I Am Such A "Bad Mom"

K. Really.

Little Sprout has this issue with eating meals. She won't eat them ~ I mean AT ALL ~ then expects that she will be able to snack all day. It is partly my fault, because she usually wants something healthy like an orange or apple for snack. I mean, what Mommy doesn't want her kid to love goodies like that? So we have instituted a new rule here at Barefoot Manor: No snacking between meals. I have been dealing with tortured screaming all day because she is "SOooo HUNGWEEE!!!" Then, come meal time? The child ate three (yes, count them, THREE) bites of supper before telling me that she was full.

GAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

We also have a rule for Big Sprout, where if she gets late assignments at school she is grounded for one day per late assignment. Harsh, even I think so, but it is the only thing we have found that works. She is so incredibly bright that it sickens me to see her throwing away good grades because she is too lazy and unorganized to do her work.

So, of course, she came home today with one late assignment on her weekly report. We had to ground her for tomorrow, since she cleverly managed to avoid showing us the paper until 8pm. Silly child! If she would have shown it to us right away, she would have been grounded for the rest of the night (4pm till bedtime), and that would have been the end of it. NOW she has to deal with being grounded (which means massive chore loads, no TV, no puter, no games, no books, no radio....she just might die from the deprivation) for an entire Saturday. And we are the evil parents because "it was ONLY 2 minutes late!!!!!"

Too bad, kid. If you couldn't cut a deal with your teacher to keep it off the weekly report, then you can't cut a deal with us.

I tell you what, folks. I love my kids, truly I do, but there are many days when I wish I was rich enough to afford a nanny. Someone to actually do all the WORK involved with children, and someone who actually gets paid to listen to their tantrums. Cuz ya know what? Right now the sweet little hugs and kisses I get just aren't enough payment to make up for this hassle....