Waving the White Flag

It is 5:38 in the evening, and I am THROUGH. I have surrendered, not to the enemy, but to my own troops. I am going down with the ship. Nobody here but me is interested in order, cleanliness, structure or food, and I am giving in and giving up. I am packing it in, and sitting down to my computer for the evening.

Giving up on trying to keep Olivia dressed. Every time I turn around, she is naked. She has had three baths since this morning. It seems easier to let her bathe than to wrestle her back into some clothes. I even gave in and let her wear one of her dresses this morning, hoping that would encourage her to stay dressed. But as soon as I turned around, there she was, walking naked down the hallway. Again. Then I found myself arguing with her about getting dressed before she got her paints out. Really, what is the point?

Giving up on trying to organize things in this house. We will just pile all their stuff on the living room couch, and they can sort it all out. At least we will know where everything is.

Giving up on keeping track of anybody. They KNOW they are supposed to tell me before they leave the house, but do I know where Alisa, Will and Duncan are right now? No. Did they bother to ask if they could go somewhere? No. But they all seem to show up again eventually, and Logan has a very low crime rate, so I am done worrying about it.

Giving up on food. From now on, they can all eat what they want, which is ramen noodles, cold cereal and frozen pizza. Cheap, easy, and they like it. Why do I bother with anything else? They are already better fed than their pioneeer ancestors. It's not like it will kill them. I'll just mix a little Miralax in with the Kool Aid now and again to keep everybody regular. I even get a discount on that at my pharmacy.

And then, I read about other peoples problems and struggles on their blogs, and I realize how lucky I am to have these stupid problems, and all these creative, healthy, energetic kids (and all their stuff) to drive me crazy.

And now, I'm done complaining.