Janet's Gems

I woke up at 7.30 this morning and I feel great!...

Is something I never would have said a month ago!
In fact I'd wake up groggily at 8.15 and not fully wake up untill, say, 10 am.

So... I've had to put some new boundaries in place. Catherines new friend starting arriving at our house at around 7.30 in the morning and because I couldn't wake up, they'd go hard out baking in my kitchen, using all my ingredients, leaving out all the packets and leaving me a big mess for when I got up. And helping themselves to breakfast, half eating stuff and waisting it.
At first I didn't want to be a big meany, so I let them. But I would get angrier and angrier every morning until I realised, It's MY house dammit. I pay the damn rent and I don't have to put up with this!

But even to get up early enough to supervise them took a big change.

I've been going to church study groups, youth group, craft group sometimes 3 or 4 times a week and getting home at sometimes 9.30 at night and not falling asleep till sometimes 11 or 12. No wonder I couldn't get up.
So all of a sudden I decided, ok, Catherines bedtime is going back to a strict 8pm, and mine is a strict 9pm.
(I went to bed regually at 9pm pre-2001 and my life was great! And I was relatively successful in life. Ahhh... those were the days.)
So basically no more mid-week church activities for me any more! I can't handle it. Let alone the petrol! On $20 a week food alone, I have a right to say no and just look after me and Catherine for now. Especially while shes so young.