<Sob> Temporarily overwhelmed by DS1 and 2

[BoffinMum]

I am trying to work from home during August as I haven't got a lot of childcare, but DS (12) and DS (15) are driving me nuts. Despite my best efforts they are doing everything on an imaginary ticklist of annoying-but-not-illegal-or-immoral things, specifically designed to annoy a parent. Their minor but exasperating crimes include:

Smearing jam all over clean sheets from eating in bed
Peeing all over the place in the bathroom and making it stink
Toilet skid marks, no use of brush
No assistance in house whatsoever despite many disciplinary strategies
Lying in bed until lunch and then loafing about in pyjamas all day
Arguing and scrapping with each other
Bedrooms like fetid hellholes that time forgot (gave in and cleaned one today as I couldn't bear it any longer)
Banging on about the next thing they want me to buy for them
Refusing to their holiday homework from school
Refusing to do anything except muck about on their computers

I have tried everything I can think of to reign them in but I am wondering if there are things other people can think of. I am getting no work done and they have me in tears at the moment.

We all have our own towels all different colours. Nobody uses anyone else's.

Ooh a flowchart that is v apt in this house.

Love that flowchart

Lol at the flowchart.
DS had a friend over the other day when they decided to raid the fridge and cupboards for snacks. Friend went straight into the cupboard and then complained that there was no coke left (they had finished it the day before) and then scoffed at the fact the lemonade was tesco's own make and not the usual schweppes! WTF!!!! DS followed up with a moan about the lack of ANYTHING in the fridge. They eat constantly and yes yes to the plates, cups, glasses, wrappers, towels, clothes, books, game boxes, controllers, sports bags etc all left where they are dropped.

And no teenage thread would be complete without a reference to this poster

I gave up on the screen time rationing when I realised that actually it wasn't doing them a lot of harm. Sometimes they even look at sites and LEARN STUFF. That shocked me.

Sometimes they even look at sites and LEARN STUFF. That shocked me
Oh yes. They both love to surprise me with some obscure detail about ancient Roman civilisation or the lifecycle of flax and say "NER I learned that on Minecraft/Age of Empires".

Yes, we have that in this house.
How can you take a stance on technology when it's USEFUL!

Oh gosh, this is so true! My DD was telling me something she had written in a GCSE exam with really obscure vocabulary - when I had finished basking in the fact that she is so articulate, I asked how she knew these words and then my bubble burst when it was from one of her many games.

At least I don't need to worry about my food stocks being depleted with ds1 (17)-unless it's the crisps. How he's got to 6 foot I don't know.

He makes me laugh though- I frequently hear him nagging ds2 (5) to lift the seat when weeing. The number of times I told him to do the exact same thing when he was 5 and up! I tell him this now and he denies it furiously. Ditto washing his hands, not swinging on door handles... the list goes on.

I have a boy of 12, a ten year old girl and a baby boy of 8.

DS1 has been a PITA for about a year now. Rude, cheeky, eye rolling computer obsessive. Pants left in jeans which always have one leg inside out. Wears clean pants to sleep in then another clean pair for the day. Forever leaving a sock around the house and seems unaware he is only wearing one. Not too bad with leaving pots or drinks bottles in his room and I have told him he isn't allowed to eat in his room. Not so good at putting clean clothes in the right drawers. This has meant at least once I went out and bought new underpants only to crack and tidy out his drawers and find loads. He is forever saying he doesn't have any pants or pyjamas when actually he has just shoved all his clothes in one drawer.

DD has been stroppy looks could kill for a few weeks now and it is a bit of a surprise it has started so young as she is a very mature lovely girl.

DS2 has started the one sock and putting clothes away in the wrong drawer too and I also bought pants it turned out he didn't need yet.

None probably shower enough but they aren't smelly so not too fussed. Tried to tell them at least every other day they should see water (DS2 showers most mornings actually) but they do need reminding all the time.

I worry about the amount of screen time my children have too (ds has a lap top, ipod and mp3 player)(DD has a kindle and mp4 player)(DS2 doesn't have anything but does have access to the home computer) but then I try and tell myself I am on this a lot and watch tv plus DS1 is incredible on the computer and has written code/computer programmes/games etc so it has been good for his development and learning options as well as his self esteem.

Sometime I feel I have been influenced by posters and not always for the better as it means I have trusted my own instincts a lot less.

Really fed up today ,sick of running around cooking ,washing,cleaning shopping while they sit on their backsides doing nothing. Dh on holiday this week and has organised a few fun outings but you would think we had asked them to run a marathon the way they are behaving,if it doesn't include food or computers they are not interested

In addition we are organising a once in a lifetime hokey at Xmas visiting relatives in another part of the world and all they can do is moan or look as about excited as a trip to the supermarket had been suggested

Sorry not hokey , should have read holiday

I'm not sure why people have such a downer on some games either. All three of my boys use Minecraft and use it to create amazing buildings all the time. I don't see how it can't be benefitting their little brains.

Mine craft is fine as games go. It's the sheer lengthy of time they spend on them. It's their bodies I worry about not their brains

Dementedma, yesterday, at the behest of DD2's hysterical request at about 12.45 am, I killed what we both thought was the biggest spider ever, only to discover it was DD2's eyelashes on the floor near her bed.

LOL at 'baby birds chirping for food' that is exactly how DS described them all when I got home from work a few weeks ago. They were congregated in the kitchen, having eaten their way through the fridge and all the boxes of crackers and breakfast cereal during the day and demolished a pan of brownies DD4 had made for herself--.

I have to say though, I don't let people eat in their rooms.

Weirdly enough, they all shower.

Two of them off to university next week!!!

Last night I had a nice chat with DD2, she's on a 15 year old woe is me roll at the moment. She was very nice about it, but basically I have wasted my life and am very boring plus I'm rubbish at making hot chocolate. And she was very disappointed that her breakfast was late yesterday morning. You see I had the temerity to speak to MY mother on the phone. When DD2 is grown up I don't need to bother to phone her because she'll be too busy doing important stuff like making breakfast to talk.

It was a most instructive chat, and I am grateful to have the benefit of her advice ;)

DS1 (140 is up. And in the shower. This is not the norm.

Poor you with your boring and wasted life alistron.

He's not 140 he's 14. I am 140.

Alistron you have my sympathies , I am deputy head of finance for a fairly large charity however apparently I have wasted my degree from a top 4 University as all I do is basic data

DS1 has a paper round. He pointed out that he earns more than me.

So maybe he should buy you dinner/ pay for stuff? That will soon shut him up.

He wanted a KFC at the weekend. I said fine as long as he paid for it. suddenly he wasn't so keen.....

ah, i wish I was still young enough to know everything...

Sparklingbrook Funny how they have always "forgotten" their money when we are out and could I lend them some for a KFC? I always feel it would be mean to ask for the money back. i'm a soft touch aren't I?