How about some honesty

I’m feeling a bit sassy tonight so don’t mind me if you are not up for a bit of straight up honesty. I can’t help but chuckle at some of the blog posts I’ve read here lately where moms are getting all sentimental about their kids going back to school. That’s all fine and dandy, I mean many of you are living the life I had years ago before I became a work at home mom. I too was drowning my sorrows in a pint of ice cream the night before their first day back. Oh wait, maybe that was just because I had to wake up before 9am?

Anyways, I do relate to some extent, but now that my kids are at the ages; 15, 11, 8, and 7 (AND I LOVE THEM DEARLY!!) – they need some mental and physical stimulation that I simply can not provide for them. I can’t just throw a basket of toys on the floor or a box of Legos and hope they keep busy for a couple of hours. Telling them,”Go outside and play!” just doesn’t work anymore. They have to be entertained, taken places, or invite friends over to be happy. They like to create chaos and noise. They are sick of me too, trust me. We all need a break from one another, especially the kids from each other. They are at the point they are so bored all they do is annoy one another all day. I have actually heard the words out of their mouths, “I can’t wait to go back to school!”

With that said I have to give a humongous thank you to all the teachers out there who will soon be making my life a bit more manageable. I don’t know what I would do without you. XOXOXO!! Granted our days are still going to be incredibly insane with kids in 3 different schools and all the homework and studying that will soon commence. But the fact that we will have a quiet house from 8am until 2:45 everyday is making my heart sing!

Now that I already sound like the worst mother ever …I would like to share all of the things that I will not be missing once my kids are back in school. Mind you this doesn’t really include my 15 year old. That would be a problem if it did. All he really does to bug me is nap in the middle of the day since he gets up at 7am for football 4 days a week. If momma aint’ napping, no one should be napping.

Hearing the kids bickering over the computer anytime I step away from my desk.
Cleaning up their messes in the kitchen hour after hour because no one can seem to eat at the same time.
Hearing them whine how there is no food in the house.
Telling them over and over again to take a shower and to brush their teeth.
Finding band-aid wrappers all over for the endless boo boo’s that they give one another.
Walking down the hallway and hearing their TV’s on in their rooms when no one is there.
Picking up socks off the floor in the family room. (Why even put them on in the first place?)
Seeing 21 cups on my island in just a few hours time.
Telling them to BE QUIET whenever our business line rings.
Putting away the carton of milk since no one else can.
Hearing the dogs bark when their friends come to the door and ring the darn doorbell.
Tripping over their roller blades when I walk into the garage.
Yelling at their friends to get out of our garage. (Cuz no one is allowed near Daddy’s Camaro!)
Finding their clothes on the floor in the half bath from when they change into their swimsuits.
Picking up wet towels all around the pool.
Searching for PS3 game cases for discs that are left sitting on top of my entertainment center.
Listening to each one of them say “It wasn’t me!” when they are getting in trouble.

Okay okay, summer wasn’t THAT bad. I really did enjoy most of it. It wasn’t until a week ago when I felt like I had my fill of frustrations. And really that’s not too bad. That means I lasted 9 weeks without wishing summer vacation was over. You really can not understand how I feel unless you are running a business out of your home. I know we created this situation and 9 months out of the year it is the absolute perfect scenario. Maybe that is our trade-off. Pure heaven 75% of the year, the other 25% is quite the battle. Maybe I shouldn’t complain?

There are only 12 more days to go and only 7 of those days are work days. Next week I want to let each of the kids pick one fun thing to do before they go back to school. Karli is actually having hers tonight. She has invited a friend to come stay the night, on a work night, which is usually against the rules!

Leave me your honest opinion about your kids going back to school.

Don’t worry, I’ll have my emotional moment later. It may not come until November when they snow is falling and I realize the house is too quiet, but it will come eventually.