Monday, September 13, 2010

drives me batty!

Dieter and Rainer love to make "forts" with the couch cushions. It drives me batty! We live in a smallish space, and when the living room is all torn apart like this I feel like the whole house is in chaos.


But aren't they so cute and happy with their forts? So I let them. And at a certain time of day I say "enough! No more forts today!" That is a good compromise that works for me. I like it when they are building and helping each other and managing on their own.

Another "drives me batty!" complaint: making lunches! Grr! Most dreaded and hated chore. I actually get a kick (still) out of filling their little Planet Boxes. It's the fact that I have to make FIVE lunches a night that drives me nuts. When it's all said and done I've spent a good half hour to nearly an hour in the process. Can't get around it, but oh how I love summer for its lack of lunch packing.

Ok. Those are my two complaints of the moment. What's driving you batty right now??

27 comments:

Anonymous said...

Easily the spring weather! By the time the washing machine finishes the sun is gone and replaced by huge black clouds dripping rain. Gah!!

I'm like you, fort bulding is one of those activities I would have to learn to let happen, perhaps while I go into the next room for a while. They do look like they are having fun though :-)

BellaBree said...

socks-they make me wanna scream! I counted 25 odd socks today...25! I am seriously thinnking of banning them round here! I've tried the one sock colour thing per person - and although I find this the most logical, I am continually sucked into buying cute socks and end up with the same problem....rant rant rant - over now...and totally hear ya onthe lunch and small living space fort problem...x

Deb Robertson Writes said...

Driving me batty? 1 x 7.1 earthquake + 500 aftershocks! Yes that's driving me batty. On the subject of the huts... I discovered it didn't offense me so much when they were build under the dining table. don't know if that helps!

Sarah said...

Blood sugars...why is it that the same meal today gives different results than two days ago? WHY? WHY!

Becca said...

Hi Mary-Beth, why don't you try letting the older kids and husband make their own lunch????

Ruth said...

I don't have a "drive me batty" complaint, but I certainly feel your pain over the couch cushions being involved in architecture projects. I just remind myself, it can be fixed and that they are happy and creative...and then I take my cuppa outside!
It is nice to know I'm not alone though :)

Anonymous said...

I hear ya on the small house/fort issue. But they sure are cute.
We home school so I don't have the lunch issue but plenty of other ones.
Right now, unfinished house projects from the summer and all the tools still lying around. My husband is back at school now (teaching), so I can only hope they will get finished sometime. argh!

Andrea said...

I am so with you on the couch cushion thing! Our couch has a ton of pillows instead of back cushions and the kids tear it all apart (including the seat cushions) to build forts or avoid walking on the "hot lava." I know it's mean, but my dream is a (beautiful, velvet camel-back with scroll arms and wooden legs) couch that doesn't have any cushions that can come off. I'm not minding making lunches yet (though I'm pretty excited on the one day a week they get hot lunch)...I do get annoyed when they don't eat what I send though!!

Joy said...

Look at those happy faces though. :) Seriously, the fort-making drives me insane too. Elizabeth makes her from blankets on the boys' bunks and when I ask her to clean up, she just dumps all the blankets in the bottom of her closet. Grrr... :) I also dread the lunch-making routine. I pack 5 lunches on 3 nights and 3 lunches on the other 2 nights. Those 3-lunch-nights feel like a breeze so I definitely feel your pain. I always think...how much knitting could I get done right now. :)

Mary Beth said...

Thanks for playing along, everyone. I think a good rant can be healthy in small doses. :)

Special hugs to Deb and Sarah. You guys have some real issues going on. Hang in there!

Sara said...

Oh, packing my kids' lunches drives me batty too. And they never like what I pack, it seems. Almost always the first words out of their mouths when I pick them up from school is a complaint about their lunch.

Denise C. said...

Oooooh I am so with you on the fort thing. We live in a townhouse (3 stories), when you enter the front door you're in our main living area which also happens to be half playroom for my kids. My son & daughter love making forts with the sofa cushions. It always makes the room look so....chaotic. They have fun, & I'm trying to let them be kids, but I also want my house looking half decent.

Another batty thing? People who have no common sense whatsoever.

Our Adventures As A Family of 4.... said...

Laundry, I just hate that chore. I don't mind washing but folding and putting it away. Also I would have to say lunches and I only have to make 2.

Lina said...

Clutter drives me batty and making lunches too!!! Fort building is OK with me but they have to clean up afterwards :)

Lisa said...

Also hate the forts, hate when they pull all the pillows and blankets off MY bed too.

Another- I put the peanut butter jar away 6 times a day, and I rarely eat it myself. I'm very happy that my son can make his own sandwich, but I can't wait til he learns to put the jar away.

stephanie from texas said...

like you, fort building is a big activity and a big mess around here. lately, sawyer loves to dig in the sand/dirt and bring it in to my house!

Katie said...

My greatest sanity saver is having the kids make their own lunches. I find that they eat more of it when they pack it themselves. I keep healthy foods for them to pack, so that limits the damage they can do.(They are 9,8, and 5.) But homework is driving me crazy! And making sure the kids practice piano! GRRR. Making me happy though are my two little boys who are still at home with me!

Denise C. said...

I had to leave one other batty thing. I had someone park so close to my car, that I had to get into the drivers seat, from the passenger side. The kicker? There were TONS of other spaces to park in.

Alicia said...

Wow! I am so glad to see that I am not the only mom who dislikes the couch cushion forts! They do love building and playing with them, but it makes the living room look SO messy and the cushions never seem to get put back correctly (meaning the stains are not properly hidden on the backside!)

Karen said...

have the children help you with lunch, mb!

Anonymous said...

Oh my two do EXACTLY the same thing and yep we only have a small house as well but honestly most of the time I figure it really is a small mess compared to bucket loads of ugly plastic toys and I do love the sweet little stories they come up with as they play under the mountian of pillows, so deep breaths :) I mhave to say though that I am far less willing to allow them to deconstruct my entire freshly made bed and then jump from the furntiure to the mattress, now THAT drives me batty!!!

Jules said...

Diabetes drives me batty. That mixed with my four year old (with Type 1) shouting "Mum, I'm dead "and croaking in a dramatic fashion half an hour before a hypo. My blood pressure must be mad today!

christine ~ ourdayourjourney said...

too funny. forts can get to me from time to time. i have always been enlisted in fixing the blanket, so i ordered a few lg playsilks when i was pregnant because i would be getting up and down all day. and now our 17mth old just knocks them down so she makes them in her room and all her toys end up in the fort and it takes forever to clean up. I am going to make her one of the sarah's silk canopy's for christmas, out of a light cotton.
2. lunches. my little one just started first grade. we are just starting the third week and i really do not enjoy it. i am lacking creativity. Your lunches look so delicious.
3. toddler would unlatches safety locks

but nothing compares to your earth shaking. you are in our thoughts and prayers

kera said...

you hit the nail on the head for me....i love to watch my girls playing with their dolls- school, church, house, ect or playing with their dr kits. it warms my heart to see them playing so well together but there comes a point when i feel like my house is turned upside down and it makes me feel crazy!!! we've done good recently trying to clean up one mess before moving on to the next so mommy doesn't get so overwhelmed!!! i also DREAD lunch making and i only have 3 to make but the thought process of what to make and making sure it's balanced....uggh! laundry is my last complaint....never ending hate it.

jenny said...

Oh yes, the cushion forts. It used to drive me batty too especially when they would include EVERY pillow in the house! But I did learn to let that one go because they got so much enjoyment from it and they agreed to put everything back in its proper place. About the lunches, I found the site: www.bentolunch.net (What's for lunch today?) to be really fun and inspiring when I'm out of ideas. My boys and I go on the site and they get to choose some meals. The egg chicks are adorable!

Carrie said...

Every time this year, I am driven entirely crazy by the leaves that are now falling from the trees that inevitably get dragged into my office and smashed into a million pieces in my carpet. Even though, we are only open 4 days a week (9ish-7pm), and two of those days the floor has been cleaned in a pristine manner, by the end of every one of those four days, the floor looks has though the office has an actual live tree inside shedding its fall colors. Except that it is only the ugly, brown leaves that end up in the office. Crunch, crunch, crunch. ERRRRRR.

Lisa Renata said...

Not getting to bed on time.
And...
Books and more books all over the floor! (Boy do my little ones love to read. And I love that, but hate the books all over the house.)