Topsy Turvy

It has been a rough fall.  In more ways than one.

The house is in need of deep cleaning and organization.  I am actually embarrassed to have company stop by.  I just do not know where to start.  Stuff just piles up, then it has babies and more babies until it is an uncontrollable mess.  I still have some areas that I have yet to touch.  I am not sure if it is that I am afraid to find something that I do not want to deal with (some stuff has been sitting around since before mom died, waiting for me to come back to it) or if I wonder what really is the point since it will be a mess once again in such a short time.  I was utilizing the e-book "31 Days To Clean" by Sarah Mae, but I did not make it quite past the first week.  I did a big flop trying to keep up with the kitchen cleaning schedule, being a working mom, and managing the kiddos in the evenings.  I guess I need to try it again, but at a slower pace.  I did come up with the following cleaning mission statement that I have on the wall in the bedroom.

To me they are pretty lofty goals, which honestly would be easier to achieve if I did not work outside the home.  So, I will slow plug away at achieving what right now seems the impossible.  I did stumble across the website Women Living Well this evening and they will be having a five week challenge:  Making Your Home a Haven.  I am going to try the challenge and see if it helps to inspire me to be more diligent about the cleaning and organization of my home.

Pumpkin is having a lot of discipline problems at school this year.  First grade is really rough.  I had the honor of meeting with his teacher and the principal last night pertaining to his behavior at school.  He has yet to reach the same maturity level as his peers and his social skills are lacking at times which is leading to some serious problems.  He also has it stuck in his head that he is a bad boy, so he thinks he needs to act like a bad boy and that nothing that he does is right.  I have a whole list of things that were suggested to work on, but no ideas on how to actually accomplish the tasks at hand.  I walked away more frustrated and feeling more like a failure as a parent than before I attended the meeting.  

It was suggested to give him a few more weeks until the mid-term arrives, then the school will probably recommend that we visit the pediatrician about his behavior.  We took him to the pediatrician last fall and his behavior problems then were a combination of an ear infection and lack of maturity that equaled his peers.  Our pediatrician said he was a typical boy and he would mature in his own time.  

I just do not know what to think or what to do.  We have been praying every night with him about school and I have been praying with him in the mornings too.  Yesterday morning Pumpkin told me that my prayers were not working.  I replied "You can pray that your room will be clean, but if you do not try it will not get clean.  It is the same with school,  you can pray to have a good day and make good choices, but you have to try if you want things to get better."  He is a good, smart, loving kid and it is so hard to see him struggling with school this year.

Well it sure is late and I have to be at work early, so I best be shutting everything down for the evening.