Listless

My ass has been dragging lately and I'm not 100% sure why.

But today I'm feeling listless again.  The wife went to work early which meant that in addition to getting the 12 year old up for school I had to wake up the toddler (who had been sleeping since before 8 pm the night before because he received a flu shot) and convince him that I needed to change his diaper and clothes so that we could take brother to school.

Toddlers sure are stubborn sons-a-bitches sometimes.  I swear I spent at least 15 minutes wrestling with him and twice during my struggles when I was focusing on something else he removed the shirt that I just struggled to put on him and told me he don't like it.

But, in the end I won out (because I'm the F'n adult, yes I am) and we were in the car heading to school.

Speaking of the Toddler - this is how he passed out last night

Classic Randy Orton Pose

Since coming home we each have eaten our breakfast and he is currently harassing the puppy (more like Old Dog but whatever) and my energy levels are low.

I am enjoying getting back into blogging even if the community isn't alive like it was 4-5 years back.  Sitting down with my thoughts and just typing feels great and I have missed it over the last few years even though I never went back to it (until now).  Reminds me of a conversation I had with Gary when he was in town and visiting Vegas.

Speaking of Visitors, the Fabulous Lightning365 is in town and I will be getting to sit down and chat with him over Pizza on Friday (the day he leaves).   He will get to meet my family for the first time and see the woman who settled me down and turned me into a functioning adult. 

We started the Toddler on chores starting with his 3rd birthday so that he could earn money and start to develop money skills as he goes through life instead of failing like the vast majority of the country who are in debt and struggling.
We see how our 12 year old struggles because he doesn't understand the value of hard work nor the value of a buck.  He feels that he is a kid and shouldn't have to do anything but should still get all the rewards and benefits and have everything handed to him.
Sometimes I wonder if we are doing the right thing by trying to make him earn things instead of just giving handouts and only time will tell, but we want to make sure that the youngest (and soon to be youngerest grows up knowing the value of money).

So, we started him on chores.

Now, the reality of the situation is, he is honestly just continuing what he has been doing for over a year now because it is amazing how much of a helper this child wants to be.

When he is home I cannot do laundry or the dishes by myself.  He wants to be involved and he wants to help.  So, I turn it into a good thing and I ask for his help and he comes running.
I also cannot take the garbage out to the curb without him.

In fact, last year Waste Management gave everyone the big ole cans for garbage and recycling but we had to keep one of our older smaller trash cans because this is the one that the Toddler brings down to the curb.
I also have to make sure there is a bag of garbage in it because he checks to make sure.

I don't know if this bugs the Garbage guys (sanitation workers?) but the kid seems to enjoy helping and I am going to encourage that all I can.

So, his chores are to Help with the Garbage, Help with Laundry and to pick up his toys.
He can earn up to $3 per week and we are trying to make a big deal out of it.  We are going to have a jar where we keep his money and we will take him to the store when he has some saved up so he can buy some new cars or something.

I do realize that he is 3 and really doesn't understand what is going on but if we keep up the pattern as he gets older he will realize that he is getting paid for doing things to help out around the house and then he gets to buy things with his own money. 
He is also going to have a portion of it go into savings so that he can save up for something bigger and a portion of it go into donation for things like church and such or maybe that money can go towards giving gifts to the underprivileged during xmas time.

Either way it is a work in progress and I'm excited about what the future holds.