Joe's 11th

Yesterday was Joe's 11th birthday. We don't do birthday parties, haven't for years. It is so stressful and it doesn't give them a day they enjoy. So we let them pick what they want to do for their birthdays. Joe went to the movies with his girlfriend. It was so cute. He had a good day though and that is what matters.

It blows my mind that I will have 2 kids in Middle School, it just doesn't seem possible. I'm not that old.

How to Torture your Mother.

I haven't posted for a few days but I really do have a good reason. Have you tried school shopping for 4 children? It is not an easy task and we still aren't finished. I took 2 of them Monday, one yesterday and then we all went today and shopped for the fourth kid plus a few things for the other ones. This is one of the things that I hate about my kids getting older, they actually have opinions and want to pick things out for themselves. How bad does that suck? Trust me, it sucks big!! How dare they have their own tastes!!! That is just rude. So as you see I have been quite busy. Busy being tortured.

How do you know where the line is?

A little over a month ago I wrote a post about getting my kids and their messes under control. We did good for a little while and then, as I predicted, I became reliably inconsistent. I have been doing a lot of thinking about why I am like this and I want to pose a question. How much should you make your kids do? I have found that I seem to feel guilty for making them do things around the house. I like to tell myself that they need to do it, to learn to be responsible and I know that's the truth. I feel like I should be doing the work, I feel like I am just being lazy when I make them do it. How do I know where to draw that line? When does it cross the line between teaching them and using them? If I could get a clear cut line in my mind I think it would be much easier to follow through. I guess that is the next thing to work out in my mind. Any opinions are welcomed.

How to entertain 3 boys.

The destruction crew moved in today(more on that at a later time) and although I really wish they would go away I quickly found a huge perk. My day was very peaceful. The boys were mesmerized. I did have to spend a good part of my day sitting outside because I was afraid they would get too close, even though I had in very great detail laid out their boundaries. At least my Wifi works on the porch and in the yard and as I have mentioned in my lovely new swing (I am so going to have to take a picture of me on that thing).

See how entertained they were. It was such a peaceful day. They did this all day, literally.

From 360 to 0 in 4.5

I'm having some major withdrawal here. Don't get me wrong, I love my kids and I like spending time with them, I am just in shock. This was the first year that I had all of my kids in school and I must say I thoroughly enjoyed the time that I had to myself. To go from 6 hours a day to myself (thats 360 minutes) to absolutely not even a second alone has put me into shell shock. The last week of school (that was 4.5 days) was just a prelude to what was to come. Jo was home most of that week because of his foot and Audrey only went one day but that was nothing compared to having all 4 of them home 24/7. I had quickly forgotten what it was like to not have any time to myself. I forgot the joys of not being able to pee without being interrupted or of having the house get dirty within 5 seconds of me cleaning it. I forgot what it was like to not be able to write a blog without someone questioning who I was writing to! Now I can only think of how I squandered my freedom and how much I could have accomplished. What was I thinking?

73 days till school starts!!

I almost forgot

Just a few closing thoughts for the day:

I am loving this whole SITS thing. I had no idea there were so many other crazy bloggers out there. Oh the world it has opened up to me. It has left me wondering how many days I can get buy with saying "No housework today". It has made me very envious of some of their swanky designs though and I would love to have a new look from this talented woman. And oh yeah I almost forgot (but not really cause my lovely ones have gotten on my last nerve today)

Only 75 days till school starts!!

Under control?

Cleaning your house while your kids are still growing up

is like shoveling the walk before it stops snowing. ~Phyllis Diller

I have already had a glimpse of what my summer is going to be like and I’m not having any of it. So when the kids get up today I am laying down the law. It is time for them to realize that Mommy is not here to be their slave. They have got to be responsible for themselves. I have tried in the past but it is a hard thing to accomplish with 4 kids in a house this small. So I have a new plan. I can’t punish one without punishing them all (did I mention that we live in a shoe box?) so I have come up with a new idea. I have lists made up of what they need to do and all of the conditions lined up. For their morning chores I have decided that they will be doing nothing until they are done. The TV will not come on, they will not use the computer or phone and they will not go outside and play. In the evenings they are going to pick up any and all messes they made during the day and do their tasks for helping to clean up after supper or they will not get to do any of the aforementioned things for an extra hour after they get their morning chores done. I hate to punish them all if just one of them is being lazy but I have no other way to do it. I’m hoping they will put enough pressure on each other (without getting too mean about it) that they will each get their things done without making a fuss. I am reliably inconsistent so all of you keep your fingers crossed for me. This is the first of many battles that I will have to fight this summer, I am sure, but if I can get this one thing under control the rest should be much easier.

How do you keep your kids close?

As my kids get older I can feel them pulling away. I have done all of the things that I know to do, I have tried hard to talk to them and not be judgmental and I have spent time with them and kept them close. They still talk to me but I know that they are starting to hide things. They try to tell me only what they want me to know, forgetting that I can find out anything that I want to know about them (and for the most part I can). I want them to come to me when they have a problem, when they are excited about something that happened or when they have been hurt. I don’t know how to make that happen though, I thought I was doing everything right but I guess not. I know people that have that kind of relationship with their kids but I don’t know how they got it. They will say “I don’t know I just always talked to them.” but there is more than that. Somewhere, there is more. If anyone has a real answer for me…..let’s hear it.