannot blame hormones for all of this.

I am willing to take some of the blame. I have managed to get myself involved in a lot of different things that have made my schedule especially chaotic. I have less than 3 weeks left for my college class for my MBA, and then I do not have any more classes for the rest of this year. This is a great relief for me, and I am hoping I can actually enjoy the holiday season this year as much as I did last year. I have been short-tempered with my girls when they cannot do the most basic of chores or even pick up after themselves.

Are you really incapable of taking that glass you drank your milk from back into the kitchen and in the sink, since you are walking out there anyways to bring some other food or drink item into the living room? Every day when I get home, and every morning when I get up for the day, there are various dirty dishes all over the coffee table, end tables, sitting on the floor next to the couch, rocking chair, or anywhere else they feel the need to leave their stuff.

We will not even begin discussing having 4 ladies using one bathroom! I could do a show; “Big Hormones, Little Home.”

What I definitely know because I am always wrong; is that it means I am the Mom. And that I am doing something right. Because if my teens and preteen agreed with me, I would be acting like their friend, and not their Mother. So I will take this any day over the alternative!

I Must Have Needed That

Published July 1, 2014 by Angela

12 hours of sleep straight, only waking up when my kitty thought he needed some attention, has me feeling much better now than I have for the past 4 days. Being a 3rd shift worker and having 9 days off from work is not something I generally look forward to. I rarely have (or willingly take) more than a couple days off in a row. When I am off, I try to maintain my sleep schedule by staying up all night, and sleeping during the day.

A girl’s day yesterday with my 4 daughter’s pretty much pushed me to the limit. I did not feel good eating lunch at Red Robin, I slept through the movie Maleficent, and the several hour mall shopping spree had me at my wit’s end. I kept explaining to them that I just physically did not feel good (they know being off my schedule literally makes me ill), and had to keep apologizing for my lack of patience. I could slowly feel myself turning into one of those parents that make me cringe when I see how they talk to or treat their children. I did not get quite to that point, but I certainly was on my way.

So after all of that sleep, and 4 full days still off from work, I already know I am going to fall asleep for a couple hours, waking up at 2am, wide awake and starving, and be up until about 8am when I am so exhausted I have to go back to bed. I am glad that I do not have anything scheduled or planned that I can’t do around my odd-ball schedule, but I feel like I am missing out on time with my girls; even though we are all physically sitting in the same room right now (minus one), and one is on their laptop, one is on their phone, one is watching television, and I am waiting for a cake to cool so I can frost it.

I also am looking at a whole lot of stuff sitting around that I need to get sorted and taken care of, and have no motivation for that either. So I think I am going to call it a day, eat a piece of cake, and start reading “The Silkworm”, J. K. Rowling’s second book in the Cormoran Strike series (written under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith).

What are your plans as we get closer to the Fourth of July?

What Say We Try This Again Tomorrow…

Published June 11, 2014 by Angela

… and this time, you do things the right way?

Monday seemed to go much smoother than today did with school being over. I pretty much had the house cleaned Monday morning before I went to bed, so my girls really did not have to do a lot to keep it clean when I got up.

Now, there are a lot of little things that tend to irk me, but I have gotten much better at not getting worked up “over the little stuff“. But one thing that I absolutely do NOT like, is having people in my house, while I am sleeping, and I don’t know about it. If you ask me first, more often than not I will say “O.K.” But to wake up at 3pm to house guests? Not happy.

Now, I live in a house full of girls. Well, except for the 2 boy cats and the boy rabbit. But they don’t mind. So, I will not hesitate to get up, trudge downstairs in my pajamas, and get a cup of coffee.

Coming downstairs in my pajamas, to find my 16 year olds’ boyfriend sitting on my couch, not cool. Not cool at all. I am not talking about Victoria Secret inappropriate sleepwear, but either way, my legs showing, and no bra on, is not appropriate for house guests. So, I had to turn around, go back up to my room, and get dressed. So I could get a cup of coffee.

I had to get dressed. In order to get a cup of coffee. In my own house. Really? Really. 😦

The house was a mess, and nothing was done. The first thing my 16 year old says to me: “I thought you weren’t getting up until 4?”

Yeah, like me sleeping an hour longer would have allowed for the house to be cleaned.

So, I got ready for my day, cooked dinner for my girls and said house guest, filled the dishwasher, had company for an hour, did homework, and now I am waiting to go to work.

I am also waiting to see how long it is going to take my 16 year old to tell me her boyfriend needs a ride home. Because she is going to. (That is something else that really, really irks me), having to take said uninvited house guests home.

And how was your day?

For The 10th Time; No, I Do Not Have Your Pants

Published March 11, 2014 by Angela

I am not even sure if I want to know how a 16 year old girl can lose two (count ‘em; 2) pairs of pants.

“Did you check in that overflowing laundry basket that has been sitting on your bedroom floor for the past month?”   Yes, she did.

“Did you check in the two laundry baskets sitting at the top of the stairs that are both full of your girls’ clean laundry I ran for you this weekend?”    Yes, she did.

“Did you check in your sister’s closet, to make sure I didn’t hang them up thinking they were Erin’s pants?”   Yes, she did.

“Did you look under your bed?”   Yes, she did.

“Did you look under your sister’s bed?”    Yes, she did.

“Did you check your sister’s dressers?”    Yes, she did.

“No, I did not put your 2 pairs of jeans in my closet. I cannot wear your clothes, so why would I take your pants when we do not wash our clothes together?”   She doesn’t know.

Now there are certain things that go on in my house without fail, and I will never deviate from this. I absolutely, without a doubt, will not run my laundry with any of my girls’ laundry. Yes, 1-2 times a week, I run my laundry, all by itself. Not only does it save my clothes from being destroyed by the lip-gloss/markers/crayons/candy/gum that seem to get left in their pockets and laundered on a weekly basis, but it also saves me from having to dig my clothes out of their clothes when the laundry is done. My clothes get washed, dried, and taken care of immediately. They seem to be okay living out of laundry baskets, and unless if I feel motivated to put some of their things on hangers, they keep living out of those laundry baskets.

Now before you get on me about wasting water; I am not running a pair of jeans and a shirt through the washer and dryer. I am running full loads of clothes; and honestly, my girls could do a full load of clothes every, single day of the week and never get caught up on their laundry.

So what I would really like to ask her is:

“Did you leave your pants at school?” “Did you leave them at a friend’s house?” “Did you leave them at your now-ex-boyfriend’s house?” “Did you leave your pants on the bus?” “Did you give these pants to someone?” “Did you somehow wreck these pants and you don’t want to tell me?” “Did you cut these pants up like you do so many other clothes because you were trying to make something else to wear?” “Why do I have to rush to the store to buy you more pants when I’m not the one who lost them?” “Why is it my responsibility to know where you last took your pants off at!?!”

So, the mystery of the missing pants continues. I have literally been having her ask me those same questions on a daily basis for the last several days. If these pants ever turn up again, I will let you know where they were hiding!

No, Please. Let Me Get That For You…

Published March 10, 2014 by Angela

…While you sit there and do absolutely nothing. Good Morning to me! Here’s a little tidbit about how my Tuesday is beginning…

I am so doing this tomorrow!

I am doing this tomorrow!

My alarm goes off at 4pm, ughh, I hit the snooze, only to turn the alarm off at 4:05 pm before it starts screaming at me again. I cannot stand the sound of an alarm clock.

As soon as I open my bedroom door, I hear from behind child #2’s bedroom door, “Mom, are you cooking dinner, I am starving?”

Me: “Could you let me get a cup of coffee please?” I head downstairs to child #3 laying on the couch, watching television, and child #4 eating a bag of popcorn. (Why are you eating in the living room? I ask you 10 times a day to not eat in the living room).

So, as I wait 30 seconds for my cup of coffee to brew (why did I give up Monster drinks?) I go in the basement and put my laundry in the dryer. It is now about 4:15 and I can get in the shower.

Showered, dressed, hair is blow-dried, lacking make-up and need more coffee. I get more coffee, and begin making a dinner that I am not going to eat.

Ridiatore pasta, spinach and parmesan sauce (yes, jarred), and homemade garlic toast. I empty the dishwasher while I am literally waiting for water to boil. It really does take longer when you watch it. 20 minutes later I tell 3 kids they can eat, to have child #4 ask “Mom, if my friend comes over while I am eating, can I go outside and play and I will eat later?”

“Um. No, you cannot.”

Kids fed, I can go finish getting ready for work. Everyone is done eating, the kitchen is a mess, and I get to take care of everything. Child #2 is back in her bedroom, child #3 is back on the couch, and child #4 is outside with her friend.

Where is child #1, you ask? She is a Junior in college and lives near her campus, which is not near me 😦 And if she was here, I would not be typing this post because she would have had dinner made, kids fed, and dishes taken care of before I even got out of bed (Love you Jess!)

Yes, I could yell at them (trust me, I do) and nag them to do their chores, clean the kitchen, etc. etc. But honestly, sometimes it is just easier for me and everyone else if I just do it myself. It gets done faster, and correctly the 1st time. And no, I am not an enabler of lazy children, they do take care of the things I expect them to, most of the time.

said no child of mine, EVER :-)

said no child of mine, EVER 🙂

So it’s on to cup of coffee #3, a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios and a banana Lucky Charms (I need the sugar rush), and time to do homework.

 

Yes, I really do love my girls more than anything, but some days, I just gotta share how ridiculous things can be around here 🙂

There Is nothing More Depressing…

Published March 8, 2014 by Angela

…then feeling like you are the only person awake in the world 😦 Now I know why I don’t mind working so many weekends.

Being a shift worker, I am no longer able to flip my sleep schedule when I don’t work and sleep at night and remain awake during the day. I have went as far as staying up for 30 hours straight; went to bed at 11 pm, only to wake up at 2am, wide awake and unable to sleep any longer.

Now, I generally don’t mind it too much because I get ahead on my homework, reading, and television shows I missed. I also manage to get the house chores done, and I even made creamsicle cupcakes last night (this morning).

But being bored, and knowing you cannot call anyone, text anyone, see anyone; it just sucks. That is all there is to it. It sucks. It is now 7:30am, one of my girls is up, and I am waiting for my sleeping pills to kick in so I can go sleep for the majority of the morning and afternoon. Only to get to do it all again tonight.

I don’t think I would be so grumpy about it today if I didn’t have an extra night of it because I took a vacation day. The up side; I am on for at least the next two weekends, and think I will take the two after that.

I absolutely cannot wait until I get my Benjamin (hairless sphynx) and have someone to keep me company 🙂

So here’s to wishing you and yours a wonderful weekend, and I promised myself I would get up with a better attitude than I am going to bed with, and make the most of the rest of my weekend. It is pretty much all planned out, so it should go a lot faster.

What are you planning for the weekend?