This morning, after I blogged, was one of the worst mornings ever. Tony, whose behavior is almost always unacceptable, pushed my buttons for a solid hour before I lost it. And my tantrum led to lots of trouble.
After church, I hid in my bedroom for a while, but I had to face the world.
After we went to lunch I explained to the children that I wanted to have Kari and her family over for supper. But the house was horrible and Bart only had enough energy to cook supper, not to clean too. And I explained that after the morning we had, they probably needed a break from me. I explained that they were all over 10 and that the oldest 4 were all 13 or over, and that a group of kids that old shoudl be able to pick up the house, vacuum and mop.
I said I was leaving for a few hours and that when I came back, if the house was clean, I would invite Kari's family over for supper. If not, I would leave again and take their family out to dinner by myself, because I wanted to see them.
Their mouths dropped open as if to say, "you could DO that?" And I just nodded my head.
I explained that the key was for them to each worry about themselves and then work side by side, not for them to attempt to be the boss, and that Bart was not going to help or intervene unless he needed to pull someone out of the scene.
And then I left.
My voice has become like Charlie Brown's teacher to them. And I'm tired of wasting my breath. I have had an emotionally exhausting weekend having long very intense conversations with each girl who resorted to nasty behavior on their part within hours or even minutes of our talk.
I'm at Dunn Brothers. It's not quiet here, in fact it is packed, but I am not being bothered. I'm going to write some more for a couple other blogs, a friend might meet me here, but most of all I'm going to give my children a break from me.
And maybe that's what they really need.
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