Silence, Kinda

Last night before dinner, there was a little tiny itty bitty straw, and it broke the camels back. All day, the boys had been horrible. Colby is going on being semi-sick (not sick enough to do anything, or medicate, just sick enough to walk around crying all day and wanting me to hold him ALL.DAY.LONG) for about a week now. Chet is gone out of town with the scouts. Caden told me he was smarter than me, so stop telling him what to do. Starburst wrappers were found UNDER the couch, because they were not supposed to be eating them so they didn't want me to see the wrappers. Cars dissappeared before dinner, not to be found until about 3/4 of the way through dinner, which was eaten in complete silence except for the rants that I would give about every 5 min for about a full minute. Oh yeah, and the little snot suck that Carter was doing because they were all bawling. No simpathy here though, just turn off the tears, I don't want to see or hear them! That would send them into more of an ugly cry, which would send me into another rant about something else that had happened throughout the day. I am just done with all the crap! We are in military mode today. I told them if I heard one word last night they would sleep in the dark closet (they are all petrified of staight dark!) They got one bathroom break so use it wisely until noon the next day! Wow, bedtime was amazing! No fifty million excuses of reasons they needed to be up. Cael got to sleep in the dark laundry room all by himself. It was a lovely night. My heart beat came down at about 10, and they went to bed at 8. I told them they could not come out of their rooms until I came and got them. Colby slept about 1-1/2 hours longer than usual, thanks to the quiet house. I got up, made them breakfast (pancakes with syrup and apple slices and water, none of these 5 choices like jam or pb or cinnamon on them) and took them to their rooms. They ate in silence in their rooms. It was lovely! I got to eat breakfast in silence. I cannot tell you the last time that happened (Colby was so much happier when he hadn't been pestered at all)! I then gathered their plates and the blanket they ate on and breakfast was cleaned up. Then after they layed in their rooms until 9:30 (that's about 2-3 hours after they get up usually) I told them they were going to learn how to clean, the right way, the way they will need to know to be missionaries and husbands, until the entire house was spotless. Cars says, "Why, I will go make the money and my wife gets to cook and clean. I don't need to know how." You can only imagine how that conversation went over. Needless to say, my baseboards have been scrubbed, my bathrooms are spotless, my carpets don't have a spot left on them, my closets are clean, my kitchen floor is mopped, Colby is sleeping for the first successful time since the boys have been home. Then Caden says to me, "I don't even understand why we are in trouble. You just freaked out over nothing (remembering the tiny itty bitty straw!) They are now sitting in their rooms silent until I feel like talking to them. I took away snacks too, because of the starburst problem, and they think they are going to die. I bet they will eat what I make them for lunch. If not... I don't feel too bad! Mean mom is here!!! They aren't liking mean mom too much. I am convinced that older people only remember the good days or events. They say how much I will miss these days. I write about the crazy things they do, but not usually about my complete frustrations. Here is one breakdown. They happen like this about once a month. I just get done with all the crap and mouthyness. This one is worse than usual. Cars told a good friend of ours that asked him to pick something up ON HIS PROPERTY we were camping on that he wasn't his boss. He said it jokingly, but I about died (the friend doesn't remember him saying it so I hope it wasn't as bad as I remember it)!!! The attitude and entitlement are ending today. Last week Chet was out with Colby and I had all 4 older boys in church. After about breaking Cadens fingers, I leaned over to all the boys and told them they better follow me out. Cael was more dragged out by the arm, but outside against the brick wall they all got a good talking to, and then marched back in single file where they sat and folded their arms the rest of the meeting. Almost every week of their lives they have sat in church. They are going to know exactly how they are going to sit every single week!!! I could go on and on about things that I need to do better with them. Things that they have done that make my heart beat way faster than running 5 miles. But for now... that is all. Thanks for reading my total rant and frustration, until next time! I love being a mother (really thick with sarcasm today!)