Friday, May 26, 2006

More rain, a neighbor and questions to ask yourself about living in this house

It started raining again today. Katie has been invited to a birthday party tomorrow so I hope the showers stop soon. We came home from school and there was a man coming out of the house 2 doors down. He said hello, and I asked if he was moving in. (There have been a lot of workmen spiffying up the three empty houses lately so I thought he might be another one of them.)

He says yes, and introduces himself as Dave. I told him my name and that Steve would be home in about two weeks. He asked what branch of service Steve was in, and I told him Navy, and he said he is Army but he works with all branches up at MEPS. He asks Katie how old she is, and when she answered, he said he has a 3 year old little girl in the house. I am assuming that he has a wife too, but he never mentioned her. I thought that she was in the house with the little girl. I hope he just wasn't leaving her alone in the house. I also hope that he has a wife because Steve isn't home and I am man-shy.

We shall see what sort of neighbors these people turn out to be. We have 2 other families near us, and they don't say a single word to us. Sigh.

Lasagna is in the oven for today's dinner, and will soon be out. Earlier today I started sorting Katie's room and have chucked 2 huge boxes of broken toys and crap. I am back-burnering the kids' rooms over the weekend. If I do it while they are in school, they cannot protest my throwing out all of their stuff. So I will continue the mundane effort to organize the downstairs part of the house over the weekend.

Instead of nagging the kids to put their things away, I have composed a list of questions they need to ask themselves about living in this house. I will post them, and since they can both read now, I don't even have to ask the questions, just point to where they are posted.

They are as follows:

Where do your shoes go? Your bookbag goes there too.

Where does your coat belong?

Where do dirty clothes go?

Where do dirty dishes go?

What happens to toys that come downstairs?

What do you need to do to the bathroom light and door?

Should we run in the house or up and down the stairs? Why?

What do you need to do to your bedroom light and door?

Is your room clean each night before you get in bed?

Are you being gentle with the dog?

Are you keeping your hands and feet to yourself?

and last but not least...

Does whining ever change my mind and get you what you want? Ever?

That's about it. Tonight is popcorn & a movie night. The kids have chosen a Spongebob movie. I think I'll read.

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