Why Can't We All Just Get Along?

Seventy days and counting.... "Why can't we all just get along?" Seems to be the catch phrase I hear myself repeating to my four children, but it is mostly directed at my three older children or maybe more like my middle two(as my oldest daughter has had a booked social calendar and has missed out on the sibling malcontent.)

Here is a recap of one incident. My five year old almost imploded with anger as he tried to run his sister over with his Razor scooter, causing him to have a further meltdown when I pried his Razor out of his hot little hands. As a mother, I felt I had no other option than to hold his Razor hostage, but in his defense, I felt his frustration with his sister, as she and her friend had been blatantly ignoring him all afternoon. Every time my son tried to get their attention or speak to them, the girls would look at each other and say, "Do you hear anything.... No, I don't hear anything, do you?" My son begged them to talk to him and when they didn't he got so frustrated that he finally decided to crash into his sister with the said Razor. I am a firm believer in "actions have consequences." Hence I folded up his Razor scooter and placed it on top of the stroller I was pushing. And as my son screamed at me, calling me "Mean mom!" I calmly looked at all the kids and asked, "Why can't we all just get along?" Then my daughter looked at me and said, "Duh, he's a weirdo boy." I decided not to waste my energy with a response, but gave my daughter the look that meant she was in trouble and if she if kept talking.... well, she just looked away and whispered something to her friend, who I already knew would not be coming over to our house for the next week.

How am I going to supposed survive seventy more days of summer if this incessant fighting continues? So far, my one solution has been to exhaust them physically. I have done this by spending the day at the pool or the beach. The results are: the kids come home, take a shower, eat like a pack of starved wolves and sleep a good twelve to fifteen hours, making my summer hours of 8:00 am to 8:00 pm work. Hopefully this will work for the next seventy days....

75 Days and counting......

It has finally happened. The end of my vacation. School is closed. Teachers are busy celebrating their new found freedom and I am not sure what to do? I already did the math: 11+31+31+2=75 days until school starts again. I have 75 days to spend with my four children. I will try to look on the bright side, I can sleep in. In fact, today I slept until 8:00 a.m. Amazingly, my seven-year-old who could barely manage to get out of bed by 7:00 a.m. to leave the house for school at 7:25 a.m. woke up at 6:15 a.m. I kindly told her it was too early for breakfast. Then she pointed out the bright sun shining through the vertical blinds in my bedroom and I wondered what happened to the good old "Southern Californian June Gloom?" I then used this as an opportunity to establish my first summer law, that breakfast would not be served before 8:00 a.m., because of course I need every excuse to shorten the length of my 75 days of summer vacation with my children. My summer hours of operation will be between 8 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. Sounds fair to me. 12*75= 900 hours of mom on the job. I need the other 900 hours for myself. Am I being selfish? Maybe, but if business hours are from 9 to 5, then I am working four hours of overtime and I don't even get paid with the exception of a few "thank yous" and "your welcomes" (from my two-year-old son, who skips right over "thank you" to "your welcome.")

Just so you know, I am in for a long summer. My seven-year-old has already informed me that she is bored and she can't stand her life. She keeps whining, "Mom, what am I supposed to do? My friends are all busy and I am B-O-R-E-D." No not the dreaded word- B-O-R-E-D. What am I supposed to do? Start counting. Only 75 more days to go......