One of Those Days

and by 'those' I most emphatically mean the kind that is super italicized. Maybe even super-triple-italicized. You know what I mean. It's not just one of those days...it was one of those days which is actually quickly turning into one of those weeks. It pretty much started like most days. The only difference - which really is the big difference and should have clued me into future course of events was that Samuel woke up a little fussier than usual. I figured this wasn't a big deal because I routinely wake up fussy - I'm just not a wake up kind of gal so I understand when others have mornings like that.

Quite naturally the house looked just like I had left it the night before:

This was not discouraging for me as my house usually looks like this in the morning. As much as I dearly want to get everything cleaned up before I go to bed I usually end up crashing minutes after I've gotten the kids into bed and of course up to that point we were busy doing all of the evening stuff. Anyhow I woke up ready to get dishes done, laundry folded and sundry items scattered where they didn't belong put away. I did manage to get a few things picked up in the back yard and the dishes to this point:

Yeah - three cups. That was all I managed to get done. See Samuel had been fussing so I put him in the carrier but he continued to have a fit and three cups later I decided I figured he wasn't happy back there and so I threw in the towel (figuratively of course what I literally did was toss my sponge back into the sink) and get him off my back.  Anytime I chose not to physically hold him with my hands throughout the day I could guarantee that I would instantly be admonished by this face:

So I held him...all day. At the close of the day I finally managed to get him to bed at which point I was able to do a bunch of dishes (not all mind because that would be a total miracle ;) before he woke up. Then I spent the rest of the night cuddling with one upset little boy who cried off and on all night long despite the fact that we were cuddling. (Trust me it was worse when we weren't cuddling.)

Poor Samuel was/is (I don't know if he's quite done yet but he's definitely more pleasant lately...though still not into me putting him down to do dishes or really anything for that matter...) teething and his pearly whites weren't making it easy on him.

The Extortionist

In the hopes of giving Emmuska something extra to do as well as teaching her the value of work and money Sunday night Mycal told her that he would give her a dollar if she swept the garage, patio and sidewalks around our house. The conditions were that she had to do a good job and that it had to be done before he got home from work. After arranging this Mycal went to get ready for the next day while I read stories for bedtime. While Emmuska enjoyed her stories she was thinking about something else altogether.
"After I sweep the garage I'm going to clean my room. Daddy will be so happy he will give me another dollar."
"Well you'll have to talk to daddy about that."
We finished our stories and I sent the girls off to give Mycal a kiss goodnight at which time Emmuska delivered her proposal to Mycal. Mycal laughed and told her she was a swindler and that he she could clean her room if she would like to and that it would be a good thing to do but he would not give her a dollar for it. They talked a little longer before Emmuska said:
"Okay I will clean the entire house and you can give me five dollars."
to which Mycal responded
"I think it's time you learned a new word - extortion."
Emmuska laughed with the rest of us but I could see her mind continue to scheme on how to make more money.
(By the way she woke up Monday morning very excited to start sweeping. It was all I could do to encourage her to get dressed before we were outside. It did take all day (with many breaks) but she did do an excellent job and couldn't wait to show Mycal all she had done when he got home. She definitely earned her dollar.)