My house is showing the tell tale signs of the end of summer.
Some of the current contents of my pantry:
Flamin’ hot cheetohs
Cheese Puffs
Pop Tarts
Crunch Berry Cereal
I never stock these things as a general rule, but you know what? I’m done with the ice tray snacks, and the cookie cutter sandwiches, and the fruit and veg monitoring, and so are my kids. Peanut butter toast and egg sandwiches get boring after a while. Want an Eggo? No? Pop Tart? Knock yourself out, kid. The best part is they don’t even want them toasted. Personally, I find that a huge junk food violation, but ask me if I care right now.
Healthy snacks during the day are the norm, but by now we are on First Day of School Countdown (18 days, by the way) and there are no vacations or trips or camps anywhere in sight. The result; Want a grape? No? Ok, cheetohs is is. And you know what? I don’t give a rat’s ass!
Get that shitty orange powder on my couch, however, and the only cheetos you’ll find in this house will be under the furniture.
Right now I care that the small joys my kids are getting are daytime movies, orange fingers, and bribery pop tarts. And guess what? It’s a few less moments of bitching and moaning during the day. It makes up for out-of-creative-play-ideas-cranky-mommy who is just trying to make it to some semblance of “quiet time” before the headache sets in.
The other sign is the dirt gathering under my kids’ fingernails. You would think bath time and shower time would be a respite in the evening. One of the most desperate times of the day while my husband is traveling: post dinner, pre promised land bedtime, but nope! It’s just one more task, upstairs where it’s hottest, where the kids are needing help with the shampoo, the water temperature, the toy dropped, the bubbles are gone, i need a towel to wipe my eyes, where’s the soap, there’s a spider near the tub!, there’s shampoo in my eyes still!, more water, less water, i STILL need a towel to wipe my eyes!!
no. just no.
Bathing the children is on a must need basis at the moment. When the animals stop approaching the kids even when they are covered in peanut butter, I know it’s time to hose them down.
So here’s to all the parents home and in the trenches this summer. God bless ya for keeping them alive. In possession of both eyes and all limbs. Feeding the buggers is only half the work, the amount of dishes and dishwasher cycles is enough to float an ark!
Bring on the pumpkin flavored EVERYTHING time of the year !!!
Sarcasmica 