Parenting Fail

We all have them. Those moments of parenting that we would rather not talk about, that we wish had never happened. They make us hang our head in shame and wonder why in the world that nurse handed that innocent baby over to us. After all they didn't even come with an instruction manual. Everything comes with a instruction manual now days. Even a flashlight comes with some kind of instructions. Why can't kids?

Why? Because it's a great big joke the universe is playing on us. Just kidding. I wish kids came with one. Maybe some of mine wouldn't have happened then.

Like the time, both Katie and Mary snuck out of the house with the dog and walked 2 blocks to the park only to be spotted by an officer's wife and she grabbed Mary.....

Stuff That My Kids Say

I have 2 teen daughters, well 1 teen and one almost teen. Kate is the oldest at 14 and a half. That half is VERY important. It is halfway closer to getting that golden driver's permit. Sometimes we think she is going to be mature enough to get one. That her brain is not pouring out of her ears with some of the things she does and more importantly says.

I think we may have to wait on the driving permit if this is the way she is thinking.

This is our mantel. I bought this letter B before Christmas. It has been setting on our mantel since before Christmas. I've had people comment it on it. Ask me where I got it. You would think it wouldn't be a big deal. That everyone in the family would have noticed it. Right?
WRONG?
Katie just noticed it last week. We are sitting on the couch when she suddenly looks at the mantel and says:

"Oh, Mom, you got one of those letter thingys."

"Yeah, Kate. Thanks for noticing. We got it before Christmas. You're just now noticing? "

"It's been there the whole time?!"

"Yes. Everyday and twice on Sunday."

"Oh.....(long pause while she is still staring at the big B on the mantel)

I'm thinking the long pause is because she is looking at the pictures next to the B.

Nope. This jem comes out of her mouth.

"That's cool. But what does the B stand for?"

"Are you being serious Kate or are you joking with me?"

"Seriously, Mom. What does it stand for?"

By this time I didn't know if I should start laughing my butt off or start crying.

"Katie, what letter does our last name start with?"

Another  pause. Then the lightbulb went off.

"Ohhhhhh. That's cool." She went back to texting.

"What did you think it meant?"

"I thought maybe it stood for Bible."

"Really Kate, and the Joneses just have a J for Jesus."

"They could if they wanted."


Yes, ladies and gentlemen. This is our future generation.


*wow, looking at the picture. I think I need to clean those mirrors. **

Mom VS. Dad

Do any of you have those moments with your significant other when you just look at each other and wonder how you could have such different stances on child rearing.Raising your children.(I hate that word, rearing, it sounds so just... well it sounds like you're talking about butts. You know your rear end.)

Now that the girls are getting older, it seems like my idea of parenting and his idea are on completely different ends of the spectrum. I'm on the end of being more understanding because I'm a girl and remember what it is like to be a tween/teen girl. He's on the end of being not a teen girl.

He was raised a lot differently than me. While my parents let me be more of a kid, he was working and constantly doing chores around the house. So he thinks the girls should be doing all these chores all the time. One time he and his younger brother decided to play ninjas and kicked a hole in their closet. Well, instead of telling what they did they hid it with their coveralls. This was in the spring mind you. Later come winter, their mom found the hole in the closet. They had to move all of their stuff to the barn. All of it... clothes, dresser, beds, everything. And sleep on the floor in the living room. Until their dad felt like fixing the hole.

Now, maybe this was a deserved punishment, but I think it was extreme. And since my husband was raised with this kind of parenting, he sometimes wants to use the same on the girls.

I just had to keep my room clean and occasionally unload the dishwasher. And the one time I put a hole in the wall behind my door, I didn't have to move all my stuff to the barn. I just told my dad and he fixed it.

Before the girls reached these tween/teen years, we just wanted our girls to be polite, use please and thank you, call adults by Mr/Mrs/Miss so and so. And all those other things. I think weekends are for the girls to have fun and relax. He thinks they should be filled with doing chores around the house and doing homework.

Do any of you out there have a different parenting style from your spouse? Is one of you strict and the other more relaxed? Do you fight over whose style is better?

The grounding never ends

The girls are gounded again. Their previous grounding had just ended today. The last grounding was for coming home at almost 9PM. They were supposed to be back at 6PM, when the street lights come on. They got to eat a cold dinner that night. Oldest had her cell phone taken away and no phone/tv privelages for the week for both.

But of course they just couldn't help themselves but get in trouble again today. This time Dad took over and the former Army came out in him. The raised voice, the glare, the finger wagging. He's not yelling he is just speaking in a tone of voice so that there is no misunderstanding. All that. This time they got grounded for taking both downstairs phones upstairs in their rooms and being in our room, letting the dogs in our room and the dogs pooped in our closet and the girls just tossed a bath towel over it.
They are grounded from the phones and tv again and have extra chores.

The future defense attorney in our youngest came out. She made the tragic error of trying to debate Dad. She shouldn't be grounded because she does alot of things around the house, she gets good grades, and for the most part does what she is told.
Truth be told, she does do alot around the house and does what she is told. Her grades are spectacular as well. And then she began laying out all of the things her sister didn't do.
That didn't go over well with Dad. Our rule in the house is that you don't debate Mom and Dad when you are in trouble and you don't ever throw your sister under the bus. She did both.

So now in addition to doing extra chores, they have to do these chores together and if they fight, the grounding just lasts longer.

The older my girls get, the more they seem to get in trouble. When they were little, it was things like: oldest eating spoonfulls of butter, coloring on each other, the walls, or the dog. One time oldest tried to feed the fish.... butter. (the fish survived). Or playing hair salon with real scissors and butter. (My kids had a fascination with butter when they were little)
Now that they are older, can talk, can read, and are almost as tall as me. They can mutter under the breathe (not a good thing since I am hard of hearing. All I hear is whisper..mutter..stupid..not fair) And being girls EVERY thing is a major crisis or drama.

As much as I love my girls growing up and getting older. I wish sometimes I could go back to the toddler stage. I would take coloring on the walls over a hormone filled soon be teenager. But then again reasoning with a toddler and a teenager are about the same thing. Both stomp their feet and screech "Its not fair!" And that's just me. (just kidding) All it took when they were toddlers was a 5 minute time out.
If only dealing with tweens and teens was as easy.