Day 238 The Perfect Mom Project

Why is it that when I ask my youngest daughter to do something she says "OK" and then does not do it? This question is driving me nuts. I am certain that I am doing something wrong. I just cannot wrap my head around it. If you are not going to do what I asked you to do, could you please just say no! I get my hopes up thinking she is actually going to do something that I asked her to and then BAM, nothing!

 Here we go…yesterday, I asked Avery to please make sure she had her soccer stuff together so we were not running around at the last minute trying to find it before her game. She told me she had. Then I asked her to please vacuum the basement for me to which she replied, "I will after I get my soccer uniform on". Exactly 45 minutes later I asked Avery if she was dressed yet and she replied "No". Now I was getting ticked, not dressed and not vacuuming, my blood pressure was rising and the clock was ticking. As I stepped into her room to find out what the holdup was, I see the sweater that I had just washed (along with the other 1,000 pounds of laundry from our trip) lying on the floor underneath a shoe. I was suddenly screaming in my head and then I swore out loud (not a proud mom moment) and hung up the sweater. Then she tells me she cannot find her shin guards she needs for the game, "Weren't you suppose to be getting all that together earlier?" I asked her. "I know Mom!", at that point for every ones safety I grabbed my purse and left the house.

 I just needed to cool off, I love my daughter, but we have entered the great mother/ teenage daughter divide and I have got to keep it together. I do not want to keep going round and round about all the things she does that bug me. I just want to make some sort of peace treaty to get us past this parenting point. I made it through with Ashleigh and I am almost through this with Aly, so with a little patience I could sail through this time with Avery. Not bloody likely! At this point I can see that we are more alike than we know and we are getting on each other's last nerve. We both have our own way of doing things and we just want the other one to get it and move on. How to do this is the question now. Do I just lower my expectations, or do I wait it out in hopes that someday she will be better organized and move more quickly when she is working on tasks. Honestly whatever I do, I just do not want to damage my relationship with my daughter, because in the big picture she matters more to me then her clean room does. For now I would appreciate it if we could keep that information just between us. I just want to see if we can come to an understanding and if she sees that I am showing any sign of weakness she might use it against me.