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Christi Diggs
on May 23 2013 - 06:00 AM
A drop of spin, a cup of deception and tsp. politics=Apathy
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Lindsay Metcalf
on May 22 2013 - 06:00 AM
When that tornado siren sounds, I'm in the basement
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mara williams
on May 21 2013 - 06:00 AM
Summer break has this mom on a house upkeep war path.
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Husband likes to say I’m just taking a break. A week to relax. And wonders if I’m planning some sort of wife swap.
Oldest wants to know if I’m still going to cook. My sister says I’ll last a day. And youngest, well, he thinks we’re going to play Wii bowling all week.
But me? It’s a strike. (I like to channel Norma Rae any chance I get. … Gotta love that woman!) Plain and simple. A time out.
I’ve decided that I’m going to take a backseat this week. No nagging anyone to get anything done. No reminders of what’s happening the next day or end of the week. No asking anyone to do anything or hollering out 15 times that homework needs to be done or trash taken out.
Nope, I’m going to be an easy-going, fun-loving mom. No nitpicking, worrying. No raising my voice or being the one to corral and correct.
“Will you still cook?” oldest asked, a little perplexed.
Yes, I will still cook.
“Will you still talk to us?” he asked, again a little perplexed.
Oh, I’ll still talk. But just about happy things. Asking about days and what they’d like for dinner. This strike is about being the good guy. Not always, ALWAYS, the bad guy.
I tumbled over the edge sometime yesterday afternoon. Maybe it was the realization that after asking two people, a total of four times, to vacuum the floor, that it still looks like we live in a movie theater floor after a long flick. Maybe I’ve been watching a little too much TV and channeling sitcom moms Claire and Frankie who always seem to be striking and complaining about something.
Or maybe it was a five- minute lecture delivered to me by youngest. Mind you, he’s five.
“Mom, I think you should stop getting on to my brother,” he said after being quiet in the back seat of the SUV for a few minutes. “You shouldn’t yell at him anymore for his grades. I mean, he’s old enough to take care of it on his own. You should only yell at babies. The kids who are just 2 or something. Everyone older knows how to behave.
“So try not to yell at my brother anymore.”
Yep. I pretty sure it was the last one that sent me over the edge and into a strike. Plus, it’s the Lenten season and even though I’ve traded the Catholic mass of my youth and basically entire life for the Methodist service of my future, I still adhere to the whole sacrifice thing.
So for a week, I’m giving up the yelling. The over-organizing. The worrying that everything works out and fretting that it might not.
“Isn’t that what mothering is?” my sister asked. Good point. But, I’m still the mother. I’m just going to sit back and do the good cop thing.
Maybe I AM channeling Claire from Modern Family. She recently did this and Luke ended up throwing up in her car. Nice.
I’m just wanting a little give and take. I give up nagging. They take on doing things without having to be nagged. Sounds simple, don’t you think?
“I think we might step up and do what we’re supposed to,” oldest said after a little contemplating. “To be honest, when you nag, it makes me not want to do what you asked me to do.”
Hmmmm. Could our floor finally get vacuumed? The boys’ rooms actually cleaned? Thank-you notes written. Not just for Valentine’s Day, mind you, but Christmas, too. I know. I know. Horrible.
I gotta say, just thinking about the week, and still calling it a strike because that sounds cool, I started to relax. Nagging isn’t easy. No matter how my mom made it look (just kidding, she would have liked that joke…).
I’ll let you know how it goes. Oldest is the most skeptical.
“I think this is going to make me feel like we’re horrible people. That we don’t appreciate you like we should. And that you sometimes yell because we don’t do what we’re supposed do,” he said. (Hmmmm. About to strike gold, don’t you think?)
But really, what’s his biggest worry?
“You’re still going to cook, right?”
Good luck! It will be interesting to see how your strike turns out. When I had my surgery I was looking forward to taking some time off and was hoping my family would realize just how much I do for them. By the end of the week I couldn't stand it anymore! My husband did the dishes and laundry but he didn't wipe down the counters, vacuum or dust at all. There were other little things that didn't get done and they all add up in the end. I don't think they really know just how much we do.I love that your oldest is worried most about whether or not he's going to eat. I can't wait to hear how this turns out, too. I would like to stop doing everything I usually do, too, because I would like to see how much gets done around my house if I didn't do it, or if I didn't pay attention to school work and papers due, bills or any of the other things I do to keep the house running.
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