Why Clean?....it's just gonna get messy again....

This is a statement I have heard far too often in my years of motherhood. I truly love love love a clean house, it makes me feel so happy inside!....I just can't seem to keep one. I know working makes it ten times harder to keep on top of this and I know this because I have had the fortune of being a stay at home mom several times during my mothering career. Unfortunately this is not one of those times and I'm being driven to the breaking point...really, I'm going to have a breakdown!! I am so SICK and TIRED of cleaning up pieces of garbage off the floor!! What is this about???? HELLO??? We have a garbage can in the bathroom and also in the kitchen why is there garbage on the floor??? This seriously unnerves me!! I am also SICK and TIRED of threatening, I mean reminding my kids to do their chores! We have had the same system for several years now...it is not a new thing!!! They have one chore that needs to be done daily and sometimes more than once daily and they rotate every week. It's easy and not complicated.

One of my kids especially hates to do the dishes...she really does everything in her power to look like she is doing the dishes...she will be in the kitchen doing heaven knows what for an hour or maybe even two....I see her, picking up dishes and I think...oh she's doing the dishes!!!....(our kitchen is not connected to the living room). So, I hear her, I see her and she states she's done and goes to bed. I go in the kitchen to find a counter full of dishes nicely stacked and none of them washed!! (we do not have a dishwasher, the electric kind anyway). So, with this girl I have learned some things. She will trade doing the dishes for other things like cleaning out the refridgerator (a job I truly hate!!) and my favorite, she will trade doing the dishes for a 30-40 minute massage and I really like massages and I really don't mind doing the dishes. Aaron really hates when I do this but I think it's still teaches her something...like the art of negotiation. And I really like massages!

I can not tell you how many times I'm told "no one else cares about having a clean house" or "you have OCD" or the one I heard today, which really takes the cake.....I walked in the bathroom and called the child in who has the bathroom this week. I showed him the towels and clothing on the floor and the trash decorating the floor around the trash can and he said "no one's coming over, no one's gonna see it" and I said " I am standing in here and I SEE IT!!!" and he said "maybe you should wear a blind fold".

AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

Conversations

Hannah: Sometimes you are mean and nasty and sometimes you are nice.

Me: Mean and Nasty????!!!!

Hannah: okay, just mean.

Things I'd hoped to never hear....

I love your lips because of all the fuzzy stuff on top....it's like you have a mustache.

Witchcraft HOO HA HA!

Last week was North Star High School's production of The Crucible. This is the first year we have a new drama teacher, Brenda Broeker and I just can't say how impressed I am with her. It was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!! I can not believe these were high school students!! One of the kids' father took some awesome photos on parents night. Josh played John Proctor. His performance was so wonderful and everynight I cried and cried at the end. I was sad that there were no photos of Megan during the court scene but did a good job. This was her first speeking part! Again, I just can not say enough how wonderfuly Josh's performance was....that boy is talented....and I'm his mom!

To see all the pictures go to http://scobb717.smugmug.com/

Oh, and the title...this is the chant the kids would yell out after their huddle each rehearsal and show days....I got to witness this a couple times......so cool!

Scenes from the play...pretty much in order.....if you do not know the story...here is a little synopsis.....John Proctor had an affair with Abigail Williams but he has since repented, but Abigail still wants him so she and her friends get together in the woods and Tituba makes a charm, which Abigail drinks to curse Elizabeth Proctor..for you see, she wants to be his wife. The girls get caught and end up blaming many of the town folk of witchcraft to deflect the blame from them....so all these people get arrested...including Eliabeth Proctor. John is pretty upset about this...John has an evil temper! So, he gets his housemaid (who was one of the girls in the forest) to admit the girls are lying about all the townspeople. Well, Abigail, gets all the girls to gang up on the Proctor's housemaid, Mary, and she ends up saying John Proctor is a wizard and he made her sign her name in the devils book......and John gets arrested. The judge and the magistrate end up sentencing many to hang....they realize that the girls were lying but not until after many have died for witchcraft....so they can not admit they were wrong so they try to get Elizabeth Proctor to have her husband admit to witchcraft so others will follow and they won't have to hang. John at first decides he wants to live and admit to witchcraft even though it's a lie....he then after much heartache (and a stellar performance from my son) that he can't lie and ruin his name....he hangs at the end (with my daughter Martha Corey).

This was so much work for these kids!! I am amazed at the grace in which they handled the subject matter. This play was written by Arthur Miller in 1952 and was based on the real witch trials of 1692 in Salem Massachussetts. The characters are all based on real people.