Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Graffiti Girl


In case you were under the mistaken impression that I am raising four angels, let me clarify that this house is not all hearts and stars, flowers and sunshine:

ChloƩ , while Claire was in Ottawa, snuck into her big sister's room and defaced all of her posters. You know, those terrible magazine inserts of the Jonas Brothers and other various heart throbs. She used red marker and did quite a job on them. This on top of her inability to brush her hair, wear clean clothes, tidy her room and treat her siblings with respect has resulted in her being pulled out of the Sound of Music production. I'm also thinking of cutting her hair short ... again, which would be a shame since her hair is so thick and beautiful.

While I'm at it ...

Claire spent the entire day yesterday, her first full day home, in her room. What was she doing up there? Well, I know she slept for a huge number of hours, but the rest of the time she was on MSN messenger. It took me a while to realize she had herself set to "appear offline" which is a function soon to be disabled! I'm sad because I haven't yet spoken to her about her trip. I guess we've just come to the point where catching up with her friends is more important than catching up with her mother.

Cole is becoming moodier by the minute! He spends much of his time with a far away look on his face and when he is addressed he snaps "what?" to anyone inquiring as to what he wants for dinner, what he wants to do, where he wants to go, etc. Cole is moody by nature. Becoming moodier, for Cole and everyone around him, is not a good thing.

Caden continues to be easily found because he leaves a trail of clothes, papers, wrappers and other ephemera wherever he goes. Oh, and he has not completed one of his books purchased for him to read this summer, even after plenty of prodding and reminding. Instead, he lies and says it's done. So, we've determined that his reading and writing exercises have not been finished and he's going to have a full couple of weeks coming up.

Don't get me started about the condition of their rooms, whether or not the dishwasher has been emptied and/or filled, the hockey sticks and bikes lying in the driveway or whether or not hockey equipment has been put on their trees!

It is completely exhausting.

I tend to dwell in the land of positive. It does not mean that I don't recognize that there are shortcomings, I'd just rather train my focus on what is good as opposed to what is bad. There really is no bad, just things that need to be addressed, tweaked and put on another path. We have one simple rule in this house: treat people the way you want them to treat you. I get more than a little frustrated when that balance is missing.

Have I mentioned that this parenting gig is exhausting?

I did sign up for it. No one forced me to have four kids in five years!! It's just every once in a while they seem to gang up on me and behave badly all at one time. Though, the alternative of spreading it out isn't too terribly appealing either.

So, there is a bit of perspective of life here in my world, at this moment.

As this adventure continues, no doubt things will change in another moment!

In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy the next half hour sitting here catching up on the Olympics and have another cup of coffee. Have a great day!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Lee, your house sounds EXACTLY like mine. I'm so thankful I'm not the only one!

We had three kids in two years (twins) so I understand from where you come! The close-in-age thing has its advantages, but sometimes is it horrible.

And the messes! I went bananas on Saturday and made it clear that at least the first floor of our house will be company-ready at all times. The messes wear me out.

Hang in there!
Shelley

Cyn M said...

YIKES!

The Shitt-ith Hath Hitt-ith The Fan-ith.....at your house!

Sounds like you need a shot of Bailey's in that cup of coffee, eh? I guess it is a good thing that they head back to school in 2 weeks! Back to the grind and routine of school, sports and homework!

I remember as a kid - getting moodier as the school year approached. I was sick of being home, apprehensive about school and also looking forward to it too and then BORED..... Sounds like the end of the summer blues!!!!

I am thinking of you!!!

emily said...

Nothing wrong with "dwelling on the positive!" It helps you look at the negatives with good perspective and a dose of humor!