Uffda!! Lucy is definitely a wild card 😳 I'm glad it all worked out though. I suspect there will be some clarification conversations concerning the rules going forward. Kids are nothing if not loophole aficionados 😂
It only gets worse as they get older. Good luck with that, lol. What caught my eye was the wallpaper gig. At this moment I’m ripping all the 30 year old rug in our home and replacing it with vinyl wood planks. Alone. The most my husband does, reluctantly, is haul the rug out to a part of my yard I’ve designated “big pick up when I remember to call them.” I’ve done the upstairs and then decided to use the same vinyl for our stairs. I mean, I watched youtube video’s...how hard could it be? Hard. Really hard. While I was doing that I painted the banisters and spindles black and white respectively. If anyone had a problem with me painted badly dinged up orangie oak they were smart and didn’t tell me. I have one more set of stairs to do before I tackle the living room. I swear I’m going to get some help with that one. For some reason people don’t want to work with me because “you never think I’m dong it right.” Truth. But still, going on 66 next month and ya gotta know your limits. Mine is like your wallpaper. What use to take a couple of days to do has been weeks. Probably the whole summer. But it will get done, bit by bit. In other words I’ve got nothing about the kids other than good luck but boy do I understand you taking down wallpaper, LOL.
Wallpaper is my greatest non-human nemesis. I might branch into flooring, though. My father-in-law really wants to redo my porch, but he needs my help for parts of it. That will probably be ten newsletters worth of disasters.
Girlfriend! Tho I plan to sand and paint my shed this weekend (it’s the size of an outhouse) I haven’t tackled projects such as you describe since I was 50! I managed a tin backsplash behind my stove once that involved tricky cuts around the cabinets so I can appreciate the difficulty of installing the tile around the spindles. Bet that black & white looks fantastic. It isn’t too late to get a new husband!
He’s a good guy. Just doesn’t like DIY projects at home. He does, however, run all the electronics in the house. If it was up to me we’d be using tin cans and string to talk. Something goes woinky with the TV, Google, Internet, etc I yell “Jamie! Fix it!” My brother, who lives with us is the car and repair guy. Together we make it all happen. Luckily for them I have ADHD and am always working on something. You be careful and don’t hurt yourself!! It gets more difficult as you get older for sure. Then there’s the healing when an exacto knife slips, lol. Don’t ask me how I know.
Whew! At least everyone was safe and nothing was harmed. At least the girls knew not to let new friend into the house. But it might be time for some rule re-working.
I was the stay at home Mom. We lived across the street from the park that was attached to my children's elementary school. I don't want to say I was overly careful, I like to say just suspicious. I watched my two children (born 14 months a part on purpose) walk to school every day from K-6th grade. The first day of kindergarten my daughter did not come home within five minutes. I spent 15 minutes looking for her and calling the school. This was in 1973. I found out she left school with her best friend. No one I knew in other words. As I was getting ready to call the police and the bloodhounds to look for her my phone rang. A lady called to say her daughter just brought home her new best friend from Kindergarten. She was sure we didn't know each other, but my daughter knew our phone number. I immediately got the address which was two blocks in the opposite direction from where we lived. I drove over there met her friend, and the Mom. They asked if she could stay for a while and I said NO. She had to go home for an appointment she had. That appointment was with me so I could give her a 30 minute lecture on why she never leaves school except to come home. The two girls are 55 years old now and still good friends.
For real! Ours just graduated high school but we still tried to have dinner at the table together as often as possible to talk about our day and plans, etc. We definitely text but it's so important to have that time together actually talking. I remember James mentioning lamenting not having Betsy home for dinner some nights with her schedule, so I applaud the Breakwells for prioritizing that family time. So many families don't anymore. It's really crucial!
My only daughter never liked sleepovers so I don't have much experience with this. She loved to get together and play/socialize but then she wanted to be home in her own bed in her own room, alone. Only child syndrome maybe. You'd think it would be the opposite but I was kind of glad. I hosted many play dates but only remember a handful of sleepovers. I can only imagine when you have extra girls in your house. Sounds like fun!!!!! :-) Maybe I was missing out!
I was a weird parent: I’d much rather have kids stay overnight with my kids at my house. Except the few kids I literally BANNED from ever setting foot in my house 😏
Your still just a youngster, I on the other hand am a "You better not come back i this house until the street lights come on" age, which is very old LOL
My worst on-the-job injury didn’t even involve a sharp object or a power tool! I was pulling something out from under something else (brilliant.y lazy plan) and a cabinet door that was part of the stack came along with and fell pointy-corner onto my big toe. I’ll spare you the rest but let’s just say I needed more than a bandaid!
I understand completely that the age of your girls requires being with friends at all times. I swear I raised our son and daughter's best friends from 4th grade until high school - and I would bet their parents would say the same about our kids. We live in a smallish community so we always knew or could find out about the parents of our kids' friends which really was important in the later years when the kids' circles widened and they traveled in packs.
The thing we found out with our kids is that you don't need a rule until you need it!
At least you live quite close for everybody to reach, unlike my family, as every parents of our friends commented they have to drive "to the edge of the world (and beyond)" to get them for/back from a sleepover (we always had the longest route to school among our classmates). We also have a rule about not letting in stranger, which was enforced after I opened the door for a drunken man who asked for some money for a beer. Luckily, my dad was at home and immediately told him go out from our frontyard, which he did (we didn't have a fence back then).
Good thing your dad was quick on his feet with the drunk guy. Luckily, we haven't had anyone like that on our door, but we did have a guy pass out in our parking spot. It's always an adventure around here.
I want to point out that Waffle watched this unfold and has stored it away. You're doomed.
The kids only tattle when it's in their best interest. She was definitely plotting.
Are we certain she wasn't the secret mastermind coaching an older sister as an experiment to see if the plan would work? 😂
Syntax/grammar correction - the phrase is “You got some ‘splainin’ to do Lucy!”
A much better line and reference, to be sure.
Ooh, don't read my response. My daughter is an English major and even she is frightened to correct my grammar.
Uffda!! Lucy is definitely a wild card 😳 I'm glad it all worked out though. I suspect there will be some clarification conversations concerning the rules going forward. Kids are nothing if not loophole aficionados 😂
I should write them down somewhere so the kids can ignore my rules in spoken and written form.
Touché
It only gets worse as they get older. Good luck with that, lol. What caught my eye was the wallpaper gig. At this moment I’m ripping all the 30 year old rug in our home and replacing it with vinyl wood planks. Alone. The most my husband does, reluctantly, is haul the rug out to a part of my yard I’ve designated “big pick up when I remember to call them.” I’ve done the upstairs and then decided to use the same vinyl for our stairs. I mean, I watched youtube video’s...how hard could it be? Hard. Really hard. While I was doing that I painted the banisters and spindles black and white respectively. If anyone had a problem with me painted badly dinged up orangie oak they were smart and didn’t tell me. I have one more set of stairs to do before I tackle the living room. I swear I’m going to get some help with that one. For some reason people don’t want to work with me because “you never think I’m dong it right.” Truth. But still, going on 66 next month and ya gotta know your limits. Mine is like your wallpaper. What use to take a couple of days to do has been weeks. Probably the whole summer. But it will get done, bit by bit. In other words I’ve got nothing about the kids other than good luck but boy do I understand you taking down wallpaper, LOL.
Wallpaper is my greatest non-human nemesis. I might branch into flooring, though. My father-in-law really wants to redo my porch, but he needs my help for parts of it. That will probably be ten newsletters worth of disasters.
As someone who has built a deck. I can’t wait for the laughs you give us out of THAT endeavor. Lol
Girlfriend! Tho I plan to sand and paint my shed this weekend (it’s the size of an outhouse) I haven’t tackled projects such as you describe since I was 50! I managed a tin backsplash behind my stove once that involved tricky cuts around the cabinets so I can appreciate the difficulty of installing the tile around the spindles. Bet that black & white looks fantastic. It isn’t too late to get a new husband!
He’s a good guy. Just doesn’t like DIY projects at home. He does, however, run all the electronics in the house. If it was up to me we’d be using tin cans and string to talk. Something goes woinky with the TV, Google, Internet, etc I yell “Jamie! Fix it!” My brother, who lives with us is the car and repair guy. Together we make it all happen. Luckily for them I have ADHD and am always working on something. You be careful and don’t hurt yourself!! It gets more difficult as you get older for sure. Then there’s the healing when an exacto knife slips, lol. Don’t ask me how I know.
Whew! At least everyone was safe and nothing was harmed. At least the girls knew not to let new friend into the house. But it might be time for some rule re-working.
Rule re-working is basically a fulltime job around here.
I was the stay at home Mom. We lived across the street from the park that was attached to my children's elementary school. I don't want to say I was overly careful, I like to say just suspicious. I watched my two children (born 14 months a part on purpose) walk to school every day from K-6th grade. The first day of kindergarten my daughter did not come home within five minutes. I spent 15 minutes looking for her and calling the school. This was in 1973. I found out she left school with her best friend. No one I knew in other words. As I was getting ready to call the police and the bloodhounds to look for her my phone rang. A lady called to say her daughter just brought home her new best friend from Kindergarten. She was sure we didn't know each other, but my daughter knew our phone number. I immediately got the address which was two blocks in the opposite direction from where we lived. I drove over there met her friend, and the Mom. They asked if she could stay for a while and I said NO. She had to go home for an appointment she had. That appointment was with me so I could give her a 30 minute lecture on why she never leaves school except to come home. The two girls are 55 years old now and still good friends.
I love this story!
"Lucy texted our family thread..." Back in the day, we all met for dinner and talked about our day and future plans then. Times have changed.
I agree that it seems surreal. By family dinner, the crisis had passed. New dangers pop up two fast these days.
For real! Ours just graduated high school but we still tried to have dinner at the table together as often as possible to talk about our day and plans, etc. We definitely text but it's so important to have that time together actually talking. I remember James mentioning lamenting not having Betsy home for dinner some nights with her schedule, so I applaud the Breakwells for prioritizing that family time. So many families don't anymore. It's really crucial!
I'm pretty excited if I see the kids at all these days. Their lives are much busier than mine.
“Diligently suspicious….” - yes, that should be a parent’s de facto M.O.
My only daughter never liked sleepovers so I don't have much experience with this. She loved to get together and play/socialize but then she wanted to be home in her own bed in her own room, alone. Only child syndrome maybe. You'd think it would be the opposite but I was kind of glad. I hosted many play dates but only remember a handful of sleepovers. I can only imagine when you have extra girls in your house. Sounds like fun!!!!! :-) Maybe I was missing out!
Your child is wise beyond her years. There is nothing better than sleeping at home in your own bed. Alone.
Agreed! ;-)
I was a weird parent: I’d much rather have kids stay overnight with my kids at my house. Except the few kids I literally BANNED from ever setting foot in my house 😏
#momoffourkids
Your still just a youngster, I on the other hand am a "You better not come back i this house until the street lights come on" age, which is very old LOL
What a great team you are!
My worst on-the-job injury didn’t even involve a sharp object or a power tool! I was pulling something out from under something else (brilliant.y lazy plan) and a cabinet door that was part of the stack came along with and fell pointy-corner onto my big toe. I’ll spare you the rest but let’s just say I needed more than a bandaid!
I understand completely that the age of your girls requires being with friends at all times. I swear I raised our son and daughter's best friends from 4th grade until high school - and I would bet their parents would say the same about our kids. We live in a smallish community so we always knew or could find out about the parents of our kids' friends which really was important in the later years when the kids' circles widened and they traveled in packs.
The thing we found out with our kids is that you don't need a rule until you need it!
That's the truth. My rules are always playing catch-up with situations that have already passed.
At least you live quite close for everybody to reach, unlike my family, as every parents of our friends commented they have to drive "to the edge of the world (and beyond)" to get them for/back from a sleepover (we always had the longest route to school among our classmates). We also have a rule about not letting in stranger, which was enforced after I opened the door for a drunken man who asked for some money for a beer. Luckily, my dad was at home and immediately told him go out from our frontyard, which he did (we didn't have a fence back then).
Good thing your dad was quick on his feet with the drunk guy. Luckily, we haven't had anyone like that on our door, but we did have a guy pass out in our parking spot. It's always an adventure around here.