In which Kate returns her official Mama badge and runs away screaming expletives

.

Seriously.

Seriously.

F*&^*&*()()*^&^%$$###@$%^^&**(()(*&^%$#@@$%^&*

Seriously.

I am SO done with my 10 year old.

In fact, maybe I won't return my official Mama badge. I'll just return Emma.

If any one of my four blog readers can explain the ten year-old mind and provide me with an in-depth manual on how to handle her, I might reconsider.

MIGHT being the operative word.

So here's what I'm up against...

1. She's a tornado. She whirls around the house, active and busy. And in her wake? Trash. Shoes. Paper. Lunch box. Chapstick. Jewelry. Blankets. A stupid blue rollie chair I wish I'd never bought. Bathing suit. You get the picture.

And it never occurs to her to pick anything up. I truly believe that it's not that she's being lazy, but this is just her personality. Her room is a wreck. She leaves clothes on the bathroom floor. Even her seat in the car is generally trashed.

I know this sounds completely typical. And generally I can handle it. But when you consider that Hayley likes everything in it's place, Emma is just the polar opposite.

2. Her handwriting is scribble scrabble. It's horrible. And she just doesn't care. Not in the least. She can write very nicely if she tries. But she can't be bothered. Why? Why? Quite frankly, I'm embarrassed by her handwriting and she is going to be spending a lot of time this summer learning how to write all over again. 'Cause I'm sick of the chicken scratches.

3. If someone slowly pulled my fingernails out one by one with a strong pair of pliers, it would be preferable to getting Em to do her homework. Again, it's not that she can't do it. It's that she can't stay focused. Then she whines that she wants to be like the girls at school that get everything done in class and have no homework. If she would just focus, she'd have so much more time to play!!!


I've recently instated a 60 minute homework rule. If it's not done in 60 minutes, it doesn't get done. And she has to turn it in unfinished. Oh, she doesn't like that one bit. I'm not seeing any repercussions at school, though, so I don't know that it's making a difference. But my sanity is benefiting. I cannot continue to sit there next to her and say, "Emma, focus" "Emma, work" "Emma, math"...

ARGH I'm getting upset just thinking about this!

4. Why can't the kid just spend 20 minutes a day practicing her violin? Huh? Why? How is it so hard to stand there and play a few songs, go over a few of the rough parts, and replay the songs? But again, she can't focus. Apparently the air is too fascinating and she must play with it. I spend between $120 and $150 every single month for her lessons and I feel like it's all wasted. I've talked to her music teacher and she has very little to say about it. I don't know what to do.


I was talking to Scott on the phone earlier and expressing my frustration over Emma's non-existent violin efforts. I was not sugar-coating it. Of course, she heard me talking. And I didn't care. She was pissed. She ran upstairs saying, "I don't want to be around someone who treats me like crap!"

Yup, she really said that. Needless to say, there were consequences.

Maybe she just needs a healthy dose of reality instead of mollycoddling. I admit, I praise her way too much. And as I told Scott, I'm done doing that. Praising her is fine, but I'm not going to applaud her half-hearted attempts at... music, homework, whatever. She wants to use the "c" word? Fine. Crap is crap and I'm done trying to find things in the crap to praise.

So, Delicious Readers... advice? Please? Pretty please with sugar on top?