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It snowed last night...first real snow of the winter, though it was only an inch or so. It's cold, so it will stay. The temps went from 40s and drizzly yesterday to low 20s and snow around 8 o'clock. I always think of that film Day After Tomorrow when that happens. Brrr. It is really cold out right now. And windy. My college boy will attest to that. He called around 9 and he wasn't very happy. He's not a fan of cold and wind and snow. He needs to move to San Diego (when they were little boys they called it "sandy lego," and we still call it that).-2-
And because he is getting a degree in Environmental Policy he will tell me extreme weather is brought on by anthropogenic heat/emissions. I am still not entirely convinced that "global warming" is creating abrupt climate change, but I do admit I have noticed some unusual weather lately.
Going from mid 45 to 19 degrees in 24 hours is rather extreme.
My new thermostat tells me how cold it is outside. Brrr.
I don't need it to tell me how windy it is because I can hear it in the trees. Brrr.
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Noah was praying for a snow day today. He had three tests and a paper due. He said he was going to flush ice down the toilet and wear his pajamas backwards. Those are the things you apparently do to create a snow day. Ha. I had to tell him he can't be a good Catholic and be superstitious.-4-
This weekend we have some cleaning up to do. I think I need to get to an almost Amish motif to feel like it's clean around here. I am having a real problem with my kids' bedrooms. I go back and forth between thinking that their rooms can be messy if that's the way they want to live, and wanting to pitch all their crap out the window and burn it in the yard. The problem is there is no medium messy for them. It's 20 articles of clothes on the floor and dirty dishes on the furniture. I'm mostly referring to the teenage boys here, Faith is messy, but she doesn't take dishes to her room. I tell them not to take dishes to their rooms, but I can't stand guard in the kitchen 24/7, so they do. Yes, I should punish them, but what's an appropriate punishment for leaving dishes in your room? If I tell them to clean their rooms, it gets done half-assed. Ugh. Suggestions?-5-
Another issue I am battling is Faith's clothes. I hate to say this but my daughter has the fashion taste of a hooker. I buy her nice, basic clothes, but I have a few hand-me-downs from a friend and they are just too tacky for my taste. I have to get rid of all the junk and leave her with just the stuff I like. But even then she will mix outfits in a way that leaves me cringing. I am a Garanimals kind of mom. I like everything to match and I try to make sure all her clothes for one season can be mixed, but she inevitably finds the one shirt that clashes with the one skirt. Open for suggestions. Should I just leave her alone and not look?-6-
I had a dream last night that I had a new baby. Sigh. He was a lovely little baby (we named him Simon, which does not at all go with our last name, but it is a lovely name), but the disturbing thing about my new baby dreams is that in the dream I always forget to feed the baby. Now none of my babies ever allowed me to forget to feed them, but in my dreams the baby just sleeps and sleeps, and eventually I realize I forgot to feed the baby for like a whole day. It doesn't take a Freud to figure out I'm feeling like I'm neglecting someone or something in my life. Hmmm.-7-
We're off school on Monday, and Doug took the day off, so we have a long, relaxing weekend with nothing on the calendar. Sounds wonderful, doesn't it? I plan to take full advantage and maybe I'll have Faith's vest knitted by Monday. And a few movies watched. What's on your weekend's agenda?Join Jen at Conversion Diary for more Quick Takes
Oh, my! I laughed out loud at the thought of tossing my kids' 'crap' out onto the front yard and having a bonfire. Unfortunatley, legos don't burn well. I struggle with this, too. Do the kids really care about thier possessions if they are on the floor... and do they really need that many clothes if half are on the floor?
ReplyDeleteMy daughter is great at creating the kind of fashion you are describing. However, that has improved over the last couple years. I remember my younger sister wearing mismatched socks and not caring, too! She grew out of it and graduated in fashion merchandising. Needless to say, she's excellent at putting together an outfit, now, and shopping with her is a lot of fun. Alone, I can't stand shopping.
BTW, I ate poached eggs for breakfast!
My husband, who majored in meteorology in college, would tell you that global warming is a myth. Remember in the 70s when we were told we were entering an Ice Age?
ReplyDeleteI think the whole "taste in clothes" thing is pretty typical of girls at that age. Try to find trendy but reasonable compromises. And be glad she's not sitting in school all day surrounded by little girls with even worse taste in clothes.
Around here, you must also put a spoon under your pillow to guarantee a snow day--in addition to the things your son mentioned.
And when I was a kid, I called it "Sandy Eggo." Like the waffle after you take it to the beach :)
Penalty for dishes in the rooms? How about DISH DUTY? (And then feel free to cook your messiest meals that use the most pots, pans, bowls and utensils)
And my daughter (16) only wears matching socks to school, because she has to. She'll outgrow it eventually. I don't even notice it anymore--and except for school socks, I don't bother pairing hers.
ReplyDeleteOh, I am so with you on the crap in their rooms! Throwing the stuff out the window would be such a pleasant dream. I have tried to cut Anna and Sophie a little slack over the last month as they have had to share one bed, one dresser, and a closet that I use to hide all the toys!
ReplyDeleteAnd my teenage girls are also guilty of dishes in their rooms.
I don't know what to call Anna's taste in clothing, but it involves much layering, such as a skirt over the jeans.
Number 4 . . . my half-arsed nightmare on continuum. But, it makes me laugh, because it feels so good to not be alone! ;)
ReplyDeleteI think you nightmare has more to do with your boys growing up and not needing you as much than you neglecting them!!
ReplyDeleteHad to laugh at the hooker comment, my 9 year old has this problem too...she always tries to make everything fancy by adding a scarf or lots of jewelry.
I just let them, as long as they are modest. That's the hardest part sometimes.
I'm a person who used to match everything and lay it all out the night before school, earrings, socks, hair stuff, etc....but, I admit, I kind of like it when they are creative and put things together I'd never think of. And they are so proud.
Cold? In MN it dropped like 60 degrees the other day. We are in the low digits now. (which I think is still above average) (not counting windchills)
Weekend? Hoping to get out of the house to get some groceries....having a baby who needs to stay away from germs....is hard on this restless mama!
Have a great weekend!
I think the outfits are just a phase and you can safely let it ride, knowing she'll spontaneously match her own outfits in a couple more years. And when people look at her funny in public, you can just smile and say, "At least she dresses herself!" Or maybe that only works with four year olds. I don't know. I gave up apologizing for my kids' taste some years ago. :-)
ReplyDelete2 things:
ReplyDeleteMy kids rooms have always driven me crazy. We try different things all the time, and it's rarely clean to my standards. Maybe 3-4 times a year when I go over it with a fine-tooth comb and their unwilling assistance! But the ones in (and out) of college are the amazingly neat ones compared to their roommates!!! So, just the trying and reinforcing how to do it (even if they don't) is beneficial.
Meg likes to be very fashionable, too. I make her change if she's honestly trampy and we talk about the standards. I don't have to like the outfit personally, but it does have to be acceptable! I'm so glad to hear that about Faith...I always wondered how you got her to like wearing Lands End and Hanna all the time. ;-)
We're having an AHG SweetPea Beauty (Veggie Tales) sleepover tonight. Watching the movie, talking about the issues, and having a modest fashion show in the a.m. Should be fun! These are the guidelines we have to follow for tomorrow:
http://purefreedom.org/documents/TruthOrBare_FashionChallenges.pdf
Your whole post brought waves of nostalgia, believe it or not. We didn't have girls, but our sons had messy rooms, to varying degrees. My friend, who had all girls, said her spouse got fed up with the stuff all over their bedroom floor, bagged it all up in black trash bags (with only half an outfit and only one shoe of a pair in each bag) and took the bags out to the garage. They had to do chores to earn the bags back, at $5.00 a bag! Apparently, it was quite effective. Our granddaughter, who is 13-going-on 40, wears one color sock on one foot and one different color sock on the other foot as a fashion statement. (Apparently, this is "in"). --- Rosemary
ReplyDeleteSeriously, WHY are we not neighbors, God?!?!
ReplyDelete#4: Yes!! I always tell the children I am going for Shaker Chic as my decorating style. They don't get it, but I find the notion of one dress hanging on one peg very freeing. A friend of mine who is a professional organizer, started a 6 week clutter-buster challenge on Facebook. I should put my before and after shots on the blog - I have a feeling that you would feel much better about your house!
#5: That's Sally. Her fashion sense seems to begin and end with "More sparkles make everything better!!!" She likes cheap makeup, too (heavy on the blue eyeshadow please!) Her favorite outfit is a purple leopard print track suit she received as a gift. Rob always says we're going to get a call from Vegas one day about 15 years from now. Sheesh. As long as she is modestly covered and I am not completely horrified, I let her go.
#7: Aww, Baby Simon. I love that for a multitude of reasons. :) And he was the kind of baby you might forget to feed, since he slept all day and all night. We used to have to strip him naked to get him awake enough to eat. Of course, we now know that it was the first warning sign of all his developmental delays, but it is still nice to have a baby who literally sleeps all the time.
I hear you on all of it, sister.