Monday, May 20, 2013

Dimanche, 5 Mai 2013: Return of the Parents

Céline and Didier (maman et papa) were due back from their mini-vacation today. I knew they were coming back from a relaxing weekend so I wanted to surprise them with a few things. Andréa and I picked Greg up early from his aunt and uncle's. When we got back to Aix, I cleaned the entire house. Well, the two main levels anyway. Papa had just bought about 30 kilos of meat so I also made a beef stroganoff. This was my first time making it with rice instead of egg noodles which I didn't have time to make from scratch and of course stores aren't open on Sundays. 

The triplets were dropped off by their dad in the early evening. The girls were decent but boy, did Baptiste get on my nerves or what?! I served the leftover carrot burgers as appetizers. The triplets absolutely loved them as Gregoire did. I pretty much let the kids do whatever they wanted except for one condition, DON'T EAT IN THE LIVING ROOM. The girls and even 3 year old Gregoire were able to follow these rules without trouble, but Baptiste...Oh my Lord...I wanted to wring that kid's neck! I caught him trying to sneak the carrot burger into the living room, and I told him that if he wanted to watch the Simpsons that he either had to leave his carrot burger behind or eat it really quick. He said 'okay' and I was stupid enough to trust him. I turned my back for a few minutes while I finished up the stroganoff and found him sitting on the couch, chewing with his mouth open, and dropping crumbs all over the place. I was so pissed that I grabbed the burger out of his hand, and fed it to the dog that was eyeing it. Of course I told Céline and Didier exactly what I did and all they said was "Okay."  

When the beef stroganoff was finished I called everyone to the dinner table. The girls and Gregoire were immediately there. All of the kids reminded Baptiste that he was required at the table to eat dinner but he was sucked into the Simpsons and didn't care. I had had enough of this kid already so I put his plate and utensils back in the cupboard. He didn't leave the couch the entire time we ate. By the time he got his butt up off of the couch, all of the food was put away and all of the dishes were in the dishwasher. I really did not give a crap that he would go to bed hungry. He was being a brat and spoiled kids do not deserve any special treatment. At least Céline, Didier and I are all on the same page there. I don't know how Baptiste acts when he's at his dad's house but that prince gaté act does not fly in this house. 

As 23h00 rolled by, I was asked by Céline to turn off all of the lights, TV, and make the kids go to bed. When I came downstairs to follow through on my orders, I found a half-eaten apple and a glass of milk in the living room. I'll give you one guess as to who they belonged...Baptiste took one look at me and said 'Sorry, but I didn't eat dinner.' I just glared at him and he cleaned up after himself, turned off the TV, and went upstairs. 

Getting the kids to sleep was a total nightmare. This time, they were all getting on my nerves. Léa kept coming into my room for one thing or another, Gregoire was making noises to annoy his siblings, while Camille and Baptiste were taking verbal blows at one another. I absolutely lost my cool and screamed at all four of them. Oh, and you bet I told the parents that too! Their reply was, in short, 'do what you have to do.' It's crazy. Once I went ballistic on the kids, they shut right up! There definitely needs to be a new disciplinary system in this house. I don't think it should include yelling (even though it works!) but I think that there needs to be some sort of point system where you take away rights and give responsibilities for every rule you break. I'll be sure to bring this up to the parents...

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