I had asked her to make sure the bathroom was picked up for the housekeepers. She said it was done. So imagine my surprise when I walked by this morning and saw this disaster.
And I was even more shocked when I looked under the sink (I was shoving stuff in there to quickly get it out of the way).
And these disgusting glasses filled with who knows what.
And this is where she thought it was appropriate to put dishes.
There was more like this but you get the idea.
UGHHH.
Owen didn’t decide until the day before that he wanted to go trick or treating so his choice of costumes was limited… I didn’t even get a picture of Katie because so much was going on.
Olive loved everyone! She would wait patiently and wouldn’t bark or go crazy.
But she loved the attention.
Of course, Katie refused to wear her wig at the last minute, so Tom put it on instead. It looked epic.
And he and Anna made a cute couple.
Crazy hair day at school today!
Guess who just lost her phone for a good long time?
Yes, that’s her on TikTok.
I had to use her phone to figure out something with her watch and she was out of space so I was going to delete some photos/videos…and found this. And then a whole slew of videos.
UMMMMM WHAAAAAAAAT?!
I had TikTok locked down. I had no idea how she did this. Originally I didn’t even think to look at the time stamps on her phone…but they were last night between 10-11:15. After bedtime.
Ugh.
To start with, she knows TikTok isn’t allowed, let alone her having her own account. Even legally, you have to be 13. But there she was, with a bunch of videos uploaded!
UGH.
And a few of them were completely inappropriate.
UGHHH.
And I couldn’t even figure out how to delete her account—I had to prove I was her by verifying her email (which I had access to) but it wasn’t working.
UGHHHHH.
Then I noticed another new account she shouldn’t have had. And a bunch of new apps I don’t remember her asking for.
It was a long and frustrating day. But she’s lucky I had all day to calm down while she was at school…because I was LIVID.
So Tom was home and we presented a united force. During our conversation, she finally told us how she was able to do it. Are you ready? When I was gone to Ohio, Owen snagged Tom’s phone (because he hadn’t changed his password after the last incident) to log into the app we use to control their phones and give himself more time allowance—and Katie said she wanted stuff, too, so they changed all sorts of permissions. She lost her devices for a month. And I deleted almost every app off her phone.
So then we called Owen down. And after a bit, he admitted that he did that. We were really surprised and upset because he got in trouble for this exact thing previously. So, since it was his second offense, he lost devices for two months. Katie wasn’t smart enough to keep her mouth shut and said well she did it before, too…so fine, we increased her one month to two. So both have lost their devices for two months (phones, ipads, Xbox).
Technology and social media is a nightmare. We were doing the right things with programs meant to help us and protect them but they got around it. Good times.
To Owen’s credit, he REALLY handled it all well. Tom and I had anticipated Owen losing his crap because this was the biggest punishment he’s received… but he was actually amazing! You could obviously tell he was disappointed, but he didn’t lose his cool at all, stayed calm, didn’t try to hurt himself, didn’t storm off or cry… We were both surprised and thrilled.
Katie, on the other hand, ended up fighting and arguing and yelling and crying and slamming her door. After about an hour she was okay.
I don’t like this part of parenting.
Anna and David went to New York so we got their two dogs—Olive’s bestie, Honey, and Kai. Unfortunately you can’t hear Kai barking like an asshole at everything—we had to keep the front door shut or he barked like a madman at every little thing. He even nosed the side curtains out of the way in order to look and bark. And all his barking made both other dogs bark. Good times! At least Olive was kept busy playing with Honey… Honey is so good with her.
We had an away game which means we’d be gone for like 4 hours so we took Olive to Anna’s so she could play with Honey. She always ends up in the front seat.
I haven’t posted much about baseball this fall season… Tom is coaching again. They’re about 50-50 for wins and lossses. Owen isn’t pitching but it still liking first base…and has been catching more!
It was a wee bit chilly. Katie even stayed in the car!
And Katie isn’t even a teen yet.
I asked her to start some of her laundry last night. I didn’t check the laundry room until the morning and found this. The room was CLEAN the last time I checked. GRRR.
I’ve told them a hundred times to wash their cereal down the drain but does it happen?
The new punishment for “forgetting” is cleaning the sink. Like with actual sink cleaner and a sponge. (This was Katie’s mess but Owen does it, too.)
Tom said there was some whining throughout the race – and there was some walking – but everyone finished!
Owen’s first concert with his new instrument, the bari (baritone) sax!
I thought we’d try taking Olive to the baseball game so she didn’t have to stay cooped up—plus it was nice weather and Katie promised to take care of her.
Ha. Haha.
I mean overall she was good, but she went crazy if dogs came near her. And Katie quit about 45 minutes in. So this might be the heat time we take her…
Finally tuckered out right as the game was ending. Of course.
We took the kids to their first concert! Anna and David and the kids also went—and we took one of Owen’s friends (Lucas).
The planning and prepping was exhausting (trying to figure out what we need to pack and take to eat since we’d never been there) because apparently the thing to do at Ravinia is arrive early and picnic and hang out)! Plus we had an early access pass (but only for four people!) from a neighbor…so Tom and David went first with Owen and Lucas to get everything set up and our spots staked out!
The boys started with their fancy drinks. (Yes, David brought glass glasses!)
As Anna and I were on our way with the other three kids, we got this pic via text:
Owen was in heaven!! He got to meet Leo P of TOO MANY ZOOZ before the concert! He’s been listening to their music for years and playing their songs on his bari sax for months! Tom had seen him walking around and told Owen to go meet him! We were all so excited for him!
The kids went up to sit right in front of the stage. We ate our charcuterie and drank our drinks. The boys made more drinks.
I thought I took one more with everyone looking…but apparently I didn’t.
Our view from our seats. The kids were right in the front row!
Overall everyone had a great time and Anna and I decided we would maybe do it again.
Here’s a video of the band:
They had to create a computer version of themselves and add things they liked. I’m not quite sure about the weights, LOL.
This is all Katie’s crap I pulled out of the kids’ bathroom closet—I’m just stunned. This was after I’d told her to clean everything up—which apparently she took to mean shove everything behind closed doors.
On the left you’ll see the stack of random containers that ALL had some level of water still in them. Dirty dishes. Snack bags. Water bottles. Garbage. Tupperware.
I just can’t even with this girl.
And then she gets pissed at ME when I make her come back to take care of it.
She got grounded after this. She has GOT to learn she cannot do this.
After way too much 10yo drama of course.
She was supposed to get her room picked up on her own before she went to grandparent camp—and if she didn’t, I was going to go in and clean everything out. Everything. She barely managed to do enough to pass muster.
Upon her return, she had to redo everything (she had just shoved everything everywhere). And there was D-RA-M-A because she (of course) didn’t want to do it but she didn’t have a choice as she didn’t want to lose all her things.
If she would just WORK CONSISTENTLY it would get done. But she stops to paint her nails and play with her dolls and everything else under the sun. I eventually went in to help her because I was at my limit…and because she was getting a new queen bed.
We had told her she could get one when her room was clean but of course it has been more than 6 months and she couldn’t do it. So we weren’t planning on doing this AT ALL…but Anna and David were getting rid of their guestroom bed and frame so it was now or never.
You’d think KNOWING a new bed and frame was coming would kick get into gear but no. Still drama and avoiding working on it. So that’s where I stepped in. We took EVERYTHING out of her room. Got huge storage boxes and I just literally pulled crap out of cubby holes and off shelves and dumped it in. There were dirty dishes, plates of food, bottles full of liquid concoctions, mounds of dirty clothes, and my god the garbage. Paper, tissues, empty boxes, empty candy wrappers and snack wrappers galore, clumps of hair, broken crayons and pencils, markers with no tops, and on and on. We took out a full garbage bag and a huge box of recycling.
Then she vacuumed and I steam cleaned the carpet (which has been destroyed—it’s covered in colors and stains and who knows what that she has NOOOOOOOO idea how it happened). Then the frame and mattress.
Now the long slog of bringing everything back in her room (and emptying out the guest room of ALLLLL her junk…while trying to get her to get rid of stuff…and keep her room picked up).
I decided to do something different — and a bit bigger for Tom’s 50th!
Owen invited some friends over to use the waterslide—and we looked out and saw this. This is apparently how teens use a waterslide. If they don’t use it more tomorrow this might be the last year!
Cuter hair. Cuter outfit.
Katie lost her “Class of 2030” shirt…and her desire for a cute first day outfit! And I’m so glad I got her a nice haircut yesterday so she could put it in a ponytail.
