The Life of Suso

All about Chickens

Daniel's teacher gives them "Weekend Challenge" questions to help boost their creative and critical thinking skills. This weekend's challenge is:

Only one color, but not one size
Stuck at the bottom, yet easily flies
Present in sun, but not in rain
Doing no harm and feeling no pain
What am I?

Rebecca is completely convinced that the answer is... a chicken.

In other chicken news, this morning, she was rather crabby and overly tired. I suggested she go take a nap. She said she couldn't. When I asked her why, she said, "I can't sleep during the day! I'm a day chicken (as opposed to an early bird or a night owl)!"

Rollercoaster Ride

At dinner, we were discussing "If you could design an amusement park ride, what would it be like?" Rebecca is our resident daredevil, so it was no surprise when she said that her ride would be a rollercoaster full of loop-de-loops and giant hills. "It will go so fast that you'll PUKE! There will be buckets at every seat!" I asked who would clean up this puke. She said, "My lawyers."

Boys

Daniel was acting crazy at dinner, as usual. Elizabeth despaired, "WHY is he like that??" Cesar said, "I have been waiting almost 11 years to tell you this. Look at Daniel. This is what the boys you will date are like. This is how the boys are."

She stopped and said, "Then I don't think I want to date any boys if this is what they are like!!"

Cesar said, "My work here is done."

My Sanity

The kids wanted to play computer games when they got home from school. It's a "weekend" for them since they have Friday and Monday off of school. I said no, on the grounds that I need to maintain my sanity for the days ahead. Daniel said, in all seriousness, "But didn't you lose your sanity already?" :P

On Strike, Week 2

Overall, the Strike has been very successful. Daniel and Rebecca are both picking up after themselves quite well - although last night, Rebecca's dinner plate did have to be placed on her pillow after she forgot to clear her space.

Elizabeth, however, is a whole 'nother ball of wax. I thought we had hit on a reward that was good for her. She is truly a homebody and would rather stay home than go just about anywhere. When Daniel and Rebecca have karate two nights a week, she'd rather stay home by herself. When the rest of us go to CCD on Monday nights, she'd rather stay home by herself. So the deal was that if she didn't lose her stuff or have dishes or trash placed on her pillow, she'd be able to stay home. She was doing pretty well for a couple days! "Aha!" I thought, "we have found what motivates her!"

But today, she has lost a large sheet of posterboard, an art project, an art supply bin, an eraser, a water bottle, a book, a zipper case of colored pencils, and several other random toys. <sigh>

And that's just today! Last week, she had left a milk bottle empty on the counter, and her defense was, "I didn't know what to do with it!" which felt like a pretty flimsy excuse to me, but I did show her how to rinse out the milk bottle, and then put it into the cooler on the porch for recycling when the milkman comes again. Tuesday? I opened the fridge and found an EMPTY milk bottle in there. I am kicking myself for not taking a picture. I did find this on the table as she was about to walk out the door to the bus this morning:

I also had to place a bug-in-a-cup on her pillow yesterday. The THINGS I find on my table! I got the joy of seeing her face when I walked by her room and she happened to find it. PRICELESS!!

Oh, and I expanded the Strike to include the van. I am sick of finding random trash and assorted other child debris in there.

 

On Strike, Day 9

Elizabeth's drumsticks and mallets went into the Goodwill pile today, and a library book of Daniel's - but that was Elizabeth's doing, as she had started reading it and left it on the stairs. They worked together to clean the downstairs bathroom and the kids' bathroom.

We took a vanful of stuff to Goodwill - not all of it lost in the Strike, but a fair amount of it was. I kept out Daniel's DS Game Chamber and games, as he's trying to earn those back. It felt good to get rid of so much stuff though!

I spent the day cleaning the master bedroom. My scrapbooking area is still not done, but it is greatly improved.

My bookcase before:

And after:

Sorry for the photo quality - I was using my phone.

My side of the bed before:

And after:

I will tackle the scrapbooking area this week and post photos then. I'm too ashamed now.

While I spent the day cleaning, the kids (aside from cleaning the bathrooms) mostly played on the computer. So this evening, when I found a dirty cup sitting at my computer, I was ready to put it on someone's pillow - and then I realized it was mine. HA!!

As a side note, I decided when I started the Strike to just give up on the kids' rooms. So long as they close the doors, the mess in the kids' rooms STAYS in the kids' rooms. I have to say, though, that the kids are - of their own volition - keeping their rooms a lot cleaner! It's nothing short of a miracle!

 

Weight Loss

And not just from the stuff in my house going to Goodwill, either. I've lost 56 pounds now! That's what Rebecca and Zilla weigh combined!

I have been working on losing weight since May 2010, and I still have more to lose. Sometimes it feels like I'm losing slower than molasses in winter. But my persistence is paying off!

On Strike, Days 6, 7 & 8

Sorry, folks! I left ya hanging.

The strike continues to go well. Days 5 & 6 were outstanding.

Day 7, however, saw a downward slide. My Goodwill piles grows higher - mainly with Elizabeth's things. OK, entirely with Elizabeth's things. Yesterday, she lost a beloved dinosaur book, a binder, a sketchbook, her drawing pencils, two of her favorite t-shirts and her towel. It's like a trail of Elizabeth, with the book and binder in one place, pencils and sketchbook in another, and the shirts and towel in yet another.

Today (Day 8), she earned them back by weeding my garden and flower bed. And then she weeded through her clothing stash. She did an amazing job at weeding (both kinds!), and I'm thrilled to have the work done. However, I would prefer that she not leave her trail of breadcrumbs behind in the first place.

I am considering more drastic measures - with the possibility of no parole for good behavior for her belongings. That was my original plan for the strike, until I realized how much it would cost ME to replace some of this stuff.

Really, I should add that she's been better! But better than Pigpen (from Charlie Brown) isn't saying much. ;)

Daniel and Rebecca have become so careful about what they leave out. It thrills me to my bones! :D Daniel has spelling tests on Fridays, and I write the words he is struggling with on index cards. He asked if he could leave those on the kitchen table overnight to remind him to study in the morning. Nope, I don't mind, and thanks for asking! He's an early riser, and they were gone by the time I woke up. He got a 100% on his test, too. Rebecca made sure to clean up after her lunch and when she was done with school for the day. Happy, happy, joy, joy!!

I told Rebecca and Daniel today that I wanted to have an art party next Friday. Rebecca, who usually LOVES a good party, was adamant that she didn't want a party. She said, "I don't want to  have to clean up after everyone!!" Daniel and I agreed to pitch in with the clean-up. She changed her tune and started planning the snacks.

***Warning: Gratuitous Cat Photos Ahead***

A funny quip from the strike from Daniel: "What if we leave the cats lying around? Will you donate them too??" I love the crazy positions Zilla gets into.

Another cat lying around:

I love how Zander's feet dangle over the edge.

And here is Kazul keep vigil right outside Daniel's door:

The bad (and good!) thing about the strike is that it has pointed out to me how lax I have gotten about leaving my own stuff around. When the counter is already littered with STUFF, it's pretty easy to set down my book, papers, and the mail, and not give it another thought. But now I'm much more aware! Tomorrow, I have a block of time, and I need to tackle our bedroom (which is the catch-all for STUFF, it seems, and which includes my scrapbooking area). Pray for me. :-S I may even share before and after pictures, but only if you're really lucky. And if I'm brave.