The kids were pretty good this morning and did their chores. Chris even did Joey's chores without complaining.

For me, things have gotten progressively worse. I couldn't stand not cleaning so I decided to clean out the pantry/craft closet. Good thing I did because I found a couple of rotten/maggot infested onions on the bottom on the pantry floor covered by bags and boxes of crafts. Gross! I usually put my onions in the frig. Those must have been there for a while! I don't know why I didn't smell the onions, but I didn't. After I got it cleaned up I decided to tackle the craft side of the closet. Five hours later (in between doing crafts with Timmy and Gracie) I was finished.

I realized if you throw away those big boxes and put the crafts in seperate zip lock baggies you save a lot of space. I also got a great idea to keep the messy crafts and paints outside in a rubbermaid container so the kids can get messy whenever they want without messing up my kitchen.

(Will post photos after the weekend)

Before hip hop (me and the boys are taking a class together for the summer) hubby asked me what he should do for dinner. I got frustrated with the fact that he couldn't even decide on a dinner choice for himself.(The guy is Mr. Fix-it, McGuiver, and Joe Gardener all rolled into one, but he is completely lost in a grocery store or when it comes to cooking.)I told him there was a freezer and pantry full of easy prep food and for him to decide.

Side Bar: I think one of the most exhausting things about being a mom is fielding the endless questions from hubby and kids.

But equally exhausting, I'm sure, is having your wife be not satisfied with your decisions!!! (GUILTY)

Things have seriously gone down hill this evening. The kids are acting like they ate a pound of sugar for dinner. They are wild and out of control. Could it be they're excited about going camping? Well, I've been insanely busy trying to pack for 6 people to go camping with 2 of the kids destroying the house. I told them we're not going camping unless the house gets straightened and the way things look tonight, they better get up really early if they want to go camping tomorrow.

What I've learned:

The parents definitely set the tone in the household. Could mom and dad's arguement early have caused the kids to go down this destructive path?

I reached my disorderly home limit by day 3 and held out until day 4 to clean, but maybe shouldn't have waited until I was totally frustrated to deal with the messes.

Kids don't mind messes. Adults do! Kids will live in a mess and not care until an adult makes them clean up!

Kids are messy. If you have kids there will be messes. But kids will one day become adults. They will gripe and complain about chores, but if the stakes are high enough they will do it. Sure, it'd be great if they all wanted to be helpful just for the sake of being helpful, but let's get real. How many kids are really like that? They need motivation. Not bribes, but incentives to do what's right and then I think their moral conscious will catch up to them.

It's easier to clean up yourself instead of showing your child what to do, then reminding him five times to do it. I think that's the mistake most moms make. No one said this parenting thing was easy, but I beleive if we put in the effort now, we'll reap the benefits later.

That's all for now. We'll most likely go camping tomorrow so the AWOL mom thing may be a bust. I already told Chris it will be extended on Monday through Wednesday. But next week I will do things a little differently. I'll have the weekend to think about what exactly!