needing parental advice

6-17-10


I wore my Plantar Fasciitis brace last night which means I was never truly comfortable. I am exhausted this morning. I don’t even know how much good it did. I am wearing my super cute happy making heels this morning since the one web site mentioned not wearing flats or being barefoot. Mind you, this is probably the other extreme, but I am not walking around much, and even just sitting with heels feels like it is stretching my foot out, so perhaps this is good.

It is the first Wii Workout Thursday (thinking about it, we should have done it Wednesdays if only so I could say it was WWW) tonight with Brandy. Not sure what we will do. Perhaps some tennis? That is always enjoyable. Plus, there is a lot of set up tonight just since we need to make a Mii for Brandy in order for us to play. I promise to not go crazy on my feet.

Yesterday afternoon was pleasant since the boys for some reason actually chose to play without needing me every 20 seconds. Not complaining mind you. It was quite nice. They played out back for 90 minutes and it allowed me to clean the kitchen, make dinner (which I am thrilled to say was a masterpiece) and even bake a cake just for the hell of it. I also managed to clean some other little things, which means when I get home, there is only a few major things that need to be looked at.

When the boys were going to bed, Ken noticed a sound and next thing I know, he is sprinting out back. I went out to investigate, leaving the boys with vitamins in hand and very confused. One of the tubes from the pool had broke, there causing quite a bit of water to have drained out. Luckily, we caught it before it went so low that things like the pump went out. We managed to get it repaired and re filled with little issues.

We watched Shorts last night with the boys. It was another Robert Rodriguez film. So far we have enjoyed Shark Boy and Lava Girl and the Spy Kids series. This one was really fun! I was impressed. The boys, especially Bobby, was loving it.

Yesterday afternoon I had hosed down some dog poo and Luna managed to get all muddy and wet in the process. I laughed at this until she jumped up on me, planting multiple muddy paw prints on my new skirt. I stood there, annoyed buy amused at it as Ken laughed. Bobby was there and looks at me in shock.

“She got it on you!”
“I know!” said in my best Monica.
“On your new dress!” Bobby was still in shock.
“I know!”
“And I love that dress!”
“Me too!”
“Stupid dog”

I was dying laughing at this exchange.

I may need to stop watching M*A*S*H at night only because I am too distracted by it. I actually want to watch it instead of just listening to the sounds. Luckily there are only a few episodes that have compelled me to watch the whole episode. And even when I watch it, I do feel more relaxed by the time I go to sleep. I just need to listen to some audio of BJ and Hawkeye talking and all will be right for me. Listening to Potter would be good, too.

Harry Morgan is 95??? Holy crap!

There is some 4 year old who can do like 1500 push ups in 40 minutes. Dude, Dax is slacking. I suppose at least he isn’t smoking like that other 4 year old.

Am I a bad Los Angeles resident when I am routing for Boston? It isn’t because I like Boston better. It is just because I don’t like the Lakers. Besides, it is basketball, which sucks no matter who is playing.

I feel all important now. My boss is asking me to do this complex spreadsheet since he knows I am the only one who can do it. Plus, he knows I will get it done quickly. It is nice to feel needed at work.

Crud. I wish I could figure out what to do to motivate my kids. Actually, what I really wish was that I could have a house in which all of their toys were in a playroom and that way nothing but a bed and clothing were in their bedrooms. But since that isn’t going to happen anytime soon, I am stuck with unmotivated children.

In all fairness, I can blame Ken for this. He isn’t a morning person, and apparently this is something the kids have developed. The kids get up and see their room as a playground with really no rules. They have been taught to play quietly in their room until everyone gets up. The problem is, the lesson we should have been teaching them was that of, you cannot play until you get dressed.

I cut Dax some slack. Hell, the kid is only 3. But Bobby, who is going to school in a few short months, needs to step it up. I also know that I am not the only parent dealing with kids who dink in the morning. Seriously, what grownup wouldn’t relish in the idea of sitting around all morning in their jammies? Hell, I know that on a Saturday I have been known to be in sweats and a tank top while barking orders at the boys to get ready to face the day. This isn’t a good thing.

The suggestion at this point on the table is that of an alarm clock. The boys are going to need to be up by a certain time soon so that they can have breakfast and get ready in time for school. It seems to me that now with the alarm clocks that have 2 alarm times, we could easily have the wake up one set for them to get up and start getting dressed, with a second alarm going off to tell them they are now officially in trouble. I hate to have to go to the punishment route, but they clearly don’t seem motivated by incentive.

We have a couple of Lego Star Wars Watches that they really want. I told them if they could get dressed 5 days in a row without being told that they would earn it. They can’t even get one day down. I tried making a reward for one day, to which they didn’t care.

What drives me nuts is that I am not there. This battle is entirely on Ken’s watch which means I am frustrated that I can’t act instantly, but actually have to calculate out suggestions for him to work with. Since right now, my schedule is not interfered with, and truly, the kids have a flexible time schedule now, I am not motivated myself to put my foot down on what needs to be done. But I am starting to get a little itchy to do so since I know we have a short period in which they need to learn this.

What is really sad is that I am starting to consider putting out their breakfast when I go to work in the morning. I am considering putting their clothes on the back of the chairs so that before they can sit down to eat, they have to change into what is there.

After some further thought, it is possible that Bobby doesn’t have the problem; I do. Instead of beating him over the head with this, maybe I need to consider he isn’t ready. I may need to look at this as not a loss, but as a, we need to step back and let him get there at a more natural progression. He dresses himself, but being self motivated takes time. Maybe I need to just set it that he has to be dressed by a certain time. We can remind him, but if he doesn’t get ready before we need to leave, then he has consequences. It is a puzzle for me to work on, that is for sure.