Vida. Risa. Amor.

I spent my entire Sunday cleaning & organizing with the hope that it would get the family ahead for the week. Well, now it's Monday morning, and I'm pretty sure my good intentions backfired. I don't really enjoy writing about the stresses of motherhood, but it is possible I might look back on days like today and realize how "easy" life actually is right now....meaning, that it sometimes scares me that the older my kids get, the harder life might get later on down the road. With that positive outlook stated, the basic mood I am feeling right now is frustration. As a parent I try to set "rules" in the hopes that my kids will actually obey me and understand that I care. I can remember the very last thing I told Josie last night was to make sure she called me when she got to the bus stop this morning. (She is determined to walk to a farther away bus stop where her friends go, which is fine, but we just want to make sure that she let's us know each morning that she gets there safe and sound). No messages were left on my cell phone or home phone today...though I'm sure if I checked I'd see texts in the hundreds from the weekend between her and her friends. Lanie was up late Sunday night doing homework when I saw her all afternoon playing football with her buddies outside, all the while claiming she didn't have much homework to do. Also, she decided to show me her progress report Monday morning which had an F on it for writing. She had many side notes scribbled on it apologizing for the bad grade, and "please don't be mad Mom, I'll fix this!"....So basically she was waiting for the last second to show me the bad news. On the way to take the kids to school I realized that I had never gone through Aydan's back pack and found about 15 practice books I was supposed to be practicing with him over the weekend on, plus a newsletter with his new spelling words, and a lunch box with his rotten leftovers in it. Someone really should have told me that it is a part time job helping a first grader keep up with homework!! So back to home with dishes piled up in the sink, laundry waiting in the washer to be thrown in the dryer, and a bagillion other things to still get done, my 3 year old for some reason wet his pants again and is screaming at me to fix it. I love my kids. I really, really, really do, and I usually like a good challenge. But I'm exhausted and emotional, and tonight it would probably be in everyone's best interest to have their Dad deal with them while I figure out a way to make myself disappear!