Back to Normal and Winter is Here

This has felt like the longest break ever. I'll admit to counting down the minutes until my kids were back at school but really it is just trading arguing, constant driving them places and "I'm boreds" with homework, practices and "I don't get its". I will be so happy to hear silence in the house (hopefully when nap time is restored). I need to get back to some sense of order. I need to get back to three meals a day and home cooked meals. Grocery shopping for more than what it takes to make Christmas cookies. I need normal bedtime hours and Gia learning to occupy herself. She is going to go through several bouts of withdrawal: no one to play with, no one to sneak her snacks, taking a nap (she hasn't since Christmas), waking up early because her siblings don't know how to be quiet (if they are up, then everyone should be up) and not having her binky or blankie all day long. Gia has been sleeping until 10:00 and it has been wonderful. Well, wonderful for the moment, not so wonderful for the rest of the day because then she doesn't nap and is then crabby right before bed. I miss the days of the 7:00 bedtime. These days it is more like 9:00. Speaking of which, I am a night owl. I like to stay up late. I do not like that my kids are night owls because it means I never get any down time without them. Nico is driving me crazy with going to bed late and then not getting up in the morning. He cannot fall asleep any earlier than midnight and though I love him, I need a break from him and his many needs.

On the subject of Nico, I'd like someone besides me to clue him in that it is winter in Chicago and going outside in either shorts or just a sweatshirt is a dumb thing to do. I know that it will only take him doing it once for him to learn but I am gripped with the fear of him really getting sick and starting a whole CF thing. I know that teenagers think they know it all (sorry for any teens reading which I don't think there are) but is it that hard to put on a freaking jacket? I'm not asking for him to wear a snowsuit. So let's see the list of things Nico and I fight about has grown to: what time to go to bed, getting up in the morning, doing treatments, taking meds, hanging out with friends all day instead of helping around the house, what time to get home from hanging out with friends, sleepovers and now dressing appropriately for 20 degree weather. So far the teen years have been peachy (it gets worse, I know...I know).

You know how on Facebook there are a lot of people that post how cold it is or that they hate the snow or whatever and people post back things like, "You live in Chicago and it is January...what did you expect? Or Get over it or things like that? Well, I get that it is annoying to have FB loaded with weather complaints but I will tell you that I have lived here all my life and have hated every single winter. I am afraid to drive in the snow and trying to get Leo and Nico to shovel is not fun. I love warmth and hate the cold and it wasn't my idea for my ancestors to settle here and moving away from family and friends isn't going to happen so if I want to complain about the biting cold or the annoyances of snow, I will. Just because I know it is coming, doesn't mean I like it. Why the ancestors couldn't have gone from Italy or Scotland to Arizona is beyond me. What were they thinking?