It's Only Tuesday?!?

I'm having kind of a bad week. Well, not completely. At work, all is well. Our new secretary started today and I love her! But I wish I could hire someone to take over at home.

So, this will be a fairly self-indulgent whiny post. Just warning you.

Everything seemed fine when I picked up the girls yesterday, their first day of school. They both said they had good days, both seemed happy, had gotten to the Boys & Girls Club all right. Yay. Great.

Then it starts. The whining. The talking back. All while I'm trying to get dinner done, and fill out all the paperwork. (The first day's homework is always a heftier load for the parents than the kids.)

I know a lot of it has to do with working really, really hard at being good at school, being nervous about their first days at a new school, lots of tension and anxiety being released. I get that. But it still doesn't change the fact that I expect my girls to listen to me and to follow directions. I expect to be treated with respect. (I know, dreamland, right? Still...)

I did one of those "go to bed" deals. I was just so done. I knew they wouldn't really go to bed. I just needed some time to wash the friggin' dishes already! (And hello?!? I wanted to watch Ted Kennedy and Michelle Obama!)

Things went from bad to worse to OMG, I have no idea what to do anymore. Then, when things were finally starting to settle down, Riley got a bloody nose. They didn't end up going to bed until about 10 pm, and they're used to going to bed at 8:30.

I did watch Ted & Michelle - and those 2 girls the same ages as my daughter. And thought, I totally suck at this motherhood thing.

In the morning, they got up in plenty of time, but Riley had another bloody nose. I went through more than one roll of toilet paper on that one. Then, as she was just cleaning up, she sneezed, which started a whole new gush. We barely, but barely, got Sylvia to school on time.

After dropping Riley off, I stopped by the office to pick up a uniform waiver. (An aside: why do the elementary schools require uniforms, but not the junior highs? It seems to me there are more valid reasons for uniforms the older the kids get? Also, what's up with signing a waiver and getting it out of it that way? On the first day of school, a good 70% of the kids were not in uniforms. Kinda defeats the purpose, if you ask me.) On my way back to the car, I saw Riley standing by herself at her line. She looked so small and alone. I couldn't go back to her because you need a visitor's pass to get on school grounds and plus, I had to get to work.

Cut to tonight. First, Sylvia called me at 5 to tell me she forgot one of her books she needed for her homework. We decided we'd have to go early tomorrow morning so she can get her homework done before school.

They seemed fine (again) picking them up. Riley talked in the car about how great her Speech class was, and Sylvia was really excited about her Music class. It seemed like they both had good days. Riley has been nothing even close to fine the minute we got inside the house. She didn't finish her homework at the Boys & Girls Club and completely whined and had a fit every time I told her she had to do it. Since Sylvia had finished everything else, she offered to help. This right here is the most beautiful, perfect 5 minutes I've had at home with the girls in two days:



And that's about all it lasted. Soon after that shot was taken, dinner was ready. Riley decided it'd be much more fun to mess around all during dinner than actually eat.

Then, she wouldn't let her sister help her - and I told Sylvia to stop even trying. Riley continued to give attitude, throw things, and basically just make life a nightmare all the time I was washing dishes.

Finally, finally, we had a break-through. Riley talked about the "bad" things that had happened. Somebody picked on her at Boys & Girls Club - said she looked more like a pre-schooler. Her friend didn't come back to play a game with her. Nobody talked to her at school. Of course, my heart broke for her all over again. 3rd grade is a really tough time to find your place in a new school. So I let her talk it out, and soon enough, she was talking about the good times she had. She seemed ready to tackle her homework again.

But here's the thing: it's almost 9 pm, and she's just now finishing! She still has to write out her "book report" and fill out her reading log, but we're going to take care of that after we drop Sylvia off early. And I didn't get any laundry done tonight, and Riley's backpack stuff is still all over the place, and I'm tired of the transition period!! I just want us to have our routine together. One that doesn't involve the whining and the crying and the screaming and the carrying on.

Sometimes, I wish there was no such thing as a summer break.