Today went rather smoothly.  I think I only raised my voice (in that "Do it now or else" tone) once!

I called today 'Teaching Tuesday' because I spent the day teaching the boys how to do the chores they are assigned daily (like making sure their dressers stay neat, vacuuming, room tidy, etc.).

Today Mitchell had Dinner Prep (he got to help make dinner, peel potatoes, open/start the green beans {had to redo those as he dropped them on the floor and rinsing them in a colander didn't take care of the debris, note to self, show Mitchell how to sweep the kitchen floor better}, he even did the marinade for the pork chops {lemon juice & lemon pepper seasoning}.  Nick had vacuuming {let's just say he needs more lessons}.  Zachary had the boys' bathroom.  I figure I'll still need to deep clean it every now and then, but at least it's getting done daily by one of the ones who use it!

I've gotten to the point where I've been leery of venturing out with all three boys alone.  Well, today I had a Mary Kay delivery to make and Jeff had to sleep so we ventured out.  I'm happy to say the boys were very well behaved.  As a thank you for their good behavior I treated them to lunch at Burger King.  After lunch we had to hit Walmart for milk.  I also ended up getting each of us a water gun.  Would love to have a pool since we seem to have gone from monsoon season to Hot, Hazy, Humid in one day, but the water guns will have to do.

When Jeff was leaving he smiled and said he was proud of us.  He told me I'd survived today relatively easily.  Let's say a little prayer that each day gets easier.

Oh, Nick could probably use some prayers -- he's got 2 demerits already and since the boys decided 3 was the cut off for allowance not being received, I'm afraid he's not going to make it without loads of prayers.  (I do count down from 5, 10 count between each number, before issuing the demerit so he has time to either ask for a re-do or to comply.)