NOT MY FINEST HOUR...

Yesterday was hectic to say the least...and when did I start raising teenagers??? I have a 9 and 10 year old for crying out loud!!! Anywhooo...last night, the threat was made by their father, "Rooms clean tomorrow after school or else..."! Then I get a friendly reminder phone call after school from their father (he also happens to be my lovely husband, but in this story he is definitely playing the role of their father) that their rooms BETTER be clean by the time he gets home! Not sure if that was directed at me or them, but since we were sitting at Brewster's Ice Cream at the time with friends, it may have been directed at me! So, I quickly devised a master plan consisting of cleaning and homework and all would be done before 7:30 so that we could go to School's Night Out at Chick-Fil-A! The girls would be on 30 minute shifts alternating between homework w/ me and cleaning upstairs...2+ hours to get it all done! Plenty of Time...OH HA! Cleaning was done at a snails pace with little regard to future punishment...Homework was a ridiculous display of apathy and stupidity (is that okay to say?!?)...I was thrust in between two worlds, cheerleader and executioner...not pretty! Now, 2 + hours later and my oldest (H) was in Shock and Awe over the fact we were out of time to go to Chick-Fil-A..."Now That's Just GREAT Mom!"...was one comment...others followed that were equally disrespectful and mind boggling that she really didn't understand where the time went (Ummm...it went on you playing upstairs, filling up Ziplocs with water and poking a hole in them and then squeezing them on your sister...WHY? you might ask (I did ask)..."Ummm, because it was fun." Hope a belt on the butt is fun too! Yes, I did say that, which then was followed by a dramatic flow of tears and "That's not fair" and my favorite..."You love K (younger sister) more than me, she's your favorite!" At this point I should have been deflated, but instead found a renewed sense of anger...it really really really made me mad. OKee DoKee, let me get this straight…This was MY fault…not hers…if only I just loved her more…blah, blah, blah…moving on. So, there are other sorted details to the evening and ugly things that were said...then their father came home. RELIEF, ESCAPE...neither! He was, needless to say, out done...seemingly a little irritated at me as well...which did not sit well with this already irritated woman. He wanted to know what was for dinner and I exclaimed loudly, "NOBODY EATS UNTIL THE ROOMS ARE CLEAN!" He didn't exactly like that idea, or my tone...so he made more threats to my oldest, (K was done) and then went to the grocery store to see what he's going to get for dinner. Well, of course, my oldest then can magically clean the rest of her room, the landing, the stairs and the bathroom all before he gets home. H and K both ate cheese biscuits for dinner(because their rooms were then clean), brushed their teeth and got into bed. Their father gets home and calls the girls downstairs to clean their stuff out of his car. WHAT??? They are in bed after a horrible day with their mom and it's after 9:00 p.m. They both run downstairs and out the front door. Now, I'm even more irritated...get a bowl of cereal and eat it for dinner...who cares that my husband just went shopping...I have a point to prove, that I'm angry, treated unfairly, unappreciated and have had a no good, very bad day!!! After a ridiculous amount of time outside, I walk into the kitchen and say to their father, "Okay, seriously! Unless they are out there bagging a cheetah and trying to bring it inside, this is ridiculous! They've been out there FOREVER!!!" He just turned and looked at me. Just then the front door burst open and my girls fly in with a bouquet of sunflowers and a card that they've written in with accolades, and apologies and loving sentiments for their mom! My husband then smirked and turned back to his dinner he had been cooking on the stove! I love that man!.....and those girls (sometimes)too!

J