The Mean Mom Summer Rules

Preface 1: I have good kids. Really, really good kids. They are obedient, and kind, and willing to help, and happy, and self entertaining, and...just, really good kids.

Preface 2: I have a lot of things that I need/want to blog about, like our awesome trip to Mexico, and three birthdays, and all the other things that have happened that I have been neglecting to talk about in this little corner. But today, Imma talk about this instead, for whatever reason. Be patient with me and my sporadic time-jumping blogging.

Okay. So, keep Preface 1 in mind as I tell you a little story. Yesterday morning....well, I'm going to save a lot of time and probably a little embarrassment for my oldest child by not sharing the whole story. My mom and her friends have a saying about being "a fart in a whirlwind". It's where you just are running around, doing things and not really thinking about what you're doing. That was my son yesterday. Just doing things without realizing what would happen afterwards. Which is totally typical of little boys (so I've heard).

But. He LIED to me about what happened to the thing that he broke. "It just happened, Mom. I don't even know." Ooooh, that gets under my skin. And we had had a big long talk about lying about a month ago, how I want him to be able to trust me, and I want to trust him. And to tell the truth, even if he thinks he'll get in trouble for what it is he's about to tell me. I thought I had gotten through to him about lying, but apparently not.

I was mad, and frustrated. About the lying, about the expensive thing that he accidentally broke because he was being a fart in a whirlwind. I called Pete, who was at work. And we decided to lay down a few rules.

I think that this incident was kind of the straw that made me take action. I mentioned that Pete and I went to Mexico right after school got out. Ever since we've been home (for about a week and a half), though, I've been kind of in a funk, of not knowing what day it is, and not really doing much of anything besides the bare minimum. The TV has been on all day, from morning till night, and if it's not some stupid crappy TV show, then it's the Wii and my kids bickering about who is better at what on Wii Sports. Just...little things that have been building up, and I just haven't done anything about it.

Until yesterday.

We talked with the kids about choices and consequences. We talked about responsibilities. We talked about thinking things through before just doing them. And we talked about lying.

Besides the constant TV noise (I really miss being without cable, but our current internet must be bundled with it-dumb, I know), I've been tired of the constant "I'm hungry" and "When's lunch?" And I'm tired of toys being EVERYWHERE, and reminding children of their chores all the time. I know they're young, and need to get reminded, but when does that end, unless you try to get them to rely on their own brains and sense of responsibility early in life?

I needed to lay out some structure. And the consequences are hard. But maybe that will help them remember their responsibilities.

I printed out the list, and put it right by our chore board in the kitchen. We went over every single point with the kids. At the end, I told them that if they follow these rules, that there summer will be easy and great, but if not, it can be hard and not-so-fun. It's their choice. I also told them I had some ideas and activities planned, so we should have a good summer. But the rules come first.

Well, here is the list. After reading it, you'll probably be grateful you're not a kid in my house. :) Any extra comments or explanations I have are in italics.


• You will do every chore on the chore board, every single day. If Mom or Dad have to remind you to do something on the board, you will not get paid for any of your chores for the whole week. My kids each have a kitchen chore or two every week (put away dishes, rinse dishes, load dishwasher, wipe off table and counters, sweep; they also help cook dinner twice a week and that person also helps set the table). Other things on the board are things like make your bed, pick up toys, fold your laundry (yes, even my 4-year-old folds her own laundry),brush your teeth, do homework, etc. Oh, also, they get paid $2 a week for doing their chore. If they don't eat their full meal, they pay me $1 per meal and don't get any snacks for the rest of the day.

• Chore day is on Friday during the summer. After eating breakfast Friday morning, you will do your weekend chore. You will not be reminded of this. If you do not do it at that point, I will have you do it later, and you will not get paid for doing your chore. These are the once-a-week chores, like scrubbing tubs, toilets, bathroom sinks, vacuuming or mopping (the older two), dusting, windexing, etc.

• If you leave anything on the stairs, in the kitchen, or in the upstairs living room (toys, pencils or markers or pens, papers, shoes) at any time, and Mom or Dad get it first, it no longer belongs to you, it belongs to Mom or Dad, who get to do whatever they want with that item, including throwing it away. I don't know how many times I have to step around who-knows-what on the stairs-drives me crazy.

• If you can’t find something to do, Mom will find something for you to do. Oh, and it will be an extra chore, like wiping down walls, cleaning out cabinets, changing cat litter. Fun stuff like that. For free.

• The Wii is going away for a while. When I feel that you have earned the privilege to play the Wii again, I will let you know. If you ask at any time about the Wii, I will add 2 weeks of time on to its disappearance.

• You are allowed to watch TV for one hour total each day. If Mom or Dad does not like the show that is on, you change the channel to something that they approve of. If you cannot find anything to watch, the TV goes back off. If you whine or complain about turning off the TV, NO ONE will watch the TV AT ALL for one week.

• You will read or be read to every day. Jakob reads for 45 minutes, Brock reads out loud to Mom or Dad for 15 minutes and to himself for 15 minutes, Troy reads out loud to Mom or Dad for 15 minutes, and Ivy will get one story read to her. If you whine or complain about reading, your reading time will double, and stay there for the remainder of the summer. It doubles EVERY TIME you whine or complain. I'm a mean mom. Hear me roar.

• Jakob will practice the piano every day (Monday through Friday) for 10 minutes. If he whines or complains about practicing, his practice time will double and stay there for the remainder of the summer. It doubles EVERY TIME he whines or complains. Roar!

• You will clear your own dish right after every meal. Rinse your own bowl, throw away your own paper plate. If you don’t, then you get to do ALL of the kitchen chores after dinner for that day. My kids end up leaving their bowls of milk on the table until lunch time, or until I clear them myself. It's annoying.

• You will not ask WHAT is for lunch or what is for dinner. You will not ask WHEN we are having lunch or when we are having dinner. You will not tell me you are hungry, or do anything else passive-aggressive concerning meals and mealtime. If you ask, or whine, or complain about food, you will not eat that meal and will instead sit on your bed. My kids really are not big whiners. They really are more passive-aggressive in their requests. "Gee, I sure could use some fruit snacks right now."

• The only time we will have snacks is at 2:30 p.m. If you ask for a snack at any other time, your snack privilege will be revoked (taken away) for one week. They were fine with snacks once a day during school. So suddenly, now they need snack after breakfast, and an hour after breakfast, and after lunch, and three times between lunch and dinner? I don't think so. I did tell them that I would work on getting breakfasts that were more filling than cereal, like making eggs or pancakes or fruit smoothies. Same with lunches-not just a PB&J, but a sandwich and cheese and a veggie and a fruit thing and a dessert. Because yes, kids gotta grow.

• Mom reserves the right to add to this list at any time.

Mean, mean Mom.

Oh, and our new consequence for lying? You get grounded for a whole week for each lie you tell. We were merciful this time because it's a new thing, but no more Mr. Nice Guy from here on out on that consequence.

It will be an interesting summer.

Photo a Day: Color

My kids LOVE to color and draw. Like, every day, all day long. I love that they love to color.

This little gem is what Brock brought home yesterday from school. I think he was a little embarrassed, but I think it's really funny. It says "I had a bad day when I got hit by a train. I went to the hospital. I am tired of watching TV but I am better."

I asked him about it. I was all, "Were you supposed to write something that was real?" And he said, "We could write anything, so I made up a story."

The train says "Choo-choo! I can't stop!". The little guy (Brock) says "Ah!" The brown squiggly is the train track. The different colored squares are the train cars. And then there's a dude roasting a marshmallow by a purple tent. You know, because people are always camping out by train tracks, right?

Photo a Day: How You Feel Today

Today, I feel tired...

...just like my cat.

It's been a fairly busy few days.

I cut, packaged, and froze 80 pounds of chicken.

I had an eye appointment, and my doctor said everything is looking good from my surgery.

I sight-read some piano music for a musical number in our ward on Sunday. A few girls that were planning to sing couldn't make it, so the pianist had to step in to sing. She brought the music to my house 15 minutes before church started, I played through it once, and then played in sacrament meeting.

I also taught the gospel doctrine lesson (that's my current calling; I teach once a month), and had helped Jakob prepare his talk in primary as well.

I cleaned at my dad's office.

I had a short piano recital for some of my students. Jakob did great, I messed up a little (but I hadn't practiced all that much-I decided last minute to play at the recital). I decided to take May off of teaching, which is probably a good thing, because Pete just started working Wednesday through Saturday for 12-hour days. 48 hours of work, plus 8 hours of commuting time. He's a good man, that one.

I did my visiting teaching. Yay!

I went grocery shopping.

I'm totally caught up on laundry.

Pete and I watched "First Knight". "The law will judge YUH!"

I made cornbread for our ward's chili cook-off, which won a little award. Here's the recipe, from my kids' preschool teacher, Miss Karla:

Cornbread

1 cup butter melted

1 cup sugar

4 eggs

2 1/2 cups buttermilk

1/2 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. baking powder

1 cup cornmeal

3 cups flour

1 tsp. salt

Mix butter, sugar, and eggs. Add buttermilk and stir.

Stir dry ingredients together and add to liquids. Stir just until moistened.

Pour into greased 9"x13" pan and bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.

And, I fed the missionaries last night. They ate SOOOO much food! I don't know what I'm going to do when my boys are that age, and eating me out of house and home. Note to self: quantity, not quality.

Today, I've done pretty much nothing. Even moms need days off every once in a while, right?

Photo a Day: Somewhere You Went

Monday afternoon was HOT. I don't know if I've ever said that about an Idaho spring before. So I called Pete and suggested we get some KFC and have a picnic at the park for Family Home Evening.

But Monday evening was a little windy, and started to get overcast quickly. We stuck with our plan and got some food and went to the park. After eating, my kids just played and played and played. It got windier, and colder, and even rained on us a bit. But my kids didn't seem to mind. They continued to play in the dirt/mud, slid down the slides and got wet butts, and ran up and down the steep hill in that park.

Not pictured: Brock, because he and Pete left to get some ice cream. Which we still haven't eaten. For some reason I always forget about having ice cream in our freezer.

Photo a Day: 1 p.m.

Today at 1 p.m. was like most of my days at 1 p.m.

Ivy was still eating lunch. Sometimes my kids take 2 seconds eating lunch; sometimes it's more like 2 hours.

I was getting sleepy, because that's what my body does at that time.

And Troy was doing homework, namely, reading to me.

Troy is really good about working on his homework after kindergarten. I am soooo glad that I decided to have him in morning kindergarten this year. He's a morning person anyway. But because he's home for a couple of hours before the other two get home, I can spend some one-on-one time with him, helping him through some of his homework packet that he gets each week. (Some he can do on his own, some he needs help with.)

Lately he's also been getting little books from school as well. He reads each one three times, and we rate how he did with it (was it easy, just right, or hard). He's done pretty well with those, too. Although one of the books today had the word "why" right after the word "happy". I always feel like a traitor having to explain all the exceptions to the English language to my little budding readers, like how one word ending in -y says a hard "E", while the other word ending in -y says a hard "I". What's up with that? So he kept saying "wheee" instead of "why" the first couple of times.

I think it will be so weird when he's in school all day next fall. And then my 1 p.m. will consist of only this one and me:

She's sad because, heaven forbid, I made her sit and finish her lunch that she had been working on for over an hour.

Photo a Day: Inside your Wallet

I once heard you can tell a lot about a person by looking in their wallet, or their garbage can. I really don't know if either of those are true. But here's my wallet:

Pretty empty. Minimalist? Boring? Plain? No personality? Hmmmm.

On the left, my checkbook. Also on the left, in a little side flap, are pics of my kids. In the middle, the change holder (it currently has 26 cents in it), and cards: temple recommend, health insurance cards, my library card. On the right, my license and debit card.

Every once in a while, there's actual cash in there. But it's usually 5s or 1s for kids' allowances. (Which, they don't get paid unless they do their chores. So I don't know if that's called an allowance or a payday.)

I also used to have a credit card, until I realized that having that in there made me spend more money than I should. So now I don't even carry it so I'm not tempted.

And, I'm still old school in the fact that I still write everything down in my check register, including debit usage and auto drafts (even though it's all on my bank account online, which I check every few days). And I have to know where I'm at to the penny (I've tried rounding, it doesn't work for me).

My wallet sits in my purse, which is equally empty. Sometimes there are receipts in my purse-until I get them written in my register, that is. I also have two pens, lip balm, hand sanitizer, keys, and breath mints.

Yeah, I'm going to go with minimalist, to make myself feel better.

Photo a Day: Last Thing You Bought

(Technically, the last thing I bought was pizza on Saturday night, because I was still getting over the awesome stomach bug that Pete passed to me. But this is the thing I got the picture of, so this is what you get to hear about. And it's the second to last thing I bought, so that's close enough, right?)

Pete recently got put in Young Men's as the 1st counselor. They were having a 50s night, and had to dress up. So Pete rolled up the bottom of his jeans, and I got this shirt for him. It just reminded me of the 50s for some reason; I don't know if it was really the 50s style or not, but whatever. We tried to slick his hair back, but his hair kind of has a mind of its own. I should have gotten the really thick black-rimmed glasses, but thought about it too late.