Boys will do anything for a video game
These boys will do anything for a video game, and I am not complaining!!! Here is the story:
Tuesday
For all of my non-gamer readers, Season 6 of Fortnite came out on Tuesday. The anticipation in our house (from the boys, I should say) has been almost too much to handle. There has been an insane amount of Fortnite talk in our house for weeks. Well, Tuesday arrived, and I truly believe they lost their minds. They are only allowed to play their Switch and Kindle tablets on the weekend. Since they had to wait until Friday after school, they were complete crazy children for 3 days.
Wednesday
Story tangent... Hubby and I are on day 3 of our detox. We are doing an 8-week body transformation challenge. We are excited about the journey, but on Wednesday (day 3), we were both physically sick and irritable. I’ll be sure to give details about the challenge once we complete the 8 weeks.
Back to the boys... By Wednesday, it's like they were both competing to see who could stomp on Mommy’s last nerve first. Now I know I was irritable, but they were jumping off the couch in the playroom (the new one!), wrestling, screaming, crying (because someone got hurt from the intense playing), and arguing. This was all before lunchtime. My energy was low, so I would calmly say, ‘alright guys’ or ‘ok, that’s enough.' However, it’s like I wasn’t even there, and the competition continued. Sooo… I lost it! I screamed and fussed as loud as my detoxing body would allow. They both looked at me like I had two heads, but it’s like they don’t hear me until I yell! They were sent to their rooms for the rest of the night and only allowed to come out for dinner!
Thursday
Thursday was better, but they don’t handle anticipation well. We learned this about RX early on, and DL has followed suit. If we are going on a trip or doing something fun, we don’t tell them until we are in the car on the way. Otherwise, they would drive themselves (and us) insane. That evening we took a walk to a neighbor’s house. We discussed the happenings of our kids and the boys’ recent behavior became the topic of discussion. I mentioned that if they continue to act like circus members, they weren’t going to be able to play the game on Friday. RX, my wannabe king of negotiations, said, ‘well, what can I do to be able to play.’ In the presence of the neighbors and very slyly, I said, ‘you need to clean all 3 bathrooms.’ I thought nothing of it and continued to chat with the ladies.
Friday
Hubby and I are still tired, so we slept in for a few minutes longer than usual. We hear RX going downstairs at about 7:10 am. Usually, we fuss at him for going down before 7:20 am because most times, his brother isn’t up yet. Today, I didn’t care. DL meanders downstairs, and Hubby and I finally rollover. At about 8 o’clock, we get a knock on the door, and in comes RX. He is fully decked out with yellow cleaning gloves and Lysol wipes, ready to clean our bathroom (my most recent regret in life is not getting a picture of this site). Hubby and I are CONFUSED, and RX was as serious as a heart attack. He had already gotten him, and his brother dressed and fed. ALSO, he had cleaned their bathroom and the half bath downstairs!! I almost passed out and not because of detox symptoms. RX was serious about this game and heard me loud and clear when I said to clean the bathrooms. Funny, he didn’t hear me when I said to chill out earlier in the week *eye roll*. Of course, I had to check behind him. GUYS! He, for real, cleaned the bathrooms and didn’t do half bad! It was good enough that I didn’t feel the need to go behind him.
Friday after he finished digital learning, he wasted NO time jumping on the Switch. He didn't even get his typical snack. I couldn’t tell him no, after the job he did.
My handsome boy making use of every second of the weekend. Playing Fortnite while we were working at a pop-up.
Moral of the story
First, when your kids want to do something, make them clean the bathrooms! Poor thing doesn’t realize that cleaning those 2 bathrooms (I won’t make him do ours) are permanently on his chore list. Second, they both have selective hearing. They hear me when they want to hear me. I don’t HAVE to yell. This is a relief because I’ve always been loud, but I am learning every day to be more subtle and calm. I will work hard to take the same approach with the boys (when applicable, haha).
Grace, Space, and Love
