summer vacation has started

[Tina Martin]

Summer vacation has started here and I'm not sure I"m going to survive. It has only been 3 days and I"m thinking they are already possessed. Already counting down the days till school starts again LOL... hoping they look at me and say WOW mom what can we do to make your life easier today ? LOL yeah right... big hugs I"m so glad I found you all tina

[Amanda]

Oh! I'm rooting for you! I've never been able to go on strike with my husband. We have days where he'll sit there and go "I'm hungry!" like he's six or something and he can't make his own damn food, and he'll chose to do this when I'm busy, like doing school work. It's implied that I should get up and cook. Ok, I understand, I'm a stay at home mom and housewife, so to a point, my job description is "cook" but when I'm busy bettering my life, he needs to just get up off his butt and do it himself.

I went on strike a few times, didn't do laundry, didn't do dishes, nothing, then he tried to cook for himself, and he totally ruined one of my cookie sheets. I thought "ok he's just being vindictive, I'll make him buy me another one" but now I think he truly didn't realize that cooking on it over and over without cleaning it in between uses was a BAD idea! It happened again when I had to go away for a weekend because I had a pampered chef show (i am a pampered chef consultant). I came home to find something black and char like STUCK to the bottom of my NON STICK frying pan. This isn't any cheapo non stick stuff either, it retails at like $600+ so when I say non stick, I mean I haven't EVER been able to get something to stick to it, and he left CHAR! I was seeing red, but luckily I was able to get it out without damage to my pan.

So, after all that, I've come to a realization. I am stuck as a housewife/stay at home mom. My dishes can't handle me leaving them alone with him, he hurts them...which makes me want to hurt him. I guess I've accepted my lot in life. I can't change him, but I know going forward, that my son will learn differently. He'll do his own laundry, he will know how to run a dishwasher, washer, and drier, and he will learn how to cook...correctly....as soon as I trust him not to try to like the condensation off the outside of the pot of water.

[Tina Martin]

well I have officially gone on strike. I haven't touched a load of laundry in days. Leftovers for their supper is starting to run out and they still haven't realized it yet.... I have a sign on my sewing room door do not disturb until the summer is over ... just need them to appreciate what they have hoping it works

[Amanda]

I do believe it's time you stopped washing her laundry! Just sort it out as you wash, leave it, and say "you're old enough to work a washer...here I'll show you..." When she's wearing her last pair of panties and her favorite shirt is dirty and she's got a date in an hour she'll get it! ;)

[Tina Martin]

Oh I have heard bored at least 5o times from my 15 year old... when I mention the laundry or cleaning... she's like No not that you don't get it mom ... when I think the reality is she doesn't get it... because laundry and chores don't get done magically LOL...

[Rene Syler]

Hi Tina.. I know how you feel.. They have been out for a week now and Casey had the nerve to say, I'm Bored.. the other day.. agh!

Amanda, love your mother's warning and the wet clothes idea.. Love it, love it, love it!

[Tina Martin]

Amanda
thanks so much for the positive thinking LOL.... my kids are just something... sometimes I wonder if aliens did abduct them during the night, mush up their brains and send them back to me. I have 3 of them working more hours at their jobs so that take care of some of the sleeping in thing.... they are workers, they love their money. So that helps keeping them busy. So hopefully the summer is not too bad....big hugs tina

[Amanda]

Tina, as for the laundry, leave that stuff in the basket on their bed, WET! They'll get the picture. I'm 23, my brother just turned 21, and my baby bro is 16. As soon as we started highschool, we were responsible for our own laundry, and my mom's rule was "if you put it in the washer, stay around to put it in the drier" and if one of us didn't (usually my brothers) who ever need the washer had the right to leave that stuff sitting out soaking wet. I'm no one's maid, and neither are you! As for the sleeping till 1 in the afternoon, I never did this(but I worked alot) but my baby bro does, I just don't understand it. How can someone sleep that late? My back starts to hurt when I lay in bed that long!

[Tina Martin]

Hi amanda
thanks for you comment. My kids are older they're all teengagers. I have a 20 year old son who doesn't live with me. I have an 18, 2 twins 17, 15, and a 3 year old... so the teenagers are up all night and sleep all morning and then out the door they go at 1 in the afternoon...3 of them start working more this week so that might make me a little less frustrating. They are just soooooo lazy. They are responsible for their own laundry and they start it and then leave it ....so in order for me to use the washer I need to finish it up for them... but I have learned that if you stick it in the basket wet, it will start to stink so maybe that's an initiative to get busy ... who knows.. the count down is on LOL.. big hugs tina

[Amanda]

Do they have friends in the neighborhood? I know times have changed, which makes me sad, but when I was growing up my mom gave us one warning in the morning right as we were finishing our breakfast, and it went something like this...
"If you've got nothing else to do today, the tub could use a good scrub, and I have 5 peoples worth of laundry that needs to be washed, and hung out on the line..." My brothers and I never heard the rest since there was usually a line of fire behind our tails as we ran over each other trying to get the hell out of that house....you could always try that tactic with your little offspring.