Frustration ...

Lately I've been feeling like Mason takes everything we do for him for granted.  He doesn't say "Thank You" as much as he should and isn't very appreciative.  I just feel like it's never enough.  Well, Kyla wanted to spend her birthday money so after school we went to Target.  Mason also had a $20 gift card that Grammy and Grandpa gave him.  On our way into the parking lot, we saw a homeless man standing with a sign.  A few minutes later, someone drove by and gave him In-N-Out.  Well, I pointed it out to the kids and said that we needed to do things like that more often.  I also explained that he probably doesn't even have other clothes to change into and that he may even have children that don't have anything as well.

Ok, so we get to the toy section at Target and Kyla immediately finds what she can get and afford but Mason wants a $40 Lego set instead of the $25 he can get with his own money.  I explained that his birthday was in 3 weeks and he may get that Lego set then or at least money to buy it.  He wouldn't let up, he whined and complained and questioned me on how much money I spent on Kyla.  I told him it wasn't happening.  He could get the smaller set or nothing.  He put the smaller set in the cart with a scowl on his face and proceeded to grumble about it and start conflict with Kyla while I was trying to shop.  Finally, I'd had enough so I stopped, got down to his level and told him that he should be ashamed of himself, that he was lucky to get any set at all and that I was frustrated with his lack of appreciation for all that we do and buy for him.  I asked him to think about the poor man outside with no food, no clothing, no home and nothing to his name and said that if one more word came out of his mouth about it, I would take the $20 and given it to him.  Oh, was I mad.  I'm not kidding, if it wouldn't have been a gift from his grandparents, I would have.

Now that I'm home, I've thought about things and realized that I should have done it.  I also need to give my kids actual chores to do.  They do help out around the house but I them to start being responsible for their jobs without having to nag them about it.  It may give them a sense of pride as well.  I'm drafting up chore charts as we speak and we'll see how it goes.

On to happier news.  Kyla used her birthday money to buy a 700 piece Friends Lego Set.  Until now, she's only done a few smaller sets with the exception of yesterday when she did a set with 300 pieces.  Well, she started putting it together at 3:00 pm and hasn't stopped except to eat a quick dinner.  She's obsessed and absolutely loves it.  This set is geared towards 6-12 year olds and she's whipping it out, no problem.  I'm so proud of her.

Mason has been chosen to be a Conflict Manager at school during the lunch recess.  He's such a good for at school.  His teachers absolutely love him.

I did a little crafty project today for Kyla's room.  I love that stuff.

Who would have thought that Mason would like one for his room.  He said he wants one for boys so I'll have to think about what I can do.  I have baseball and soccer brads so I'm thinking those would be cute on it.