What Is It About Kids!?

Yesterday, when my kids got home from school, I sat them down and we had a "talk".  I handed them each a chore sheet (the two older ones, my youngest would have drew me a picture on it) and explained their new chores to them.  I told them that it was required they keep their room clean in order to have privileges and that their other chores earned them allowance.  I explained they have to try hard to complete their chores in order for me to give them their allowance.  I also explained that if they lost privileges (such as dance class), then they'd have to pay me the money I was out for that week.  Fail proof, right?

Wrong.

It gets to be 8 o'clock at night and my oldest son has yet to touch his room...nor has he completed ANY of his chores.  I ask him, "Hey, have you done any of your chores?" and he had the nerve to reply, "yeah, the kitchen!"...OMGolly...he didn't touch the kitchen, I had cleaned the kitchen SPOTLESS yesterday before he even made it home from school.  So, then I say, "Listen, I know it's getting late, but you're gonna go clean your room.  I want at least half of the clothes put away; that is the minimum!".  I leave. 

20 minutes later he is in my room flopping around.  I said, "Is your room clean?" and the child replies, "I put 1/2 my clothes away."..................What!?  What?!  Half?  Half is good enough?  I don't think so!  So, I sent this child, this boy, this son of mine back to his room to clean...until he fell asleep, of course.

My daughter on the other hand, jumped right on her chores.  Not only did she complete one of them, she also nearly got her room clean, and she asked if I had stuff that she could "scrub the bathroom with" and that's not even on her list!

So, what is it?  Is it age?  I mean, they're only 17 months apart!  Is it sex?  Is the fact that my daughter is a girl automatically make her more willing to clean up after herself...and others!? 

However you go about it and whatever you believe, regardless, my kids both completed enough of their chores to go to dance today and lucky for them, but I really could have used the extra $20 in my pocket. 

Operation Get-My-Kids-To-Be-Clean...er

Maybe I'm having a mid-midlife crisis.  Maybe I'm just a big bad meanie.  Maybe I am the problem.  Maybe I'm just like everyone else.  Whatever it be, it be.  I'm Jess, aka "Supermom", "Mom of the Year", "Crazy", well, just pick one.  Just don't tell me which one you choose; I'll pretend I already know. 

Kids!  Right?  Ha.  If only that summed up all that was on my mind.  It doesn't, but what will is this:

My kids are the messiest critters in the house, no! State!, no! Everywhere!...they're the messiest kids out of the everywhere!  Ya ever feel that way?

My kids are ages 4, 9, and 10.  Two boys, one girl, with the girl in the middle.  My house looks like something between Better Homes and Gardens, the local swap meet, and Hoarders.  It really just depends on the day, time of day, and which room you just walked in to. 

I've yelled until my voice has grown a horse, or gone hoarse, but either way...it's a mess on top of a mess.  My kids have been grounded from everything, including life, sometimes breathing, but they always laugh when I say that!  I've helped clean their rooms, the den, the toys, the yard, the kitchen, the bathrooms, the laundry, their rooms, their bathroom, the hall, their rooms, well, you get the point.  I've helped!  I've shown them where this and that and the other looks best and where it should and needs to go.  I've explained that it could only take 20 minutes to do what they do in 7 hours, because they won't just focus and get it done.  I've even used bribery!  (Don't lecture me.)

I. am. at. the. end. of. my. rope!  Where is my rope, anyway?!  Who would know in this mess!?

All this to say, today we will start Operation Get-My-Kids-To-Be-Clean...er.  It has to be an "Operation", because things MUST be removed, some may even need to be sewn back up... you just never know in my house!  Stick around and follow this adventure.  Pics will follow.  Some will be very scary, but stick around, you might learn something...like, "What not to do!".  :)

Ramblings - Thought Vomit - To Do's To Don't - Girl Talk

It seems every time I start to blog something, I stop.  Or, every time I say I'll blog, I don't.  So, today, I'll blog.  I'm due some brain vomit time.  I've had so much on my mind and my plate lately, that I want to sit and do nothing...just stare at a blank wall and try in a desperate attempt to sort out all of my to dos.  The unfortunate part?  Nothing gets accomplished. 

I think I need an accountability partner for my to-do lists.  Whether it include working out, cleaning, running errands, shipping, feeding my kids...ha, whatever it may be, I need someone who can keep me in line! 

That said, allow me to flush my brain on a blog and get on with life. 

1.  I started my day in an argument with my mom.  I hate arguing with my mom.  I hate that she thinks I'm being "hateful" just because I disagree with something she says.  It doesn't matter how sweetly I explain my defense, my defense still remains a defense, which would have to mean she offended...and well, let's face it, she would NEVER say anything offensive.  (Insert sarcastic wink wink nudge nudge here.)

2.  My original plan for this day was to go to my mom's and clean house for her.  I got the kids off to school at 7 and planned to leave and go to her house.  At 7:14, the argument was in full bloom.  Needless to say, I suddenly didn't feel like cleaning house for her.  Does that make me a bad person?  Probably.  SO, instead I worked on social media stuff for my businesses.

3.  My mom is...not exactly well versed in technology.  Well, she does fine without assistance, but she needs a little help.  I enjoy it, so, I don't mind.  SO, today I created a Twitter and Pinterest for our flea market.  I linked everything together with our Facebook.  Through out a shout out or two for each, plus eBay and Etsy, and felt real cool.  Then, I added apps of everything to the business iPhone in *hopes* to teach my momma how to utilize each one.  I'm hoping she enjoys it. 

4.  I am sick.  My nose is pouring a Kentucky rain, my throat is sprouting quills, my chest has definitely got an elephant birthing another elephant, and my eyes...well, the elephants have surely spit hot sauce in them.  That said,  I haven't felt like dealing with much today.  I've piddled and done dishes, picked up the den, and even made food, but that's really just about it.  I feel lazy.

5.  Freeform, yo!  I think I'm gonna give it a whirl.  I have so many different types of yarn.  I've cosidering listing them online and letting 'em go, but when it comes down to it...I want to use it!  So, I will.  I think I'll start tonight.

Tomorrow will be a better day.  I know this.  Breakfast and then taxes with the bestie!  I reckon if you're gonna have to do taxes, it's best to have a friend to do it with? 

A freeform follow-up will happen!  Just wait and see.  Also, I may do some before and after pics around the house and flea market.  :)  Stay tuned.

30 Days of Being Thankful - Days 2-4

I don't want to go all cliche here.  I think there is the obvious - "I'm thankful for my kids...dog...cat...family...friends...home...etc."... SO, here we go...

Day 2: I'm thankful for being self-employed!  Woot!  While it means more work, headaches, heartaches, and stress...it also allows for freedom to do things my way!  That, I love.  I love being able to spend days playing in and working with things I thoroughly enjoy.

Day 3: I'm thankful for genuine friends.  I can honestly say, I am not the kind of friend that makes phone calls to check in or anything of the sort, but if you need me - I'll be there.  I am blessed with friends that check on me...I'd honestly be in trouble if it weren't for them.  :)

Day 4: I'm thankful for my son's daddy.  He's a wonderful daddy and they are blessed to have each other.  While he may have missed the first several years of little man's life...he is there now and that's what matters.  I can tell me son adores him and that in itself makes my heart overflow.

Okay, that's it...day 5 will be here...tomorrow, maybe?? 

30 Days of Being Thankful - Day 1

First, let me begin by saying, I generally don't do this, but if there is something I have fully realized in this last year - I HAVE LOTS TO BE THANKFUL FOR!  Sometimes, I have had to remind myself of what I have to be thankful for, just so I wouldn't focus on the things that make me want to cry, kick, scream, and come unglued!

Second, the things I am thankful for will be in no particular order.  Mostly because I could just see me saying one sister before the other and oh. my. stars! ...you can just imagine.

Now then...

DAY 1:

I am thankful for Grace.  I'm pretty sure I could sum up all of the things I am thankful for with that one Word.  In some way it envelops everything I have and do and have done.  If it weren't for the Grace of God, I would not have made it through this last year, let alone this last week.  And, very likely, not even today.  My God is bigger, My God is greater, My God is higher than any other ... and boy-oh-boy, "thankful" is an understatement when it comes to the Grace he has provided for me.

I'd tell you what I've been through this last year - the mistakes I've made, the tears I've cried, the fights I've had, the "unglued" moments, etc. - I'd tell you, but none of it matters, because God's Grace has wiped it clean, He has given me a new slate and a new way to look at things...and He'll do it again tomorrow.

“Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us.” ~ Abraham Lincoln

2 Corinthians 12:8-9 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

EARWARMER GIVEAWAY!

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Thinking Thoughts On Unglued (The Prisoners)

*To those just poking in, I am reading "Unglued" by Lysa TerKeurst as part of an online bible study group.  Many of my blogs are responses, thoughts, etc. to that book.  I highly recommend the book...especially if you ever come "unglued".*

 I was reading in chapter 3 (“The Prisoners”) where Lysa was talking about her mess of a closet, when I looked over at the pile on my bed.  Ha.  Just this morning I had picked up all of the clean clothes that my closet had vomited on my bedroom floor and threw them on my bed.  Just this morning I said to myself, “Self, when you get home, you will clean up this mess – or you don’t go to bed”.  Clever, right?  I thought so.  So, as I sat in my bed, with the pile of clean clothes next to me and even resting on my feet, reading…I looked over and laughed.  I related to Lysa more than words could properly express.  

So, I read on about “David” and how sources had said that “(Michelangelo) never left his David.  For more than two years he worked on and slept beside the six-ton slab of marble whose subject called to him from inside the unchiseled places”.  I looked over at my “David”, it definitely needed chiseled – to be honest, it still sits there, needing chiseling.  Thank heaven it is not a six-ton slab and honestly if it starts talking to me from the inside, I will just have to reach in and figure out which child I buried under there.  However, my “David” expands beyond my closet and bedroom, and overflows into my house, car, work, etc.  My “David” has wore me out, physically, mentally, and emotionally.  It has been my embarrassment and at times, I’ve defeated it, only for me to realize it still needs maintenance.

I am the single mother to three very active kids.  I also work full-time, in addition to dance classes, speech classes, church, etc.  It’s not easy to have a spotless house, it’s not easy to have a clean car, it’s not easy to have an organized desk, but it’s not impossible.  It may take time, but each day I can take a moment to chisel away at my mess – and in ALL areas of my life.  While I allow God to “chip away the stone that doesn’t look like” me, I also know that God has given me the ability to know what a child of God should look like and the ability to do something about the chaos in my life.   

This is the part where I set the book down, the part where I close the computer, the part where I send the kids outside to play basketball, and I get to chiseling.