Crazy mom and the chocolate frosted brownies

I’m not proud to admit I slack on chores, but I love a clean house.  Zoie wakes up in the morning and drags every toy new or previously owned by her siblings, scattering over the entire downstairs… I’m holding my breath she doesn’t learn how to drag toys up the stairs. It seems senseless to scrub and de-clutter and organize when she is awake.  Hence, the slacking on chores.  I work super hard however, instilling in my older children the qualities of responsibility.  They are personally responsible (PR) to clean their rooms, organize the zillions of T shirts I lovingly wash, dinner dishes, as well as any extra jobs two well-bodied teens can help out with inside and out.  Roger was singing Hallelujah when his son could finally take over lawn duty!

Last night, I lost it.  There was no denying the tension building in the air.  My 20 minuet gourmet dinner was devoured and the dirty dishes were piled high.  No teens to be found.  As I peeked around, I noticed their baskets of clean clothes still waiting to be sorted, muddy track shoes, golf clubs scattered on the floor like a maze, and lots and lots of clutter.  I swear it looked like I did nothing around the house all day, but Zoie was my witness.  She was my only witness.

The candid dialogue:

“Kids, you better get in here and start your chores.”

silence

“Kids, you better get in here NOW and start your chores.”

silence

“3 seconds and you will be grounded!”

Thundering gallop of teens.

The next 1/2 hour was seriously crazy.  How can 2 awesomes cause so much chaos doing dishes.  I reminded them loudly that my energy was draining at rapid speed.  In the end, it was (in my opinion) a half baked job.  I noticed water flooding on the floor and my flood gates opened.  Crazy mom made an appearance.  The kids endured a looonnngg lecture about PR and their lack of PR.  I didn’t feel appreciated as a mom.

I really was drained.  Roger was still in Chicago and I was tired of playing single mommy.  I hid in my room (blogging) but kept hearing kitchen noise.  About an hour later, both kids came in and I smelled something heavenly.  They baked me chocolate frosted brownies and their smiles and hugs reaffirmed how much they appreciated me.

Zoie says… cuddle cuddle.