Quips and Quirks: Episode Two

You know when you're a kid and you swear that you won't say the same things to your kids that your parents said to you? Well, I am coming to the realization that I am slowly morphing into my Mom. Being that we have boys, I assumed that they would fight less than girls. Boy oh boy (no pun intended) did I guess wrong! Growing up, my sister and I would fight like cats and dogs so I guess I always thought it was a sister thing. I've come to realize boys fight over any and everything...the Wii, who gets to be player number one on the Wii and who has to follow along, who can ride their bike faster, who gets to sit by the DVD play button in the car (Seriously? These kids have it so rough. Can you imagine having a TV in the car when you were a kid?!), who gets to lay on which side of the bed when bedtime books are being read, who gets to sit by Mom at dinner (Okay...I admit that I like that one a little. I'm the Mom after all.), who gets to be sprayed with sunscreen first, who gets the last brownie, whose Lego piece is whose.... Jiminy Crickets it's nonstop.

The reason I say I'm morphing into my Mom is because she would say things like, "Work it out yourself. I don't want to hear about it!" and "If you call me at work to tell me you are in a fight, you will be grounded for life." So I can't use the last one for now but I have definitely used the first one. My sister and I stayed home in the summers by ourselves once my sister got into high school or maybe it was junior high, I can't remember. We would just about kill each other during the day on some days, but the minute we heard that garage door go up, we would be saying we were sorry and acting like we had been playing Scrabble all day together.

Another thing my Mom did in order to have a clean house was to print out an Excel spreadsheet with all of the house chores on it with a monetary value next to each chore. I always chose the chores with the highest dollar value like vacuuming the carpet throughout the house. I got $2 a week for doing this chore Monday, Wednesday and Friday. (Are you thinking what I'm thinking?) The other high dollar one that I always did was cleaning all three bathrooms. I got $2.50 a week for this chore and again, I had to do it Monday, Wednesday and Friday. (Now are you catching on?) I also folded clothes for 50 cents a load! Do you know how many loads I folded every week and how long that took? My Mom was a genius. Yes she wanted a clean house but more importantly, she wanted to keep us busy. So, she gave us chores that would take FOREVER to do and had us do them three times a week! Who really needs their carpet vacuumed three times a week (we didn't have a dog so this was crazy!) and the bathrooms barely had a chance to get dirty before I was busting out the Scrubbing Bubbles again. So what have I decided to do? I've decided to put together such a chore list for my boys. Not that they don't already do chores but having control over how much money they can make each week is more motivating and it will keep them busy busy busy which may mean less fighting? We'll have to see about that.

So boys are fun. They're a blast actually. They adore their Mom (me!) and that's the best part of having boys. The fighting, kicking, punching, wrestling, chasing around the house, and talk of all things bathroom related....I could do without. (More on that in another episode perhaps.) It's like they say, "Boys will be boys." I now understand this phrase all too well. Speaking of boys, gotta run, there's a fight going on upstairs that needs a referee. Sheesh.