Murphy's Laws for Moms

After this weekend's situation of taking away all of my kids' toys, I continually thought, "Why can't my kids be normal?"  I was frustrated with their behavior.  Then, I thought, "Perhaps, I'm not a normal parent."  There must be something obviously wrong with me that my children and I always seem to be at odds. If you've known me for any length of time, you'll know my thoughts about normal are extensive and diverse.  My studies in cultural and gender communications have solidified my thoughts and opinions that normal is a socially-defined word.  It's fluid, ever-changing and, quite frankly, ambiguous.  So, why on earth am I trying to use this term to describe my children and my parenting?  Why am I striving for normal ? Then, I realized something BIG...often times, I look at - and describe - normal as being perfect when used in reference to my own children or my parenting.  I try to force the concept that my children shouldn't

Today, my children lost their toys.  I'd had enough...the screaming, fighting, throwing, hitting, talking back, and more.  I've threatened to take toys away before, but never quite done it.  Now, I have.  I have to say, I don't know why I didn't do it sooner.  My kids finally realized, I wasn't bluffing. Yes, there were a few tears when the favorite animal went bye-bye.  There was grabbing onto my legs as I carried the laundry baskets (there were six of them) away.  But, eventually, my kids gave in and we had a talk about why the toys were taken away.  The outcome: my kids realized that they hadn't been listening and obeying. As I filled the first few basket full of toys, I was so frustrated that my kids cannot seem to focus on a simple task of picking up their toys before meal times or bedtime.  This has been a consistent battle in our house.  I ask them to pick up their toys, they start to do it, but in the end, they end up making an even larger mess by ta