I first want to say that the picklets did NOT do the chores to the best of their ability yesterday. In fact not much was done and when I got home they were all mad at me. But that goes with being mom. I wasn't sure how to handle it so I laid it aside until I cleared my head. I finally decided that we will work on the chores together tomorrow (Friday) so they know exactly what is expected when I say "pick up the living room and vacuum" or "wipe down the counters". It should be fun, right?
Forward ho...
Last night, before I put the picklets to bed, I told them that they need to be showered, dressed, teeth brushed, breakfast eaten and ready to leave by 8:15. Sweet was, all on her own, up at 6:00! She was ready to leave by 7:00, cleaned her room and I allowed her to play Mario on the Nintendo. Chip got up a little after 7:00 and was ready to leave by 8:15. No whining, no grumping. Dill came down about 7:30. He got himself dressed and sat watching Sweet play Mario. I asked, after I finished getting ready, if he was going to take a shower. "Do I have to?" was his response. I refreshed his memory from the conversation the night before. He stomped off and took his shower.
At 8:15 I informed the picklets of the time and told them I was leaving. Chip and Sweet ran out to the van. Dill started whining. He hadn't eaten breakfast. Ooops, I guess he forgot. I told him we had to leave and that he should have eaten. He then screamed, "You are the who made me take a shower!" I calmly told him he was informed last night that breakfast was to be eaten by the time we leave. No breakfast by 8:15, you will be hungry until lunch at 11:30. Was he mad? Understatement of the day.
At work I gave the picklets some schoolwork I had for them. Dill informed me he would not do any work until I let him eat something. I ignored it. Sweet worked on math and Chip read The Legion of Space Trilogy. The morning went pretty good. Dill had a few episodes informing me that he was hungry. Each time I told him that he had the choice to eat and chose to watch Sweet instead. He kept blaming me but I held my tongue. This was his lesson to learn.
At 11:00 Chip and Sweet decided to play tag and Dill went to go play with them. I stopped him and told him that since he didn't do his school work that he would not be able to play tag. He grumped but sat down and started his work.
About 15 minutes later I told the picklets that I needed to go to the store to get chips and stop at the library to drop off some books. We loaded ourselves in the van, ran the errands and got back at 11:45 to eat lunch. Dill was mighty hungry. They ate a lunch of PB&J, pretzels and chips and salsa. While eating they read their "free reading" school books. After lunch they all started working right away, even Dill.
I know this is a minor victory but I am elated! All three were up and mostly ready to leave by 8:15. No hassle, no whining, no yelling. It was very peaceful. School work has been getting done throughout the day. And, not to make this all about me BUT I am not stressed, mad or upset. I have only yelled once and apologized right away for doing so.
I have noticed that I really need to stop and think about what I am going to say and how I am going to say it. That is very hard for me. I usually like to run at the mouth...lol. But in the book it said to, "count to 10 and think about what the old me would do." I don't want to be the old me. I like the results of the new me.
As hard as yesterday was on me I am sooo glad I took that route. I know this is only day 2 and that each day will NOT be this good. They will test me, tell me it's not fair and blame me for whatever they happen to be mad about. I can accept that. I also know some days will be much better and will flow like buttermilk. Each day will hold it's own fate but for today I am doing the happy dance and holding tight to my (I think) major victory.
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