[blparent] The maid wants to go on strike!

[Jo Elizabeth Pinto]

Hi.  Summer vacation is just beginning around here, and my stepson is living with us during the weeks and going home to his mom on the weekends.  It's a workable arrangement, except for one thing.  I think my stepson is used to his mom pretty much waiting on him.  Like today, he wanted a frozen pizza for lunch, but he made no move to get up and make it.  I finally did the job because Sarah wanted some too.  He doesn't put dishes in the dishwasher, or if he does, they're not rinsed first.  He doesn't see a problem with clothes all over the floor.  The maid wants to go on strike!

Any tips for how to deal with older kids?  Sarah's young enough that she pretty much does what I tell her, and she already knows she has to put dishes in the sink and clothes in the hamper.  But my stepson is driving me crazy, and I just don't have the energy to keep my house from getting to look like Hurricane Katrina has taken up residence.

Run ragged,
Jo Elizabeth

"A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song."  Maya Angelou