what kind of mother am I?

4 out of 6 of my kids are driving me crazy. Maybe even CRAzY. How can that be, when they are so cute and smart and I love them so much? I don't know but there it is.

It's been kind of a longish summer.

On the one hand it's been great. Dani and Tate are here, that means everyone is here (not Greg~we wish he were here, and he will be in 2 weeks. Yea for us! for Greg?? maybe not so much...it's kind of crazy here. Did I mention that?) but still a full house! What a wonderful blessing.

On the other hand...

I have been feeling prompted that we should get rid of the cable. And I am extremely hesitant to follow through. Why? I love Bobby Flay. LOVE him. and Alton Brown. Love Survivor and most of all love a quiet Saturday morning with three kids glued to the TV. Seriously LOVE it. I know that's wrong and bad, I've given up trying to pretend I am perfect :) like Mary Poppins, only in Disney friends, but did I have you fooled? No, don't tell me.

The kids have watched too much TV. I feel like this is the root of our problem. I hope it's the root. If we didn't have it they would (theoretically in the fantasy that is my mind) play nicely and creatively together. They would develop talents. They would read books. They would help with chores (Laugh all you want I warned you this was a fantasy). We would have peace in our home, extra time on our hands and $70 a month to spend on something else like say....food.

But I still don't want to.

Today I woke up and told the kids, no TV, absolutely none and if anyone turns it on I will call the cable company and cancel it today. They looked at me with somber faces. This is not an idle threat and they knew it, we've talked about it. A lot. They know the fantasy, they don't buy it but they know it.

So we started the day. And it didn't go too badly. It was really noisy, and they did play creatively. If you consider dangling ropes from the third floor down to the second floor beautiful wood entryway and then one kid grabbing on and the other two trying to hoist the one up creative. They could BTW.
They also built a tent in the living room, using all the sheets and blankets that Nana so lovingly folded for me when we were on our cruise and made our linen closet look so neat and nice and which I have guarded ever since because it made me so happy to see it all nice, and smelling like clean sheets when I opened the door.
No more.
Creative (sigh) yes.
And they ran around shrieking, happy loud shrieks.

Meanwhile J and I were car hunting.
I don't even want to talk about it.
And I spent some time trying to resolve a dispute with the insurance company.
I think they should pay for medical stuff....they apparently do not.

By the middle of the afternoon Dani wanted to escape (the heat...not her siblings, ah-hem) and suggested a trip to the pool. E didn't want to go. He has been a most cantankerous boy lately. Is that normal for 8? He has been a delight! all his life....until recently :(
with the girls I know the bad years: 3 and 17. Maybe boys are different??
Three was pretty cute but 8, not so great.

Anyway, rather than fight another battle I said I'd stay home and she and J took H,G and T swimming. Then I said to little b "guess what we are going to do?" He said "what" (read that with exTREMELY sulky and suspicious undertones. "we are going to fold clothes" (read that in a forced, cheerful voice~ here's a secret, it didn't sound fun to me either, a nap...now that sounded fun)
"and we can watch TV while we fold."

We did. Folded and watched. He helped, a lot. We laughed at "the Kids Next Door" don't judge it's kind of funny.

I lasted 8.5 hours. Sad! It's off again, the girls aren't home. No one knows my little secret...but really ...can I turn it off?

Note: Hannah is not one of the 4. She has been wonderful all summer, helpful and cheerful. She's really matured and it's such a nice, nice treat to see her grow up.