5. Oh My Freakin' Head

I sure wish my headache would go away. I don't know if it is the 'going back to work' or the dread that tomorrow 'the kids go back to school and we again will get to look forward to homework every freakin night for the next 5 months' but really, I'm sure I could deal with it all better if only my head would quit hurting.

C is in second grade. He likes school well enough, has perfect attendance; he HATES homework though, which is kind of a problem. I pretty much have to sit on him to get him to get his work done, all the while making dinner and keeping R quiet so C can concentrate, which R really gets off on. He likes nothing more than aggravating his brother and when the frustration begins to show (either mine or C's), then R realizes what a grand time he's having and cranks it up another notch. Then we get to rush to eat, get baths, read bedtime stories, and tuck in by 8:00. There is no knitting going on, because when the kids get tucked in, I drop right behind them.

J was so much easier, really, he was. He was an only child until he was 10, so there was no-one to distract him anyway. But J always liked school, never minded homework, was a self-starter and really just did what he was supposed to do without being told. I think he raised himself. Which explains why I'm having such a damn hard time of it now. I blame J. He didn't prepare me for how it is to raise normal kids. J was apparently an anomaly, and I would suggest to anyone that if you had it easy the first time around, and you think for one second that it bears well on what kind of parents you are and that you've got this parenting thing licked, and "Oh, wouldn't it be fun to try again?" (and again in quick succession). Think very seriously about it first. lol - I wouldn't trade these younger two boys for the world (J is 18, C is 7, and R is 5). Just think about it first and do whatever preparation you have to do to be ready. Realize how lucky you were the first time and know that it probably will be different the second or even the third time around.

Maybe I'm just too old now; I don't know. I just feel so exhausted all the time. The younger boys know this about me and use it to their full advantage. They are smart little buggers.

See ya tomorrow. I'm going to take another dose of Ibuprofen and I'm off to bed!