Demands

There is no doubt that as a parent there are a lot of demands placed on you. There are a lot of times, however, when I wonder if I possibly could have two of the most demanding children this side of the Mississippi! Tonight my children seemed to crank their demands up a notch and most of their demands were placed on their dad. It all started when Mike picked the boys up this afternoon. As is always the case, the first demand of the afternoon is homework, snacks, etc....Mike then had to get dinner started and mow the grass. When I got home from work the taco meat was simmering on the stove and he was mowing the lawn, Way to go, Mike! I set out fruit cups for the boys to go with their tacos, Nick demanded an asian pear instead. I gave the boys milk for dinner - when Jay finished his he demanded 7up. Don't get me wrong, when I use the word demand, the boys aren't disrespectful or rude when they ask for these things, they just need something or change their minds (especially Nick) constantly! After dinner was over, Mike discovered our breakfast bar chair had a scratch on it and a bad one at that. Then Jay has some skin disease that has gotten so bad I think it will require a trip to the doctor. Mike spent a good 20 minutes applying neosporin on him and clipping his finger nails to prevent him from itching. After all that, per Jay's demand, a.k.a. request, I made the boys strawberry smoothies. Mid-way through Nick's smoothie he started complaining that his straw didn't work. So it was back to finding a new straw for Nick. The boys are in bed now and Mike is researching the internet for a part for Jay's 4 wheeler which is broke down, again! My whole point to this is there is just a never ending to-do list of demands when it comes to parenting but when I put Nick to bed and he insists on sleeping with all his animals or when Jay asks me to read "just one more chapter, mom," in his favorite book I tend to forget my never ending t0-do list and I'm reminded of the reasons why the rewards of parentings outweigh the demands.