I Spoke Too Soon

Right when I get all mopey and down about my family, they surprise me.

I can't say that it's all chuckles and grins here today, but my bathroom is getting clean. M and C are at odds about it because C is becoming wise to her dad's ways. From what I can glean in response to my "all I want for my birthday is a clean bathroom" wish, they agreed to get it done. I don't know how much they agreed that it was going to be a group effort, but there seems to be a big disagreement about the division of labor. C must have thought her dad was going to do more because she is in a very pissy mood since M has managed to bail on her more often than not. He at the rec center right now with A for the swimming b'day party. (Yay, Walmart had their swimsuits out!!) He leisurely drank his coffee this morning, took his shower late, and volunteered to spend his money on b'day giftcards earlier by venturing out to Target for the purchase.

M has a habit of looking at the kids as a source of slave labor. I can honestly admit that I've been waiting for them to get old enough to do more work around the house, especially since they make most of the mess. I see the kids more as partners, though, and not laborers that will take over my work load.

S and I tidied up the kitchen today. I even let her mop. I think she' all over the novelty of THAT job. I'm happy that we've kept up with it. I still need to get in the cupboards to clean and organize, but that's doable. M hasn't bowed to the pressure of cleaning off his junk counter, yet, but I'll keep working on him. I really broke in the oven the other day by almost dumping some chicken breasts into the bottom of the oven. I made a huge mess that still hasn't been cleaned on the inside of the door since the glazed breasts landed there and slid down. Ugh!

A cleaned all the dog snot off the windows with my help. Better to see the dirt between the inside and outside pains..... The novelty of cleaning the windows hasn't worn off for him. He likes to spray things. I even got Z to vacuum out the couch without too much fuss. (C thinks Z is woefully underworked, though.)

I've been doing laundry and supervising. LOL I'm looking forward to the day when I won't have to answer "Mommy is this clean enough?

I may get to sew this weekend afterall!

The Queen of My Castle in February

February is my birthday month. I like to pretend that I'm the Queen of the Castle in February, my birthday month, but then reality quickly sets in. The biggest problem is that no one but me thinks I'm Queen material. My kids probably see me more as the Wicked Stepmother....

Working full-time has its ups and downs. I like the extra money, but not the hours when I'm not busy enough at work. I've not had one day when the kids haven't called me. Yesterday, my mom called me because S wasn't where she was supposed to be and didn't meet up with A and come to her car right away. She was off with a friend buying something. Z called me shortly after they arrived home to protest that S was eating one of his egg sandwiches. I got home and was immediately met with complaints from C that Z refused to unload the dishwasher until he was darn good and ready. M came home to my demand for a family meeting where I learned that Z has five missing math assignments since the beginning of the quarter in January.

Everyone spends so much energy fighting with each other and finding ways to get out of doing things. I wish I could bottle that energy or somehow refocus it to attack the housework and repairs.

They think I'm kidding when I asked for the bathroom to be cleaned for my birthday mid-month. Well, I know M knows that I'm serious. I'll have to buy my own crown, though.