Mornings with my 7 Year Old

I hate mornings. I really hate mornings. In fact, I would say I abhor them.

I'm pretty sure my mom would think it's karma, however I'm pretty sure I was never as bad as my daughter is.

She is supposed to be up at 7 in order to get dressed (in a uniform - thank god picking out an outfit is something I don't have to deal with every the morning), brush teeth, brush hair, eat breakfast and get out the door by 7:45 for the carpool.

Most mornings are like this:

7:00 - Alarm Goes Off
7:10 - I gently remind Isabella that it's time to get up and get ready
7:15 - My oldest is already up, dressed, and downstairs eating breakfast with no reminders
7:20 - I'm telling Isabella that she really needs to get up so she can get ready in time
7:30 - I'm trying to drag Isabella out of bed because she has less than 15 minutes to get ready
7:40 - I'm yelling at Isabella to get moving because the carpool is here in 5 minutes and she needs to wake up.
7:42 - She slowly and grumpily makes her way downstairs and calls her brother an "asshole" on the way down (that's a new one that I don't have time to properly deal with right now, aside from - "Isabella I heard that").
7:45 - I'm telling her to hurry up as she is yelling at me that she hates me and hates school and hates mornings and hates everything and I had the bonus of her telling me I was an "ass" this morning too.
7:50 - I'm quickly trying to brush her hair after spraying on a ton of conditioning spray and she's screaming and screaming at me because none of the THREE pairs of socks work for her and she hates that the lines bother her and she hates how it feels on the bottom of her feet and she hates they way the socks rub her the wrong way.
7:53 - The carpool is a little late and Isabella is now dressed and has her hair brushed and refuses to eat the pancake that I"m shoving in her hand
7:54 - Isabella is screaming at me to do her ponytail without any bumps in it. "Don't make it pufffyyyy!" I fail in my rush to just scoop it back in a ponytail and she starts screaming and pulling the ponytail holder out of her hair and at me and throwing her jacket to the ground.
7:55 - I'm following her out to the car with the pancake and muttering how I hate mornings.
7:56 - The kids are now off to school and I can relax.

Curbing the Binge Shopping

I think of myself as a binge shopper. Not like a TLC Reality Show Binge Shopper, but still bad enough. I create budgets but don't live off them. I see things I want and buy them, but only if they're on sale or I have a coupon or it's a really good deal. If I feel like eating out, I do.

So, here's the thing. I take a look at my husband's salary and what little I bring in with my this and that jobs and I think, "boy - we make pretty good money for this area, we should be doing pretty good". But, we're not. Well, not as good as I'd like. We're still well below the average debt for Americans, but that number is ridiculously high. I look at our banking statement online every couple days and I'm always amazed at the lengthy list of McDonald's (I like to stop for a Large Diet Coke almost every day and just whip out my Debit Card) or Dairy Queen (the weather's nice and I like to get the kids a treat) or Haggen and Fred Meyer (I don't feel like cooking and just want to pick something up) or my gigantic Costco charges (good deals - can't pass them up and I have three freezers stuffed with food. - can you say "problem"??) or all of my special "discount" stores that I like to stop at because the deals are so good and it goes on and on.

About a week ago, Alexander said to me that he didn't think I could go a week without spending money and less than two seconds later he said, "nevermind - you're a girl, of course you can't". Great!! I'm setting poor examples for my kids and perpetuating some kind of stereotype that women like to spend, spend, spend.

So...yesterday I decided to try to not spend money (aside from gas) for a few days. It's hard, really hard. I feel like a drug addict trying to keep off the crack.

Yesterday wasn't too bad. I stayed busy and before I knew it the day was done. Whew! Day 1 over.

Day 2...lots more difficult. This is how my day went, with my internal battles included:

Alexander is home from school sick. I decide to putz around in pajamas with Cameron and play and read books and go through all of his clothes to sort out what to keep/consign/ebay/etc... and go through my exercise clothes to sort out what to keep/consign.

I was supposed to have a meeting at Haggen at 12:00 to grab lunch and feed Cameron and have someone tell me some sordid city-involved story. Well - I called the gal and switched the meeting to 12:30 at Wood's Coffee. I figured I could grab lunch at home and scrounge a couple bucks to get coffee at Woods. This way I'm not using my debit card (which is the real problem). I did this and it worked.

Then, I came home to grab Cameron (Grandma Trudy was watching the boys) and I head to the school to pick up Bella and catch some of her play practice. No problem - no money to spend there. My friend showed up early and said she'd take Bella home. Great - now I can run to my couple places before heading home.

I swing by the consignment store and drop off my clothes and saw a couple really cute dresses, but NO - I don't need any more freakin' clothes right now and I walked out of the store.

Then, I swing by goodwill to drop stuff off and had to tell myself to keep on driving and not stop, even though they gave me a 30% off coupon to shop and it would be really easy to just pick up a couple things. But, NO - I've done lots of shopping lately and really don't NEED anything so I kept on driving!

Then I thought I had some extra time and it's Thursday and I should totally drive by that discount store that I love that gets new products on Thursday to see what they got in today since I ruined my navy capri workout pants with bleach before I even got to wear them. But NO - I have lots of other workout clothes and don't need to so I kept on driving.

Then, I had to get gas at Fred Meyer and I really wanted to just run in and grab something easy for dinner but NO - I have three freezers and a fridge filled with food and I can cook something on my own. Seriously, three freezers - it's ridiculous. My binge shopping extends to food too.

Then - I saw the T-Mobile store as I was filling up and my phone has been giving me trouble and maybe I should just stop in to see what they could do for me. But - NO, my phone is just fine and I need to keep moving.

Then - I started heading home and saw Cruisin' Coffee and thought that an Iced Mocha would be great today and I probably have a gift card somewhere. But - NO, I don't really need it and if I can't find a gift card then I'd have to use my debit card.

Seeeee....all those internal battles! Every moment of my afternoon I had to fight off spending money.

If this was a week ago I would've spent another $200 today on lunch, coffee, new clothes, stuff for the kids and maybe a new phone!

The battle continues tomorrow.

Breakfast

The kids are up and moving for the day and I made Cameron a 1/2 Soy Nut Butter Sandwich. When Bella drowsily came down the stairs I asked her if she wanted the same. Her response...

Well, if you could cook pancakes, that would be fantastic.

How can I resist when my child asks so politely?

The grill is heating up now.

Single Mom Time

Well...my husband is out of town, again. He's gone for 10 days this time and I'm doing the single mom thing. I must say that part of it is good and part of it just sucks.

I like that I know that what has to get done will get done on my time. If I want it done now, I better get off my butt and do it now. If I want it done later, I'll do it later. This is unlike I want it done now and ask someone to take care of it and then ask them again and then ask them again and then ask them again and then get exasperated and do it myself. This way takes a lot less energy.

I like that I don't trip over shoes and dirty clothes between my bed and the shower each day.

I really like that I don't trip over shoes and dirty clothes between my bed and the bathroom in the middle of the night.

I like that the bed is all mine and I can sleep diagonal if I want to.

I don't like that I have to do EVERYTHING. I have to do all the cooking and all the cleaning.

I don't like that I have to do all the disciplining.

I don't like that the bed is all mine and it's cold when I get in.

I don't like that I have to get the kids up and lunches packed all by myself.

I don't like that I have trouble getting to sleep and stay up wayyyy too late.

I like that I know he will come home soon and I won't be doing this on my own anymore.