<p>Just venting
One child left to go back to school today. The other 2 still have another week off.
Is anyone else dealing with the mess that comes along with kids not in school and college kids home on break.I love having them all home but I cringe everytime I walk into my family room and kitchen.
We have had tons of rain and they love to have the dogs in the house. Between dirt, doghair and just all the clutter I am going insane. Not to mention someone always seems to be eating.
I love having them home but I am dreaming of a clean house or at least finding a clean glass in the cupboard. (though the biggest mess producer is the HS Jr and she isn’t going anywhere)</p>
<p>Totally hear you…between them eating/drinking constantly (and their friends), my ole dishwasher is a humming and a going 2-3 times per day!!! </p>
<p>And…I can’t keep food and drinks in the house (and could they PLEASE add more sodas to the fridge when they take some out so that others can find a cold one when they want one???)</p>
<p>I went into my older son’s bathroom and every item of clothing that he’s worn over the last few weeks was on the floor. OMG…this is so NOT how I raised him. In my other son’s bathroom, his clothes were in a very full hamper (hmmm…does he think I’m washing them???)</p>
<p>And…they sleep until noon every day! They’re up til all hours of the night…watching House, MD marathons and such…so then they don’t wake up until afternoon!</p>
<p>They’re here for another week… (then I’ll miss them.)</p>
<p>One gone, one still here this week, one stays! :)</p>
<p>It goes without saying I miss them when they are gone , BUT…</p>
<p>My top 3 gripes:
- yes, the meal-go-round - no one eats at the same time! It’s constant!
- the laundry - OMG, SO much clothes - they do help, but no rest for the washer/dryer!
- yes, the coming and going at odd hours - people on the phone at 1:30 in the morning!</p>
<p>S2 went back to school Sunday, D1 is here another 2 weeks. S2 was sleeping in the family room on the pull-out coach, and sleeping until noon. The coach was left pulled out and the house was a disaster. Plus he was keepin S3 (still in high school) up until 2am. I was working the whole time and would come home on my lunch break to “what’s for lunch mom?”. D1 is making a giant mess of the bedroom, but at least I can close the door. I loved having them home but will be really happy to return to the day to day life of having only one child at home (and a low-maintenance one at that).</p>
<p>^^^ They sleep until noon? How do you manage to get them out of bed so early?</p>
<p>At 3:00 when I’m trying to figure out the evening’s dinner menu, they come rolling down, yaaawning, and sleepily eat leftover pizza for breakfast.</p>
<p>The dishwasher is constantly going. While that churns, dirty dishes pile up in the sink, so that by the time the dishwasher is done and you’ve emptied it, there’s another full load in the sink.</p>
<p>Some things never change. I do, however, feel a sense of pride and accomplishment in that during this Christmas break, the refrigerator door has not been left ajar overnight, the car has not been left running in the driveway overnight, and I have recognized the face of every overnight guest on my sofa.</p>
<p>We still have a couple of weeks to go, however.</p>
<p>One is gone. She does none of those annoying college age kid things, but is a type A personality who puts all of us on edge. The other is up all night, sleeps all day, and got annoyed when I mentioned that dinner caffeine was perhaps not a good idea since he needs to be on a day schedule this week when visiting in-laws. He also eats all the time and his room stinks.</p>
<p>Boy child definitely has the stinky room thing going. He blames it on the dog!</p>
<p>Wow we send them to college to learn and it looks like these kids are doing a lot of UNlearning! Can’t wait till my turn…</p>
<p>Not always about “not learning” , but college gives them the opportunity to create a schedule that works for “them” , but not always “us”. :)</p>
<p>I really enjoyed reading everyones posts, they are a riot. My son leaves next Monday. He has been on the go constantly. After spending time with the family during the Xmas holiday he is off again. He celebrated the New Year in Montreal, and is currently away snowboarding with another group until Friday. His room is a pig pen, he desperatley needs a haircut, and shaves once a week. He also never makes it home for a family meal, stays up all night, and leaves the car a mess. My wife and I are going crazy trying to get him to slow down and take it easy. He told us to chill out and not stress so much about his “little pet peeves”. He then proceeded to tell us that we would be better off if we used all of that negative energy to go out on a date and have some fun ??? Hello…little #$%&* if he only knew how much fun we do have when he is gone.</p>
<p>After he left my wife and I had a really good laugh…he received good grades his first freshman semester, worked hard this summer (made and saved alot of money) and pays for all of his own travel and expenses, is happy and trustworthy. Although he has his own style of living that currently drives us insane, we still love him to death and realize how great a son we really have !!!</p>
<p>LOL. well my kids are not in college yet but did just go back to school after 2 weeks off and we experienced a lot of what you all are. I know S was up at 4:30am because I saw his post on FB. “I woke up and had to get that thought down before I forgot.” right. </p>
<p>Anyways, back to the stinky boy room thing. How do you get rid of that smell? No matter what I have tried nothing works. He goes to an all boy school and I have smelled it there also so I know it is not just him.</p>
<p>^^^^stinky boy room - I found it’s due to a lot of sweaty stuff thrown on the carpet and in drawers. I found a Arm & Hammer product that you sprinkle on the carpet and vacuum works best for that. I also had to search the drawers and under mattresses for more sweaty stuff lying around <em>sigh</em></p>
<p>I do not have dogs. Everybody is human in my house, except for fish in tank. I do not clean my house either, so I do not care. Usually there is much more mess from grandkids who stay with us for few weeks in a summer than from my one college kid, it is pretty much nothing in comparison. And another point - we are not much in a house anyway. Working, gym, bedroom, very few hours in between. I will be at home today around 10 pm (left house at 6:05am). Cleanning lady is coming soon, need to pick up my own mess from my own projects.</p>
<p>I feel guilty as I eagerly anticipate getting household back to normal with just H and me (and low-maintenance dog). Is it getting older that makes it hard to have so many other people around all the time? Every time they leave I have new appreciation for those grandmothers and great-grandmothers who are raising a new generation of children because of family problems. They are saints, and I am not.</p>
<p>D went back to school yesterday…I have not yet dared to walk into her room to see what condition it may be in. After Thanksgiving break, we found a dozen empty water bottles, a leaning tower of old school books, miscellaneous detritus scattered widely, a full trash can with heaps layered around it, and a very neatly made bed. ???</p>
<p>When, o when, do they learn that the floor is not a horizontal closet?</p>
<p>At this house, it’s about having food in the pantry. With ds gone, I now am relatively assured that I don’t have to buy cereal every three days.</p>
<p>Oh, you wonderful people. I was really getting very cranky today and realized I am not alone. Ah, the floor as a horizontal closet…LOL, I guess I never saw it from D’s perspective. </p>
<p>D’s BF arrived last Wednesday and is leaving tomorrow. YAY!!! He is a nice young man, but I am just stunned that he would visit someone else’s house and leave the room looking like it does and keep the door open. Does he have no sense? I would think he would be trying to impress us just a little. </p>
<p>D is actually up an hour or two before him. Since he has been here, she no longer goes out for a run each day and she is staying up much later. Both are good people, I am trying to count my blessings, but I just hate the mess and the feeling that they both seem to regard this as some kind of B&B. Oh, you will have to excuse me. I need to start thinking about what to make my guests for dinner…</p>
<p>Oh. nooo…according to S1, the floor is…the biggest shelf in the house. He uses it to it’s fullest. When he’s here it looks like the floor has erupted and spewed clothes, wet towels, shoes, socks, stinky work out clothes and various receipts from wherever he’s been the night before… and drinking glasses everywhere. Gallons of milk disappear like magic. He stays out late with friends and then makes all kinds of noise when he comes in well after midnight. He was here for a week.</p>
<p>S2 leaves tomorrow. He’s the one who sleeps 'til 1:30 or 2:00 then wanders downstairs for his afternoon meal around 3:00. He’s just a general slug laying around watching tv and surfing the 'net til it gets dark and he heads out to meet his friends. I will have to say he comes in like a thief in the night…never wakes us up. </p>
<p>I do love having them here, esp S1 who’s in the military so we don’t see him very often.
S2 is still in college (instate) so we see him fairly often. It’s just when they’re here, the routine that DH and I have fallen into since they’ve been gone is disrupted and I feel sort of unsettled because I never know what’s happening from hour to hour.</p>
<p>And yes, maybe that is part of it PackMom. That we are still maternal in nature so with them around, we feel like we need to also revert back somewhat to that role of making dinner, taking care of things around the house - BUT! - none of that is now routine and I find myself wasting time trying to figure out what they are all doing so I know what I should be doing!!? </p>
<p>I think maybe all of our roles are a bit in limbo.</p>
<p>NO NO NO NO! You have to have LISTS, lots and lots of LISTS, posted everywhere!</p>
<p>Christmas lights need to be put up, hung on ALL the house! Tree needs to be found and put up. Driveway shoveled, and nicely too, not nasty looking slush.</p>
<p>NO dishes in the sink either all fit in the dishwasher or wash the leftovers by hand and DRIED and put away.</p>
<p>Trash never full, always taken out. Dogs walked and dried, no wet dogs in the house. All leftovers put away nicely and eaten before new food can be made. Groceries brought in from the car AND put away ASAP. Fridge ALWAYS clean. </p>
<p>Sofa is mine. NOBODY sits on it. That is what floor pillows are for, them NOT me!</p>
<p>Cat and dog water bowls have clean fresh water. Checked every few hours. Food bowls cleaned. Not left yucky.</p>
<p>Bathrooms cleaned every 3-4 days and clean towels hung up, after washed. Dryer and washer is not a holding unit. Emptied when buzzer goes off.</p>
<p>If the dryer/washer isn’t emptied it goes in the trash.
If the groceries are not put away, I don’t buy anymore.
Rooms are cleaned or I turn off the circuit breaker and nothing works.
Clean bathrooms or they are locked and only I have the key.
Cars are washed, oil changed, and put away EXACTLY as I like it or they can walk. No buses out here in the middle of nowhere.
Phones off, no calls during meal times or no phones at all in the house.</p>
<p>Lists are on the fridge AND in their emails. And they call when they are out and check to make sure I know where they are and if ANYONE needs anything when they are out.</p>
<p>I am a single mom 5 kiddos, 3 stinky boys before they come home (all were football players) and they have a bizillion friends.</p>
<p>My house, my rules.</p>
<p>I love them more than life itself, and enjoy every minute I get to spend with them, and they know it. And they BETTER show me with respect and how much they LOVE me!</p>
<p>Kat
meanest MOM on the planet</p>
<p>off topic- sons’ were trying to put up the tree, artificial, has 900 lights- wouldn’t light- so they take out all 900 bulbs put in new ones and get 80% lit. Oldest son says just isn’t what she would want- so just a few days before Christmas they pile into an old truck, drive around in a snow storm and find one of the last live trees.</p>
<p>Bring it into the garage and dry it off by hand, wash the towels and take off the lights that do work and put on the live tree. I was out and did not know til I walked in the house and it smelled of pine. Daughters hung up the ornaments and boys watered the tree, clipped it and put up the angel. And cleaned all the needles.</p>
<p>Tree is still up it is so pretty. They will take it down before they leave. Not the naughtiest kittens any more!</p>