She said, and I quote...You should never judge yourself by someone elses blog because blogs are deceiving. They never show the "real stuff."
Of course we make ourselves look good on our blogs, right? I mean, I try really hard to give you the whole picture. I tell you where I am lacking, don't I? I try to. I certainly don't want to be deceitful. But for the most part, we post stuff that we want to share which means it is usually positive, or at least not downright humiliating.
I don't post a picture of me in jammies at 1:00 PM while the kids watch TV (yes, that happens, usually on Mondays). I don't snap a shot of my dirty toilet. I don't show you when my laundry gets piled up to the moon (often...you know laundry is my weakness).
I mostly post the cute stuff. And...I admit that I am even prideful enough to enjoy the complimentary comments that I receive from all of you.
I agree with Sally, we definitely showcase what we are good at on our blogs. Maybe they should call it bragging instead of blogging.
But not today. Today, in the interest of keeping it "real", I will show you how my afternoon played out yesterday.
Here is my play room today.
Where are all the colorful bins full of toys? The scooter, the blocks, the Lincoln Logs, the wagon full of legos, the Barbies, the dress-ups? Where is everything?
Well, right here, of course...
In Toy Jail.
My kids have refused to pick up their toys every day this week. Yesterday they went too far.
Alyssa burst immediately into tears when I asked her to pick up. She screamed and cried and threw a flashlight at me, or at least in my general direction. She told me it was Alex's mess and I wasn't fair...blah, blah, blah. We talked about how this is her chore that she chose when we decided chores. We talked about messes that I clean up that are not mine. She declared my chores to be easier than picking up the basement. She was really flipping out. She is our dramatic one, after all.
Alex also refused to clean. Did he freak out? No, he just walked around like he was completely oblivious to the world around him. When I would ask him to clean he would say, "oh no, I don't like to clean"...cool as a cucumber.
Every time I would leave the room I would hear the TV come on or little feet running to the computer room. I would come down and AGAIN discuss what needed to be done. But I am not mean enough and my kids do not respect me. They love me, but respect? Nope. That is the reality of it.
After two hours and zero progress, I asked the kids if they were planning to clean. They answered in the negative. I sent them to baths and homework and I cleaned the playroom.
She did what?????
Let me be more specific. What I actually did was steal all the toys, except for Chloe's. You're a mean one Mr. Grinch. Yep, that's me. The mom who stole the play room.
Everything is now residing in the laundry room under the super mean prison warden mommy. Just when I was questioning what I had done, Alyssa told me she was happy that I got rid of the toys because she is sick of picking them up and she would rather play on the computer. Excuse me? Say that again. Okay then, no computer for a week. This kid is killing me.
So the computer is gone for one week, no exceptions. The toys will be given back gradually as they earn them back. When I see fit I will send them in to bail a toy out. But even then, these toys are now all on probation until the kids are 18 so I suggest they stay in their places or I will happily sentence them again.
Have I joined the big bad mean mommy ranks now? Are you wagging your finger at me?
Come on, let's be honest. The person who is being punished the most by this is...ME! My laundry room has been taken over by a massive pile of toys and now I am responsible for entertaining kids for 14 hours a day with NO toys. I see lots of painting and board games in my near future.
I still love my kids. I have never lied or put on airs about that. All of my sappy words are true but even still sometimes these kids make me CRAZY!
Real enough for you?
10 comments:
we can be mean together. There are no second chances here. I warned you once and that is all you get. I would have taken them all away as well.
Now that's what I'm talking about. I have done stuff like this on occasion, too, and my kids usually make comments like Alyssa's as well which is enough to make me scream. I hope toy jail will make the wee ones see the light. Annie is usually a pretty good helper, it's Mimi who gives me trouble and claims either that the task is too hard, that she's sick, too tired, or just plain won't do it. Grrr!
i'll say what i did yesterday
BEST. MOM. EVER.
YOU still ROCK
I try to do things like that. But then it turns into pure punishment for me and I give in. I can't get anything done with three kids complaining and a baby crying as she is trying to crawl to keep up with me. I give you two thumbs up for doing it and sticking to it. But hey the bright side, you hate laundry and hardly do it anyways right...;)
Awesome!!! It always seems that the punishments we give the kids are always harder on us!!! I don't get it but that is the way it works!! Good job!!
Amen sista! Sounds like a page taken from the Taylor Children book.
Good for you.
Alyssa's solution to cleaning up the toys would have gotten under my skin too...def snag her computer rights!
Have you tried making clean up games? ie. Al pick up the red things and Alyssa pick up things that start with "T", or hide clues on the toys that lead to the next toy and the next and finally a prize on the last toy.
I know this doesn't solve the problem of teaching them that they have to clean cause it can't always be a game and they have to learn responsibility, but it is something you could do periodically to make it fun.
Valerie, we have been playing games to clean up but they will only do that if I clean with them or sing them a song...
This is where the legos go, legos go, legos go.
This is where the legos go...
When we clean up
(sung to the tune of muffin man)
They have to race me and have the legos picked up by the time I am done singing. Then we go to another toy. Or we race to see who can get 10 things the fastest.
Those games were working okay but I had other stuff to clean this week and thought they should do it by themselves but they were obviously not interested.
They have done it before and sometimes I will even listen and hear Alex or Alyssa taking turns singing our little song to each other.
We WERE making progress????
I had these same problems with kids I knew named Jeff and Julie (and Valerie too). It's payback time.
It's SO true that teaching kids how to clean is often more of a punishment to the Mom, right? It's easier to just do it yourself, but I think it's just something that we have to do. Too funny, but I consistently threaten to put things away if they don't clean it up, and so I guess I'm mean, too! I love that your Mom is enjoying this post so much! :o)
Post a Comment