HELP

I was raised by a very exacting mother and absent father. I don't know if I have a normal set of expectations for my children. Often, I feel like I expect too much of them and am harsher than I should be because I'm not getting my expectations met.

Sometimes I get so frustrated that all I can think to do is pick up a stick and put a welt across their behind or a knot on top of their head. So I just yell at them, clench my fists and leave the room (or make them leave).

This summer has been particularly hard for me, being pregnant, in the heat, with 5 kids home all day and suddenly losing the freedom to call on Chad for help whenever I needed it.

Yesterday, Daniel joyfully tormented the people around him because he was bored. He was very glib about it...he was bothering people because he was bored. But he didn't want to do anything about being bored...he just wanted to bother people. I wanted to rip his nasty personality out through his nose.

This morning, Daniel made Leah sit down in a plate of play dough. Only one person thought that was funny. I was so stinkin' mad! I had given them the job to clean up their rooms and bathroom so they could vacuum and then bring the vacuum down to me to use. Nine o'clock and Daniel is in his pajamas, standing in the computer chair...doing some kind of nonsense. I lost all sense.

This is what I found in the bathroom upstairs. Cleaning products by a wet stuffed animal. I'm not sure if there is a connection. It surely won't surprise me to learn there is. A big tupperware bowl on the counter. Having a late night left-over binge? And this is the picture that doesn't bother me too much.

This is where I lost my mind. How many tissues do they really need? And when are they going to decide that the garbage can can't hold any more? See that big plastic bag? It's a garbage bag...from the last time they filled the trash can. Do I really need to show them the connection? And of course, no one knows how it got to be that way. THEY surely didn't do it. Maybe I should make them go outside to use the toilet or blow their nose. We won't notice a lot of extra leaves all over the ground.



I've grounded everyone and it is a work day...all day. My lazy, complaining kids are going to drive me nuts. I can't work all day! Joseph is already hanging on me and whining. It's only 9:15. I can barely get up the stairs without passing out.

But I am so done with these spoiled kids. Then again, are they spoiled? I don't know if this is just normal kid behavior and I'm off the deep end trying to make them into something they can't be. My mom told me once that she handled motherhood better...that's why her kids were better behaved. She wasn't raising my kids. And I'm not willing to travel some of the roads she did.

So I'm wondering, are my kids normal? Do you have the same problems with yours? Do you think everything is going smoothly and then hear an ear-piercing scream and listen as the universe crumbles while one evil villain smiles in satisfaction?

Truly, I'm not looking for advice. I just want to know that I'm going crazy with the rest of the world. Otherwise, I'll probably end up in the county lock-up. You can google my name later and find out all the horrible details.

I need an old farmer grandpa that I can send them to live with for 3 weeks. Don't those always have positive endings? Work them to death and see if they don't appreciate what they've really got.

Definition of "Stuck"

Rebekah to me: "Mommy, I know what 'stuck' means. It means it's going to flood."

This is from the girl, sitting on the potty at the time, who uses WAY too much toilet paper. She's had experience with 'stuck.'

Thanks for the heads-up, little girl!

Seeing lots of white!

For the past few days, I've been thinking of posting a blog to complain about the lack of snow and even ice here in a supposedly snowy part of Idaho. In fact, before we moved here, people would say, "You know it snows a lot there, right?" Yeah. We knew.

So it was kind of strange to visit Grandma in Salt Lake and see TONS more snow there than here. We even came back to brown grass with occasional slushy puddles in the streets. The ice fisherman that were out a couple of weeks ago were now out of business. It had been RAINING last week!

Well, all of that has changed. Here is what we see this morning. I estimate over 8 inches of snow on the picnic table. The high tomorrow is supposed to be in the single digits. We're back!

Chad is out of town today, so I'm glad I don't have any errands that would force me to take all 4 kids out in this stuff! I'm grateful for studded tires if something does come up.

Unfortunately, we don't get good snowman snow here. It blows and drifts a lot. Even with all this snowfall, many roofs are mostly bare. It's still good for making tracks though!

And the white stuff isn't only on the outside. Rebekah is doing a little decorating on the inside. Take a look at her trail of toilet paper. (She emptied it completely.) We must have bought the good stuff, because it didn't break until we started trying to get it back onto the roll. You know you'll be treated cushy on your tushy here!

In case you were wondering, that's Leah in the foreground...looks like she's using a blender, and Rebekah is way in the back there...trying to appear innocent! Jingle is there by the table. He's getting ready to shred as much TP as he can before we take it away.