Before You Ask Mom

Look, y’all: I love my kids.

As in: fiercely, forever, no matter what, brings tears to my eyes at random moments kind of love them, with every fiber in my being.

But even so, sometimes, they drive me up a wall, I lose my mind, and desperately want to go hide in the closet with headphones plugged into a laptop running Netflix, a bottle of wine in hand, chocolate beside me, a blanket wrapped around me, and a pillow to support my head or to block out any excess sound… maybe not long enough to binge the entire season of some show, but at least for an episode or two.

This is especially true during the summer when my three boys are home all day and getting on each other’s nerves from too much togetherness. Even when we head out of the house to do things that will hopefully exhaust them and make them go to bed early once we’re home fun things, they’re taking the whole “lazy days of summer” saying way too literally.

During the school year, they seem to remember that they have responsibilities and they really do a lot on their own. But, for some reason, in the summer, they forget that they are perfectly capable young humans and insist on going to mama for every little thing.

So, I decided to make this handy dandy little chart to help them figure out if it’s something they really need to ask mom for or if they can do it themselves. Also, it points out when they should not disturb mom, even if they do need help with whatever it is they’re asking for.

Chart may have been inspired by a tween waking up his mom yesterday 5 minutes after she fell asleep to ask her to make him a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, something he’s been fully capable of doing and has been doing successfully for approximately seven or eight years. 

Chart meant all in good fun. The summer has not completely robbed me of my sense of humor yet.