Kenzie: "Mom, lookit what Rayla did!"
Rayla: "I didn't do it, mom!"
Kenzie in a sing song voice: "Yes she did. Lookit, mom. Ray-La did it."
(tears now flowing)
Rayla: "I did NOT! Kenzie did it."
Me: "Kenzie, did you do this"
(smug smile, ornery as hell)
Kenzie: "Yeah. hehehe. I just blaming Rayla."
All you parents know it. You dread it. You despise it. Not only because it's wrong, but because it's just plain mean. I'm talking about the 'Blame Game.'
In my house there are three little ones who seem to like this game because they play it so often. Anything, everything and anyone is a possible victim in this game. And, always unsuspecting. Luckily for me, I have eyes in the back of my head and can see when these little fibbers are just blowing smoke. My game for them? Who's gonna tell the truth. Cause' mommy's got a nice treat for the most honest one. You'd think that "treat" would be reason enough for them to cut it out. But, my kids are hard headed. They do it again, and again and again, each time causing one or more others to burst into tears for fear that they're going to be unfairly punished. Like I said, though, the eyes in the back of my head see everything and I just love bustin' em'!! Mackenzie is the worst. She is by far the orneriest of all our kids. But, it's because she's so smart. This child has tact written all over her. She calculates everything she does, from the way she dresses herself in the morning, to the way she colors a picture. (She colors in the lines. No kidding.) She knows that if she says something just the right way at just the right time it's going to get a rise out of me. I have to admit, in the early stages of this blame game mastery I fell victim too and punished the wrong child with a timeout a time or two...or three. (Never Mackenzie, however) I think I've finally got it though - how to play the game. So I play back...for a while at least.
Santa has become my biggest alliance in this. Just one simple threat to call him and update him on their behavior sets forth a series of guilt admittance, apologies and declarations of never doing such a thing again. Obviously, since I'm writing this post, that last part has yet to see fulfillment. And, believe it or not, I'm okay with that. Although I hate the fib, I love the routine - The fib, the acceptance, the apology. Taking responsibility for something they've done, or something they've said. It's a learning process. I may use an imaginative person as a threat for completing this process, but it's recognizable, and that's important.
In the meantime I hope I don't see too many more tears over this. I laugh it off as funny in the aspect of the orneriness that I see in my ever blossoming child. One day the game is going to bite her in the butt, and she'll get put in a timeout for something she hasn't done. And then, and only then, will she realize just how much her little fib hurts another......And maybe they'll want to play something less victimizing than the 'Blame Game.'
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Git 'r' Done!!
It's 2013. A year for new resolutions and new beginnings......
2012 ended viciously. Nearly every person in our household was sick for one reason or another. Between November 4 and December 21 Cooper missed 14 days of school. Yes, you read that right...FOURTEEN days of school. Viral tonsillitis. Now, I thought that we had seen the highest fever in our kids when one of them had a 104.9 last year sometime. That's nothin'! Try 106.9....I thought we were gonna have to take him to the ER for sure. We did this twice - The illness. He'd get a sudden fever and we'd battle this for 7 days. Up every few hours in the night to bring down his fever, alternating ibuprofen and acetaminophen, and making sure our little man remained hydrated. It was scary, to say the least. And the fever wasn't even the worst part; His tonsils resembled ground beef - Bloody, full of pus and nearly touching. I guess ground beef doesn't really look like that, but...yeah....lol... After what seemed like our 20th visit to see a doctor (because the antibiotics weren't making him any better) a doctor we saw, who we don't normally see, said that "Standard policy with tonsils is we need to see 6 episodes of tonsillitis in a year in order to refer you to an ENT." I wasn't okay with that. We had to do this THREE more times? Over my dead body......So we saw the kids' regular doc and he was convinced it was okay to see an ENT. :) Cooper goes in February for his consult. Corey, the twins and I had bronchitis - mine went viral, literally - I had to go on meds. As did Rayla. Cooper and Mac skidded through with just a couple days of misery. And Katie breezed through the land of nothingness. I like that. I like nothingness. Nothingness means healthy. No bugs. No fevers. No chest congestion. Nothing. Now, why can't that happen with the rest of em'!!?!!
So, on to 2013. I really didn't think that I was going to have resolutions. But, it seemed that my sweet husband and teenage daughter decided I should, and therefore thought of one for me. They say I should see something through. ALL the way through. Okay. At first I was like "Whaaa? You think I don't do anything!!? You think I'm just lazy and don't get things done?!!" Then, I thought about it. What did I resolve to do last year, or say I was going to do, and didn't follow through? Obviously I clean, cook, care for kids, medicate, launder and love as needed. But what was it that I didn't DO...for me? Here's what I didn't get done last year.
Do more singing. Whether by joining a group, a choir, auditioning for some reality show or something along those lines. Nope, not accomplished.
Make more friends. I was a part of a bunco group that dissipated after 12 years in August...I thought I'd arrange for a casual "girls night out" for each month with no obligation for people to be there. Nope, didn't do that either.
Lose weight. Yeah, not going into details on that one, but, I'm still fat.
Eat healthier. I did. For a while. Lost some weight. Felt better. Then I got sad for some reason and just kept on eating crap after I got happy.
Find a hobby. Now, I love to write. My daughter gets that from me. I guess I've considered my blogging to be a hobby. But, I don't do it enough to claim it as so. So, yeah, I didn't do that either.
I didn't resolve to do anything this year...I just figured it was another year for me to make things right. But, I think I need to incorporate the above things into making it right for myself.
I do suppose I need to make some serious changes in me, too, for Cooper seems to think his mother is 300 years old and possibly wears diapers. (Decided in a couple of conversations about age.) I'm on the right track, though..I've already made changes. Git 'r' done!!
Next up: The blame game.
2012 ended viciously. Nearly every person in our household was sick for one reason or another. Between November 4 and December 21 Cooper missed 14 days of school. Yes, you read that right...FOURTEEN days of school. Viral tonsillitis. Now, I thought that we had seen the highest fever in our kids when one of them had a 104.9 last year sometime. That's nothin'! Try 106.9....I thought we were gonna have to take him to the ER for sure. We did this twice - The illness. He'd get a sudden fever and we'd battle this for 7 days. Up every few hours in the night to bring down his fever, alternating ibuprofen and acetaminophen, and making sure our little man remained hydrated. It was scary, to say the least. And the fever wasn't even the worst part; His tonsils resembled ground beef - Bloody, full of pus and nearly touching. I guess ground beef doesn't really look like that, but...yeah....lol... After what seemed like our 20th visit to see a doctor (because the antibiotics weren't making him any better) a doctor we saw, who we don't normally see, said that "Standard policy with tonsils is we need to see 6 episodes of tonsillitis in a year in order to refer you to an ENT." I wasn't okay with that. We had to do this THREE more times? Over my dead body......So we saw the kids' regular doc and he was convinced it was okay to see an ENT. :) Cooper goes in February for his consult. Corey, the twins and I had bronchitis - mine went viral, literally - I had to go on meds. As did Rayla. Cooper and Mac skidded through with just a couple days of misery. And Katie breezed through the land of nothingness. I like that. I like nothingness. Nothingness means healthy. No bugs. No fevers. No chest congestion. Nothing. Now, why can't that happen with the rest of em'!!?!!
So, on to 2013. I really didn't think that I was going to have resolutions. But, it seemed that my sweet husband and teenage daughter decided I should, and therefore thought of one for me. They say I should see something through. ALL the way through. Okay. At first I was like "Whaaa? You think I don't do anything!!? You think I'm just lazy and don't get things done?!!" Then, I thought about it. What did I resolve to do last year, or say I was going to do, and didn't follow through? Obviously I clean, cook, care for kids, medicate, launder and love as needed. But what was it that I didn't DO...for me? Here's what I didn't get done last year.
Do more singing. Whether by joining a group, a choir, auditioning for some reality show or something along those lines. Nope, not accomplished.
Make more friends. I was a part of a bunco group that dissipated after 12 years in August...I thought I'd arrange for a casual "girls night out" for each month with no obligation for people to be there. Nope, didn't do that either.
Lose weight. Yeah, not going into details on that one, but, I'm still fat.
Eat healthier. I did. For a while. Lost some weight. Felt better. Then I got sad for some reason and just kept on eating crap after I got happy.
Find a hobby. Now, I love to write. My daughter gets that from me. I guess I've considered my blogging to be a hobby. But, I don't do it enough to claim it as so. So, yeah, I didn't do that either.
I didn't resolve to do anything this year...I just figured it was another year for me to make things right. But, I think I need to incorporate the above things into making it right for myself.
I do suppose I need to make some serious changes in me, too, for Cooper seems to think his mother is 300 years old and possibly wears diapers. (Decided in a couple of conversations about age.) I'm on the right track, though..I've already made changes. Git 'r' done!!
Next up: The blame game.
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