Help me!!! I'm Drowning!!!

So, some advice would be great right about now. I hope someone has some for me....

As you are probably aware, laundry is an ongoing process here. It just never ends. I live for days when I'm all caught up. This really does happen sometimes.

Last week, I got all caught up. Well, kind of. I had washed and dried everything, but I had a huge pile of laundry to fold. It sat there until the last load was dried then I started the folding process; I dragged all the kids, all but the baby that is, to help me out. We got it all done. It felt so good. Even the three-year-old was in on the gig.

After Z got home from work, we went out for a date and left the kids to get the clothes put away. Can you feel this story going in a bad direction?

When we came back, the piles were all taken care of, or so we thought. Oh that false security thing....

Sunday morning came, and I went in to help T get his church clothes. Lo and behold, clothing ALL OVER THE FLOOR!!! UGH! It was just a really bad nightmare! It had to be!

Oh no it wasn't. Both boys that share that room simply laid their clothes on the floor and let them get kicked around. I stood there with my jaw open.

Didn't they help fold those clothes? Didn't they see the time it took to wash, dry, and fold them?! Obviously they didn't. I took this very personally. To look at it rationally, I knew that these boys are six and three; they have no value in their mother's time, but dang it, I do. Clearly, (to use an educator's catch phrase) I need to raise their level of concern. They need to improve their understanding of just what the whole laundry thing takes.

In the meantime, my laundry room continues to pile up with dirty clothes and towels. I don't want to touch them until I have it figured out how to do it right so this won't happen again. Such a silly thing, but I felt such a huge disrespect from this. Call me a hormonal nursing mother--that's got to be it, right? Sometimes I worry so much about doing and saying just the right thing, so my children end up well-adjusted and unscarred emotionally, but what about my emotional scars, who's worrying about those? I just walk past the laundry room, and my heart grows heavy.

Okay, so just tell me how dumb I am, shake your head and continue folding your nice, clean, freshly dried clothes. I'll get there, just not today.

Friday's Favorites

There is one blog above all that inspires me. When I can't think of a thing to write or really don't feel like blogging, I go here, and the ideas just start to flow. I found it on a friend's blog's sidebar, clicked and there I was. The photography is beautiful, bright and vivid--must be some camera! This is my FAVORITE BLOG (<--click here to go there)!

Dang Life's Lessons

There is one child in our home, whom I previously thought was a quick learner but is proving me wrong. Ugh! It also appears that said child really doesn't like being "called on the carpet" for not learning the previous lesson offered. Can't say as I blame this kid. I wouldn't like it either.

Now, here's the thing that really blows my mind. It seems that this child actually thinks that me and the dad like doing the calling and in so doing, we love making this child's life miserable. It's what we live for. It's like "Yay! Another screw up! We can make someone face the responsibility of it. Oooh. Let's do it so that child is uncomfortable. Just for fun and entertainment."

Well, I sat down with said child for a good two hours doing math--algebra is mine, geometry is Z's. This happened to be algebra, so I handed the crying baby off, neglected the house that needed to be straightened before going to bed, left the laundry sitting in the washer, let my own schoolwork fall a day behind, and worked through algebra problems with this kid, and to be honest, I enjoyed it. I think, of the choices offered, it's probably what I'd rather have been doing--not the algebra per se, but the sitting next to my child and spending one-on-one time.

This kid felt so picked on...at first--grumbling, sighing, moaning. I tried to explain that if this child didn't want to face up to his/her mistakes, then he/she shouldn't make them any more. Hmm. Lesson learned? I sure hope so, but for now, and hopefully for awhile into the future, I have a daily date with this kid and algebra. Can't say as I'm too sad about that.

Before heading up to bed, the same child approached me. I heard the words, "Thanks for helping me, Mom." Hmm. Maybe our help is starting to be recognized for what it is. Could it be...love?

Gotta Love It

When Q was little, this was her favorite book. I read it twice daily for months. We read nothing else. I got so I could quote it verbatim--no text needed from beginning to end.

I've been taking a children's literature class. For it, there are a number of books I am required to read. This book was on the list. Since we own it, and since I hadn't read it in quite awhile. I decided to introduce it to T. It has become his favorite. I have now read it everyday for about the past week. So that I can get through more of the classes reading material, I have gone to reading him two books at a time. Zelinsky's Rumpelstiltskin is always one--the one T chooses. I choose The Very Hungry Caterpillar or Madeline, but his choice remains unchanged so far.

If you haven't read it, you should. Even if you don't have a child to read it to, go check it out. The illustrations are beautiful.

Well, I'd better go. Got some reading to do....

"Once there was a poor miller who had a beautiful daughter...."

Wordless Wednesday...a day late

I should be allowed because it was this girl's 16th birthday...