The first official full day of Summer vacation for my girls. So I am putting in the ear plugs, putting on the eye mask, taking some ZzzzQuil ( 🙂 ) grabbing my naked kitty, and going to bed for the day. Keeping my fingers crossed for a house that looks at 2pm the way it looks now at 4am (or even better, which would be So awesome!).
…but when do I get to take a break?
I explained to my girls Thursday night, that once they are out of school (which they now are), there is not any reason in the world that I should have to get up and:
1) empty the dishwasher
2) fill the dishwasher
3) pick up their stuff they leave all over the house
4) cook them dinner
5) tell them to do any of the above, after I get up.
Which is exactly what I had to do Friday when I got up. Now I do not expect them to cook dinner every single night. But they are 16, 13, and 9. They are more than capable of making spaghetti, grilled cheese, cheeseburgers, etc. I do not eat dinner with them. I should say while they are eating dinner, I am eating a bowl of cereal with a banana. So I really do not have a whole lot of motivation to cook dinner for 3 girls when at least one of them is going to say they don’t like/want it, and I am not even going to eat it anyway.
So, here is hoping for a smoother start next week as we move into the noisy summer months where everyone in the neighborhood feels the need to gather outside, under my bedroom windows, and be loud so I cannot get enough sleep to work 3rd shift without feeling exhausted.
Try the park down the road kids. Or the neighbors.
No, not that neighbor. She works 3rd shift too.
The other neighbor.
…Does not make the situation an emergency to me.
I am constantly asking my girls to let me know things that involve me as soon as they learn about them. I could not even begin to count how many times I find things out, sometimes hours before I am supposed to be somewhere, doing something, that I was unknowingly volunteered for. My payback right after my 16 year old did this to me? I let her know Saturday morning that we had a surprise Birthday party to be at in 3 hours. What was her response?
“I hate finding things out at the last minute!”
WHAT?
So I told her “Surprise!”
Last night at 10 pm, while I am at work, I get a text message from said 16 year old letting me know my 9 year old needs plates and cups for school the next morning.
“For what?” I asked.
“A surprise party.” she texts.
“Was I supposed to be surprised too, because this is the first I have heard about this?” UGH.
So, I get to do my least favorite thing I could possibly do after work. Go to Wal-Mart. There is never, EVER, a good time to be in Wal-Mart.
So as I am rushing through the store, trying to get her the 50 cups and 50 plates she needs (Which all the cups came back and only a couple plates got used; the rest of those came back as well 😦 ) she is ringing my cell off the hook.
“What is the issue?” I asked her.
Her friend was leaving and could I bring the plates and cups to school? Um, no. You do not need to leave for school yet, and if you do not wait, I will not drop them off. Your friend can wait.
So I get home, and she is gone. I call her friends house, and yes indeed, they already left. So like the push-over Mom that I am, I take the damn things to school and track her down, letting her know she is grounded for the weekend. I didn’t want the teachers to have to scramble to come up with plates and cups because my child had an irresponsible moment. I am so glad I completely stressed myself out, so they could use 7 plates.
And how has your Friday been?
I tend to be pretty lenient when it comes to what my girls do with their hair. I mean, they are the ones who have to walk around with whatever style they cut it, or color it. I learned it is much easier than fighting it. Because when I fight it:
1) One of them will shave half their head to the scalp while I am at work
2) They will see exactly how much peroxide really does bleach their hair
3) They will take all of the Kool-Aid from the cupboard and use it to die their hair
4) they will randomly cut chunks of hair off in such a manner that no haircut could hide or fix it
I figure, it could be much worse. Like me finding the box with the alcohol wipes, straight pins, and stud earrings in it that my 12 year old was going to use to pierce her own nose.
Hair choices? Yes. Random holes in their body that will likely get infected? No. I made it clear to all of them that they can just save themselves the time and pain because if I see it, it is coming out anyhow.
My 16 year old is bugging to get the cartilage in her ear pierced. I told her it hurts way too bad (yes I know from experience, more than once even), and I certainly hope she does not try to do that on her own.
What have your kids done that has shocked you? I don’t even know at this point if anything would shock me anymore 🙂
Knowing that I absolutely love my job, and absolutely love my children, anyone who knows me knows that I could not be a stay-at-home Mom. Yes, some may think “Well, you never should of had kids then!”, but I was more than willing to support a stay-at-home husband and father to my kids. He was incapable of even doing that…
So, I have a new hope that a rumor I heard is true, and I will be having a change in my life sometime soon! I have something else to add to my daily list of prayers. I have had this hope before, but also know with absolute certainty that there is a reason things did not go the way I had hoped and wanted. Maybe it was because this time is going to be my moment!
So here’s to focusing on my family, my job, my church, and being happy. Because even though I tend to get blue now and again, things are really pretty great 🙂
It is funny, and almost kind of scary, that I can tell what type of attitude my 16 year old has, through a text message. I asked a simple question, and she replied with a snotty answer. What did I do? I told her to lose the attitude!
“How do you know I have an attitude?”
“Because I am your Mom, and I can hear your voice and see the look on your face as I read your text messages!”
“Fair enough” she says.
Being rude through social media is not acceptable. You better talk to me electronically the same way you talk to me when we are in front of each other.
And Yes, I can also hear you roll your eyes, from the back of my head where I keep an extra set of eyes and ears!
I figured it was time to check back in with my 2014 to-do list, and see where I am at. My original list can be seen here: https://parenthoodandotherhorrorstories.com/2014/01/02/my-2014-to-do-list/
1) Go to church a lot more – I am pretty successful with this one. I don’t miss too often, because I can really tell when I do; my attitude pretty much tanks.
2) Tithe a lot more- Success
3) Stop swearing – doing pretty well. I still swear, but nowhere near as much as I did. I wonder if it counts if I am still thinking the words, and just not saying them?
4) Stop yelling – Better, but I still have my moments
5) Make and take some “me” time – This made me want to cry when I read this. Literally, I felt the tears behind my eyes. This has not happened, and with my kids going non-stop, and me working and going to college, it feels like it is not going to happen anytime soon. I get a 6-week break from college at the end of June, and the girls will be out of school so hopefully I can make this happen!
6) Patience – yeah. Next…
7) Exercise – LOL. Still. Next…
8) Read the Bible – I am up to 1 Samuel. I have gotten through Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, and Ruth.
9) Improve my photography skills – I have not had the camera out very much, at all. I am trying to focus on taking it with me when I go somewhere so I have it handy all the time.
10) Allow myself to be happy – I have been feeling kind of crummy for the last couple of months. As the weather gets nicer, my mood gets more crummy. I think it is just all of the running I have been doing, along with school work. I have been Blessed with so much, and have been focusing on Thanking God for that on a daily basis 🙂
I was thrilled to hear from my oldest today, who is in South Africa until the middle of June. It seems that she is starting to feel guilty about being there helping one little girl, when she feels like she should be here, helping her three little sisters.
I let her know she has done more than enough for her sisters, and they are my responsibility to be sure all their needs are taken care of and everything is going well with them. I also let her know that she is changing the life of this little girl, likely in many ways she may never even realize. My children have a solid support system, this girl may not.
I hope she stops feeling blue and absorbs and enjoys every single minute with this little girl, her classmates and their students, and this whole once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
As I tell her all the time:
“You make my heart smile. Every single day.”
Beyond proud of my oldest for giving her time, for nearly 6 weeks, to take a trip to South Africa with some classmates to help out those in need. I’m sure she got right to it after playing with this adorable lion cub! Words cannot express how much I miss her right now…
I hope I do, it is so important. They need to form their own thoughts!
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