X Roads of Michelle R Sweeny & ZETAZEN

My oldest one is trying to try my patience....But what she doesn't know is...I HAVE NOW MASTERED PATIENCE!!!!! lol :-) 

She will be 13 in about six weeks.  And so I'm getting the mumbles, the rolled eyes, the laziness....lol all of it! Not going to work, however. 

I have some very simple rules...

1. keep the room tidy (clean is preferred, but never accomplished)
2. get good grades (As & Bs - sometimes a C, if it's in Math...it's not her strongest subject, Ds, or Es [equivalent to Fs in our school system - plus she takes ALL ADVANCED CLASSES....]
3. do the chores in a timely fashion & of course have them completed! (no half steppin' on washing the dishes!!!!! Clean the kitchen, wash the dishes, dry them and put them away!!!!!)

Okay...with these things in mind, if these things are done all the time...I have NO ISSUE with allowing her to go out with her friends....so I told her...as long as you've meet this criteria the answer is YES. No need for her ask me if she wants to do anything....she misses one...the answer is well of course NO.  

So I've basically allowed her to answer her own questions about going with her friends anywhere.  She knows if ANY one of those things have NOT been accomplished then she doesn't even have to ask me...the answer is NO.  So I find it interesting that the majority of the time...the answer has been NO. lol

Rules 1 or 3 are the two that continue to get her caught up and left out in the cold.  

EXCEPT for this weekend....She actually got a chance to go hang out with her friend...spend the night...and go roller skating....

HA! She must have gotten tired of me.....FINALLY! lol :-) 

Next go around...I'll have to speak to the horrors of her and the cell phone.... YIKES! 

I have not written in a while about the girls. I guess there isn't much to discuss.  They had a really good summer and we are completing the first quarter of school. 

However, I can say this....we are still having a time of understanding what clean really is.  My definition of clean is not their definition of clean...of which I am not surprised. We continue to work on this task on a daily basis....with the bedrooms, the kitchen...the family room and the bathrooms.  

Yes, it irks me...to have their stuff all over the house....it just makes the house look so messy and I'm really trying to do my best to minimize our stuff so the house doesn't look as untidy.  With less stuff comes less clutter and more room to be creative and free. 

Being free from emotional clutter starts with being free from physical clutter.... 

So the oldest daughter tells me Thursday night that her friend Sam is having a sleep over on Friday night. Yes the next day. I guess she figured she was giving me 24 hours notice. Anyway...she then happens to mention to me that her friend Candance wants to come over our house on Friday night...

Well Candance and Sam don't get along and they are not friends....so we have competing sleep overs...one at Sam's house and the one that Candance was trying to make over my house.  

I brushed the child off and told her I'd think about it. Well, the next morning...I said no...this child's room was so utterly messy I just could NOT understand how she lived in there...nor could I understand how could form her lips to part with wanting to go hang out with her friends or her friends coming to hang with her in that NASTY ASS ROOM...I was just so embarrassed for the child! So I told her...her room was disgusting and no no no and more no.  

So needless to say when she got home from school she cleaned her room.  Half ass if you ask me. Guess what my answer was STILL NO. She was like but I cleaned my room. Me? AND??????? What does that supposed to mean? I mean really they say people in China like rice, people in Japan drink tea, and people in hell are looking for ice water.....I never told her that if she cleaned her room, she'd could go the sleepover at Sam's house or Candance could come over. So last night she was looking all grumpy...so I had to explain to her...just two weeks ago when the BF was over HE even tried to her about having a clean room....and just last week I told her about cleaning that room before she was able to go to the skate rink....I'm just not having this shit anymore. If she doesn't keep a clean room, over time, then there is no going out....that's the mother-law up in this camp!!!! 

I'm a single parent...I work too hard (on some days lol) for her to treat her stuff like it means nothing. She needs to be thankful she has her own room. Lord, the child does not know how blessed she is. 

One thing I just don't get is how she keeps her grades straight..her school is into having the most organization possible. EVERYTHING must be organized...I mean it's like Organization School rather than middle school....so in order for her to keep getting on the honor roll...she has to have key top notch organization going on....WHY CAN'T THAT FILTER TO THAT NASTY ASS ROOM OF HERS? 

I'd love to read your messy room horror stories...ones from your childhood or from your children.... lol So if you're not a parent...weigh-in too... :-) 

Even though my daughter doesn't keep a clean room or can't seem to keep time straight...she's always on point at school.

I just found out for next year's courses for 7th grade she will be in the following:

Advanced Language Arts, Advanced Social Studies, Advanced Science, Pre-Algebra 7 

YAY!!!!  She will also take her usual AVID course (prep course for college), Spanish 1, and one elective - either FACS (babysitting/sewing/cooking), Art, or Chorus.  She's in Chorus this year. But she wants to do something different. Hey, I can live with that.

I'm really proud of her! :-) 

I'm really tired of being my oldest daughter's alarm clock on days she has to go to school.  She's 11! I'd like to think by now she should know how to get up on her own.  She moans and groans about waking up. Well, it's time to get up...welcome to the world we all know...and it's not going to get all that better if she keeps that kind of attitude. 

I know what part of the problem is. She's a night owl. She'll get in the bed, but she won't go to sleep at a decent hour. She'll read and read and read. The other night she read so much that she finished the book in one night. We just went to the library that afternoon.  Anyway...this causes her to be "spacey" in the morning. I don't know how she stays on the honor roll. It's amazing. But I've already told her - as of August - she'll be 12 by then...and going to the 7th grade she's going to have to be own alarm clock. I'm getting her a clock. Even though she'll sleep through the alarm tone...she needs her own clock....that brings me to the next topic...

BRAIN DRAIN!

I'm not her brain. She relies on my brain for simple and easy tasks. Like telling her what time it is.  I'm trying to teach her organization and time management skills. This shit is falling on deaf ears! I swear it's seeping over to my youngest daughter. I'm trying to stop it. 

Right now...she asked me WHAT IS TODAY....I told her I'm not telling her.  But the youngest one yells out...check on your cell phone! This is the mess I'm talking about. How do you not know what today is? HUH? It's Thursday February 26, 2009! 

HELP! Suggestions anyone? 

This is my first podcast. 

First Podcast

Well report cards came out last Friday. I still have not seen SeDona's report card. Why? Well because she lost two books from the school media center. And she has to pay for them. One of the books her friend lost, and her mom paid for that one. The other SeDona lost and she's using the money from her tutoring job to pay for the other.  But I do know she's still on the honor roll. As an Bs. Yes!

Siyah is doing well in school too, but she's still struggling in reading. I hired SeDona to help her, since SeDona is a master at phonics and reading.

How is this arrangment working? Well, I really don't have the patience to help Siyah. I feel bad because I don't. But as a parent you have to know your strengths and weaknesses. Well, I think Siyah taunts SeDona so I have to continually have to speak to Siyah about seeing SeDona as she does her school teacher and give her that "teaching" respect.  Siyah needs to read with fluency and with expression. 

Otherwise, I'm happy to know that I have really smart children.

The girls have also decided to name our new puggle puppy that's coming this Spring - Trexler. It's the BF's last name.  They think it's "cool"... He thought it was funny. (I think...what man wants a dog named after him?) I can think of many connoations for that one....