Wow, did that backfire…

Today was the first television free day.  What a day it was.  It was destined to be a nightmare from the start, but just how bad it got is almost infuriating.  I’m about ready to strangle some children…

First, when Lili and Ian got here, they were making fun of Corde.  It really hurt her feelings.  She spent most of the morning very upset.  Lili said her excuse for being mean was because she was cranky.  Well, I called her cranky all day.  She didn’t like that much.  However, I told her if she was going to use cranky as her excuse for being mean, then I have ever right to call her cranky every time she’s mean.  She changed her tune real quick.

Then there was the food.  From the moment they walked in the door, "Can we have a snack?"  No, you can’t have a snack.  I don’t have a couple hundred dollars to just throw away on snacks for you guys ever week.  You eat me out of house and home as is.  You really don’t need any snacks on top of it.  On top of that, Corde would snack all morning and not eat lunch.  It’s not fair of me to let them snack and not her.  I’m sorry, but I’m not doing that to her.

Lunch was another fiasco.  First they were counting the minutes until lunch.  Then when I didn’t have lunch ready at exactly noon on the nose, they started harassing me.  They kept asking me every five minutes when I would make lunch.  Ian told them I’d make lunch in twenty minutes, because twenty minutes is what soon meant.  Well, I got ticked at them implying that I had to run on their schedule because I made the mistake of saying that lunchtime in my house starts at noon, so I ignored it.  I told them I’d make them lunch in my own time.  Lili wined and complained that she was so incredibly hungry because her mom didn’t give her breakfast.  That’s why she was being such a brat and was complaining about being hungry.  Well, I made them suffer.  I made lunch when I damn well felt like it.  They sat in the kitchen when I started doing dishes, so I got ticked at having them hover.  I kicked them out telling them that sitting there and watching me wasn’t going to make lunch ready any sooner.  I had to chase them out a good four or five times because they kept hovering.  It was annoying.  Finally, Lili asked when lunch would be ready.  Ian looked at the timer and told her thirteen seconds because that’s what the clock said.  I told them that he wasn’t counting time for it to cool, but no one listened.  As son as it went off, they all pounced me demanding food, well, Lili and Ian did.  So I served it…piping hot.  They complained that they couldn’t eat it because it was too hot.  I told them that’s what happens when they jump me the moment that the timer goes off.  I told them it had to cool but they needed it RIGHT THAT SECOND or they were going to starve to DEATH!!!  So they had to eat hot food or sit there with it on their plates until it cooled.  Surprise, surprise, they weren’t hungry enough to let it burn their tongues.  They waited for it to cool, imagine that.  That’s what they get for being impatient.  So instead of going and playing while the food cooled, they had to sit and stare at it until it was cool enough to eat.  Not my problem.  They could have listened, but they wanted it their way.

When everyone came over today for practice, I had my first chance to notice just how much the house was trashed since Lili and Ian came over today.  The house wasn’t that bad.  However, now there are DVD boxes all over the living room.  I found DVDs on the floor.  They’re all out of their boxes in front of the DVD player, just left lying around.  I’m sure half of them won’t even work anymore.  There’s toys everywhere.  It looks like that area in front of the television just exploded.  It’s absolutely insane!  Now the half of my living room that I use for my crafts is decently clear, but the half the kids have been in is destroyed.  I am not a happy camper.  I’m so glad Krystal is cleaning my house in exchange because I’m not keeping after that disaster.  Seriously, if you could have seen how clean this place was yesterday and seen how disasterous it is now, I’m absolutely livid!

Then there’s the breaking things.  Some of Corde’s costume jewelry got broken because they were completely disrespectful of it.  She’s so upset over it.  They’d freak out if she broke their things.  I don’t see why they can’t offer her the same degree of respect.  It’s not fair to her and I just won’t tolerate it.  They just seem to think it’s a joke, that because Corde has these things, they can do whatever they want with it because it’s not theirs.

However, heaven forbid anything happens to Lili’s things if they get left here, and Lili leaves everything here.  She had a sticker book that Corde likely put some of the stickers on while she was gone.  Lili was all upset over it.  She was so upset that someone used her book without asking.  She was angry at Corde and called Corde disrespectful.  I told her flat out that if she didn’t want other people using her things when she left them behind, she shouldn’t leave them behind or she can’t be sure of what’s happening with them while they’re gone.  If she wants them cared for in a particular way, perhaps she should take better care of them herself.  After all, it’s not my fault her stuff gets mistreated while it’s here.  It shouldn’t even be here in the first place!  I’m about ready to tell them that they can leave all their things in their mom’s car because it’s not coming in my house anymore.

And the playdough…  I told Ian not to let Claire carry around an open container of playdough.  I didn’t want to find it all over the house.  The rules are open playdough stays on the table.  The table wasn’t clean enough for playdough, so no one gets to play with it.  Simple enough, right?  Apparently not.  I turn around to see that he’s given it to Claire again!  I’d just told him to take it away from her!  I tell him to put it away.  He does, and when I look over again, he’s grabbing it, opening it, and giving it to her.  I told him to put it away and he says she’ll cry if she doesn’t have it.  My response, "Well, let her cry.  I’m not having open playdough carried around my house.  She’s just going to have to deal."  She cried.  She threw a fit.  Then she got over it.  I’m sorry, but rules are rules.  I’m not changing those rules because some baby is throwing a fit.  If it was Aris, he would have had it taken away the first time and wouldn’t have gotten it back.  That would have been the end of it.  I’m sorry, but Claire is so mean because they’re encouraging her to get whatever she wants whenever she wants it.  I’m all for not letting a baby cry, but that doesn’t mean they h

ave to walk all over me.  Rules are rules and that’s the end of it.  I’m sure it wouldn’t be the same if they were at home.  I doubt their mom would let her wander the house with an open container of playdough.  It’s not going to be the case here.  I know that makes me a big meanie, but I’m not spoiling them.  I’m their care provider and it’s my job to watch them during the day, not to spoil them.

What frustrates me most with all of this is the way their actions are effecting Corde.  She’s suddenly started calling everything "stupid" or "stupid-head".  Lili and Ian say their mom allows it as long as it’s not said about a person.  I say it’s not nice to say at all and I won’t tolerate it.  If I tell her she’s not allowed to do something, she copies Ian’s response.  He says "Wah" every time he’s told he can’t do something.  Now she does it.  It’s annoying.  I seriously want to strangle her every time she does it.  Instead I’ve taken to telling her that it’s rude.  They’ve gotten her so riled up most days that she throws fits over everything.  I can’t blame her.  It’s bad enough that she has to share her toys with them, but then they show those toys no respect.  On top of that, she’s expected to treat their things with respect even if they’re left here for a week without being noticed.  It’s not fair of them to treat her poorly because they’re in a bad mood because they didn’t eat enough for breakfast, or because she talks a little funny.  Corde has a slight speach impediment or something.  She has a hard time with language.  She always has.  However, they make fun of her for it.  They treat her poorly because she is a little on the odd side.  She’s not just like them.  It’s not fair to her.  I’ve had about all I’m willing to take of that….

Oh, and their not having breakfast this morning, as it turns out, that was their fault.  Krystal told them they were running late so they had to fix their own breakfast.  They could have made ceral or whatever.  It’s easy enough to do.  They chose not to.  Instead they chose to play.  Lili packed a cheese sandwich and an apple that she ate when she got here, but apparently they were starved.  Poor things…  They could have gotten their own breakfast so they didn’t and went hungry as a result of their own actions.  I’m sorry, I have no pity for them over that.

In reality, I know it’s just a phase.  They’re seeing how far they can push me before I snap.  I’ve always been so incredibly nice and patient that they’ve got to find out where the limit is.  How far can they go before they cross that line.  I hate to say it, but I’m cracking down.  No more Mrs. Nice.  Instead, they’re going to have to deal with me showing them exactly how I feel about their treatment in actions, since they speak so much louder than words.

The movies are going away.  If I see them taking the books out again and leaving them all over the place, the books are getting covered until they leave.  They can’t play with the toys respectfully, I’m putting away the toys while they’re here, or disallowing them to play with them.  I don’t care if they all go in the baby’s room until they leave.  I’ll figure something out.  I’m just done with the attitude.  I’m done with the disrespect.  I’m done with all of their nightmarish attitudes.  I’m just plain done.  They learn to respect me, my house, and my family, or they’re just not going to like it here very much.

~*~Raven Night~*~