Am I really Brittany Spears?

Note:  I do wear underwear.

My fellow blogger friend, Stephanie, just wrote the following blog Revisiting High School and my comment about it made my head start spinning.

Thus a blog needed to be written.

I moved BACK to Northern Virginia the summer before my freshman year in high school.  It was a different county then I lived in before, and I was coming from WV.  West Virginia was a five year stint due to my father working for the government.  I was angry after leaving the boy that I was SURE would one day be my husband.

Teenagers are so dumb.

I should know. 

I have one.

Any ways...

I met my best friend Shannon the first day of school.  Shannon had a great self esteem and would talk to any one.  I, on the other hand, was very quiet.  Shannon would speak to anyone in any group: cheerleaders, football players and nerds alike.

Over the next three years of high school she dated some of these football players and for the most part I stayed in the background.  I did not realize my own beauty: internally or externally.  My junior year we started to hang out with a bunch of people that I guessyou could say were popular?  They were more of the party crowd and not the cheerleader/football player crowd.

Does that even make sense?

The quiet me was able to tap into a more confident, beer chugging kinda-girl.

Does this mean that I became a Paris Hilton?

Or even worse...

a Brittany Spears or Lindsay Lohan?

Oh please.  

Tell me NO!

Even though I was there...flirting, laughing at vulgar jokes...I was NOT there farting and burping. I had a friend who did/does that.

Gross.

As oddly as it sounds, even when I was a drinking fool trying to keep up with all of my guy friends they would still look at me and say, "You are the one who will be barefoot and pregnant."  

What kind of signals was I sending out?

At the age of 17?  

I did end up getting married at 20.  Had two kids right away.

But who was I?

Brittany Spears was a good-girl gone party girl.  Paris Hilton was a stuck-up girl.  Lindsay Lohan was the girl with the completely screwed up childhood. 

 

Is it possible that Audrey Hepburn could have had a party girl side to her?  And still be Audrey?  Or does that make me one of THOSE girls?

And after I question which one I WAS...and come to the realization that I'm closer to a Brittany Spears...

Which one were you?

And then there were 2.

I may or may not have enlightened you guys with our Christmas.  I feel as though I may have left a few minor details out.

One of which was a Christmas present.

We bought the kids mice.

I have to tell you that I do NOT buy anything that requires me to clean a cage, kennel, aquarium, litter box, etc.  I have dogs which means I can open my door and they run outside to do their dirty work.  They can also be walked around the neighborhood and do it there as well.  I do not like creatures that poop on you when you hold them.

Just not my cup of tea.

When Christmas came around I thought..."The kids do really want oneand I always say no.  They don't cost very much so it would be a really cool present."  I told the hubby and we decided to go for it.  The stipulation was that I was not going to touch them or their living arrangements.  The hubby was the main go-to guy for all thingsmouse.

Three mice: white, tan & gray.

The white one we gave to Sarah because it was the largest of them all and we knew that if anyone where to be too rough with their creature that it would be her.  The smallest (gray) was given to our son, Tony, for he has always shown the most responsibility and care for things.  Maria got the tan guy.

Originally these little guys were parked into their hamster palace in the hallway.  Unfortunately, the salesman was correct in telling us that mice are THE SMELLIEST of all rodents.  I, the person who lacks the ability to smell things...would GAG every time I passed the hall.  It did not matter if the cage was cleaned yesterday...it just smelledthat bad.

Last week I moved the mice into the kids bathroom.  I then proceeded to turn on the fan and shut the door.  The door had to remain SHUT at all times so that the entire house would not stink.

Once it warmed up they were moved outside.

A few days ago I witnessed Maria and Sarah jumping on the trampoline with their mice.  The mice were on the trampoline while they jumped.  I actually thought to myself...that might be a quick fix to the smelly problem.  

Yesterday while I was making dinner Maria and Tony were jumping on the trampoline.  Sarah, who is currently grounded, informed me that she was worried because they had her mouse out there and she did not want it hurt.  I told her to get it and put it back.  

Done.

It was not until dinner time that Sarah came to me and expressed concern about the gray mouse.  Apparently he fell off the trampoline?  There was concern over a broken leg.  I did not hear the whole story completely because by this time Tony is mad at Sarah for coming to us and Tommy and I realize we've got a problem on our hands.  The hubby retrieved the gray mouse from the hut and the poor guy was just laying there.  He was alive but not being the funny, cute and sweet little mouse he usually is.

Yes.  

He's cute and sweet.

Even if he smells.

Since we could not determine if anything was broken we did not kill him out of mercy.  We were just unsure of the situation.  The hubby was going to have our son kill it so that he could understand that you have to protect the little creatures...and if they are suffering you put them out of their misery.

But we did not do that.

This morning before school we discovered Rocky buried underneath the bedding...dead.  Apparently he was on his way out last night.  

I see my kids at this age where stupidity is in every equation.  They look forward to reactions from their actions but for whatever reason they cannot comprehend the danger, hurt, or anger they may get as their reaction to their action.

Know what I mean?

So...now there are two.

Confiscated.

I have three kids who are getting ready to each have a birthday over the next 60 days.  I will have an 11, 12 & 13 year old by the first week of March. 

I am elated.

hahahahahaha!

Any ways, I have found that the amount of forgetfulness has tripled in each child at the age of 11.  That means that my youngest is getting ready to roll over into a state of disability.

I call it a disability because suddenly they can no longer remember anything (dementia), can no longer hear (deafness) and are in a perpetual state of being dumb in general.  It must be some sort of disability and I feel that I should, in fact, get some sort of emotional and mental aid as I go through raising them over the next few years.

I'm just sayin.

So their inability to remember things has caused my home to look as though a tornado is a constant occurrence.  The kids leave their stuff EVERYWHERE.  Over the past several months I would gather all of their things that were left scattered around the house and heap it into a pile in the middle of the floor.  I had a big reason for doing this...it would cause my husband to yell at them.  For whatever reason he could not see that it was THEIR STUFF that was causing the house to look so messy...but when you put it all into one central location, forcing him to walk over it every time he walks through the house...

Needless to say my plan worked.

The hubby realized the kids left their stuff everywhere.

After some thinking on his part he devised a plan to hopefully encourage the kids to NOT leave their stuff lying around the house. 

It started Christmas.

We now confiscate things.
Yep. 
It's ours.

If you leave it somewhere it does not belong then it becomes ours.  If you would like that item returned to you then that will require some special chore work on your part.  Chores that used to be paid for will not be paid for by returning your items.

We have been taking these items, as we see them, and tossing them into our closet.  I pulled the remaining items out today to organize them so the kids are aware.

My oldest two were pretty fast at getting their new pairs of shoes back.  Things that they did?  Cleaning out the cars, picking up poo....you know...really FUN JOBS.

One of the things that I have caught them saying is...

"Oh well...I don't need that...I have another pair of shoes."

I told the hubby last night that we need to now create a time frame of confiscation.  If the item is not paid for within two weeks said items will be thrown away, given away, or sold.  All proceeds will be given back to mom and dad and when EVER you want that item again you will pay for it out of your own pocket.

Harsh?

I don't think so.
I am having the hubby set up my blogging website hopefully tonight.  This is so that I might be able to make blogging somewhat of a business and bring in some enjoyable income.  I will create a page just for my kids...and send them the link.  Every time an item is confiscated a picture of it will be posted on my page and dated.  They can check out the link daily to find out what is now missing.

Once I get the page up you can enjoy watching their reactions.  Maybe I will have a board set up so that they can talk to me about their item.

Yeah, I think that could be pretty entertaining.

On a sad note...

I just took out my son's confiscated jacket and blanket out of the washing machine (they smelled really bad) and discovered his i-pod.  Oh man...another one washed.  I just washed my daughters two weeks ago. 

:(