Mean, Evil Mom or just Crazy?
It has been awhile since I last blogged. Life has been busy and it seems like finding computer time has been a challenge. I've been dealing with a less than "organized" lifestyle and frankly was feeling just a little crazy!
Emotions had been building around the house,and this wasn't in the positive direction either. I had been avoiding my home pretty much at all costs. It had gotten to a new low (and this is really saying something). My husband had "gently" shared his frustration with me earlier in the week. I then shared my frustration- you know the one where you live the same day every single day! It goes something like I wake up to a mess (most of which was created by my family), I go along my day cleaning up said mess only to have it magically reappear later that evening. Yep, same thing every single day. And I realize it is bad form to "quit", but frankly I didn't care. I threw my toddler tantrum and stopped cleaning up! My house quickly went from bad to much much worse. And the problem escalated.
It all came to a head last Wednesday night. After an early morning and a full 8 hours at the coffee shop, then off to town to get some last minute things. I had been stressing throughout the day about finding some child care for Jocelyn all day Friday. I was going to a girls weekend away.....Women of Faith! I was excited, and yet just a bit discouraged that childcare was such an issue. I wanted to make things as easy as possible for Nathan.
Anyway......back to Wednesday night. Nathan and I had gone to town to buy some groceries and a birthday present for my nephew. We called the kids and explained that we would be home a little bit and they should do homework and chores before anything else. We got home less than an hour after they got home and found them all playing. Again.....a little frustration set in when I saw that really no chores had been done. All had done homework, but they had "forgot" about chores.
They did their chores and then quickly wrapped the gift for their cousin. We eat supper and I instructed them that they needed to get showers. Kayla ran to take a shower by herself, and Natalie reminded me she took a shower that morning. Jocelyn and Sam go to get in with Kayla and she refuses Sam (but that's fine, and he would take one right after she got out). I finally had a moment to sit down and check email. Ahhh.......some short lived peace. Kayla brought Jocelyn to me soaking wet, but clean!
I diapered Jocelyn and waited for the dryer to stop with her clean, warm pajamas. I continued on with my email and was trying to send off a few replies. Kayla came in and said she heard a "weird water sound". I asked her to go see if Sam had left the shower running. She came running back in screaming. She said water was pouring all over the place. I ran into my bathroom to see the shower overflowing. Sam had plugged the drain to have some extra water to play in (this was not unusual, he does it every time he is in the shower). He "forgot" to pay attention and water was running everywhere.
Water wasn't just pouring onto my bathroom carpet, but had been going threw the heating vent into the bathroom below. It was a huge mess.
Now here is the impressive part (or at least I think it is pretty good), I didn't loose my cool at all with the water. It was what it was (a MESS), but it was an accident. Sam shouldn't have been all alone, but he was. So I start cleaning up the extremely wet carpet. I notice in the panic of running into the bathroom, that there is a roll of wrapping paper on my bedroom floor. There is also yarn laying in the doorway. As a side note.....I hadn't been into either of these things during the day- it had to be the children! As I mop up the carpet I instruct Kayla to throw some towels on the bathroom floor downstairs. I figured I would get down there a little later. I also told her to pick up the wrapping paper and yarn.
As I head out of my bathroom, I notice the wrapping paper was gone, but the yarn was still out. With a little growl, I decided to head downstairs to see if Nathan had looked at the bathroom mess (basically to see if any damage was done- or if we got lucky with water just running threw the vent). As I got closer to his office door I went from just a little irritated to a bit more angry. There was that roll of wrapping paper. It was thrown on the basement floor.
I was mad, but just little at this point. It has become a tradition of my children to simply move an out-of-place-object to a new WRONG location. The home that every item SHOULD have just doesn't seem to exist in my home.
Nathan had locked his door so I went straight to Kayla's room to ask about the roll of wrapping paper. As I opened her door I see her in her bed and she quickly pulls her covers up over her lap. Knowing full well that she is trying to HIDE something, I ask. "Kayla, what are you doing?" Her answer was comforting......"ummmmmm".
I respond, "Kayla, what are you hiding?" Her look was enough to tell me I wasn't going to get very far. I try again, but this time with a little more conviction "Kayla, do NOT make me come over there. I'm mad, and trust me, if I come over there to see what you're hiding you will not be happy about it!" At that point, a little light came on in her head, and she knew she had better not push me.
She slowly responds and tells me it her science homework that she "forgot to do" earlier. That was it, I went from a little angry to insane. I dislike being lied to. I really dislike being lied to AFTER the evening that I had been having. That's when it happened........that's when I turned into "evil mom".
I'm pretty sure, had you been there, you could have seen the steam and smoke. I could hear the blood pumping in my ears. I was beginning to look like the hulk.....without the green color. My veins had popped up, and it is safe to say I was not looking pretty!
I yelled (I realize this is NOT one of my finer moments)! I yelled a LOT. I started in about the house. The wrapping paper, the yarn, their chores, laundry.........you name it, we covered the topic. About that time, Natalie does a fake "fear shudder". You know, the one that is supposed to say, I'm so scared of you right now.
The scene is this......I'm STANDING in the doorway. Natalie is seated beside Kayla and they are across the room on the bed. Let me also state for the record......my children have NEVER been hit or struck by me. They have been spanked, but it was at least a year ago and they laughed as I complained of hurting my hand.
Anyway, Natalie does the "fear shudder". Not wise! "Natalie, I DARE you to do that again. I'm seriously daring you to pretend to be scared again!" Natalie seems to sit straight up to make sure she doesn't accidentally move her body....in case I would mistake it for a fake shudder. After a few more minutes of just venting my frustration I added "You are grounded from everything you enjoy! NO movies, NO computer, NO Wii, NO phone, NO friends coming over, and certainly NO going over to friends houses!" Again, I so realize this is the behavior of a woman gone nuts (bad parenting). I was throwing a tantrum. And, as an adult, I certainly know better.....and I can say I knew better in the moment, but I didn't care! There it is.....pure honesty! I didn't care. I was mad, and wanted to yell.
So after the yelling thing, I went upstairs AFTER popping my head into Nathan's office and telling him that Kayla didn't have her homework done, and that I told them they had to clean the whole house before I returned from my weekend away.
I came upstairs and felt like a good margarita would be a good end for the last hour. It didn't happen, but it did sound good.
I sat in my chair and felt better about finally sharing my frustration with the house (and possibly the rest of the neighborhood). I thought we might actually see some change.
The next day I went about my day and prepared for my departure later that night. I had luckily been able to get my sister-in-law to watch Jocelyn for the morning on Friday. That would give Nathan at least a few hours to get some solid work done. Then he would be on his own. I had actually considered canceling my plans, but Nathan said I needed a break. I'm not sure a truer statement had been spoken.
When my children came home from school I took them and explained again what I expected. I took them room by room and explained that each room HAD to be cleaned. I asked them if they had questions. When they said "NO", I explained again, that I was serious about the house. I then told them what would happen IF they chose to ignore my instructions. Here was the deal. IF they didn't clean the house, I WOULD clean it when I got home. I went into detail of what I meant by that. Here is what I said: "If I have to clean this house, I will throw everything away! If things aren't in their proper home, it will be thrown away. If things are put away, they won't be touched. It won't matter WHAT is left out, it will be thrown away!"
I went off and had an amazing weekend. It was peaceful and I came home feeling renewed. I also came back realizing that I had, in many ways, failed as a parent. You see, I USED to expect my children to obey the first time. They either did what they were supposed to do, or they had some consequence. My children were well behaved, and more importantly, they obeyed! I had become lazy with my parenting and was no longer consistent. So I was able to stand back and realize that my children were simply having issues because I had been a lazy parent.
When I walked into my house late Saturday night, I saw that basically nothing had been done. I don't think they really believed me! It was almost shocking. Nathan said they had done their "normal" chores, but even that was done poorly. To top it off, the girls went over to spend the night with their friend.
I was irritated with my husband who let them break the rules (I had shared their punishment with him that night I went crazy). After the initial shock, I went back to just being happy and shared my weekend experience. I loved on the baby, who woke up the second she heard my voice. I decided I wasn't going to worry about any of this until after church on Sunday.
Church came and went. We had pot luck that afternoon and then starting working on our Christmas program for the children. When we finally got home that night, I called the kids together to explain the way our house would be running from that day on out.
It went something like this: "Kids, I see that you really didn't get the house cleaned up. I was a little disappointed last night, but I've come to realize that most of this is my fault. You see, I haven't been a very consistent parent lately. I haven't required you to follow the rules of this house. So here is what I'm going to do. I'm taking all emotion out of this! I'm not angry. I'm not going to yell about it. I'm going to clean the house. I'm starting in the laundry room. I will give each of you a chance to get any of your possessions out of there. You have to be in bed in 15 minutes, but until then you can get anything you want to keep out of there. Tomorrow I will clean it up. I will be throwing away anything that is left without a home. If it is something nice, I will put it in a sack to give away to families or children who have nothing. This is NOT a threat. This is simply how things will go from here on out. I will tell you BEFORE I start cleaning a room so you can pick up your things. I will be cleaning each room in the house, and that DOES include your rooms. I don't care if the item you left out was a special toy given to you by a grandparent! If it is left in the room, I will be getting rid of it. I realized this weekend, that we have so much STUFF it is impossible to keep things picked up. I also know that because we have allowed you each to possess so many items, you can't possible appreciate the things you have. This new method will help all of us. Once I'm done going room by room, the house will be clean. From that day on, I will go throughout the house once a day, and any items not properly put away in their homes, will be thrown out. I don't care if you are left with nothing. It is completely up to each of you. Do any of you have any questions?"
They all shook their heads and headed off to the laundry room to pick up any treasured items. Within 2 minutes each came out saying they were done. I told them that the might want to go back in and take a second look around. They came back out and said they were done.
Well, Monday came and I had a number of errands that had to be done in town. I got home shortly after the kids got home from school. I made sure their homework was done, and then got them started on their normal chores. While they were doing that, I started on the laundry room.
It is hard to put into words how horrible this area was. It had become the catch all room for months. It had everything from LOADS of clothes to towels to books, craft items, rocket launch "stuff", extra kitchen "stuff", and tons of trash. I got about half the room clean, and I threw away a large box (picture a box big enough for a full sized stroller), a smaller box, 4- 13 gallon trash bags, and 2- 30 gallon trash bags full of STUFF! This is only working on about HALF the room. I also have a large box full of things to give away.
In the middle of putting a book up on the table (to transfer into the give away box), Kayla walks in and grabs it. I, with almost no emotion, tell her to put it back on the table. She says it is her special birthday book. I tell her it is now going to be given away. At this point she breaks out into tears and throws a fit!
Sobbing and begging and everything in between was her little display of desperation. And I just kept cleaning. She got louder and more dramatic. I stopped and went into the kitchen to visit with her. I stayed calm and explained that this was the deal that everyone had agreed to just the night before. There was nothing new. I had told each of them that there would be NO exceptions. I gave her the same chance I gave everyone else.
She said it wasn't fair because she didn't know that meant she had to look under things. That book was buried, and that meant it didn't count.
She took her pleas to a "higher court" to see if dad might change my ruling. Nathan sat and listened to her pleas and she justified why this was unfair. Nathan then listened to me calmly explain what was told to the kids the night before and how nothing had changed.
When I said nothing was going to change, Kayla tried one more impressive fight! She said, "Have you seen the Veggie Tales movie, Jonah?" I nodded. "Well, you must not have paid any attention to it then!" I ask why that was? Kayla says, "Well, in that movie it says God gives 2nd chances. In fact, He gives third and forth chances. But you don't care, and only give us one chance."
I was thinking to myself that she was very clever, and had I not repeated myself so many times about the "rules" of the new method, I might have been moved to give in on this one. Quick on her feet that child is!
I told her that I was NOT God, and therefore I wouldn't be giving another chance. She says, "Well, but you are kind of like God. You are god of this house!" I wanted to laugh, another quick thought from my witty daughter (and I liked the thought of the power!). But, I explained that even if I was the "god" of this house, I would not be giving another chance. She cried and carried on for at least 30 minutes. AND while doing this sat and watched her sister do all the work. Natalie kept her mouth shut until after she was done and then asked about what things she might have lost. I asked her if she really wanted to know what she had lost. YES was her answer. I told her one item........her pottery wheel. She took a deep breath, pushed her shoulders back a bit, and then sighed, "Oh well, it didn't work very well anyway."
I went back to working, and Kayla stopped crying (mainly because the louder the fit she threw the more days of dishes she was earning). Not another word was spoken about the lost items, and I believe that they totally understand now what will happen with the next room.
Today I continued working on the laundry room. I didn't finish due to another full day of activities. Maybe tomorrow after the working at the coffee shop. But there was no complaining or crying about anything today! Dare I say we are making progress?
I will keep reporting back with new information and pictures! I have decided I need to take before and after pictures. Really, no one will believe how nasty things have gotten in my home. It won't be my proudest moment, but should be fun to look back on!
Emotions had been building around the house,and this wasn't in the positive direction either. I had been avoiding my home pretty much at all costs. It had gotten to a new low (and this is really saying something). My husband had "gently" shared his frustration with me earlier in the week. I then shared my frustration- you know the one where you live the same day every single day! It goes something like I wake up to a mess (most of which was created by my family), I go along my day cleaning up said mess only to have it magically reappear later that evening. Yep, same thing every single day. And I realize it is bad form to "quit", but frankly I didn't care. I threw my toddler tantrum and stopped cleaning up! My house quickly went from bad to much much worse. And the problem escalated.
It all came to a head last Wednesday night. After an early morning and a full 8 hours at the coffee shop, then off to town to get some last minute things. I had been stressing throughout the day about finding some child care for Jocelyn all day Friday. I was going to a girls weekend away.....Women of Faith! I was excited, and yet just a bit discouraged that childcare was such an issue. I wanted to make things as easy as possible for Nathan.
Anyway......back to Wednesday night. Nathan and I had gone to town to buy some groceries and a birthday present for my nephew. We called the kids and explained that we would be home a little bit and they should do homework and chores before anything else. We got home less than an hour after they got home and found them all playing. Again.....a little frustration set in when I saw that really no chores had been done. All had done homework, but they had "forgot" about chores.
They did their chores and then quickly wrapped the gift for their cousin. We eat supper and I instructed them that they needed to get showers. Kayla ran to take a shower by herself, and Natalie reminded me she took a shower that morning. Jocelyn and Sam go to get in with Kayla and she refuses Sam (but that's fine, and he would take one right after she got out). I finally had a moment to sit down and check email. Ahhh.......some short lived peace. Kayla brought Jocelyn to me soaking wet, but clean!
I diapered Jocelyn and waited for the dryer to stop with her clean, warm pajamas. I continued on with my email and was trying to send off a few replies. Kayla came in and said she heard a "weird water sound". I asked her to go see if Sam had left the shower running. She came running back in screaming. She said water was pouring all over the place. I ran into my bathroom to see the shower overflowing. Sam had plugged the drain to have some extra water to play in (this was not unusual, he does it every time he is in the shower). He "forgot" to pay attention and water was running everywhere.
Water wasn't just pouring onto my bathroom carpet, but had been going threw the heating vent into the bathroom below. It was a huge mess.
Now here is the impressive part (or at least I think it is pretty good), I didn't loose my cool at all with the water. It was what it was (a MESS), but it was an accident. Sam shouldn't have been all alone, but he was. So I start cleaning up the extremely wet carpet. I notice in the panic of running into the bathroom, that there is a roll of wrapping paper on my bedroom floor. There is also yarn laying in the doorway. As a side note.....I hadn't been into either of these things during the day- it had to be the children! As I mop up the carpet I instruct Kayla to throw some towels on the bathroom floor downstairs. I figured I would get down there a little later. I also told her to pick up the wrapping paper and yarn.
As I head out of my bathroom, I notice the wrapping paper was gone, but the yarn was still out. With a little growl, I decided to head downstairs to see if Nathan had looked at the bathroom mess (basically to see if any damage was done- or if we got lucky with water just running threw the vent). As I got closer to his office door I went from just a little irritated to a bit more angry. There was that roll of wrapping paper. It was thrown on the basement floor.
I was mad, but just little at this point. It has become a tradition of my children to simply move an out-of-place-object to a new WRONG location. The home that every item SHOULD have just doesn't seem to exist in my home.
Nathan had locked his door so I went straight to Kayla's room to ask about the roll of wrapping paper. As I opened her door I see her in her bed and she quickly pulls her covers up over her lap. Knowing full well that she is trying to HIDE something, I ask. "Kayla, what are you doing?" Her answer was comforting......"ummmmmm".
I respond, "Kayla, what are you hiding?" Her look was enough to tell me I wasn't going to get very far. I try again, but this time with a little more conviction "Kayla, do NOT make me come over there. I'm mad, and trust me, if I come over there to see what you're hiding you will not be happy about it!" At that point, a little light came on in her head, and she knew she had better not push me.
She slowly responds and tells me it her science homework that she "forgot to do" earlier. That was it, I went from a little angry to insane. I dislike being lied to. I really dislike being lied to AFTER the evening that I had been having. That's when it happened........that's when I turned into "evil mom".
I'm pretty sure, had you been there, you could have seen the steam and smoke. I could hear the blood pumping in my ears. I was beginning to look like the hulk.....without the green color. My veins had popped up, and it is safe to say I was not looking pretty!
I yelled (I realize this is NOT one of my finer moments)! I yelled a LOT. I started in about the house. The wrapping paper, the yarn, their chores, laundry.........you name it, we covered the topic. About that time, Natalie does a fake "fear shudder". You know, the one that is supposed to say, I'm so scared of you right now.
The scene is this......I'm STANDING in the doorway. Natalie is seated beside Kayla and they are across the room on the bed. Let me also state for the record......my children have NEVER been hit or struck by me. They have been spanked, but it was at least a year ago and they laughed as I complained of hurting my hand.
Anyway, Natalie does the "fear shudder". Not wise! "Natalie, I DARE you to do that again. I'm seriously daring you to pretend to be scared again!" Natalie seems to sit straight up to make sure she doesn't accidentally move her body....in case I would mistake it for a fake shudder. After a few more minutes of just venting my frustration I added "You are grounded from everything you enjoy! NO movies, NO computer, NO Wii, NO phone, NO friends coming over, and certainly NO going over to friends houses!" Again, I so realize this is the behavior of a woman gone nuts (bad parenting). I was throwing a tantrum. And, as an adult, I certainly know better.....and I can say I knew better in the moment, but I didn't care! There it is.....pure honesty! I didn't care. I was mad, and wanted to yell.
So after the yelling thing, I went upstairs AFTER popping my head into Nathan's office and telling him that Kayla didn't have her homework done, and that I told them they had to clean the whole house before I returned from my weekend away.
I came upstairs and felt like a good margarita would be a good end for the last hour. It didn't happen, but it did sound good.
I sat in my chair and felt better about finally sharing my frustration with the house (and possibly the rest of the neighborhood). I thought we might actually see some change.
The next day I went about my day and prepared for my departure later that night. I had luckily been able to get my sister-in-law to watch Jocelyn for the morning on Friday. That would give Nathan at least a few hours to get some solid work done. Then he would be on his own. I had actually considered canceling my plans, but Nathan said I needed a break. I'm not sure a truer statement had been spoken.
When my children came home from school I took them and explained again what I expected. I took them room by room and explained that each room HAD to be cleaned. I asked them if they had questions. When they said "NO", I explained again, that I was serious about the house. I then told them what would happen IF they chose to ignore my instructions. Here was the deal. IF they didn't clean the house, I WOULD clean it when I got home. I went into detail of what I meant by that. Here is what I said: "If I have to clean this house, I will throw everything away! If things aren't in their proper home, it will be thrown away. If things are put away, they won't be touched. It won't matter WHAT is left out, it will be thrown away!"
I went off and had an amazing weekend. It was peaceful and I came home feeling renewed. I also came back realizing that I had, in many ways, failed as a parent. You see, I USED to expect my children to obey the first time. They either did what they were supposed to do, or they had some consequence. My children were well behaved, and more importantly, they obeyed! I had become lazy with my parenting and was no longer consistent. So I was able to stand back and realize that my children were simply having issues because I had been a lazy parent.
When I walked into my house late Saturday night, I saw that basically nothing had been done. I don't think they really believed me! It was almost shocking. Nathan said they had done their "normal" chores, but even that was done poorly. To top it off, the girls went over to spend the night with their friend.
I was irritated with my husband who let them break the rules (I had shared their punishment with him that night I went crazy). After the initial shock, I went back to just being happy and shared my weekend experience. I loved on the baby, who woke up the second she heard my voice. I decided I wasn't going to worry about any of this until after church on Sunday.
Church came and went. We had pot luck that afternoon and then starting working on our Christmas program for the children. When we finally got home that night, I called the kids together to explain the way our house would be running from that day on out.
It went something like this: "Kids, I see that you really didn't get the house cleaned up. I was a little disappointed last night, but I've come to realize that most of this is my fault. You see, I haven't been a very consistent parent lately. I haven't required you to follow the rules of this house. So here is what I'm going to do. I'm taking all emotion out of this! I'm not angry. I'm not going to yell about it. I'm going to clean the house. I'm starting in the laundry room. I will give each of you a chance to get any of your possessions out of there. You have to be in bed in 15 minutes, but until then you can get anything you want to keep out of there. Tomorrow I will clean it up. I will be throwing away anything that is left without a home. If it is something nice, I will put it in a sack to give away to families or children who have nothing. This is NOT a threat. This is simply how things will go from here on out. I will tell you BEFORE I start cleaning a room so you can pick up your things. I will be cleaning each room in the house, and that DOES include your rooms. I don't care if the item you left out was a special toy given to you by a grandparent! If it is left in the room, I will be getting rid of it. I realized this weekend, that we have so much STUFF it is impossible to keep things picked up. I also know that because we have allowed you each to possess so many items, you can't possible appreciate the things you have. This new method will help all of us. Once I'm done going room by room, the house will be clean. From that day on, I will go throughout the house once a day, and any items not properly put away in their homes, will be thrown out. I don't care if you are left with nothing. It is completely up to each of you. Do any of you have any questions?"
They all shook their heads and headed off to the laundry room to pick up any treasured items. Within 2 minutes each came out saying they were done. I told them that the might want to go back in and take a second look around. They came back out and said they were done.
Well, Monday came and I had a number of errands that had to be done in town. I got home shortly after the kids got home from school. I made sure their homework was done, and then got them started on their normal chores. While they were doing that, I started on the laundry room.
It is hard to put into words how horrible this area was. It had become the catch all room for months. It had everything from LOADS of clothes to towels to books, craft items, rocket launch "stuff", extra kitchen "stuff", and tons of trash. I got about half the room clean, and I threw away a large box (picture a box big enough for a full sized stroller), a smaller box, 4- 13 gallon trash bags, and 2- 30 gallon trash bags full of STUFF! This is only working on about HALF the room. I also have a large box full of things to give away.
In the middle of putting a book up on the table (to transfer into the give away box), Kayla walks in and grabs it. I, with almost no emotion, tell her to put it back on the table. She says it is her special birthday book. I tell her it is now going to be given away. At this point she breaks out into tears and throws a fit!
Sobbing and begging and everything in between was her little display of desperation. And I just kept cleaning. She got louder and more dramatic. I stopped and went into the kitchen to visit with her. I stayed calm and explained that this was the deal that everyone had agreed to just the night before. There was nothing new. I had told each of them that there would be NO exceptions. I gave her the same chance I gave everyone else.
She said it wasn't fair because she didn't know that meant she had to look under things. That book was buried, and that meant it didn't count.
She took her pleas to a "higher court" to see if dad might change my ruling. Nathan sat and listened to her pleas and she justified why this was unfair. Nathan then listened to me calmly explain what was told to the kids the night before and how nothing had changed.
When I said nothing was going to change, Kayla tried one more impressive fight! She said, "Have you seen the Veggie Tales movie, Jonah?" I nodded. "Well, you must not have paid any attention to it then!" I ask why that was? Kayla says, "Well, in that movie it says God gives 2nd chances. In fact, He gives third and forth chances. But you don't care, and only give us one chance."
I was thinking to myself that she was very clever, and had I not repeated myself so many times about the "rules" of the new method, I might have been moved to give in on this one. Quick on her feet that child is!
I told her that I was NOT God, and therefore I wouldn't be giving another chance. She says, "Well, but you are kind of like God. You are god of this house!" I wanted to laugh, another quick thought from my witty daughter (and I liked the thought of the power!). But, I explained that even if I was the "god" of this house, I would not be giving another chance. She cried and carried on for at least 30 minutes. AND while doing this sat and watched her sister do all the work. Natalie kept her mouth shut until after she was done and then asked about what things she might have lost. I asked her if she really wanted to know what she had lost. YES was her answer. I told her one item........her pottery wheel. She took a deep breath, pushed her shoulders back a bit, and then sighed, "Oh well, it didn't work very well anyway."
I went back to working, and Kayla stopped crying (mainly because the louder the fit she threw the more days of dishes she was earning). Not another word was spoken about the lost items, and I believe that they totally understand now what will happen with the next room.
Today I continued working on the laundry room. I didn't finish due to another full day of activities. Maybe tomorrow after the working at the coffee shop. But there was no complaining or crying about anything today! Dare I say we are making progress?
I will keep reporting back with new information and pictures! I have decided I need to take before and after pictures. Really, no one will believe how nasty things have gotten in my home. It won't be my proudest moment, but should be fun to look back on!
Comments
It's crazy how tried and frustrating things can get sometimes.
I'm very proud of you for sticking to your guns and getting things "whipped into shape"!