Can't I have ANYTHING nice??

So the only time I feel compelled to post on this blog is when I furious at my boys. I love them, would die for them even, but sometimes....man I could kill them!!! Not literally, relax!

I'll catch you up on something that we are doing this summer, so this will make sense. We have gone "TV free" for the summer. I had our Direct TV service suspended until the first of August. We did this because any given night, you would find the four Hicks's scattered throughout our home watching four different TV's. We don't allow our kids to have TV's, computers or video game systems in their rooms. I just think that's too much freedom, and time alone. I never thought that we would all seperate to our four corners anyway. Here's the lowdown: Larry would be in the den watching the big screen, Lucas would be in the play room, I would be in the master bedroom and poor Brody would watch the kitchen TV, snacking throughout the evening. Very rarely did we all agree on anything, so we just split up. I was badly addicted to my DVR and loved not having to watch commercials, or anything that wasn't reality TV or HGTV. So I didn't. Larry likes crime mysteries and generally anything where there is blood shed and violence. Lucas likes science fiction and some police drama stuff. Brody keeps it simple with Disney, or cartoons.

I'd had enough, so I decided we were going to spend the summer together, like it or not. The boys were not thrilled, but they took it well. Larry was all on board, as he usually had a sore neck and back from falling asleep in said den and not waking up until 2:30 in the morning and having to climb two sets of stairs to go back to sleep beside his loving wife who wouldn't go wake him up hours ago. I knew it would be hard, but I thought (still think) that we would gain so much. With Lucas being 13, I knew that what little time we had left with him, would largely be taken over soon with other interests as he began freeing himself from our tight grasp.

It started out well enough. There would be a little grumbling about being bored during the day, but the boys kept themselves busy. We frequented RedBox and Blockbuster online and found good family movies that we could all agree on. Now, of course, we had many debates, Lucas and I, in front of the old RedBox about how movies were rated R for a reason. His theory was just because it was for violence and language, that was no reason not to watch it. We ironed all those kinks out, and can usually agree now. Sometimes we rent a movie, sometimes we have a wii bowling/tenis tournament (Brody is the reigning winner in bowling, Lucas is the tennis champ). We played Uno until we realized that Brody was a pretty good cheater and a pretty sore loser. We are working on that too this summer!!!

Okay, so back to last night. We had the movie ready for after dinner and as we all rushed down the stairs, I heard the boys "calling" their favored spot to sit for the movie. Larry always has the recliner, I have the comfy chair with the ottoman. Nobody ever challenges those spots. That only leaves my cute red coach.

When we bought our house almost 5 yrs ago, I am sad to say, I for the first time bought new furniture. Every stick I'd had until that time had been hand me down or second hand furniture. I was very thankful, but I was so happy to actually pick out furniture for our bedroom, living room and den. I loved my red couch. I like the bold statement it makes, I love it next to my comfy yellow chair, I just love it.

Again, back to last night. For some reason, both boys prefer to sit on the right side of the couch. It is no different from the other end, but they fight over it. If one should leave their position for any reason, the other would jump to sit on that end. Crazy! Anyway, we are all headed downstairs last night, and Brody yells, "I call the good side" and he takes a leap across the recliner and literally poll vaults into a sitting position on my favorite couch. I heard a sickening surrender, and Brody's bottom hit the floor. He broke my couch.

I would love to say I took it well, acted like a grown up and loved on my baby and told him that that was just a material possession and his little self esteem was more important than that, but I LOST IT! I screamed like an idiot about how I could never have anything nice, and how they seemed hell bent to ruin anything we did have that was nice and on and on and on. You get the picture. I'd like to also tell you that when Brody went crying out into the garage, I followed him, told him I was sorry and made him feel better, but I didn't. I wanted him to feel bad and boy did he.

Larry went about trying to fix my favorite couch, but when he removed that silky black bottom, we found out just how cheaply made my couch was. It was little more than ply wood and a few springs, barely connected. I actually think he said it was made from particle board, whatever that is. Brody actually broke a board clean into, but it was a small 2x4. Larry though he had it fixed and reinforced, but as soon as he sat on it, it broke again.

I am still heartbroken.

Of course I forgave Brody. Of course if finally went outside to check on him, and loved on him, etc. He does genuinely feel bad. He even offered to give me his birthday and Christmas money to buy a new one. Don't you remember when you were 10 and thought that the fortune in stuff you got for those two combined events could probably buy anything? Of course I would never take his money, but I thought it was sweet that he was that sensitive about it.

My whole purpose in writing this is to figure out why, Why, WHY are my children human wrecking balls? Is the rest of our stuff doomed to be junk? Should I even care, or just wait and watch and we continue to replace broken phones, couches, etc? Do I even patch the HOLES in the wall where Lucas built a spear and threw it at Brody, missing him but leaving a hole in wall that Lucas filled with GUM? Should I be concerned that there are jagged edges in the window in the playroom because the boys disobeyed and played baseball indoors and broke a single pain of the double pain windows?

Maybe I should just let it all go, not worry about it. Wrap my mind around the fact that until they are grown, my stuff is subject to their whims and fights, and there is nothing I can do about it.

Or, maybe I could just beat them into submission...yeah that's the ticket!