Monday was the first glorious day of summer break. And the day was beautiful. I was reminiscing about summer break when I was little and remembered how bad I wanted to just sleep in. I'm sure we did and all I remember is weeding the garden, but I wanted to let my kids sleep in and just have a true vacation day at home. Who am I kidding, I just wanted to have a quiet morning. Regardless of my own evil designs, the kids had a fun day with friends over (at one point I had 12 kids at the house), they went on walks, rode bikes to the library, watched TV, played games on the computer. They pretty much did what they wanted. They loved me on Monday.
They did not love me on Tuesday. LeRoy informed me Tuesday morning that we would have a couple coming to look at the house. If it had just been friends or even an acquaintance I wouldn't have worried about the house so much but these were possible clients - a contractor that could bring us work for at least 2 houses. They not only wanted to see LeRoy's quality of work but the layout of the house, cabinet, carpet and paint choices and get a feel for the home. I felt an overload of pressure to make a good professional impression (why toilets had to be included in that I don't know) but all of the sudden I could see and smell everything that needed cleaning.
The layer of dust in this house dates back to last fall, the kitchen floor had a layer of sticky on it that could rival velcro and the toilets, well . . . 5 toilet using boys in the house - need I say more? I was hoping to get all of the house cleaned over the next couple of weeks before we have company come, and the kids could have probably handled that cleaning schedule. But we only had one day, really only 6 hours since I had let them sleep in again. Bossy, fussy, perfectionist mom showed up and Tuesday was not the most pleasant of days.
Though the couple that came to see our house seemed impressed with the house, and it looks like we won them over as clients, I can't say that we appreciated the result of our efforts. Either I needed more than a few hours notice to lovingly work with my children on it, or I should maintain a higher standard of clean on a daily basis, or I should have let it go. They loved me not. And I loved me not.
I redeemed myself on Wednesday. I went with Derek and Justin to get flip-flops and swimming shorts and they thought I was "the best mom ever". If only they could always appreciate $2 flip flops. Erika and I went later in the afternoon to pick up piano and violin music so of course I'm back on her good list. And then the clincher: dinner. One of their favorite dinners (which their dad can't stand) is homemade bread and milk, eaten in a bowl like cereal. Top that with homemade jam and it's an even bigger hit. But I won them over even more when I paired the bread and milk with homemade waffles topped with ice cream, strawberries, and homemade syrup. Some may claim there isn't much nutrition in that but we did hit three different food groups: grains, dairy, and fruit. Ok, maybe four food groups if you count the "sweets". After the little boys went to bed we stayed up late watching So You Think You Can Dance and I let Erika go to a movie with a friend.
Why doesn't Cool Mom show up more often? They really love her.
5 comments:
your kids love "slave driver" mom, too. i promise. they will appreciate you for all that you teach them now. when i first moved out to go to college, my roommate didn't know how to wash dishes by hand. she was embarrassed, and i guarantee that she wished her mom had taught her work.
and how do you explain "sleeping in" to boys who insist on waking up at 6 a.m.? they never woke up this early when we lived in the cave.
do you know when bunco is?? i really NEED to get away.
Man, I feel like that sometimes too. The part about they loved me not and I loved me not. That was yesterday for both Shawn and I. At least WE get chances to redeem ourselves and show that their work is appreciated.
you're a fabulous mom. i'm so glad that kids can forgive and forget much quicker than I can...i don't know about teenagers, but I would bet if they compared you to other mom's you would be at the TOP!! no matter which "mom" you were that day :)
oh and to answer ruth...bunco is the 23rd-my house :)
hahaha! I was rolling with the kitchen floor description and the toilet using boys... that was hysterical.
I am glad to know that I'm not the only one that gets freaked out about people coming over and having to have the house cleaned and perfect to "win them over" or whatever... but afterwards I realize how military-minded I had been about having everything perfect and it's not worth the stress in the end. I need a wall hanging that says, "My house was clean yesterday, sorry you couldn't have been there to see it." I'm glad you were able to get into the good graces of your kids again. It's funny how a few special trips can do that. :)
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