Seriously Sunday

Reflections from the Backcounter

This face captures my mood. Too much to do and too little time between now and Monday morning when the gun goes off and the school year officially begins. All is not lost, however, because the school year does bring certain benefits to most households.

1. Less mess: Having the LD's (Little darlings) out of the house for 6-7 hours a day cuts down on sandy floors, black fingerpringts, dishes in the sink, half eaten peanut butter sandwiches in the play room and overflowing laundry baskets and trash cans.

2. Order to the day: No longer is my schedule the only driving force to pry the LD's out of bed in the morning. Now they must be accountable to a higher power...the school. GOOD MORNING!!

3. Lower electric bill: One would think that my teenagers were menopausal. The temperature in the house during the day is close to that of a meat locker. Now we can set the thermostat and no one will touch it for at least 6 hours.

4. Less TV: Homework means no TV. No TV means fewer arguments ...a win win

5. NO XBox: I hate that thing. There is a ban on XBox during the school year weekdays and weeknights.

6. A routine. Household ADD occurs during the summer...no one seems to ever finish a task...the dishwasher is not quite emptied....the laundry not quite put away...the chores not quite done. Maybe the LD's will be better with a routine....one can only hope.

7. Fewer weeknight negotiations for curfew exemptions. Sorry...refer to item 2....School rules...must get up on time in the morning

8. After school activities: These always wear out the LD's...tired LD's are compliant kids...no energy to be difficult.

9. The rhythm of the school year is a comfort. After all....most of us spent our most formative years in this calendar and there is comfort in the thought of freshly sharpened pencils, crisp white notebook paper and the endless possibilities associated with the opportunity to start fresh!

10. Enjoy...this too shall pass and my life will be a lot less hectic, a lot less full and a lot less interesting...in too soon a time. Dogs just can't fill the hole in your heart like a child can...

Time to wipe the fingerprints off the doorjams, grocery shop and of course...I am off to puppy training...More on that later.

Peace,

Julia

Kids on summer break: Sloths in kids clothing

Wednesday: Baked chicken with Rosemary and Lemon

Reflections from the Backcounter

The long awaited summer has finally arrived and I am already irritated with my sleep zombie teenagers. I know that biologically they need more sleep than the average sloth but for pete's sake "Get out of bed" I had to engage my best remote parenting techniques about 15 times yesterday just to get them moving before 1 p.m. Given that I am up by 5 and out the door by 7:30 this is more than a little irritating. Really irritating when they choose to ignore the ringing phone. This is the cross that all working mother's must bear. It is really hard to supervise kids from work and when there is no help at home...what can a mother do? I am leaving detailed lists for the to do's and I suppose a sleeping teen is better than a teen out looking for trouble!
Today is a baked chicken for dinner. The teen task today is to use the recipe from the Backcounter Buffet and make the dinner. More life skill training for the little darlings and a break from cooking for me. Will report on the outcome later tonight and hope to have pictures of the succulent bird to share!

Off to work.
Peace,

Julia