The World According to "Aaarrgh!"

Number 1 is 18 and officially an adult today.  Wow!  Hard to believe that I am old enough to have an adult child!

(As it is her birthday, this will be the only post of the day.  Sorry for the inconvenience!)

I was in the bathroom doing something, and Number 6 knocked on the door with a great urgency.  Apparently, Number 7 was playing with the car keys and turned the car on.  What a great imagination, I thought, and pretty much brushed off Number 6′s entreaties.  But Number 6 persisted in telling me that Number 7 had turned the car on.  In no hurry, I nonchalantly completed my task and opened the bathroom door.  The I heard it – HONK HONK HONK HONK! 

My car, parked in the garage, was honking!  Through my open window, I could hear the muffled sounds of a car alarm emanating from my garage!  Number 7 had indeed turned the car on!  Before I went into the bathroom, I had left my keys on the table next to the bathroom door.  I guess I didn’t leave them far enough from the edge, as Number 7 grabbed them and pushed the little red button!

My kids were befuddled as to how to shut the damn thing off!  I grabbed the keys, pushed the little red button, and – tada! – silence! 

The lesson here is that when you have a toddler who is tall and can reach tabletops, don’t leave you car keys on said tabletops so your toddler can set off your alarm and tick your neighbors off!

In my house, there are four mandatory chores that must be done every day – unloading the dishwasher, taking out the trash, carrying the laundry from the second floor to the basement, and setting the table.  Since I have four children who are old enough to do these chores, the Big Four rotate tasks daily.  Lately, it seems, that those tasks that can be left undone (dishes, laundry, and trash) are being left undone, much to my annoyance.  (Although nobody likes setting the table, it is necessary for eating, and since we all like to eat, we grin and bear it….)  Throwing a big hissy fit doesn’t seem to work any more, so I am trying a new tactic – financial penalties.  I figured that since I am paying three of the Big 4 to help me around the house, then it is only right that they should have to forfeit some of those monies for failure to perform.  So, as of today, I am fining them $5 every time that they do not do the chore that they are scheduled to do.  (I have a daily schedule hanging up on the fridge, so there can be no “I didn’t know what I was supposed to do!” excuse….)  For the three that I am paying to help, I am paying in installments, and deducting the fines from the installments.

Now, instead of being annoyed when they don’t do their chores, I look at it as saving money…..and that brings a smile to my face!

 Number 7 is now officially walking, as photographed by Number 1 on her cell phone around 6 PM yesterday.  (Isn’t technology wonderful?)