End of my rope...

As a parent, I probably reach the end of my rope once a month!  I am pretty patient with many things, but the house is definitely not one of them.  When my house is messy and cluttered, I seriously feel like I cannot breathe.  I cannot stand clutter.  I know a messy house is not something to get all worked up about.  I have a healthy family, friends, blah, blah, blah!  I have heard all of these comments from friends, my husband, my mother.  Bottom line...if my house is out of order, I feel out of order.

The problem is that my house is out of order a lot these days and it drives me insane.  To quote my eight year old son...."watch out she's gonna blow!"  I ask very little of my children.  During the weekends, they are asked to help clean.  However, school weeks they are only required to make their beds, keep their rooms clean, put sports stuff in the garage and pick up after themselves.

Does this look like my garage?

Those are CLEAN clothes on the unmade bed!

Two seconds to throw that comforter over the bed...

What you don't see is the 5 blankets and over 20 stuffed animals on his bed.

I am a broken record.  Reminding them of the small chores I expect done everyday to help me out.  Even when I remind them, they don't do it!  I have gone on strike in the past, but that doesn't solve the problem it only makes it worse.  Today I decided that I would mirror my children.  I listened to them the way they listen to me.  When Gabby asked for help with her hair this morning, I said "in a minute."  Ten minutes passed and asked again....I responded, "hang on."  By the end of the morning, it only caused frustration.  I am at the end of my rope.  I have tried chore charts, allowance, lecturing (take pride in your home...blah, blah, blah), consequences (they cannot leave until the work is done), and yelling (which never works).  I am worried that by the time I become an attorney, I will need an attorney.

I am going to re-open all of my parenting books and figure out a plan that doesn't involve a live-in cleaning lady, figuring out how "I Dream of Jeannie" did the head thing, or purchasing every wand in Harry Potter Land hoping one actually works.  Happy cleaning!