Refundable

Soooooo...my house is crazy, loud and generally in a state of organized chaos.  Okay, it is just chaos.  My worst hour of the day is from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m..  I do more yelling in that hour than most people do all day.  Every morning I wake up and repeat "I am not going to yell this morning".  Every morning I fail.  I am a failure by 8:30 a.m..  Hooray!  My intentions are good but here is what happens:

- Four kids do not want to get out of bed
-Four kids never want what is served for breakfast EVEN if it was a request the day before
-Ben always hates his clothes
-Kennedy's ADD medicine has not kicked in yet and so every morning is like Groundhog's Day.  Yes....I want you to brush your teeth, get dressed, brush your hair, put socks on, get your backpack...blah.
-Kennedy, who is continually surprised by the requirements of the morning, wants to argue about what needs to be done.
-Events I am blissfully unaware of in the morning, Gomah likes to tell me.  I DON"T WANT TO KNOW.
-Once awake, all the stored up energy and loudness that sleep squelched comes roaring out in that hour.
-No matter how many times I say "grab your jacket" someone (sometimes multiple someones) always forgets. Once in the van and ready to pull off they remember the forgotten causing me to have to get out, go back up to the house, unlock the door while they run in and get their jacket (can also substitute lunch boxes, backpacks, homework, etc.).
-Don't even get me started about the animals.
-Oh, and the boys like to catch each others pee while going to the bathroom in the morning. 

I have usually violated the promise I made at 7:30 to not yell by 7:45.  My name is Shelby and I am a yeller. To prevent yelling I have come up with a new solution.  Two of our kids were brought to us via artificial insemination (AI) and two kids were brought to us via international adoption (IA).  The good thing about how we got all our kids is that they came with receipts.  Do you know why that is good?  Because with a receipt you can make returns.  I had the receipt for each child enlarged, matted, framed and is now hanging over our fireplace with individual recessed lights illuminating the receipt.  When a child breaks a rule, I simple go and turn of the light for their receipt.  The tribe has spoken.  After I returned one repeat offender I no longer have to turn off the light.  I just point to the receipt and negative behavior vanishes.  Feel free to try this at home. All you traditional families out there...no need to worry.  You can fabricate a receipt and your child will never know the difference.
For those of you who don't really know me I am mostly joking.  I did not hang the receipts over the fireplaces.  I hung them over their beds.