Am I Failing?

I'm just going to put this out there. 

I think I am failing as a parent.  

I can't seem to get Christian, who is going to be 9 years old, to get up, get dressed and brush his teeth in the morning.  He turns off his alarm clock and goes back to sleep.  Then once he is finally up he sits on the floor looking dazed and confused while getting dressed.  It took him 5 minutes to get one sock on.  He sits on the floor to put on his pants/shorts.  I feel like I need to stay next to him every minute to be sure he stays on track.  Am I right to be so frustrated?  Why am I still putting on and tying his shoes?  The honest to goodness truth is because it would take him 10 minutes to do it himself!  I get so frustrated with him.  Shouldn't he be able to handle these responsibilities?  He's almost 9!  He should be able to take a shower.  He should be able to turn on the water, get in, get wet and washed, turn off the water, dry off...etc.  Nope, I turn on the water and leave him for about 5 minutes.  When I come back I expect him to have washed his body and hair.  Instead when I come back his hair isn't even wet and he's been sitting in the bottom of the shower playing with shampoo bottles!  I want to scream!  

Last week I packed up all the toys and put them in the garage.  I was so tired of stepping on toys because they can't keep their room clean.  I told him over and over again that if they didn't take care of the toys I was going to get rid of them.  Well I didn't get rid of them but I did put them all away.  They have to earn them back.

Obviously what I am doing isn't working.  I guess its time to go to the bookstore.  Maybe I will find some answers there.

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Check out this article about Dominic and his team!

33 days to go!

Dominic gives me the countdown every couple of days.  We are talking more and more about what it will be like when he gets home, what he wants to do and what he wants to eat.

He asked me to bring him some cheese and salami with crackers when we come to pick him up.  He said that he has been wanting cheese really bad.  He usually cuts a huge hunk off of the block of cheese and eats it while drinking a pepsi.


He can't decide if he wants steak or tacos for his first meal home.  I think it will depend on what time they get back.  I just cannot wait until I see him walking off that bus!

Mother's Day

My Mother's Day was fairly slow and quiet. The boys watched cartoons and played in their room. There were still the normal "mom, Christian hit me!" and "he was annoying me!" comments going on all day but if I thought that would change for one day...I would be kidding myself.  I had a friend over for dinner which was nice.  It had been a while since we'd seen each other and it was nice to catch up a bit.
Last year on Mother's Day I was visiting my mom in the hospital.  This year I planted her some flowers.  I really missed her yesterday.  I did fine most of the day until the evening.  I was pretty emotional and felt like I needed to cry.  I never did.

Christian's class created these cookbooks for Mother's Day from recipes that the kids submitted as their favorite recipe.  It is so cute!  I love it!

Single Mom

I've been a "single" mom for about six months now.  I use the term single lightly because I know I am far from a true single parent.  I do have a very loving and supportive husband, he just happens to be gone for a while.

Mason was extremely tired yesterday evening and ended up going to bed at 6:45pm.  He woke up at 11pm with a poopy diaper.  I got up, changed him and put him back to bed.  He woke up again several times crying but got himself back to sleep.  Then at 5:20 am I heard the bathroom door close which meant Christian was up.  The door closing woke Mason.  When I went to get him I noticed the bedroom light on under Christian's door.  I opened the door to find Christian fully dressed for school playing with toys on the floor.  I asked him what the heck he was doing.  He said "What?  I've been up since 4!"  UGH!  Ridiculous!  Then the next thing I know, Ayden is awake.  I was so angry!  Christian woke up the whole house because he wanted to play with toys before school.  How frustrating!  

His punishment?  He's going to bed at 5 pm tonight.  I bet he thinks I'm kidding too.

I don't know how single parents do it.

Canvas Art

Back in early April I learned about a program by Canvas On Demand from another blogger.  They do something called Operation Hi Mom.  Basically you can submit a photo to have turned into a canvas for your mother, grandmother, wife...etc.  I told Dominic about it so we decided to submit a photo to see what happened.  I guess they do 500 free canvases and if more than 500 people submit a photo they randomly pick 500.  

This canvas arrived via FedEx today.  It turned out great and I love this photo.  Happy Mother's Day to me :)

Back to School!

I heard on the news today that Christian's school will be back open tomorrow morning.  I guess the CDC has changed the recommendation for district closures.  I'm so glad!  I will get to register Ayden for Pre-K tomorrow and go the the orientation on Thursday.  

I had my appointment today.  I started getting nervous about an hour before my appointment.  I feel like everyone is watching me walk in with three kids in tow when it clearly says on the appointment reminder "bringing your children to your appointment with you is not advisable" among other things.  I brought lots of coloring and activity books, toys and snacks expecting that we might have to wait more than an hour.  My doctor always runs late.  We ended up waiting exactly an hour.  Christian was fine with his DS, Ayden was tough to keep occupied but he did fairly well.  Mason was tired and wanted out of the stroller.  I had to keep him happy with toys, bottle and playing peek-a-boo.  It all worked out and we got out of there as fast as we possibly could.

Seven weeks to go!

We got some great packages today.  Dominic sent home a huge black trunk full of gear that he doesn't need.  He also sent home a box full of DVD's that he's purchased and more pictures.  These packages really make it feel like his homecoming is getting close.  We are finally counting weeks instead of months.  Soon we will be counting days...I hope.

I'm dreading a doctor's appointment tomorrow.  I have an appointment again and the office does not like children to be there...once again I don't have a babysitter (she has a final, believe me I tried) and now that Christian isn't at school I have to take all three boys.  It really makes me stress out because the doctor always runs late and the longer we wait the more impatient the boys are which causes me to loose my mind.  I NEED HELP!

Usually when I have just Ayden and Mason, we are fine.  Its when Ayden and Christian get together that we begin to have problems.  Ayden wants to play with his big brother and Christian wants to be alone.  Christian has always been perfectly fine playing by himself.  He prefers it that way.  Ayden just will not leave Christian alone.  He wants to watch Christian play is DS instead of playing his own Leapster.  Its a tough situation and I know that it will make for a stressful appointment tomorrow.  I'm so dreading it and I will be so happy when its over.

Swine Flu...a little too close to home

I got a phone call today (yes, Sunday) from Christian's teacher.  She told me that there is a suspected case of swine flu in one of the students at Christian's school!  What?  Are you kidding me?  I guess she wouldn't be calling on a Sunday to joke with me.

She says that the school will be closed through Wednesday.  On the news they said "until further notice".  The school will be sanitized this week.  I guess we just have to wait for the CDC to determine the exact strain of the virus which could not be identified by the county labs.  If the results come back positive the school must remain closed for 14 days.

I guess it will be a long week...or maybe two.

Last week there were two suspected cases of kids in another school in the district who had contact with their grandmother from Mexico who was determined to have the positive strain of swine flu.  That school was closed all last week and will re-open tomorrow.  Their tests came back negative.

Another boring weekend ahead

I realized today that I do not look forward to the weekends.  Its tough to not have something to do or somewhere to go.  We are expected to have huge storms again this weekend so we will be stuck in the house.

I feel like a child saying "I'm bored".  I've got to come up with something to do this weekend before I loose my mind!