I am supposed to be in the kitchen, but I am on my 2nd week of killer heel pain and I am looking for any excuse to sit for a moment.
I just sent 6 kids to bed and yelled at them to stay there. I yelled at them to get their drinks, brush their teeth, go to the bathroom, bother each other and get through all of their excuses now because I did not want to hear them 30 minutes from now. Isn't that a lovely way for your mother to tuck you in at night?
I am feeling quite overwhelmed with the things that still need to be done at 9 PM. The dishwasher needs to be unloaded and then loaded. Laundry needs to be folded. I have a zillion little projects that are perfect for after the kids are in bed, but I won't get to them because the dishes and laundry will eat up my time.
And honestly, I just want to put up my feet and read a book or watch TV.
The garden needs weeded. It's like laundry - endless. I really am sick of going into other people's gardens and hearing them make some excuse about the amount of weeds. Muchacho...you don't know what weeds are!!
(Sarah just appeared without any underwear or pj bottoms on. I guess my threats tonight did not scare her. If I ignore her, will she take care of herself?)
I think what really frustrates me is that I request, cajole, threaten, suggest and demand help constantly and my kids act like I've sent them to the coal mines. Daniel is molasses personified and Nathan nearly has a heart attack when I give him a job. Leah is usually the one to get to work and will jump in when she sees a need. Rebekah suddenly becomes deaf and can only communicate by stomping and huffing off to her room. Joseph starts screaming in mind-altering decibels and turns red in the face. Sarah is still too innocent (or is smart enough to still use it) and goes off to do whatever she wants.
So what do I do? I turn into my mother and lecture them. At least I haven't resorted to singing "There Is Beauty All Around" every time they start fighting. I do have standards (and I couldn't stand to sing that song all day long)!
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I was cleaning out the garage last night and I came across my OLD box of journals/yearbooks. I started reading through a journal that I kept when I was 14. I was SHOCKED to read some of the things that I wrote. On one day, I wrote about how my mom was angry all the time and told us that we were "ruining her life."
ReplyDeleteI have absolutely NO recollection of my mom ever saying a negative thing to us. Ever! My memories of her are all rosy and loving and grand. But apparently, she wasn't the perfect saint that my memory makes her out to be.
My point is - do the best you can, try to be the best mom you can be, but in the end realize that your kids probably aren't going to remember the bad stuff anyways. (Just hope they don't keep a journal.) :)
We are a couple of sad cases aren't we?? :)
ReplyDeleteYou should be quite full of character by now; that is if challenges build character.
ReplyDelete