Let’s all try to be nice

I’m trying to be patient. I just returned from yoga and am trying to remain somewhat relaxed. I’m trying to enjoy the last 3 weeks of summer vacation with the kids, because I know once school starts we’ll all be so busy that we won’t have time to just “hang out”. But the grumpys and talk backs have invaded the house and I don’t know if I have the patience to kindly dispell them without losing my temper.

I wish the kids would take advantage of the free days–play outside, play with friends, do something! But instead they pick at each other, making the littler ones cry (as if that makes them happy), and want to watch tv 12 hours of the day. I do my best to encourage, but they seem to take that as nagging. Yesterday I called a friend for Jenna, and had three extra kids over here for most of the day–just to keep them from being bored. But the worst offender (I won’t mention any names here, but it starts with an M) doesn’t want to call friends, or calls one friend and then gives up. She’s also the most grumpy and downright disrespectful. I ask her to please practice the piano and she blows up in a huff about how she Hates practicing (imagine that spoiled little girl from Charlie and the Chocolate factory without the Brittish accent) and I never let her do anything, and I’m always making her practice. Well, I haven’t gotten any practicing out of her in about a week, even though I keep asking, so I don’t quite understand how that could be ruining her life. Ugh.

We have nothing on the schedule for today, but we’re out of milk, so that means a trip to the grocery store at least, a trip to Costco at the most. I wish I could drop them off at the Theater for Summer movies, like our parents did when we were kids. But taking them to a movie means actually TAKING them ALL to a movie, and I don’t know if I’m up to that.

So, off I go to change a stinky diaper, help John get dressed (his pink eyes are much better today. Did I mention he had pink eye? Oh, well, he does), take a shower myself, clean up the breakfast dishes and figure out what we can do that would be slightly fun and entertaining for the yahoos. But first, we need to get ourselves organized, cleaned up, and get some kids de-grumpified. Now where did I put that de-grumpification medicine?