Where is my bedroom?

It occurred to me today that there has been a major injustice in my life....I no longer have a bedroom. I mean, I still have a room with a bed, my clothes, and my bathroom, but seriously it's not reallIy mine. It is apparant that my entire house is being run my small people and I am left scratching my head and wondering what on earth has happened.

It all began on a cold January morning..January 21, 1999 to be exact. The day that our first daughter was born. She was so precious then. Little did I know that just 10 years later she would be leading the great invasion into my bedroom. It all happened very innocently. I just wanted to be a good mom. I wanted my children to always feel welcome and safe and happy in our home. So I have always just allowed my children to come and go from my bedroom. As a result, they don't feel the need to knock before entering my not-so sacred bedroom. You would think that a closed door would at least make them hesitate, but this breed of invaders only sees the door as an obstacle that must be conquered. In fact, Bayden and I can be sitting in our bedroom with the door open and they make no act to infiltrate, but the second that door closes..it is like they know that the grownups are seeking privacy. That closed door has just become a challenge...A challenge that says "who can get passed me first?" For obvious reasons, I have had to resort to locking the bedroom door..even just to go potty! What happens when the Invaders are stopped by a locked door you ask? Well to be honest you would think there was a natural disaster in the house with all the wailing and whining. I always have to remind myself that no one is actually being ripped apart by bears on the other side of the locked door...it just sounds like it. After they recover from the initial shock of encountering the locked door, the banging and yelling begins..."MOOOOM...MOM...MOMMMM...MMMMMOOOOMMM!!!" Again, I am always tempted to answer their shrieks, but no...I have to look in the mirror and repeat the phrase.."I am an adult, and I can go potty by myself." Just when I think they have given up and I have won...they switch to different tactics...they lay on the floor and peek under while wailing and sticking their fingers under the door wiggling them pathetically...it is like the disturbing scene from Signs only worse, they aren't aliens they are my CHILDREN!!! All this has just been a mild disturbance in the house , something we have been dealing with...but today was the last straw! Today, I was just wiping the sleep from my eyes when my door is pushed open by the Commander of the Invasion..Kaytlyn. This is a daily occurance because apparantly my bathroom is far more superior to hers..(A fact that I can hardly blame her for, she has two brothers...need I say more?) Usually she heads right for the bathroom to beautify herself, but this morning she stopped at my dresser, opened the drawer and began rifling through MY stuff! I was speechless for about 20 seconds, and then I asked her what she was looking for...Ok, so here is where I subconciously acknowledge that there is a problem, because what I should have said is "What in the heck do you think you are doing?" She turned to me and said, "Socks, I am out of socks so I am going to wear yours." I still have not recovered my senses enough to reply to this comment and she is probably still wearing my socks. I have been defeated...I have been invaded. My bedroom is not my own and neither are my socks.

The moral of this particular story is "Payback is a Beast" I just want to take this moment to let my own mother know how very sorry I am for not respecting her privacy, stealing her socks, wearing her shoes, using her makeup and various other misdeeds that shall go unmentioned....you deserved your own room, Mom!
Perhaps someday I will gain back control of my bedroom territory from these pint sized invaders, but for now I will just have to keep fighting the good fight because in their world, mom's don't have their own bedrooms, or their own socks, and privacy is just a figment of my imagination!!

Mommy's little Helper

I spent the afternoon cleaning the house and I told my kids that they could help or they could play outside while I cleaned. Kaytlyn was at a friends house and the boys wasted no time getting out the door. But Kenna decided she wanted to be my helper. So she picked up, and threw away trash, and then spent quite a bit of time dusting furniture. More specifically she spent alot of time dusting the kitchen chairs. When her dad sat in one of the chairs and "made noise" like dads sometimes do, her reaction was total disgust as she said to him, "EWWWW, DAD, I just cleaned those!" I love this age!!

Kenna's moves!!

All my kids like to dance around, but Kenna thoroughly enjoys bustin a move! Here is a small portion of her dancing skills that leave our Grover family laughing hysterically!

Kenna's Moves

Like OMG...LOL!!

As most of you know I spend some time at the public schools interacting with students on a daily basis. Today was no different from any other day, except that I had a little down time while I was waiting for some kids. I was sitting next to a group of girls and this was their conversation...
"Like, OMG, can you believe that teacher! She was so rude!"
"LOL, I can't believe you got kicked out of class again."

I am pretty up to date on the texting business, I send an occasional text myself, however the more I thought about this converstaion the funnier it got. When I was a teenager and I thought something was funny, I laughed out loud, but these teens resisted that urge and instead said "LOL" Teens today speak in code...so much code that I don't even begin to understand. So in an effort to become more hip and in the know, I did a little research on text messaging abbreviations. Here are some of my favorites...

YTG--Your the greatest...this is what I will be telling my husband when he makes dinner.

JAM--Just a minute...this is what I will be telling my kids when I am trying to go potty in private and their need for a snack is more important than my need to relieve myself.

MNC--Mother nature calls--pretty self explanitory

YWHNB--Yes, we have no bananas--my reason for going to the grocery store

KUTGW--Keep up the good work--What I will be telling my students at school

YYSSW--Yeah Yeah Sure Sure Whatever--What I will be saying when my students at school tell me that are all caught up and getting straight A's

WDALYIC--Who died and left you in charge?...This is the code I will use for someone being extremely bossy...if I say this to you, I am sure I don't mean it...

WOMBAT--Waste of money, brains, and time...What I am currently thinking about my decision to go back to school.

UDS--Ugly domestic scene...This code will be used to describe my house on a daily basis.

TNSTAAFL--There's no such thing as a free lunch...I'm not entirely sure when to use this...but I am SCHID that there is even a code for that...(See below for definition of SCHID)

SMHID--Scratching my head in disbelief--This is the code I am using to describe the fact that there are literally hundreds of uncracked codes left to be researched on http://www.webopedia.com/quick_ref/textmessageabbreviations.asp

SNERT--Snot nosed egotistical teenager--Well with my job I'm sure I will find a good time to use this one.

and my all time favorite...

SWMBO--She who must be obeyed...I am thinking of having my children refer to me by this instead of mom, who knows I may get more results!!

Trashed

So I missed a great photo op with this story...you will all have to use your imagination. Picture a clean kitchen, with the dishes done and the food from dinner put away...have you got the picture yet? The lights are off, and the kids have finally gone to bed. The only things stirring in the house are myself, and my "sweet" dogs. I was sitting in my comfy chair browsing facebook, when I heard a loud crash come from the kitchen....a crash I have heard many times before, it is the sound that the garbage can makes when it hits the floor. Why do you ask is the garbage can mysteriously tipping over by itself...did gravity fail?...No...I jump out of my chair, stumbling in my fury and thinking to myself as I march into the kitchen that I better slow down before I fall, but too mad to listen to reason. I am on a mission..a mission to spank a very naughty white male dog. I am certain that it is him that has tipped the trash and ran out the doggy door seeking safety from my angry stomping. As I fling the door open, I call his name so he can have moments to regret the tipping...but he is no where to be found...no, instead I am horrified by the sight before me. Picture a small shitzu poodle, trying to look innocent while her snout is stuck in the hamburger wrapper that she pulled from the trash can debri. And as I sit there, staring at my very naughty dog, Koda, the dog I thought had caused the commotion, comes out the door and sits on the step looking at me as if to say.."Well, its about time you figured out who is causing all the trouble in this house."