Another IM conversation... condensed.

Our house in summer...

Headgamer says:
hope your day ends up not as hectic as usual...

FPA_Kelly says:
right........printing yard sale signs, rummaging through the house/attic for more stuff, frantically printing out yet MORE bills for [patients] who need them immediately.......typical day for me.

Headgamer says:
I know

FPA_Kelly says:
In addition to reading over my TURN curriculum for next week during which I will be teaching PreK again and the curriculum/games are geared for 3-5th graders, so I've got some work to do there too. As well as trying to get a packing list going for Oklahoma. But amongst all of this, I'm just sitting around eating bonbons and watching Oprah.

Headgamer says:
What's on Oprah today? LOL

FPA_Kelly says:
Obama.

Headgamer says:
And Tom Cruise.

Headgamer says:
You truly amaze me sometimes with everything you can do...

FPA_Kelly says:
yeah, but half-a$. nothing is done well.

Headgamer says:
I know you are busier than I am right now so I will leave you alone...

FPA_Kelly says:
you have no idea.

Headgamer says:
no I don't.

FPA_Kelly says:
I've got to have some doors on my office. Mitchell comes in screaming while I'm on the phone and I have to run to the bathroom and try to talk. Then he bangs on the door....it's horrible!!!!!!!!

Headgamer says:
that may be my project while y'all are gone...

FPA_Kelly says:
This is nothing new. He always does it. Sometimes I have to just hang up and try again later.

FPA_Kelly says:
I can get no work out of the boys lately. We need to talk about another plan because the chore chart is not working. I just told Luke that it saddened me that they weren't going to get to do anything this summer because they were not making any money off their chores.

Headgamer says:
yeah I was thinking the same thing

FPA_Kelly says:
He goes, "We're about to." I go, "About to what?" "Make a bunch of money. In the yard sale."

Headgamer says:
they are going to be SO disappointed with that whole thing.

Headgamer says:
ok... so do they leave the house to play without doing their stuff?

FPA_Kelly says:
well that's the thing. they don't really have stuff to do. do they put their dishes away, yes, do they feed the dogs, yes, do they brush their teeth, yes. They forfeit the reading sometimes to play instead. The TV is not on, connor's DS is put away, they just play outside, which is good. It's just that the bathroom is always trashed, their personal items are all over the place. I am literally either glued into this chair or at my little corner in the kitchen. I never go anywhere else or do anything else. It's pitiful, actually. I can't monitor them fully.

FPA_Kelly says:
I am always making koolaid, spaghettio's, PB sandwiches, etc.

FPA_Kelly says:
putting the password on Mitch's computer constantly because it keeps feezing up and he needs it rebooted.

Headgamer says:
maybe I take the password off?

FPA_Kelly says:
no.

FPA_Kelly says:
between the ever-changing schedule I have to stay on top of, the children always asking for stuff........by the way I just headed off Connor with a butcher knife going outside.

FPA_Kelly says:
Said he had a great idea!

Headgamer says:
oh my gosh

FPA_Kelly says:
Cutting up a cardboard box, taping pieces together....something about making a sign for the street and this infamous yard sale that is going to make them billionaires.

FPA_Kelly says:
It's this kind of stuff, Sean. You have absolutely no idea the minute-to-minute issues that need attention.

Headgamer says:
no I don't.

FPA_Kelly says:
It's not like in the evening when it's just "get your shower, brush your teeth, go to bed"

FPA_Kelly says:
The come in a dozen times and go, "Mom, do you have any tape?"

FPA_Kelly says:
I go, "You guys sniff out any tape I ever buy for this house and then don't put anything away. If there is tape, you have it."

FPA_Kelly says:
"Mom, do you have a Sharpee marker?"

FPA_Kelly says:
"No, remember, you have all the Sharpee markers."

FPA_Kelly says:
"Where did I put them?"

FPA_Kelly says:
Connor was outside in his church shoes, no socks and shorts earlier becuase he was too lazy to look for the last place he put other shoes.

FPA_Kelly says:
They don't care about anything except the current moment in time. They do not see the importance of anything else.

Headgamer says:
I know...

FPA_Kelly says:
I don't know why they keep asking for these items that I have nothing to do with. I tell them the same thing............oh, Connor just came in again asking if he could 1)spray paint the top of a purple bin, and 2) use the saw to cut the big piece of wood in our garage?

FPA_Kelly says:
He's still coming in looking around and begging for some kind of signage at the end of our street. Still wants to spray paint the easel, a giant top of something.........

Headgamer says:
good grief.

FPA_Kelly says:
I gave him a piece green posterboard and he said he was going to spray paint letters on it. I told him that would be a mess and that I would print him out some letters. he said no, he was just going to write on it with a Sharpee. I told him...........he's back.

Headgamer says:
CRAP!!

FPA_Kelly says:
I told him his writing is not very good, but he insisted.

FPA_Kelly says:
I'm telling you, it's constant.

FPA_Kelly says:
Constant in and out, constant

FPA_Kelly says:
'Mom can I"

FPA_Kelly says:
Mom do you,

FPA_Kelly says:
mom where is.

FPA_Kelly says:
I want to run away or do something I love but i have no where to go and nothing i love anymore.

Headgamer says:
I have to admit mom used to say the same about me during the summer... in...out...in...out... would tell me outside and stay outside... give me a pitcher of water and lock the door.

FPA_Kelly says:
In the meantime, I have to adapt some VBS curriculum, plan a birthday party for an indetermined amount of guests I keep waiting to get from you, and pack in my head for Oklahoma.

FPA_Kelly says:
you are going to your meeting at church and you are taking the kids to church and registering them for TURN while you are there.

FPA_Kelly says:
I will stay in my prison because that is all I know how to do anymore.

FPA_Kelly says:
I'm not throwing myself a pity party, it's a fact.

FPA_Kelly says:
OK, so you were in and out during the summer. I bet it wasn't every 10-15 seconds because I've got 2 boys doing it, not one. And I bet you didn't come in to ask her a ton of questions and try to cut your arm off with a knife or saw. Or rummage around in every stinkin drawer in the house looking for must one more scrap of tape or paper somewhere.

FPA_Kelly says:
I gotta go, Mitch is in freak out mode about a toy.


This is how it goes in our house year-round, but especially through the summer. Kelly has so many spinning plates in the air it is unbearable at times. Pray for perseverance and patience and energy for her... pray for growth in consideration and responsibility for the boys to help her out or at least not hinder her... and pray for being more proactive in helping her out for me...