I think the kids got into my blog. Date-time stamps awry, juvenile brassiere humor, tell-all tales of my inability to recognize my own children....yeah, I think I'll blame the kids, all right.
Guess what? Father's Day happened a couple of days ago. I'm telling you that in case you live under a rock and missed the outpouring of love and affection for fathers and husbands that was going on all over the blogosphere. And what did I post about on Sunday? Naked knitting....I'm so embarrassed...
But we did celebrate here. The gift I ordered for Larry didn't show up in time (and I can't even say what it is, since he might read my blog for once and find out); so there I was in Target at 9 PM Saturday with the rest of the gift-giving losers trying to find a card and some reasonable facsimile of a Father's Day present. I ended up buying him a bag of Hershey's kisses (cherry-filled) and a cellphone charger for the car.
This isn't the first time that my holiday shopping abilities have proven to be markedly deficient.
What bothers me is that my birthday is coming up on Saturday; and with this gift-giving debacle fresh in Larry's mind, I'm not expecting much. Maybe I should just eat his candy now and be done with it.
It's funny, you know, as a parent, that something that seems like an excellent idea in April can really come back to bite you in June. Something, say, like informing your teen daughter that she needs to finish her freshman year schoolwork before the last week of June, or she won't be attending the high school work camp with her youth group as she had planned. You know, the work camp that is like a week-long slumber party, with fun activities in the evening and a mid-week visit to a fantastic water park....
Light a fire under her, I thought. Give her some incentive!
So, now? I am faced with the prospect of a very unhappy young woman sitting home all next week with her least favorite person in the world (um, that would be me) and her ferociously hated siblings while her father and older brother go off to have a fun time with all the other kids. I was getting chest pains last night just thinking about it. Woo hoo! Happy Birthday to me! Anyone need a mother with 4 kids in tow to visit next week?
I hate when punishment bites us in the behind. I hope you have a Happy Birthday free from chest pain!
ReplyDeleteKaty
http://mynutvillage.com/
Oh, I hate when I punish myself inadvertently by levying threats that I then have to follow through on. I really have to watch what flies out of my mouth. Because then we're ALL miserable, and quite frankly, if they're miserable, well, okay. But ME? Sigh. Good luck. You could come visit us, but it's a heck of a drive.
ReplyDeleteYes sure - come on over! My children will love the company and no one will ever find you!
ReplyDeletePrime example of why I always try to be careful when yelling out potential punishments. I have to think, who will this hurt more - them or me.
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday?!
Sure, come on down! Or if you'd rather, send Anna when she's finished her work. I'll bet I can make up a High School Work Camp for her, water park visit included. Heh heh.
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday, in case I forget Saturday, which I most assuredly shall, having had too many of the darned things myself.
Kalynne, you should watch out. I might take you up on that.
ReplyDeleteAnd I was so sure that the prospect of missing work camp would scare her into finishing her school work, I never even considered the possibility that the threat wouldn't work. You better watch out, mum-me, I might be desperate enough to hop a plane to Australia. With 4 kids. Anything beats living with the death glare for an entire week.
This is why I always try to think before I punish, to try to avoid punishing myself at the same time. Hey, I'm all for a visit!!! =)
ReplyDeleteI hate hate hate kid punishments that end up being mom punishments. So sorry.
ReplyDeleteMaybe Larry is planning to do some naked knitting for your birthday.
ReplyDeleteYa - that kinda suck but I'm sure it DID light a fire under here and she will be studying next week, right?
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday!
Hence the oldie but goodie parental phrase,'Believe me it hurts me more than it hurts you.'
ReplyDeleteMy mom made me miss my district tournament volleyball game which I was to play in because I didn't finish cleaning the dinner dishes. It took me 15 years to not be mad about it.
Death glares aside, someday, when she has a teenager blessed with her temperment she'll finally be acknowledging the awesome mom that you are.
You could come visit me any old day.
Any chance she'll rally and scramble to finish the work? Any chance her curriculum adviser (guessing that's you) could do a little, um, helping?
ReplyDeleteThat way you could be the HERO and still have a good birthday :)
Happy Birthday, probably never works out too well near Father's day?
ReplyDeleteI feel for you home with the teenager? Be careful what you punish with, you might get stuck with it, too, eh?
my only annoyance with online shopping - when the gift doesn't show up on time!! hate that.
ReplyDeletethanks for visiting my blog! it's like getting a visit from a blogging celebrity :)
Aw crap, her procrastination is now your chest pain - not fair. I say, eat some bon bons. At least a few?
ReplyDeleteYou know you've backed yourself into a bigtime corner, right? No way can you back down. I think maybe you should break down and get her a cell phone just so you can take it away!
ReplyDeleteI know that punishment and biting thing oh so well. Any chance she'll finish in 13 days?
ReplyDeleteJenn has a point.
ReplyDeleteI hate it when punishment backfires.
Oh Poo!
ReplyDeleteThat happens to me ALL the time!
I'm putting my thinking cap on....there has to be an elegant solution to this....
Have a splendid birthday
x
Hen
x
Owww...you poor, poor thing. Have some of those Hershey's kisses. And did you say cherry-filled? When did they start making those?
ReplyDeleteUm, no thanks on the kids. I got my own problems.
ReplyDeleteP.S. Happy birthday! Mine was last week.
A little like Kalynne being impaled on her own "point"???
ReplyDeleteWell you could "help" a little I suppose...we're trying to finish up so we can hand in our "stuff" to the school district...yuck. Hey, Sure, come for a visit! We'd love to have some "extras"...my kids would love it.
The pool is up! Woo Hoo!
BTW those cherry filled kisses are awesome...no one else in my house likes them! HA!
My Hubby's birthday is the beginning of June and Mine is May first, so our kids get to do Mom gift, mom gift, Dad gift, dad gift....what a pain.
Blessings, E
We decided long ago if we feel too punished by their consequences, it isn't worth it. Maybe you should just let her go, as a birthday gift to you!
ReplyDeleteI totally understand why you can't, but still!
One way to let yourself off the hook and get her on her way would be to offer alternative punishments, like washing windows, scrubbing floors, or other jobs you hate to do. If she really wants to go to the week away, she might go for it; and you would have some yucky jobs taken care of.
ReplyDelete