Twenty Six and Counting

I am finally there.  There=ready for my children to go back to school.  Cruel, vicious mother that I am, I'm done.  Go ahead, tar and feather me.  Turn me into child protection for REVELING in the fact that my summer sentence is almost over.  And really, I did good this year.  *I* am usually whining within 3 weeks of school ending that I can't wait for school to start, so, really this is a record for me.  Maybe you can sympathize...

I'm tired of my kids staying up until ungodly hour o'clock at night only to roll out of bed AFTER the sun hits its zenith.  And then look at me as if I'm nuts because I have expectations of them helping me to accomplish SOMETHING around the house.

Then come the complaints of "we don't have anything GOOD to eat in the house".  Oh, the drawer stuffed full of cheeses and lunch meats, the fresh breads, the bagels I purchase fresh weekly, the fruit, the yogurt...none of that qualifies as GOOD.  The GOOD items that I might happen to purchase while shopping, well, they rarely make it to getting put away.  Did you know that 4 children can devour an 8 count box of pop-tarts within 7 minutes of bringing it into the house.  And it takes them 5 minutes to make it to the bottom of the bag to FIND the pop tarts.  I'm just sayin'.

Yesterday, we put an end to sleepovers for my oldest two girls.  Wanna guess the number of times they have slept in their own beds in the past 2 weeks?  Even if they happened to be home, one/both may have had a friend over here, which meant that we lost our family room to their nocturnal activities (no, they don't sleep in their rooms...the rooms with queen beds in them).  If I were to hazard a guess, I'd say they maybe have slept in their own rooms MAYBE 2x in the past 2 weeks.  The problem is that now they just EXPECT that if they ask for a sleepover, they get one.  Squashed that sentiment in a heartbeat last night.

Then there is my son, who, yes is still working.  And I am very proud of him as he gets himself up at 515AM, gets ready and packs his own lunch before he catches a ride to work.  He then works anywhere between 8-12 hours in HEAT (it has been a hot summer...and I am NOT complaining) either on the trimming crew or mowing crew.  If he is on the mowing crew, he is carrying around a 35 lb blower for the majority if the time.  So, yes, I am very proud of him.  When he gets home...OY!  He has taken a twin mattress (that was part of a twin over full bunkbed that we took apart and just kept the full bed) that is typically stored under his bed for friend sleepovers and moved it to the family room where he sorta cocoons himself with the TV and whatever GOOD snacks he has managed to pilfer and hide from his sisters...kinda like his own teenage bachelor pad.

We haven't even delved into the summer activities in  which my children have partaken.  The boy has been to see a couple movies and went to a Twins game with his father so I really can't complain about him.  The job has him focused on saving money to buy a vehicle.  My oldest daughter did a volleyball camp, she has an intensive dance camp next week, she has been to Valleyfair! twice, seen Eclipse (twice...don't ask), Toy Story 3 and I'm sure a couple other movies.  She (and her next oldest sister) spent 4 full days up at her cousin's cabin, they are spending 3 days at her grandma's cabin with 2 friends (each) next week.  She (and her sisters) did an Apple River Tubing (no not done on a weekend) and I currently have tickets to take her and 7 of her friends (and their moms) to a broadway production of  Wicked .  All 3 girls are also dancing in the Derby Day Parade on Sunday.  My next daughter played softball and attended a basketball camp.  She also spent a full week at FROG (fully rely on God) camp through church (it was from 3-9 with one sleepover and a day at MOA Nickelodean Universe).  She has a dance workshop next week.  Beanie had a week of golf (which she loved) and has an intensive tap dance workshop next week.  She had a week at VBS and a few sleepovers (but not even close to the siblings).  All the girls have has several trips to the local pool and we have tried to get out on the boat every weekend (and have been pretty successful).

So, if they're not tired having DONE all that, I'm exhausted having just written it down.  In addition to Derby Days festivities this weekend, we still have a weekend at friends cabin, a weekend at Fr Dicks and a weekend at Grandma's cabin (with family, not just friends...that's a separate trip) AND the State Fair before school starts.

I suspect, if you were me, you'd be counting too.