Today was NOT a good "mommy day"..... What I mean by that is that I feel like I was a FAILURE as a parent. I feel like some days ALL I do is Harp on my girls about this or that.
I am so overwhelmed with my house and TRYING to sort through CRAP and get rid of it before we move. Also with my marine gone for the next 3 1/2 weeks (he's already been gone for 1 week) my girls think I am a COMPLETE push over and walk ALL OVER ME! I had a heart to hear talk with them tonite before we had family prayer. It has gotten to be too much for me. I WISH. with EVERYTHING in me that I COULD sit and watch tv ALL day and NOT lift a finger! I WISH I didn't have any "chores" to do... but that just ISN'T the case. I am NON STOP on the go and my girls are the ones (along with my marine, when he is home) that gets to sit back and relax and MOM does EVERYTHING else!
A few weeks ago my marine and I sat down with the girls and divided up the chore list. We even told them that an ALLOWANCE would be given IF and only IF the chores were ALL done without having to be told ALL week! I thought FOR SURE money would help them get a move on it! I WAS DEAD WRONG! It hasn't helped a bit! I also bought new bedding for the girls room and curtains and all....thinking that if we decorated the room, it would help. Well they haven't even cleaned the CRAP off their beds so we could put the new bedding on (it's been 2 weeks since I got the bedding!)
Am I wrong in MAKING my girls do their "chores"? I don't think I am. We are TRYING to teach them responsibility. But it's not working out so good right now. I feel like a broken record. I had MANY jobs to do around my house when I was their age. By the time I was my oldest age (she'll be 13 next month) I was doing the laundry for all 8 members of my family! ALL OF IT! BY MYSELF! along with MANY other things.
So because I have been so stressed out, other than spending 2 hours cleaning and organizing my laundry/pantry room.... I have vegged on the computer, Blog hopping and Facebooking. Oh and I DID make this AWESOME Valentine's Day wreath (if I do say so myself)
But I have wanted to just ignore my house and the mess that it is. MAYBE I will be better tomorrow and get the motivation to do better. I asked the girls to think about how THEY can help and make things better to make our home better and peaceful (so mama doesn't go crazy!) Can't wait to hear their answers tomorrow.
Well I am off to do the dishes that DIDN'T get done by my girls. Oh the joys!
just a sidenote.... I went into the kitchen after finishing this post and on the wipeoff board of the fridge there was a note from Sydney (my 10 year old) saying this
Mommy I am sorry- Syd
How sweet is that. Man I feel like crap for getting mad at them.
Hey, trust me, you are not wrong in trying to make the girls do chores.
ReplyDeleteGrowing up, my step-mom made me and my two little sisters do our chores before we could do absolutely anything. No TV, no playing, nothing. And we did not get an allowance. If we did not do our chores, we were grounded (I couldn't even read a book until my chores were done).
By the time I was 9 years old, MY chores consisted of cleaning my room, cleaning the kitchen twice a week, sorting the laundry, and mowing the lawn. As my little sisters got older, they gained just as many responsibilities.
I do get how you are feeling about cleaning and sorting through everything before y'all move. I'm procrastinating on the same exact thing. I have until the end of March (or so) to be done going through everything, and packing it up (I know that the military takes care of that, but I'm super paranoid about something getting broken). But all I want to do is play with my son and veg out in BlogLand.
I am totally here if you need someone to talk to.
<3/Linz
P.S. I totally love your wreath. Super cute. Instead of doing any work around the house today, I made a paper heart garland for our mantle place. :]
ReplyDeleteI thought about blogging my response and I may still. But anyways bless your heart for teaching your children about responsibilities. I definitely agree it needs to begin in the home. We do the same thing in our house and it works. Only I started off small and maybe cuz my kids are a little younger. But I started them with earnig things you would consider freebies or common sense. Obligations like brushing teeth, showering, etc. Just to introduce them to the idea an really perk up the incentive. Combine that with taking them to the store and explaining they could buy stuff (after tithing and savings) with their fun money. Naturally they couldn't afford since I didn't give them big bucks. So then I slowly started to introduce chores according to their age, and giving them obvious ones as well still. The obvious ones need to be done or they face some sort of lecture or reprimand. The other tasks I allow a sibling to earn extra if they do it if the assigned one doesn't. That doesn't usually sit well so the next day you can believe each does their own :) hope that helps!
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