This Sucks Much More Than I Remembered

O-kay, so this stay-at-home mom thing is not what I remembered. Maybe it's because it's been a year and a half since I've been home alone with the kids. Maybe it's that I was also catering, so I had much more to do to fill my days. Maybe it's that I now have four kids, versus just the three a year and a half ago. Maybe it's because we're in a new area and I know all of five people in a thirty mile radius. Four of which are currently in California on vacation. Bastards. Maybe it's a combination of any of the above factors. I'm not sure, but one thing I am sure of is that I'm bored.
Vince's first day back at work, I tackled the house like some kind of clean freak. Which anyone who knows me, knows I'm not. But I can only clean the house so much. And it all seems kind of pointless, this endless tidying, because within ten minutes the kids have messed it up again anyway.
It hot here. And yes, it was hot in California too, but it's also humid. Yucky humid. Like, can't even last ten minutes outside kind of humid. So I really don't blame the kids for not wanting to go outside to play. We have a pool. But 1 me + 4 kids does not = pool safety. They're just too young to handle all four by myself at a pool.
I've set some ground rules: no breakfast by 9am means no breakfast. Eat lunch when it's offered, because if you don't you'll have to wait for dinner. No excessive TV. Quiet time during the babies naps. And so far, they've all been fairly compliant. I think I sound like a nazi though. I mean, where's the fun? It is summer afterall. I bought Sophia, Harrison and Annamaria each a new box of crayons, a fresh pad of drawing paper, and Sophia and Harrison got watercolor paint sets too. Something for them to do during the imposed "quiet time". We have legos, duplos, barbies, puzzles, little people, train sets and numerous other toys. But I think the most fun they have is just making a great big mess of the playroom upstairs. And even though I am constantly suggesting that once they're done with one thing, they put it away before dragging out something else, the suggestion just doesn't seem to catch on. I can't blame them. I remember my mom complaining about not being able to see my floor in my room when I was a kid, so why would I expect anything better? It's grandparents revenge I'm sure. I do make everyone get dressed and fix their bed every morning though. Gasp! My mom must think she's reading the wrong blog right now. And their rooms actually are quite tidy. Vince enforces the cleaning up of the play room each night before bed, so from 8pm until 8am that room is pretty cleaned up too. Oh, so where was I? Oh yea, I'm bored. If blogging about how I make my kids pick their crap up is the most interesting thing I can come up with, I must be really be desperate for some input here.