School starts tomorrow!!

It has been a long summer. I am fit to be tied with my two youngest children.

Where did that expression "fit to be tied" originate? I have no idea. I learned it from my parents.

I'm trying to learn how to keep my emotions under control. Right now I am tempted to lose all patience and decorum with Diva and Sproing. They have been instructed to clean the living room and the kitchen. I was there with them for a while, trying to point out what needs to be done. I ended up just fussing at them.
Good mommy points:

• I did not scream. I kept my voice firm and commanding without screeching or getting too loud.
• I didn't touch either one of the. The temptation to spank was strong, but I kept my hands off of them because I am too angry to control myself

Sproing is grounded for all eternity because last week he stole money from my wallet, went across a busy 4 lane highway to buy himself some candy. He then lied to me about where he got the candy. That was last week.

Yesterday the two of them got into my truck, which was parked in the driveway. To give you perspective, our driveway slopes gently toward the back yard, and I back the truck into the parking spot. The kids said they wanted to sweep the driveway and needed the truck moved. That might be true, but they lie a lot. They got into the truck, released the parking brake, and were incredibly surprised when it began to roll. Diva jumped out of the truck and ran behind it to try to stop it. She's not very bright. Light happened to walk out the back door about then. Sproing heard the door close, so he jumped out of the truck and ran around to the front yard, removing himself from the scene of the crime. Light saw the empty truck slowly rolling toward the back yard. She jumped in the cab and set the parking brake.

Did I mention that school starts tomorrow?

But wait, there's more! Yesterday afternoon Diva went to spend some time with a friend of hers who lives about a 10 minute drive over toward the lake. She called the house late in the afternoon to ask if her friend could spend the night over here. Daddy said NO! The friend's dad brought Angel home around 8:30 last night. Somewhere in the chain of communication a lie slipped in. Angel and her friend told the dad she was able to spend the night. We didn't realize it immediately, because they sneaked in the house while we were otherwise occupied. The kids started getting ready for bed, told us they were fine and didn't need us to come check on them. I'm so naive. We gave them kisses and they went off to bed. It was only when they got loud half an hour later that Superman went to check on them. Lo and behold, who should he see in the room but this other sweet little girl!?

To complicate matters, as if they aren't complicated enough, we had a violent thunderstorm last night. We all like the lightning and thunder. It's energetic and thrilling. Of course this little uninvited guest is scared spitless. What a wonderful excuse to take the child home! Superman tried to call her home, but no one answered. So she ended up spending the night.

The darling's dad picked her up around noon today. He and Superman discussed what had happened with the purposeful miscommunication. I think Tinkerbell might be in some trouble, too. But let me tell you, Diva and Sproing are both in deep trouble! Sproing was in on the deal, and actually did a huge chunk of the lying when he talked to Diva on the phone yesterday and told her that Dad said "yes" when that was not, in fact, true. No sleepovers for either of them, here or at someone else's house, for the rest of the year. They are cleaning the living room and kitchen now and for the rest of the afternoon. I'm working them all day today. Bedtime is 7:00. I hope they had fun last night and this morning, because that's the last bit of fun with friends either of them will have for weeks. Grrrr.

But I didn't hit either of the, and my voice has remained at an almost normal conversational volume. And I had about 3 glasses of wine. We might take a nap this afternoon. :)

And school starts tomorrow. We'll get up at 6:00, get bathed, dressed, and fed. At 7:15 I will take them to the school. Happy joy!! They will walk home in the afternoon, probably not getting here until almost 3:00. Isn't that wonderful? I'm very excited.