Wrong Side of the Bed

I woke up in a bad mood today and this really doesn't happen very often.  I am usually that person who wakes up chattering and smiling, but I am very irritated this morning. 

I make lists, I have cubbies, I have a dry-erase board, I have all of these tools around the house to help everyone know what they are supposed to be doing.  (I should add that it is things like clean your room, pick up your shoes by the front door.....all things that are reasonable.  Not things like "giving me a massage".  They are all things that have to do with basic upkeep of themselves.)  Anyway, if I wanted to shout "clean your room" ten times, I would just do so, I wouldn't bother with organizational tools, but I don't want to because then I am a nag and everyone gets irritated.  Here's the interesting thing.....UNLESS I nag, they don't do what they are supposed to.  Imagine that!  So why do I bother having boards, lists, cubbies, if I am going to be the only one who is going to look at them?  They aren't for me! 

I told the kids "I am going to allow you to do your stuff at your leisure, and I will inspect it and make sure that you have done it, but it has to be done on Sunday, if not, I am going to have to step in."  Ok, so yesterday I had to tell Logan to do his chores because the day was almost over.  I don't even want to talk about the horrible, babyish fit that he threw and the smarting off that I got.  He was like "I thought you weren't going to nag us anymore."  I told him that I didn't want to, so it's his problem.  It doesn't matter.  No matter what I do, I am a nag, I am the bossy and annoying voice that everyone tries to tune out.  How is that fair?  Oh, and he originally lied to me and said that he had done them, so on top of NOT doing them, he lied about doing them.  And he wants to know why I was mad?

What would happen if I just quit for a while?  I'll give you an example.  Every damn morning when I make lunches, guess what?  The ice packs are at the bottom of the lunchboxes, warm.  This morning I said "All three of you didn't bother to put your ice pack away, so I used the last two in Daddy and Logan's lunch, Lindsey, you don't get one."  I asked if they just think that they will magically walk themselves into the freezer?  Or maybe they just think that I will do it?  So I guess if I were going on strike, I would just say "Sorry.  Next time maybe your food won't suck at lunch time, because you won't be lazy and you'll actually take the two seconds to put the stupid thing into the freezer."  Stupid things like that irritate me because when you add them up, I am only one person and can't be expected to do EVERYTHING and then NOT be angry when no one pulls their little, tiny load.  I have a trillion things to do every second of the day, and usually while diffusing a temper tantrum or holding a toddler.  I know what the answer is.....allow them to eat spoiled lunches and say "Sorry!  Maybe you'll learn!"  But apparently I am also the only one who worries about food safety.  I know that I could have the attitude "Ohhhhh, no one brought the trash can to the road, again.  I guess they'll learn once we're ear-deep in trash!"  No thank you.  I guess I could say "Oh, you couldn't find your book in that mess in your room?  Because I haven't made you clean it?  Oh, and now you'll get a zero and probably an F in the class? Sorry!"  NO!  I can't have that attitude.  I care, and I can't pretend to not care.  And the more slack that I give people, the LAZIER they get.  I'm serious.  The more I nag, the more stuff gets finished.  Sounds like it isn't MY problem, if you ask me. 

Another thing......this weekend, Lindsey went to a birthday party on Friday, Saturday I took her to dance and then Jamboree where I coached for her, then I took her to a movie and dinner.  Yesterday, I asked her to do ONE extra thing not on her list, and she didn't do it.  Don caught her watching TV instead.  AND, if you read her blog, she said "Today wasn't fun because I cleaned (whatever, her room) and I didn't get to go to the birthday party."  I didn't let her go to TWO birthday parties.  Are you kidding me?  ARE YOU KIDDING ME????  I will say that Lindsey did her chores and she was good the rest of the day.  I just got upset because when I asked her to do the one thing, I was setting up her BLOG!  So again, doing something nice for her. 

Why don't I do NOTHING, since what I do doesn't matter anyway?  Please tell me I am not alone. 

Here's the stinking Word of the Day, which has magically fit this entry:

polemic

\puh-LEM-ik\ , noun;

1.

A controversial argument, as one against some opinion, doctrine, etc.

2.

A person who argues in opposition to another; controversialist.