The Countdown Starts

School is out for summer, as of 1:51 p.m. yesterday, and these rug rats are already driving me up the wall. 

Why do Moms need earplugs?

-Mommy?...
-I am hungry...
-I am thirsty...
-I am bored...
-He/She hit me...
-My stomach hurts...
-The sound of the door closing, AGAIN!...
-The constant talking and bickering
-The thud on the floor as they jump around like gymnast wanna be's

Why do Moms need blinders:

- The mass of dishes (that pile up in 4 minutes time)
- Toys that get left on the floor
- 10 year old who is hovering and trying to read this post right now
- Laundry pile (that was not there 24 hours ago)
- Unmade beds
- Rolling of eyes
- Refrigerator door that is open (at this moment)
- Bikes left behind my car for me to run over later
- Mess that is happening now as they attempt to cook

The most important item Moms need:
- A bubble to stay in
Why?  to relay the need for personal space.  So, if you are trying to come up with a retail idea.  This is it.  And, please make it soundproof.

Yes, vacation is a must.  It is unfortunate that all of the above list of aggravations will surely follow me on the trip.

Show Them The Money!!

The cuties did great last week with the new allowance plan.  Ten year old ended up with $20 and 8 year old with $21.  They saved $10, gave $5 to charity/church and the rest is theirs to waste.  They have not spent yet - SHOCKER!!!!  Ten year old is saving for iTouch and 8 year old does not know what she is saving for.  Ten year old does not even have permission to buy an iTouch.  We'll see!

The week went very well.  The girls cleaned up behind themselves, made their beds, completed extra tasks (IE vacuumed car, took out trash), and finished homework without much argument.  Money does talk!!!!!  They lost some allowance during the week for things like: 'tude, leaving shoes/socks/toys behind, or not completing their morning and night routines.  And let me say - they were held to a high standard and earned every penny.  I cut them zero slack and took away $1 if a pair of socks were out of place.  It is soooooo worth it (so far).

Runner Girl? Not Really.

What have I gotten myself into?  Background:  I have always hated to run.  Last year I decided to like it and signed up for a half marathon.  Yes, I did it.  I completed said half and then had knee surgery.  This happened in November and I have done very little running since.  So, to get myself geared up to run again, I signed up for another half next October.  Here is where I went wrong:

A friend (crazy in shape overachiever friend) asked me to run with her this morning (in 28 minutes to be exact).  I agreed.  WTH?  What was I thinking?  She is going to completely kick my a$$!!!!!  Here is ,my plea:  please pray for me over the next couple hours and if you are in Marietta and see a lady passed out on the side of the road, go ahead and call the bus.  I am sure it will be me.

Thanks for reading.  I just had to write to calm my nerves, and muscles.

So Far, So Good...

My hubby called a 'family meeting' tonight while we were eating dinner.  Pen was in hand and numbers were on paper.  He was ready to discuss our girls earning an allowance.  He asked "what do you think is a reasonable amount of money that you should get each week for doing extra chores?"  Eight year olds response:  "two dollars" and the ten year olds response "twenty five dollars".  I shouted "Twenty five dollars?  Daddy said a reasonable amount."  My husband chimed in and said that he and ten year old had already been talking and they came up with that amount.  I was more on board with eight year old than the other two.  Ten year old did not surprise me with this, but where did my frugal husband go?  I mean, this man is so tight that he squeaks when he walks.  Do aliens really take over humans?  I had never believed it, until now.

We started talking about what would be expected of the girls in order to earn a weekly allowance: 
If they do not pick up behind themselves, monies will be deducted.
If they misbehave, monies will be deducted.
Once monies are deducted, they cannot be 're-earned'.
Extra chores will be given to each girl in addition to regular clean up (ie, vacuum out car).
They will not be expected to 'clean', but they are expected to pick up their mess.
50% of allowance will go to savings,
10% to church,
10% to charity,
30% for them to use as they please.

Okay,so once the breakdown was introduced, I was feeling much better about this idea.  The kids should learn a great deal about how to save and plan with the money they are given.  Now for implementation.

I will run out tomorrow and get a jar (or something cute) to put marbles in.  Each girl will start the week with 25 marbles, one for every dollar.  For any violation of the allowance rules, a marble (or more) will be taken away from the jar.  At the end of the week, we will pay them as we agreed and start again the following week with 25 marbles.

Hopefully, this will help with tornado cleanup.  We are in the South but did not have an actual twister come through here.  Our children are our natural disaster when it comes to cleanliness.  It usually looks as if we have had tornadic action in our den/kitchen/baesment (on and on and on......) on a daily basis.

Our family meeting was held 6 hours ago and we have zero violations thus far.  To be fair, the children have been sleeping for 3 of the 6 hours.  My fingers are crossed that this will work.  So far, so good.