Who Let The Dogs Out?

I went nonstop all day yesterday. I washed load after load of laundry, swept and mopped the basement, cleaned the cat litter box, got the trash together, paid some bills, took the clean dishes out of the dishwasher and then scrubbed out the dishwasher. I then vacuumed the whole house showered and prepared to go the first meeting in another series of A Beautiful Me workshops as a mentor.

As I prepared to leave for the workshop, I left the girls a note, since we would be passing each other on the road. I asked them to take their trash out of their rooms and get it out to the trash can since it was trash night. I also asked them to put away their laundry, eat the dinner I had left in the refrigerator and feed the dogs and take them out. They got as far as eating their dinner and putting some (not all) of their laundry away. I came home to find that one child was doing homework and the other was…well, honestly…doing nothing. I was ticked, especially since the dogs were staring at me with their legs crossed. The girls had fed them, but they had not taken them out when they got home from school and they did not take them out after they had fed them. This explained the potty stop one of the dogs had made in my room which I discovered as I walked through my room in my stocking feet. That prompted me to yell out "GIRLS!"

My discussion with them (OK, I was yelling) at that point was asking them how they would like it if I did not let them go to the bathroom when they got home from school, or first thing in the morning. Perhaps they would like it if I forgot to make dinner or pick them up from something. It is not pleasant when someone you are counting on lets you down and dogs sense this just as much as humans. Besides that, it is not pleasant when you are minding your own business and you step in dog potty.

I do not ask for much from my girls. They really do live a great life here, so when I leave a detailed list of things to do and I specifically ask them to take the dogs out, that is what I think will happen. I have been Miss Nice Guy too long and last night was the final straw. It will now be my habit to constantly nag them and check on them about the dogs. My plan is to be very annoying about it. I figure I will be annoying long enough to get them to say something like geez Mom we get it. Then I can lay off the nagging for a couple months until they forget again.