This is Nothing to Brag About

I know this is nothing to brag about, but my kids have reached an out-of-control point.

They have rarely been kids to color on the walls. I remember one of them did a few years ago but this generally has not been an issue for us. After all, they are 3 and 4 (we’re not counting baby Alex in this little scenario. He’s still too angelic for me to call him “out-of-control”. They know we only color on paper. Crayons and markers never need to be kept out of their reach. Well, today, all of that changed.

A little background. We are in the midst of packing up and moving to the other side of the world. This will be our ELEVENTH move in six years of marriage. Again, nothing to brag about but this is what we’ve done, and what we’re doing. I am using this upcoming move as my excuse for why the kids haven’t been as obedient lately. I am also using this as my excuse for why they decided to color murals---not scribbles, mind you---but huge, wall-covering “designs” on their bedroom walls for no particular reason.

The worst, well okay not the worst, part of it was that Annabelle came and told me about it. However, I had no idea what I was in store for. Her exact words and mine:

Annabelle: “Mom, I colored a really scary fish.”
Me: That’s nice. Wait…where did you color a fish?
Annabelle: on my wall (with a smile, no less!!!!)


So, we found the “fish” and I made her (try to) clean it up with the magic eraser thingy. Okay, fast forward a little while. I’m on the phone with my friend, Shaunna and I walked back to their bedroom. The pictures document what I found (though you can’t see it very clearly). Not only had they colored ALL over their WALLS, but they had taken their mattresses off their beds and colored on THEM.

I know this is nothing to brag about.

There is more background do this day. Other reasons why I really want to run away and eat a dozen donuts right now:

*This morning I “proactively” posted several ads on craigslist for furniture we are planning to sell. I then corresponded with people and made payment arrangements, etc. I then discovered I had posted all of these ads in MOBILE, ALABAMA!!!! Ya…so then I had to cancel all my interested buyers, delete the ads and re-post them in the bay area.

*I am on a diet. I am hungry. Enough said.

*Baby Alex did not want to take a nap.

*The house is a mess.

*A buyer came to buy my bookshelves. After looking at them, she didn’t want them. This was after I had emptied all the books off of them. These books are now sitting in my dining room waiting to be sorted.

Sigh. So, all our plans for today just sort of faded into oblivion. I’ve spent a couple of hours cleaning (not the walls, mind you, those we’ll just have to paint) and thinking about how , how, how to be a better Mommy.

So that’s my day…and it’s only 2:46 in the afternoon. The baby is finally sleeping and rather than continuing to clean, I’m telling you because I need to vent.

Again, I know this was nothing to brag about :)