We're Always Running Late

 

     Today was one of those days where no matter how prepared I was, my kids (*cough*daughter*cough*) were pokey and yet again, we were late for school. One of these days, I'm going to just say, "Screw it, you're not going to school today."

     It seems that when I asked God for more patience (not my spiritual  gift) when I was younger, he must have laughed up in heaven and was like, "I will grant you the thing of your desire, but first, you must wait years for it to happen. You will have three children and each one will give you a little more practice towards perfecting patience. Only after they leave the house after they've grown and learn to live on their own, will you see that you have mastered it."

     I know that God isn't some genie up in heaven who grants wishes or a guru who spouts riddles. Patience is something that I've had a difficult time grasping. Part of it might be because I probably have ADHD (I still haven't seen a doctor to be diagnosed, but my son's doctor said it's more than likely), but the other part is that I want things done right now.

       At what point, do you stop your kids from doing the things that they should be responsible for (ex: getting themselves dressed, socks and shoes put on, and just doing what they are told) before you start doing it for them? When I ask them to get ready for the billionth time and they still only have one pant leg on after asking them for five minutes to get the other one on, when should I just walk over there and do it for them?

      My husband says that the kids listen to him better because they know that if they don't do it, he will, but if I do that, then I know that they won't put their pants on because they know that I will do it for them. Maybe I'm just too nice. (who just laughed? I can be nice and caring behind my obnoxious, crazy screaming. I mean, it might make the neighbors change their pants, too, but my kids shouldn't be confused by what I want them to do.)

      It's my kid's responsibility to dress themselves now. They're six and eight. I still dress my four year old, but he's going to have to learn to do that on his own, too. If I do it for them, am I just enabling them to not learn to do it at all? What about them tying their shoelaces or when they put their shoes on the wrong feet. No one tells them that they suck at life for not putting them on incorrectly, the blame goes to me. So what if they won't change them to the other foot or tie them. Do I do it for them? What have they learned? Why do I need to have extra work loaded onto me?

   

     So yes, we were late today. Why? Because I'm not dressing them anymore and it's frowned upon for my kids to show up to school naked. Maybe if they were allowed to wear something they wanted to wear, instead of uniforms, we would have made it on time.

What does your day look like? Is it similar to mine? How do you get your kids to get dressed when they are asked?

This is What a Procrasting Stay-At-Home Mom Looks Like

 

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I just wanted to take a few moments and be real with you. We all know how to take pictures that are flattering and make us look nice, but in reality, some of us never look like that all of the time. Since staying home with my kids, I don't always get in a shower every day or my shower waits until later, so most days, I just look like a hot mess. I think that I can also say, that I'm not the only one.

    Two days ago, my kids had their back-to-school night. I was going to make that day about sorting out their school supplies and putting them nice and neatly into their book bags. I was going to have all of them take a bath and make sure they were all ready by 5. That did not happen. Instead, I spent the morning working on my blog and writing and this is what it really looked like.



      Hope, however was not lost, because as a person who has informally been diagnosed with ADHD by my son's ADHD doctor and as a person who has grown up always procrastinating, I've learned how to adapt and get things done in a rush. This is what it looked like.




    I was super excited. Things were going so well and I looked nice-ish with my make up on. I was going to wear a nicer shirt, but the shirt that I had washed that wasn't long sleeved that still fit me at the end of the summer, ended up with an oil stain or something that didn't wash out so I had to find the next best thing which was an old t-shirt from the college I worked at four years ago.  Then some unexpected things happened.




     When it comes to my kid's school, I try to stay organized and this time, the school failed me by not sending notification, but I was told that all of the preschools were given a grant last minute so even they didn't know what was happening after they had condensed schools.

     I didn't get a video of the kids first day of school. I was sort of looking ok. My hair wasn't greasy and weird and I was sporting a tie dyed shirt (I LOVE tie dye) and I was on top of it. My mother would have been impressed is she saw me. I did get compliments about how impressive my day was... haha. Today, however, I did get a video of me taking my youngest to school. I had already dropped off his siblings.

     I look awful. I had enough time to get the kids their breakfasts and get them dressed for school and then got myself changed. The outfit is a nice outfit, but it doesn't really go well with my puffy, needs hydrated face and pulled back, unwashed hair. I ran out of dry shampoo and keep forgetting to buy some more. I'm not even sure make-up would have helped without taking a shower first.

    I'm a mom. If I want to look nice and put together, I'm going to have to wake up at least a half hour before my kids do and PRAY that my youngest doesn't wake up when he hears my alarm in the next room over. Have you ever tried to shower with a kid who has just woken up, is cranky, and just wants his mama? It's very difficult. For one thing, the bathroom door gets left wide open, the shower curtain gets pulled back several times, and a million questions get asked. I could shower the night before, but my hair won't look as great unless I fancy curl it. No straightener could fix it... and if there is one out there that can, I'd be very willing to try it out and review it for you!

     I know that there are women who do wake up EVERY single morning and do their morning routines. I don't know how you do it. I need eight hours of sleep or I'm super cranky. That means I'm already going to bed early. If I wake up any earlier, I'm going to have to go to bed right around the time my kids do. That, is sad, my friends.

     As you can see, I'm a regular person. I have messy hair about 70% of the time, and with the humidity this summer, even nice hair gets poufy. In one of the videos, you can see that I don't have designer decorations. I have artwork that my children gave to me hanging up on my cabinets. I also, obviously, don't have much style. I'd like to be more stylish, but sometimes its difficult when you're overweight and there isn't much of a point to be stylish when you don't really go anywhere.

    Are there other moms out there like me? Raise you hands! Comment! Show me your daily looks!

    And by the way, dads. You don't know how lucky you are. After I made that last video, I noticed that so many dads look so great! I bet they had time to shower. If they didn't shower this morning, do you know how lucky you are if you have short hair? You don't even have to apply make up. How wonderful is that!?!?!

My kids are better groomed than I am. 

School Uniforms- Are They Really Necessary?

Ok, so it's almost back to school time and that means that I have to get my kids new school uniforms. All three of them will be in school this year and all three of them need to have uniforms.

I suppose that I should be happy that, at least, I don' have to order from a catalogue and can purchase them at places like Walmart or Kohls, deciding how fancy or nice I want them to be and also can control the cost a little bit, but I'm not happy that they have to wear them and here's why: