The Drill Sergeant Mom

I am sick and tired of being taken advantage of by my children!  I am their personal chef, maid, tutor, referee, chauffeur, and so many more things.  And yes, I know I just defined the word Mother perfectly.  Normally, I am more than happy to be all of those things for my children.  I did sign up for this job.  I did agree to having four of them.  But when my many jobs go unnoticed and are unappreciated, that's when I start to reveal the wrath.  And when my requests are met with sarcasm and unpleasant words, that's when the wrath comes forth with all its fury!  And this probably the worst offender:

When I ask one of my children to pick up a toy, the last thing I expect to hear is, "NO!"  But that's what I've been hearing lately.  (It's from the one pictured above.)  Even though her three older siblings aren't answering me with the word "no," it's what they mean.  It might come forth as a sigh, the word "what?" or the word "why?"  Oh, those things make my blood boil!  With all my might, I've tried to avoid my mother's phrase Because I said so!  But that's what I've turned into.

I do run a tight ship around here.  I have a list of rules I've set forth and I expect for them to be followed.  I don't think that's unreasonable.  When the kids get home from school, they are supposed to put away their backpacks, lunch boxes, and any outerwear.  This never gets done without my nagging.  Never.  So yesterday, I picked up all their backpacks and coats and put them in a box in the garage.  No one noticed.  When it came time for school this morning, I heard, "Hey mom, do you know where my backpack is?" 

Another rule of mine is that my children are supposed to keep their rooms clean and do one chore a day.  The chore varies, depending on what needs done around the house.  They actually do a pretty descent job with their chores.  But when it comes to their bedrooms....oh my!  Last night, I got so sick of how messy the boys' room was.  When I told #1 to clean up his things, he said everything in the room belonged to #2.  When I asked #2 if he cleaned up his room, he said everything left belonged to #1.  So, I did what any normal crazy mom would do.  I got a trash bag and filled it up with everything on the floor, beds, and dressers that didn't seem to belong to anyone.  Wow, that sure got their attention! 

"No!  Not that!  I was just getting ready to put that away!" 

"Oh really?  Well, I asked you a half hour ago to put it away."

"Pleeeeeease, Mom!"

"Nope.  You had your chance."

"Are you serious?"

"Do I look like I'm playing?"

I loaded up the bag and stashed it in the garage.  The room looked clean after that!  I may allow them to earn back the things in the bag.  It depends on my level of craziness.  So maybe if their typically sweet and caring mother turns into a raging lunatic from time to time, they'll learn to take some responsibility.

What's the craziest thing you've ever done to try to get your kids to follow the rules?  Or do you all have perfect little angels who do no wrong?