Finals week..

I have never, nor will I ever claim to be a perfect mother, because I'm not.  I'm just like every other mom out there with the daily struggles of raising children, household chores, a spouse, etc.  Add college to the mix and things can get very chaotic pretty quickly.  I'm also like every other mom that wishes that you could come home from the hospital with your newborn AND  a Manual with a huge troubleshooting section, but since we don't, we unfortunately must learn as we go along.
The other day is a perfect example of one of those days I wish I could have reached for the Manual.  It was at the beginning of the week and I was stressing Big Time over my 2 finals this week.  There are people at my college that simply don't seem to care what their grades are as long as they don't have to retake the class.  I will never understand their thinking.  I figure if I am going to
a) pay a lot of money for my education, and
b) sacrifice mine and my family's time for me to get an education, I am going to give it my all.
Well anyway, I have been in school long enough that my family knows that finals week usually always means dinner is probably going to be McDonalds, Wendy's or just a sandwich and chips, and that all of us are probably going to be wearing mismatched socks by the end middle of the week.  Everyone basically kind of fends for themselves.  Armando is usually never home because of his long hours at work and I understand that he can't help all of the time, but he helps with what he can and I really appreciate it.  Another thing is that my kids are old enough to pick up after themselves without being asked.  Well, they don't always do that.  And I get mad.  So the other day I picked them up from school and on the drive home I told them that it was finals week and that I really needed them to work together to straighten up the the family room and their bedrooms.  I got home and immediately started studying.  During the next hour I reminded them about 3 times to do what I asked, and by then I was very annoyed that I had to keep finding a stopping point in my studies to remind them, so by the 3rd time, I didn't ask as nicely.  By now, I was upset, the kids were upset and even the dog was avoiding me so he wouldn't get into trouble!  Everything got done and they even finished up the laundry.  Had they done that after I asked the first time, I would have rewarded them with something small, and it would have made me so happy.  When they finally did it, it certainly didn't have the same meaning since everyone had to get so upset for it to get done.
They ended up taking their showers and when I went to their bedrooms for our nightly prayers, kisses and hugs, they were both asleep already.  I went to bed with a heavy heart, and I'm sure they did too.   I found this letter from Tita:

I'm Soooo...

Sorry, Will you please forgive me?

The inside reads: Mom

My day becomes so wonderful when I see you in the morning.  There is sooooooo much Love & intelligence radiance from you.  It seemes like you become more beautiful + everday I'm become prouder + prouder to call you...Mom + I (heart) U!

Love, Tita

(open folds 1 by 1! (:  )

So here is a letter to both of my children:

Dear Marko and Tita:

I want to start off by telling you that I love you both so very much and I am very proud of you two.  I appreciate that you did what I ended up yelling at you about asking of you and that you ended up doing even extra chores.  It would have been more meaningful had you done it when I asked nicely.  We are all human and we make mistakes, but you must learn from those mistakes and next time you are faced with the same or similar situation, you handle it differently.  I pray that each time I ask something of either one of you, you do it and do it to the best of your ability.  It makes me so very proud of you both when this happens.  You are both excellent kids, and my greatest gifts from God.  You know that I would never ask you both to do something that I knew you were not capable of doing.  I'm sorry we had such a bad day this week.  Let's work together to make each day a great day!  And Tita, I must mention that I appreciate the part in your letter where you wrote "...My day becomes more wonderful when I see you in the morning."  Sweetie, I know what I look like in the morning, and I'm so happy that even with my crazy hair sticking out all over it makes you happy! (:

Love,
                      Mom

P.S. Of course I forgive you.
P.S.S.  You both owe me extra hugs and kisses at bedtime to make up for the other day.