The Sheriff in Town

 The bad guy, that's what I am lately. It stinks! I remember playing cops and robbers, OK it was Cagney and Lacey, when I was little and not once was I the bad guy. I am the TV police at my house and I am sick of it. Sweetness is an avid TV watcher. The man works long hours and deserves to come home and veg out. I don't disagree with him. I do disagree with what he watches in the hour between the end of supper and the children's bed time.


Recent outings with those in the working world proved the language difference between us moms and the "grown ups with jobs". I was embarrassed to be grouped in to the crowd of F-Bomb tossers. I think the fact that Brad hears that proliferation of verbal sludge all day keeps him from realizing when it is on the TV at home. He'll turn on a show and I can count five words in two minutes that I do not want my kids repeating. I say "Brad" in that tone that he hates and he shoots me dirty looks and tells me that there is nothing wrong with what's on TV. Then once I've pointed it out he realizes the language and changes the channel. All of this goes down and the the kids want to know why they can't finish the show they were watching. Brad then tells them "Because mommy said we can't". That is dirty. We are supposed to be on the same team. So what if it makes you give up a favorite movie? Who cares? Why are the mothers responsible for this?

I'm sure my husband's life changed when we had kids, but I do not think it up-ended his world in quite the same way it did mine. He missed a day of work, drove me home from the hospital and life went on. He had new babies to cuddle, but everything else remained the same. I never asked Brad to get up with either of our children at night, and he didn't, that was my job. I nursed both children, they never got a bottle, every feeding was me and my babies. I have not gone to the bathroom in the past six years with out an audience. Maybe that is why it's easier for me to adjust to giving up TV preferences. I've been practicing giving things up since the day I became pregnant. I gave up just about everything I ate for the first several months of carrying my children. I gave up sleep, my figure, and my sanity. After those what is a little old movie?

My sheriff duties don't stop with the TV, they also include food and it's consumption. I sat down to dinner every night with my family. Several nights a week we sat down with all our extended family, prayed and shared a meal and each others company. It was special and holds so many memories for me. Since I can not give my children Monday night meals with the grandparents, aunts, uncle and cousins, I am going to give them nightly, TV free dinners with our little family. Sitting down together and praying, sharing food and each others days is important. Stability is important, routine is important. I feel like I can only provide the routine, since our moving situation is anything but stable. But in this I am the bad guy again. They want to eat in the living room, and so does Brad. But we can't because "Mama won't let us".

Sometimes I want to stomp my feet and yell. I want to cuss and rip. Who doesn't? Would it be fair of me to tell my teary eyed son that we have to move because "Papa won't let us keep living here"? No it would be wrong to place blame on him for a situation he can't control. Should I answer the question "Why isn't Papa here tonight, is he working late?" by saying "Nope, he just didn't want to be home bad enough". I hate being vilified for upholding family law. I give in some times as a special treat. If we order pizza on a Sunday night we eat in the living room. If it's not a school night the kids can stay up past 8:30 and watch a movie. Sometimes we have cake for breakfast. But since I am the only sheriff in this wild uncharted territory I have to keep a close watch over my little would be law breakers.

My strict rule keeping is not just to appease my type A personality. It also helps when there is no other help in sight. There is no grandpa to pick the kids up when I have had enough. There is no break to be had when Brad informs me he will be working seven days a week until some time in April. I need my children to listen. I have a short temper and little patience, if they run all over me I am such a bad mom. If they know the routine, stick to the rules and go with the flow I feel like I can make it until April when Brad can help out again.

I will stick to my guns as it were. I will up hold the child appropriate TV programing rule, we will eat at the boring dining room table together and not stare at the idiot box. Maybe I should look for a pretty star to pin to my shirt? Maybe add some spurs to my boots? I'll just have to make sure any sheriff accessories I get go along with my crown. I may be the law round these parts, but I'll always be the queen of the laundry too.