Three painful hours.

There are usually three painful hours in my day. You want to know what time I really don't like? 4:00pm to 7:00 pm. Why is that? Three things come to my mind. 1. Dinnertime 2. Chores 3. Homework. (In no particular order)

Dinnertime at our house is an event. If I make something the girls love it usually goes smoothly. If I make something they turn their little noses up to (which is almost daily) then dinner is a very long ordeal with lots of whining and comments like, "This is gross. What is this?" Let me tell you, my cooking is not gross. I think it's rather delicious. I really don't make my kids eat horrible things. Now here's the dreaded phrase that I use quite a bit. "When I was your age I had to eat every single thing on my plate or sit there for hours!" True story, my friends. I don't force many vegetables down my children's throats. I don't make up disgusting casseroles and force them to eat it. I think I make pretty good stuff. Jake and I were pretty lenient for a long time and it seems like our girls are getting more picky as they get older. Now we give them choices. They have to eat at least half of what I give them or they can sit there till it's gone. Some nights I even cook them something different when I am feeling especially nice. Tonight I made Turkey Burgers with fries. Not too bad. Ashley ate about half of hers. Haley managed to get one spicy bite and refused to put it up to her mouth after that, and Karly is too busy goofing off to eat hers. Their fries are all gone. Imagine that... Instead of sticking to my guns I came downstairs to write and blow off some steam.

Reason number two for my hatred. Chores. I really don't think we ask too much. I really don't. Today all I asked my girls to do was to clean up their bedroom, which was a mess! I told them that when they came home from school. I went downstairs to do the laundry and clean the basement. I had already finished the living room, kitchen and bathroom. I was on a roll, what can I say? So... I come up about half an hour later and the living room is a bomb and so is the kitchen. My anger is starting to rise... Calm yourself, Emily. Deep breaths. So I tell them nicely to clean up their mess while I cook dinner. They managed to finally do it with about ten reminders from me. So, after our dinner ordeal I have to get them to go and clean their room now, which they should have done earlier.

Reason number three for my hatred. Homework time. It just sucks. It takes forever and with Haley there is usually a little bit of frustration and many reminders for her to pay attention. I know why the evenings are so hard. I am tired and they are tired. I just need to try and have patience with these little angels. (HA!)

You know what my favorite part about the evening is? Jake comes home and we can tag team these wild children of ours. Thank goodness for that!