I am tired

I am not going to lie.... I am exhausted. I am burnt out. I need a vacation. I am not feeling very joyful and positive about life right now. Instead, I am feeling like I am being worked to death. Obviously, we have had a lot of work to do around here. That is just what it is. It is these beautiful, interesting, creative kids of mine that will be the death of me!

Today I banned cinnamon sugar from the house. I am SO. FREAKING. SICK. of cleaning up a mixture of cinnamon and sugar off the counters, table, and floor. It is the messiest creation and has no nutritional value at all. I have banned it in the past, but somehow moving made the kids feel like they should start making it again.... and that I should start cleaning it again. I am about to ban shoes. Yep. I am going to take away shoes forever. Why? Because we have a no-shoes-in-the-house policy and yet I keep finding shoes EVERYWHERE and dirt EVERYWHERE! Apparently, I am the only one who understands how to work a broom. <sigh> I am just going to ground everyone from everything for ever and ever. Everything will be banned. Can you tell that I was up pretty much all night with a fever baby? Soooooooo tired.

Anyhow, in the midst of all of this cleaning and sick baby crying and me not feeling my best, middle child comes up to me and says, "Mom, I am pretty sure you owe me $40 for unpaid allowances. You need to pay up!"

<blink, blink> Do I live with a small thug? As I was looking at my child who hadn't yet showered or brushed his teeth, who hadn't cleaned up his own breakfast dishes, or picked up his dirty underwear off the livingroom floor (who takes off their underwear in the livingroom???), I found it very hard to stay calm. The reason we decided to start paying the kids an allowance was because I gave up my office outside of the home which requires our home to stay extra clean. Instead of paying a cleaning lady, we thought we would give the kids an opportunity to earn a little extra cash by helping keep things clean. They haven't done any of this sort of thing (other than move-out cleaning, which we compensated them for) for WEEKS. So, I am trying to figure out how in the world my son figures that I owe him 8 weeks of allowance for eating the food I buy, using the utilities I pay for, living under the roof I provide, and doing pretty much nothing else. I would have been paying him for turning my house into a pig pen.

I am very much looking forward to the school year starting up again. I also need a break. I need to do something that does not involve any of my children. They are constantly with me and I adore them, but I never get away from all of them. I think I am going to sign up for roller derby.