Making Your Home Sing Monday...

I can't believe it is already Monday again. Where did the time go? I think trying to get back into the swing of things after two weeks away combined with all the stress we were dealing with made the week pass in a blur. Throw in super hot days and, well, nothing seemed quite right. This week, however, we're hopeful for a better week. Keeping up with last week's tasks, I have the charity truck picking up on Thursday, so we're still going through our closets and cupboards to look for stuff we get shed ourselves of.


To that end, I'm jumping into Making Your Home Sing Monday with fervor. After some difficult parenting moments this weekend, our home is probably singing military cadences...yep, we've had some dissension in the ranks and I'm have to remind my children this isn't a democracy. Sweetness and light are great when everyone is taking care of business, but when some of the members of our family think "I don't want to" is a terrific reason for not taking care of their responsibilities, it falls to me to remind them that adults have a lot of things they don't enjoy doing (cleaning toilets? mopping floors? diapers?) but that we still do them. No, it is not the military and I'm being facetious when I say that is how it will be, but...obligations must be met, when they're supposed to be fulfilled, and in the manner they're supposed to be fulfilled. Not everything is up for negotiation.

Being the "mean mom" isn't fun, it isn't easy, and it isn't something I enjoy doing. Raising responsible adults is my job, however, and "I don't want to" doesn't work for me, either. So, this week, my household will be marching in step rather than singing and that is okay with me. Because, at the end of it all, I truly believe that legitimate accomplishment is the best motivator and, by golly, by the end of this week, those children of mine will have done a lot of things they can be proud of.

To see what everyone else is doing this week, head over to Momstheword and join in the Making Your Home Sing Monday gathering. It is a great way to a) get a feel for what everyone else is up to and b) get a reminder that you're not the only one!