Weekend Wrap-Up (and my first confession)

Wow. I mean, just wow. It's been so so crazy lately, I don't know how to wrap this up. So forgive me my therapeutic post, but I could really use it.

At last some pics from Riley's bday at Disneyland last weekend:





So that was last weekend. Then, there was the cruise that my sis and I went on, which rocked, but since I haven't asked my sis if it's okay to post pics, I won't.

The week got off to a bad start when I went to pick up Sylvia on Monday after cheer practice, and she wasn't there. We had completely forgotten that she had her cheer camp at one of the local high schools this week. She went, but she didn't bother to call me to tell me that I was to pick her up at 5 (instead of 4:15) at the high school (instead of her school). It was the beginning of many arguments to come between Sylvia and I this past week. (Given the stance I took last week, I feel like I have to come clean on some of this.)

I partially blame the people running the cheer camp, as we never got a firm schedule on this, and I realize that Sylvia's still young - but at the same time, I just have to know where she is and when. Bottom line.

Similar problems ensued throughout the week due to both the lack of communication from the cheer camp as well as Sylvia. And my patience wasn't what it should be.

Meanwhile, Riley and I have continued to battle over homework every night. I realized mid-week that part of the problem lies with my own resentment over the fact that I feel like her teacher isn't very effective. The homework still isn't very inspiring, and sometimes Riley's lack of understanding makes me question just what's going on in the classroom every day. But that's not our only issue. The other issue is Riley herself: even when she knows the answer, she gets distracted SO easily that unless I'm standing over her the whole time, barking "Riley, homework!" it doesn't get done.

But I'm also trying to make dinner, or do the dishes, or throw in a load of laundry, or have a conversation with Sylvia. Those household chores are about as much as I can get done during the week. There are still many many more to be done, and we haven't been home often enough during the weekends for me to get them done. So I'm feeling incredibly overwhelmed by what I need to get done.

A constant struggle this week was figuring out what was happening on Friday, aka Halloween, aka Sylvia's bday, aka Sylvia's performance for her cheer camp at the high school football game.

First things first. Costumes for the day. Sylvia made an amazing Queen Elizabeth:


(see what I mean about needing to get other housework done? Please ignore all the crap on the ground there. Here, I'll help with a close-up)



Riley was Scarlett O'Hara:



But as I watched her in her school parade, she looked more to me like a prostitute from a Western - I think it's the black lace gloves:



And as we got closer to the big day, the girls reversed their earlier "no trick or treating" decision. Okay, but when are we going to do it? Sylvia was told they could go around the neighborhood after she checked in, but it turned out they were escorted directly to the stands for the game.

So here's a little note about how our kids open us up to new things: this was the first high school football game I've ever attended. Come to think of it, my first football game ever.

Sylvia had an awesome time cheering. She did a great job (of course!), but it was a long night. Riley really got into it for the first half, but after the half-time show, she was done. But the 3rd quarter was when Sylvia was cheering with the high school cheerleaders. So we had to stick that out. Longest 12 minutes of Riley's life.

I feared a big scene with Sylvia, as we didn't end up getting released until almost 9 pm, and I believe it's bad form to knock on anyone's door after 9 pm. So there was a big sigh of relief on my part when Sylvia immediately said, "I want to go home."

They did get candy from their schools, the Boys & Girls Club so they weren't completely deprived. But Sylvia wanted to come home and play with her presents, most particularly the Fashion Design Studio I got her. (Both of the girls questioned their father on where their presents were from him. They didn't really get an answer.)

Saturday, the plan was to go see High School Musical 3 and go roller skating later. After, I was to take them to my parents' house to spend the night (yay!) and my dad was going to take them running so Sylvia could train for the 5k she's running in December. Well, we made it to HSM3, which we all enjoyed (I'm such a geek - I got all teared up at the end), but then the girls started to fall apart - and I totally fell apart.

Then, we found out roller-skating didn't start until 8 pm, so my parents suggested that we go Sunday instead. Well, that just about did it for Sylvia. So I called my parents and said, "can you take them now?"

I took the girls to their house around 6 pm, and I'll be meeting them at the roller skating rink this afternoon. Sylvia still wasn't happy about it, but I told her, I just didn't see how we were going to survive the next 24 hours without a break from each other.

So, I didn't try to drive them to Nevada, but I gave up for a while. I came home, and while doing 4 loads of laundry, I watched girlie tv (namely, 4 episodes of The Starter Wife) and went to bed at eleven.

Today, I'm getting some things done around the house. The crap at the bottom of Sylvia's pic is now gone. I'm all caught up on laundry. I still have to vacuum, sweep, mop, etc., but since I got up at seven (thanks, end of DST), I still have a few hours before my free time is up.

I hope this will be enough to re-focus all of us, but most particularly, me. I'm not so naive to not know that it all starts with me.

I need to stop falling apart when they fall apart. I need to suck it up and deal. I need to step up my game, and hand out some tough consequences. I need to raise the standards, and demand more responsibility. And I need to make sure I take care of myself so that I have the energy to do so.

The truth is, the real Scarlett O'Hara lately has been me. I've been leaving a lot of things to think about tomorrow. There simply are no tomorrows left. Carpe diem must be my new mantra.