Should have seen this coming....

The past couple of months kiddo kept bringing up the same topic, and for the past few months that same topic has fallen on deaf ears.

This time last week, all that changed. She was heading off on her first overnight school trip. It was time.

Husband dropped into the store on his lunch break and made the purchase. We sat side by side anxiously awaiting her return from school. Together we walked her through all the ins and outs.

Sunday morning we said goodbye to our beautiful little girl.


A few hours later, my cell phone rings. "Mom, if you have any more questions, ask them now. I'm trying to have fun with my friends but you keep texting me."

That is what happens when you give your 12 year old a cell phone!

She only texts you when she wants something!!

Proud mom

The scene opens with kiddo and I sitting in the kitchen. I am puling out containers of leftovers while kiddo sizes up the contents of the fridge. (Mind you, we are leaving in a few days, so there is little to nothing in the fridge.)

Kiddo: Is that...? Oh my... YEAH!

Me: What is it dolly?

(with a huge smile on her face): Chocolate pudding!

Me: Well I guess you're in luck.

(around a mouthful): Umm I am so glad, I thought the only stuff left in the fridge were leftovers and stuff we didn't want to eat, you know like cabbage. Pudding is awesome. It's delicious and slides down your throat...you don't even have to chew it!


Yep - I am the proud mother of a 12 year old who is just too lazy to chew her food. I am so not ready for the teen years!

Can I have a refund please?

Just over a week ago, kiddo go it in her head that she needs her own money, to "buy stuff, just because". She came to husband and I with a proposition, she would make her bed, dump the recycling and fill the water jug daily in exchange for $5 a week. She even wrote up a contract for us to sign, and put in a clause - in the event of her needing extra cash she would do additional chores at pre-set amounts up to but not exceeding $20 a week.

Wash dishes - $1
Empty dishwasher - $1
Dump compost bin - $5 (because its gross)
Vacuum - $1 per room
Cook omelets - $1 each (its the only thing she can cook unassisted)
Carry clothes to laundry room - $1

With labour that cheap, how could I refuse? So I signed her contract.

She has been doing her chores, without reminding and marking them off her checklist. This morning, husband goes in to wake her and finds her sleeping on top of her covers wrapped in a spare blanket. Turns out the sneaky little bug hasn't been under her blankets in a week so she doesn't have to make the bed, she just used the spare blanket and tosses it in her closet when she wakes up!

When she gets home from school I'm asking for a refund!