Welcome Spring and a Confession

Yesterday spring began. It felt like summer had arrived. It was sunny and 70 degrees, about 20 degrees warmer than typical mid-March weather in MA. We took full advantage of this beautiful Saturday to clean up the gardens.

Here are before and after pictures. My hardworking husband appears in both.


The kids got into the act too. Jack chopped down a dead tree.


Renee enthralled her visiting grandma.

Here's some evidence of plants growing toward the warm sun. Daffodils and rubarb are on the way.



Now for a confession. Here's my major obsessive parenting mistake. I desperately want to make my interactions with my kids positive. I want weekends to include fun family activities, but I am often stymied by frustration over my kids' lack of attention to their chores and other responsibilities. I used to have a rule that rooms had to be cleaned Saturday mornings. I would also spend that time cleaning the kitchen and bathrooms. Often the kids would sit on their beds rather than cleaning. The opportunity to do something fun in the afternoons would disappear as they put off their chores and I became more and more frustrated.

I became more lax about this rule since we moved. I got tired of the arguments, but now I am very annoyed by seeing the 24/7 mess in their rooms. They tend to loose things and mess drifts to the dining table and the family room.

I entered my daughter's room this morning with good intentions but seeing her crafts all over the floor once again and (get ready to be grossed out) an item dug from her nose on the door frame (she's 9) set me off. I became the angry, lecturing mom. I feel like we can't go out and have fun until these things are fixed. My son's floor is covered with at least 3 days of laundry and a wet towel unless I become the policeman. He is 13. All my good intention drains out of me when I see these things.

I once took a parenting class that said let the kids have their rooms as they wish. Close the door and don't let it bother you, but I'm having a lot of trouble. Please comment with any thoughts or suggestions on this problem. I am so tired of always being an angry disciplinarian.