What Sets Me Off

Some things never change. Today, I had a bit of temper tantrum.  Me...not my kids.  I was being such a good mom. I was actually cleaning things up before things spiraled out of control.  Eli's room was looking especially sorry, so I made his bed, picked up the dirty clothes, and spent at least 20 minutes putting the books back on his bookshelf. I organized them and made the room look quite nice.


Then Eli got in trouble. I don't even remember why.  Naturally, I banished him to his room. I tried to be loving and understanding of his feelings, but when I saw the other side of the bed, I lost it. Every bookshelf was empty, except the top one. He just couldn't reach that one. I gave him one good spank on the bottom and left. 


Then I started jumping up and down, screaming, because I was so frustrated. I can get no traction in this house!  I was screaming, hopping mad.


I sat down and fumed. Eli came out defiantly, stark naked. I just rolled my eyes. Whatever. Be naked. See if I care.


I was stewing over this whole episode in the back of my head and I came to a realization. I remember being about 5 or 6 years old, when we lived in a trailer in Provo, Utah.  My mom was sleeping and we were supposed to do the dishes and not wake her up, above all else.  Well, after I had washed almost every stinkin' dish in the house, my little sister Heather wanted a drink.  I was like, NO WAY!  You are not getting a cup dirty. This was too much work. She started crying, I got mad. We had a spat. Then, guess what? My mom woke up. She shooed us out of the trailer, and I sulked around waiting with terror for my dad to come home. Sure enough, he drove by and then a few minutes later he came marching fiercely toward me.


Yep, I got in big trouble.  


I can see the similarities here. I had got it just the way I wanted it and then someone comes along and wrecks it. I guess it is a test I haven't passed yet. It is kind of on the same lines as not ever taking a u-turn. I hate taking u-turns. It stresses me out. U-turns and re-cleaning things just cleaned...now you know what will set me off.

Benefits of a Private Pool

Last night, Raef was complaining about being sunburned. I didn't enforce the sunblock yesterday because it was the late afternoon and they both have established tans. They wanted to go swimming at about 4:45pm. No harm, right?

I was totally wiped out and needed a nap. Eli was asleep so I was happy to let them swim while I slept for a little while.

Therefore, when Raef complained of a sunburn I was confused. How could he be sunburned? The clarification came from his wonderful, and oh-so-informative brother Zach.

Raef was swimming naked in the pool. The sunburn was on his lily-white bum, and other private places.

Naked? Naked in my pool? Don't they know they need bathing suits in the pool, even if it is our pool?

Raef replied that we have a private pool, so it is okay. I was surprised he was able to defend his position so succinctly. Where did he hear that from? He pointed right back at me. Apparently I had said something like that to a cousin while they were visiting.

Boy, kids sure do listen, don't they?