That would drive DH insane! Not to mention, I shouldn't have to give up watching the couple of shows I like that only come on the summer season because SD15 has nothing better to do that be a lazy brat!

I think the remotes disappearing will be enough deterrence...LOL. You know kids don't know how to work anything that doesn't have a remote...LOL!!! She will whine to DH I'm sure, and I will tell him flat out...she is NOT laying in front of the TV all summer! She has friends in this neighborhood! I'm sure it will take her at least a month to clean her room, because she always "gets distracted". There are plenty of books around here to read! BS19 will hardly be here, so he won't even care...between work and hanging out with his friends before he leaves for college.

I can't believe DH hasn't tried to find something for SD15 to do, knowing how upset I was last summer. SD15 blaring BS19's stereo that used to be in the exercise room (which is right next to my office) claiming she was "working out" and "needed music"! Two problems...never asked permission to use MY workout equipment, and never asked permission to use BS19's stereo. Now, I have an iPhone/iPod dock in there, and I'm just waiting for her to try to use it without permission claiming she needs music while she is stretching! Seriously...she has enough room in her bedroom to stretch...oh wait, that would mean she would have to pick up all of her crap she leaves all over the floor instead of putting it away!

Yeah, she gets bored and starts to try my patience...seeing how much she can get away with before I lose it!!! Seems to be her goal during the summer...get me to yell at her so she can go play victim to daddy!

I work from home! So yeah...I get stuck here with the princess while DH gets to leave the house! Only good thing is that she doesn't emerge from her cave until about noon or 1 pm.

She isn't spending the summer with BM because:

1. Her step-dad doesn't want her there long term because she does stupid things when she is there...like sneak out at night, drink, smoke pot, etc.

2. DH doesn't want SD15 to spend any kind of significant amount of time at BM's because of the same reasons SD15's step-dad doesn't want her there long term.

SD15 got shipped to us because of the crap she was getting into, rather than BM actually parent the monster she created by basically letting her run the house for years! Then, there is also the fact that SD15 can't ever keep her attitude in check, thinks she still runs whatever house she is in, and her and BM or step-dad will get into a huge fight that ends with SD15 calling DH and begging him to come pick her up, which DH does, because he doesn't want her "stuck in that environment"! It is a huge load of BS...let me tell you!

UGH!!! Tell me about it!

She comes home from school today, and plants herself on the couch in front of the TV...this was 3 hours ago. DH gets home and takes control of the TV, and she suddenly has homework to do!!! Hmmm...thought homework was supposed to be done before TV? On her way to her room, she just drops her cereal bowl in the sink. I happen to be standing there and ask her why she didn't put her bowl in the dishwasher. Without an answer, she turns around, stomps to the sink, slams her bowl and spoon in the dishwasher (good thing the bowl was plastic), slams the dishwasher shut, and stomps off!! Seriously? Yes, my dinner bowl was still in the sink...I had melted cheese on my stuff and I need to let it sit for a bit with warm water to get it off, because our dishwasher sucks! But if SD15 sees ANY dishes from anyone else in the sink, she thinks it is her free pass to not put her stuff in the dishwasher! Keep in mind...my stuff never sits in there for more than an hour...even when no one else is around. Oh, and there is a clean/dirty magnet on the dishwasher...so she can't use the "I didn't know if they were clean or dirty" excuse!

This is the crap I will have to deal with all day all summer!!! And I seriously think DH needs to take that girl to a therapist! Here lately, she has been acting more and more bipolar...one minute she is bouncing off the walls, the next she is pissed of or depressed over the smallest thing. I know teens have been known to have some mood swings, but she takes the cake...and seriously, if she doesn't get her way, you need to step out of her path!

The only problem with a job or volunteer work, is that I know I'm going to be the one expected to taxi her around during my work day, and if I present to him that he needs to do it, I will get the "Well, it was your bright idea!" We live 10 miles from any real civilization...could really end up backfiring on me big time! I already know when August comes, I'm going to be expected to provide transportation again for summer band because it "doesn't fit in DH's schedule and SD15 can't find anyone to give her a ride."

OMG, she really needs to get over the boyfriend! She is still going on and on...posting to her social media that she will never give up on him, etc. Um, stalker much? Fatal attraction? Oh, and it is the excuse she is using whenever she is called on her attitude...like when DH finally called her on her attitude last night. He had to tell her for about the billionth time to GET OVER IT!

I can't tell you how wonderful it has been DH and SD15 not knowing about the extra money coming in!!! I've already bumped up my credit score by 20 points by paying down my accounts, which will make my ability to get that parent loan for BS19's college so much easier! I also had the extra money to buy the pack the college was offering for BS19's dorm room...man, it was a bargain! $240 for 2 sets of XLong sheets, XLong comforter, thermal blanket, throw blanket, 2 pillows, 2 full towel sets, 2 under the bed storage bins, mattress pad, memory foam mattress topper, hamper, bedside wall storage for things like your tablet, phone, etc, clip on light, and clip on fan! Seriously!!! And you get to pick your colors/pattern! When I started pricing what he would need for college, the XLong sheets were going to be at least $50/set by themselves!

SD15 is already asking for $75 for a guard camp that she is claiming is MANDATORY. Yeah, then the more DH talked to her about it, turned out it wasn't really MANDATORY, just highly recommended by her coach that she go. Oh, and I really don't like this coach! Supposedly, he is trying to mandate practices in July! Yeah, guess who will be "expected" to play taxi those days. But here is the big problem, the dude is going to get the band director into so much trouble, it isn't even funny!!! Based on the rules of the governing authority over all sports, band, etc. in our state at the high school level has it plainly that you cannot start any kind of practice for anything besides volleyball before August 1st! The reason volleyball can start a bit earlier is because their season starts before the school year starts. If the governing authority finds out that this guard coach is trying to make them have practice in July for their portion of the marching program, the entire band can get disqualified from this year's contests...and it is a State year (meaning, it is one of the years that they actually hold the State competition).

As to what DH would expect me to do if I had to go to the office? The same thing I did before BS19 had a car with his football...work it out with the boss to work from home during those practice weeks before school started so that I could do the transportation. Yeah, he loves to throw it at me that I did for my bios, so why can't I do it for SD15. Because the bios were my responsibility!! SD15 is HIS!

Oh, trust me...he doesn't pay all of the bills! I make 1.5 times what he does!

I'm seriously waiting for the texts from SD15 this week! It's finals week, and during finals, they have early release...IF a parent can come pick them up or they have a car of their own! Otherwise, they are herded to the gym until the buses run at their regular times (because the rest of the district doesn't have early release...small district of 5 schools...only one bus per route, so all grades ride the same bus). I KNOW SD15 will not want to hang out and wait for the bus, and she will be texting if I can come get her! Sorry...nope! Bio-kids had to stay at the school until the buses ran (of course, I worked in an office in the city back then) unless they could get a ride with a friend. I didn't make special concessions for them on finals week, I'm not doing so for SD15. ESPECIALLY after her attitude here lately! She has been treating everyone like the scum of the earth! Posting all over her social media how she hates people in general, etc (and boy, does it show in her attitude which has been getting exponentially worse). Nope, she can sit in the gym and mope!

Friday starts the hiding of the remote! If DH calls me asking why SD15 is texting him that she can't watch TV, I will tell him straight up, "She will NOT be spending the summer in front of our TV! She has one in her room with a DVD player, she has internet, she has friends in the neighborhood to hang out with, there are books, etc. I'm not having her out there watching teen mom or whatever other crap all day, falling asleep on the couch leaving the TV on or talking loudly on her phone! She wants to sleep, she has a bed...she wants to talk, she has a room!" Shoot...when BD23 tried to spend summers in front of the TV, the TV had a password put on it so that she couldn't watch it outside of a certain 2 hour window! Even then, the channels were locked so she couldn't watch crap! Never had to do that with BS19, because he is always off with friends and stuff during the summer...or the last couple of summers, working. That hasn't been an issue. DH doesn't want to lock the TV, I'll keep the remote in my office with me!

A job has the issue of someone needing to play taxi...which won't be me, and DH "won't have the time". We live 10 miles way from civilization! No way to walk or ride a bicycle to a job like I used to do before I bought my own car.

SD15 won't even roll out of bed until noon...so that is a good chunk of the day...but yeah, I'm hiding that remote!

I swear sometimes you and I have twins separated at birth! It is crazy how much alike our SDs are!

SD15 came home yesterday, and straight to bed herself! She has finals today...wonder if she found any time to study for them. It's going to be fun times when SD15 realizes she isn't gonna sit in front of the TV all summer! I know she will whine to DH, who will try to plead with me, "But what else is she supposed to do?" You know, when I was a kid, I wasn't allowed to touch the TV in the living room when my parents weren't home! I had a small TV (like a 13") in my bedroom I could watch, and the cable box I had barely got any channels (there was something wrong with it, and when I got done with it, it ONLY got MTV...when MTV was really music television...lol). I had to find other things to do!!! Imagine that! I wrote poety, drew, read books, recorded music off of the radio (because we didn't have MP3s or Pandora back then, and my parents surely were not going to buy me any album I asked for), reorganized my closet, played with the pets, found a friend's house to go to, etc. No, I didn't play outside a lot...my fair complexion and the sun don't get along very well, and we didn't always have sun screen laying around like folks do now. 15 minutes and I'm a bright shade of red! But I found things to do!!! If I asked my parents for something, I actually used it!! I asked for a computer (Commodore VIC-20) and I would program it (yeah...didn't have ready made games). I asked for a keyboard/piano...I would play music on it, trying to play songs on the radio by ear and stuff. Kids these days get so much stuff, they just shove it under the bed or in the closet, and don't use most of the things people buy for them!

SD15 will stay in bed as long as she can, especially since she thinks she doesn't have to go to sleep until she feels like it in the summer! But when she is up...TV and the constant search for junk food...any junk food! Doesn't matter if there wasn't anything in the pantry or fridge the last time she looked, she is going to look again about 15-20 minutes later...standing there with the fridge door open just staring, and then slamming shut when she finally gives up!

SD15 will mess with her makeup and hair, however. Yeah, from the neck up she has to look perfect at all times even if she is slumming around in PJs. I mean, you never know when BS19 is going to come home with one of his friends!