24 + 35= living room brawl

I wish you could see me. I'm exhausted. Flayed over my recliner. Sipping milk from one of the boys sippy cups. They left it in the floor and I was thirsty.  My brain literally hurts.
Who knew first grade homework would be such a horrid experience.
Common Core math is a beast in and of itself. The simplistic way of adding and subtracting has gotten all mucked up. I'm guessing each way needs it's day in the sun; not all humans think alike. But I am damn near 40 having to relearn basic math just so I can help my daughter with her homework.
That's not the worst part. The "horrid" part is probably just my daughter. It can't possibly be all 7 year olds. My daughter argues every fact that I tell her.
"Addison, your face is dirty, can you please go wash it?"
"No its not."
"Yes it is. I'm looking at you.
"No its not."
The same scenario applies to homework.
"Addison, youre supposed to write it like this."
"No I'm not."
"Yes you are...read the instructions. See, right here"
At this point I start to lose my cool and start trying to reason with this small human who suddenly thinks she knows everything. Unfortunately, this reasoning usually ends with fire flying out of the top of my head as I throw her homework paper across the room. I really wish I were joking.
Her obstinance grows with every math problem. I'll tell her what to write and where to write it and she writes it sideways and nothing at all like what I said.  A 15 minute worksheet has now become nearly 2 hours of a battle of wills and ultimately brawn. I'm bigger..I win. If you can call it winning.
We seem to have to continue this process in its entirety before my daughter can come full circle and realize that I'm not an idiot..that I may be telling her the truth and she can  trust me.
But God help me if I don't want to kill her in the process. I pray that we will get past this stage quickly. Because if we don't...and this just keeps getting worse..the child will not live to see 13.
It's past time for bed. I think I'll add some Bailey's to this sippy cup. Goodnight.

Running

...For office that is. Michael has begun a race to try and win the commissioner seat for our district. Although I told him I could not do anymore than I already am....I feel as if I'm the campaign manager, communications director and minion all on one. Today we got our website up and running. Let me rephrase that...I got it up and running. I support my husband so much that I cannot let the deficiencies of the campaign keep him from being his best. Therefore I work like a dog to make sure everything is right. Buying signs, banners, business cards, opening accounts, filling out paperwork, building a website, writing press releases, building flyers, etc...etc...etc. I didn't leave my desk today except to pee. It is a little refreshing to have all of those PR skills dusted off that I learned in college. It's probably why I can't let all these duties go by the wayside. We shall see . So far it's a fun exhaustion. I'm pretty sure it will not stay that way. But one can hope.