Kudos for the "Good Mom" days

If I had to sum up my ratio of "good mom" days and "bad mom" days, I'd say the latter is probably ahead by a large margin. I hear a lot of whining most days, which I tell myself will one day STOP and turn into appreciation. (And you know one day means when they realize they do know how to scrub a toilet or play the violin or how to self-entertain and it feels good to them to have that "skills" that years before they had whined and boobed and cried about calling it "Soooo BOOOORRRRIIINNNNGG!") I get that kids are kids and they want to play. I'm sensitive to the fact that they would rather be entertained than to do any kind of work and that at some point in their life they won't really have too much of a choice; they'll have to work. BUT since we all suffer, at our house, from drop-it-wherever-you-want disease my kids and I spend a large amount of our time nursing that illness in the form of chores and practice and pitching in. Don't think I'm a slave driver or anything . . . cuz I'm pretty lazy too (where do you think they get it from) and I can appreciate a day spent lazing in front of the TV watching nothing by old Oprah shows.

This week, though, is Spring Break. It's kinda a love-hate relationship with me and time off from school because nothing predicts whining and boobing and crying like getting out of the routine of our normal weeks (summer break, track break, Christmas break, all the breaks generally end up with me wanting to breakdown.) SOOO yesterday, on Day #1, I asked the kids what all they'd like to do and they were quick with 3 or 4 answers each. I told them it was vacation for me, too, so some of the things they wanted to do were not things I would pick to do, but that I would respect their choices if they'd support mine. I also told them that before the fun would begin each day, their chores and music practices would need to be completed. It was just a matter of the facts. And that everything couldn't cost an arm and a leg. We need the arm and a leg. (They understand money when I explain it in appendages better, I guess.)

So, yesterday I got to go to lunch with some girlfriends and then I picked up a playdate for all of my kids. They played for a couple hours over here and then, after the missionaries came to dinner, we headed to the drive-in movie for a double feature.
{Sidenote about the drive-in movie. On Monday nights you pay $1.00 for kids. That's right, our entire family of 7 cost $15.50 to see 2 movies. I added up ticket prices at a normal theater and my guess would have been about $98.25 at a regular theater. PLUS you can bring whatever you want to eat without feeling all guilty for smuggling it past the usher in your super dooper diaper bag. AND when your kid has to pee you can send him up under the screen to let him water the weeds. AND when the kids or the adults are too tired to make it through the second feature, you can wrap him/her up in a blanket and they can have a mighty fine nap. I love it!}
So, we saw Monsters vs. Aliens and Race to Witch Mountain (both movies were on my kids' to do lists) as were playdates. Today, we packed up sandwiches and threw them in the bag with last night's movie snacks and headed to Exploration Park at Mountain's Edge. The weather was gorgeous and we took some friends with us, met my SIL, my sister and her friend and all their kids and had a good time while they ran around and came back to base table to check in. On our way home we stopped by McDonald's for ice cream cones (love $1.00 soft serve cone from McD's) and then the kids (save Briggs) were dropped off for a playdate at their friends' house. So, I've been cleaning, facebooking, and now blogging. Dinner's at my parents tonight (hogies while the kids play in the back yard) and for my part of spring break I will be sneaking off to Kohls and the gym once the kiddos are bathed and ready for bed. Nice, right!?

I'm just saying a little goes a long way for all of us and it really helps the kids when I remind them that we'll cross everything off their list before the end of the week. Still on the list:
Sleepovers
Chuck E. Cheese
A trip to the Library
the new Hannah Montana movie
and a bike ride
Vegas strip exploration (fountains, gardens, touristy stuff we never do)
Yard work
Nothing like a "staycation" to feel like we'll be having a "good mom" week.