Hubbard Chicken

This is a friend's recipe for dressed up chicken which the whole family enjoys and guests might be impressed as well.

Simple

Buy or cut up chicken into parts and skin them, counting enough pieces for each family member plus a few extras for the teenagers.

Lay in your favorite tribal cookware pan.  I use my stoneware bar pan usually.

In a food processor mix several slice of stale bread, a few tablespoons dried oregano, one onion quartered, surge for a few seconds till in a consistent crumbly blend.

Sprinkle mix overtop of chicken and bake at 375 degrees for around an hour depending on the meatiness of the chicken.  Nothing spells disaster like undercooked chicken right?   I tend to cook it till I see the bone showing......definitely done.  Bread crumb mix keeps skinless meat moist and yummy.

Lowering Expectations

The best homeschool convention talk I ever went to was from a lady who spoke on how we need to lower our expectations for our schooling endeavors.  Less is more. ( I restarted blogging as a mom once said that she learned a lot from m blog back when I wrote more regularly.)  I think every home educator feels the panic that they think they need to cram in as many subjects as possible AND be some sort of house keeping wonder people.  I know I have deceived myself into thinking this was possible.

How to implement structure of less in my book is to actually have structure to the day.  I mentioned in a previous post the course of my day going in a regular order of Catechesis, to read aloud time, history reading and discussion then breaking into phonics, writing and older kids working on their math and practicing.  This is the rhythm of each day.  We get stuff done.  I still get tempted by other sources to implement but I have to tell myself "NO!"   Sticking to the tasks at hand is a must or I start getting very irritable and frustrated and the immediate reaction of the kids is to scatter to the four winds.

Unschooling's only appeal to me is to instill a love of learning.  I'm sure I will have talked about so many topics, philosophical musings, theological chats, truths of life as they proceed in living their different stages and choices, that I will surely sleep well in my old age.  I do wonder how I will keep everything straight as more stages of my life and theirs come along but hanging onto living this day in faith in my vocations is more the obvious solution.  Simplify and routine just solve a Miriam of stresses.  I cannot say enough to guard your time for the sake of family sanity.   If someone suggests some twaddle activity consider the loss to the time available.  24 hours is all we get and it can be anxiety ridden or stepped through as a matter of course.  All I desire is peace in my family and a handle on my children worrying more about their own choices and running from the temptation to compare.

More later.

Only brush the ones you want to keep

Chasing after all the little things and big things the kids need to be actively doing, can certainly be exhausting.   Teeth.   I have a hard enough time chasing after mine let alone the kids.   My hubby is better at chasing after their teeth and he hasn't been here much.   So I decided, after seeing a woman my age with disgustingly, screaming white teeth, to have a 'get your teeth whiter' contest.   I took pictures of their grins and next week we are going to take some new pictures and see if there is a difference.   I have picked up two minute hour glass timers (or whatever you call them) and that has helped some in the past, but the mere fact that they don't understand the twice a day concept makes me a bit tired.  

My mom, a dental hygienist by trade, seemed to have no trouble impressing upon us the importance of brushing but there were only two of us.   Charley and I have been boosting bottoms up on the counter, changing table, etc. for teeth brushing for almost 22 years and still counting.   The little ones get help and the older ones, we at this point, we can only pray they are chasing their teeth.   I have made the drill noise when asked what happens if they don't brush their teeth better............they have blank faces in return.   I hate that noise.  

It seems we escape the drill mainly for not drinking soda or juice etc.   They also have a mother who is incapable of making them cookies so that is a plus for them and my pocket book in dental bills.   Their father hates gum chewing.   He inherited that loathing from his parents who probably were strictly opposed to gum chewing from the lack of money for that luxury.   That too has helped.

I think I will go brush my teeth now.   Our reward for improvement in teeth brushing has been decided upon too by-the-way.   One package of Oreo cookies to be woofed by the kids who have shown improvement.   Perhaps we will have one package of Oreo's a week to make sure they are keeping up.

Talking and listening

It seems this is the most challenging thing.   I personally feel the stress of a lot of talking coming at me but how to model not feeling a need to fill the air with talk.   Large families with a lot of talking going on inside their walls can be quite exhausting.   I have many short people and tall people too who have something to say to me.   I am glad they do but it is a struggle to keep listening!   No answer is not an option.   I have been chatting with the kids about turning their focus a bit to listening, ignoring siblings who are purposely trying to get their goat, listening to themselves.   I don't think this will solve the problem, but having an awareness and teaching an awareness of how much talk is going on out of their own mouths and not their neighbors, is making a tiny bit of difference.   I will continue to plug along with this thought with the kids and my own mouth.   Being 46 though might result in my forgetting what the goal is as my forgetting things is the standard.
Proceeding in Faith.........

Our family is loud

You never notice how loud your family is until a quiet family comes to call.  Of course this was a reminder to me of what happens when I don't make any attempt to quiet the fam down.  My eldest daughter dear is the oldest of nine and is marrying the oldest of nine.   I think her hubby-to-be's Papa stressed the need for people to in the family to keep it to a low roar.   It was his family which came to call and I hope they will be okay with returning.  

Loud

 - I stubbed my toe.
- I have a teeny tiny scratch which mom can't see, but it hurts.
-I am Howard Cosell of the family and must describe everyone's activities as if we didn't notice them ourselves.
- We can't open the peanut butter jar.
- Everyone wants to the center of attention....duh.
- You have headphones in your ears and can't hear your parents calling you (loud parents).
- You are a short person and you like to scream and run around in circles with the other short people.
- You were an only child and you cannot understand why it is loud and then get louder to be heard.
- The manners pictures books are not sinking in.  
- The Tattle Tail book isn't having any effect either.
- Your parents are too tired to take you to time out in your room for the benefit of everyone else's nerves and improvement of headaches.
- Or.........everyone in the family is a comedian and wants the stage.
- the children of all ages have never been in study hall and don't realize that it might be helpful to keep quiet when other people are trying to study.   If no one realizes this then.........

It is true that the loud happens in a louder fashion when there are guests to tell stories to.   Wow.   It will be okay.  

There are many reasons to be loud but there are also some reasons to work on being quieter.   Can a family of eleven  learn to be quieter???    This is what I am pondering now.   How loud we are......sigh.

More on simplifying

Can I make life any simpler or do I make it more complicated???????    Nine kids.   God has given nine kiddos to the hubby and I and each one of them would like some of my time usually every day.   Staying home as much as possible is my new reminder for myself.   If I lose focus by having tons of appointments etc., then I can't stay home and focus.   They are mostly all on different levels.   My mind keeps a tick list of their strengths and weakness and I try to help each child  keep their focus on them.   I am surprised my brain doesn't blow up on some days.   

When the older kids were young, I had all of these awesome ideals of my hopes and dreams for homeschooling my kids.   Many times I wanted to throw in the towel.   Throwing in the towel amounted to having several days or weeks of discontent and then figuring out how to get everyone back on task, my mind to quit obsessing and feeling sorry for myself, and.....stay home.  There would have been nothing wrong with throwing in the towel btw, but our options here are pretty limited.   

One child has piano.   Two boys have Boy Scouts.   Several have Catechism classes and I do not compromise on church as there I find peace and hope in Word and Sacrament    This leaves little to no time to socialize or go to do much for fun.   I can either gnash my teeth and lament how I can't have 'fun' or forget that and carry on.     It just isn't fun to come home to chaos.   These are the kids God gave me and the hubby and home and this is what I do.   My advice to self is to run away from this computer as much as possible, get up and do what I am given to do and try not to make my life more complicated.   

We do occasionally do fun things but they are usually with part or all of the family.   We went skiing two weeks ago.  The kids go to friends homes to play and goof off.    I went to a symphony concert with my mom in Chicago last Friday.   We had some friends over at various times over the weekend.  One set we see once a year and the rest were children who......played with the kids.    It seems spacing out fun and having significant chunks of hunker down time is the way for me to actually be half way successful at doing this mom and teaching thing.   Then clinging to Christ and the forgiveness of sins is of course the most helpful......but I have to remember that fact too.....thus church is a priority.   Onward.   

Budget saving recipes

I am always on the hunt for idea to help lower the food bill.   I like to cook so that does helps some and it is always possible to make something yummy out of almost anything.   Here are two of my latest findings which probably aren't news to everyone.

I tried these out in the last few weeks.

Fortified refried beans.

Soaked pinto beans - four cups
1 pound ground sausage or any sort of leftover meat (2.50 at aldis)
Any salsa or tomato product from the fridge you want to use up.
One large onion
a few cloves of garlic

I saute the onion and garlic with the sausage, add the soaked beans, and water to cover beans.   I throw in all those jars of salsa and sauce in the mix and then simmer it for several hours if possible.   Mush up the mixture a bit with a spoon when cooked or hand blender.   I serve this with tortillas for lunches, over rice and even mixed with noodles to stretch the meal to feed many.

Pork roast revisited

It takes a five pound pork roast to feed around 14 without worrying you won't have enough.   This truly was plenty.   On day two I simmer the meat with an onion and barbeque sauce and again.....whatever jars which have the potential to go to waste in the fridge forgotten and forlorn.  Then I put the meat and sauce through the food processor.    Cook as long as you like and process as soon as you like.   It can keep cooking in a crockpot and serve with sandwich buns.....over rice......or mixed with noodles.   My kids like the Spaetzle noodles from Aldis in these mixes.   It feeds family literally for days and many meals.   Yum.   Hope that made sense.

Study sessions

Can I remember to do this again?   I took the middle kids to the library to work specifically on their math and give them immediate feedback.   They got a bunch done and it was time well used.   I have the greatest difficulty setting patterns to do the same thing more than a few times as life will somehow get in the way.   Call it restarting night school again for the family.   We didn't keep that up as long as I would have liked last year as there just simply is not room for us to find a space to do this without distractions.   Once or twice a week should help.  It is hard to have the little ones with at the library and get anything done with the older ones so perhaps this will work for awhile.  

Which patient are you?

I observed my children this morning with their crazy behavior while attempting to do simple things like stir the pancakes, stuff jars with green beans and basically walk through a room without arguing with anyone.   So.....in my usual crazy way I asked them which psyche ward patient they were? 

The passive aggressive patient who knows what they are supposed to do but quietly ignore the rules and procedures even when reminded.   In your face ignoring.   There seems some sinister pleasure in doing the opposite of what is expected.   The caretaker could clearly be getting frustrated but the rules don't apply to that patient.   The other side of this coin might be that they simply do not 'get' why their deaf ears are maddening.  

At this house we have particular children who might be diagnosed with some sort of 'outburst' disorder.   Not sure what that is called in the psychiatric world,  but when the outburst begins, these mostly small children need solitary confinement to end the episode.   I either get frustrated with the outburst or I might start to laugh as it just doesn't stop.  

Our moments of congregate living certainly are interesting.   I will continue to persevere in my quest to raise book worms, not for the benefits of their brain, but for the benefit of the noise level in the house.   Reading is very good and beneficial to the family.    It does encourage deaf ears to the rest of the world but overall if they all have their noses in books it might get quieter around here.   I am not there yet but I am trying.  

I personally am a fan of some quiet time in my padded room.   I don't have a room where it is barren and free of things which might hurt me as I still have a bunch of clutter and my bed is a storage place for everyone to dump their stuff on when they don't know what to do with it.   But.....despite the  junk, I can hide now and then, but they can still find me.  

Rearranging

I am hoping to rearrange a bit of life around here.   The first rearrangement seems a bit backwards.   We eat dinner together every night.....all thirteen of us.   Fourteen when Anna is home.   Every night, the noisy crew gathers together.    We have striven for years to maintain dinner together but frankly with people ranging from 2 to 86 attempting to pass food, eat it without running for the wind, getting frustrated as the food they would love to eat is on the other end of the table - 12 feet away......    This puts a whole different spin on gathering during Christmas and Easter and Thanksgiving.   On those days we should all be able to eat one meal without having to pass anything???    A table in every room?????    Every day is a family gathering around here!  

So I am going to feed the little people early.   They are always the hungriest, least patient, hardest to deal with at the table.   I think if I can just eat quietly with them earlier, it will help their demeanor and mine.   I would not describe dinner as the most relaxed of circumstances.  

I want the small children in bed as soon as possible in the evenings so they don't become sleep deprived.   The seventy to eighty somethings are not used to stubborn, verbal small children so I am sure they will have less indigestion this way too.   We shall see if dear husband sees the sense in this plan.   My goal is for everyone to lead.....a quiet and peaceable life.   Whatever I can do to help to that end is how I proceed.  

Promoting the generation gap

I live in my own generation gap with oldest and youngest child 19 years apart in age.   I was looking up the latest on helping kids with diarrhea and other such loveliness and my head could have hit the table.   When Anna was the wee one, we were told to not give them milk products and  use the B.R.A.T. diet.   Hmmm.....well, now they are saying the B.R.A.T. diet actually makes them feel worse and that milk products do not have to be withheld.   Do you know what this does to the generations?????   I suppose with a nineteen year gap I will more easily be able to smile and wave when grandchildren come along as I will take no offense at the latest and greatest child rearing methods.   I've seen it all and seen it all again as it cycles around.

   I remember the audacity of my mother and mother-in-law suggesting I let my child cry it out while I kept my babies near and dear and wondered if my first child was permanently damaged by my doing this to her around six weeks of age.   Now there are definitely two camps in the sleep in or sleep separately camp.   Shouldn't the new advice be, 'do whatever doesn't make you have a nervous break down honey, I don't really care?'   

It just seems that Americans goal is to make each other crazy with all the different ways they SHOULD be doing things.   What????    I am sure the phrase, "none of your business" did not pick up speed till the neighborhood fence was bypassed by the telephone operator.   Party lines......yep, they were a party.   In America, your business seems to be everyone's business if you let it be that way.    

I admit I was influenced quickly by the article suggesting I not withhold the milk products seeing as the two year old could only keep begging for milk. I admit I might get peeved if he throws up all over the place in five minutes, but the logical truth of the article was something about how you can give them starvation diarrhea if they do not get sufficient nutrients.   We shall see......literally......if I love this advice I hope not to see too much.  

Nap time.......

Transition

I probably have mentioned we have thirteen for dinner every night with the age ranging from 21 months to 85 years old.   We are an interesting mix.   I am trying to think of a name for our camp so we can all keep our humor.   The funny thing is I used to think I wanted to be a camp director when I was a youngling so voila!   Now I am.   One of the scheduling issues I am currently pondering is how to make it possible to allow for individual time for everyone.   We have to all get out of our gated community every so often and then of course there is the natural result of having people around you all the time.   Phew.  Teaching everyone that I am not really a mind reader will probably be the most helpful strategy.   Perhaps a communication board.   I am open to ideas.   I also wish I could find a good read on elder care and link in somehow with some people with experience.   I am grateful I did get some breaks this weekend so feel a bit better about facing this coming week.   I of course need to practice "run away from my laptop" to make sure I am actually keeping on top of things.   So far so good.   Here ends this rambling post.    Input welcome. 

Skin to skin

You read about the benefits to an infant to immediately make contact with their mothers (or fathers if the mother. is somehow not able) to warm their bodies and to find security in the warmth of another human being as they begin their little lives outside their mothers.    As I have been staring at and pondering all the humans around me of all ages, I have been considering the benefits of this skin to skin benefit.   Obviously not literally skin to skin but every human benefits from warm, secure, human contact.    It seems a rarity or cast aside in our lives as not a priority as you know, 'we all have things we need to be doing.'    Doing.   I get so weary of doing.   Doing, doing, doing.  

 My three year old has a case of the screamie meanies.    Should I toss her in time out every time she screams???   What if I took her up in my arms and hugged her and spent time with her rather than get her away from me?   Emotional energy comes from emotional support.   Emotional strength and energy comes from contact which helps sooth us and not repel us.    I suppose I could consider how very badly I  need emotional support myself in caring for so many people and perhaps could benefit from time spent with all of my kids and family in a closer way rather than running away.

My nearly fourteen year old has struggled with showing emotion for several years.   It could be mostly from the fact that there are many who need this attention from me.   It makes me sad to think of the time I have not been able to sit with him and make physical contact just by allowing him to be by me.  

We all learn from our experience.   If we experience distance, it takes some time before there is comfort in closeness with other people.   Modeling telling my kids I love them has resulted in a greater ease in them to be able to say it back to me and anyone else they come in contact with who might say that.   It is a long lesson to learn and takes time and patience.  Five years is about how long it took for comfort to seem more natural.     I have no doubt the same will hold true with the kids finding their comfort level in being able to receive the comfort of just having someone give them a hug etc.   This was not modeled for me and it is not something I come by easily.   In fact I feel like somewhat of a dork if anyone other than my nuclear family gives me a hug and even that happens with such rarity (sadly admitting) that if someone else gives me a hug??????   Horrors.   Takes effort and the only way for it to not take as much effort is most likely to come from practicing offering my family and friends hugs?   Sit closer to my kids.   Offer to have my kids cuddle up next to me for reading time more often????    Time.   Patience.   Breathe.   Forgive.   Love them.   

The younger ones

I can't do everything of course but am trying to be a bit more conscientious about spending time with just the little people.   I have noticed especially that the younger ones do not pay as much attention to catechesis in the morning so have been attempting to do this with just the three youngest ones before they go to bed by praying with them and singing a hymn with them.   They love it.   I love it when I hear them singing during the day.   I love it when Ingrid sings the Words of Institution with the Pastor at church.   She is three.   Three year olds are awesome.....a lot of the time.   My five year old Stefan keeps randomly telling me how he is working on screaming and whining less.   I found that an amazing statement.   I told my sixteen year old earlier today in a joking way, that even though his younger siblings can annoy him that he really needs to work on screaming and whining less (said in a quiet tone while looking at him with my 'talking to little people voice).   He laughed and told me he would see what he could do about that. 

Even getting to all of the kids by reading to them is certainly a challenge.   I am reading the nine year old the Narnia books just for him.   Being a sandwich child puts him a bit frustrated at times or at least he senses the older and younger ones pulling me away from him.   I was having the 13 year old read the Harry Potter books to me but that has sort of lapsed.   I suppose I could find another hour or two somewhere to see about that. 

And.....another conscious effort is trying to get the younger half out of the house so the older ones can be home alone with quiet to study.   There is no reason for me not to be able to take the little ones to the places I took the older ones to play at parks, go to the beach or whatever.    Both sides benefit from this set up.   It went very well today and even a child who had a tantrum this morning was 'able' to be left behind with older studying brother as he had no one to bug and pester and quiet time on his hands to ponder his behavior. 

Remembering it all......that is a challenge (understatement).....one day at a time by the Grace of God. 

Growing family

Early in April my in-laws will be moving in with us.    I can not give bunches of details of why but it will be a good thing for them and I know it actually will have its perks for us.   My father-in-law is 85 and spends most of his day getting ready for the day and then going back to bed.   He is unique as this has been his pattern for as long as I can remember really.   My mother-in-law will be happy to be of some use and help around here.   We will be crowded to be sure, but I guess we collect more family bit by bit.   How does that saying go?   To a mother of many, what are a few more mouths to feed and to love?  

It will have its challenges too.   I am about as laid back as you can get but believe it or not I do realize the work load that lays in my wake and I do my best to tackle the overwhelming amount of laundry, dishes etc. I just try not to talk too much about the overwhelming toddler/school clutter and just muster up the energy to get something done.     Our other newer member to our family is Jim our 65 year old neighbor.   Jim faithfully comes over to help with dinner and clean-up.   His reward is snuggling Evan up and rocking him to sleep.   I tease him that it will be an interesting picture when Evan is six, to see him rocking him to sleep.   Smile.   He realizes his routine will have to change.   Jim is not married and has no children so it is a joy to me to see him enjoying 'his' family.  

As I have told my mother-in-law Sylvia, she too will figure out her niche  in the family.   I suspect it will be in the laundry realm.   If anyone has a knack for folding laundry, it is Sylvia.  She knows how to hang up laundry and take it down.....neatly.     Perhaps we will have matched socks in our drawers.   She used to assist kids in folding their clothes in their rooms in days gone by on visits and I sort of objected.   I am to the point that I will not care if she assists them.   Perhaps then they will take some ownership of avoiding that sort of Grandma help by doing it themselves.    Perhaps I will be able to walk through their rooms in safety???

I mainly encouraged Sylvia to be able to relax and just be a part of a family.   To let Charles Sr., putz through the day and not worry about too much of his slowness as at 85, as  it is not that big a deal.   I am just amazed that my children still have all their grandparents and they don't know how blessed they are.   Grandpas are 85 and 83 and Grandmas are 72 and 74.   It will take some adjustment but this is what we do as families.   They have no other options really and some people have enough money to have parents in nursing homes but.......that is not the plan so far.   We shall see how it goes.    They are our parents and that is what you do.....you take care of them.

I have sort of chuckled that Charles and Sylvia are following Charley and my retirement plan so far.......live with each child for a time period and then someone will be the one be there to assist them in their final rest.   Charley and I call it Parent Roulette.   Nice.   We used to chuckle about that.   Well......it is happening.   It will be fine.   I will be happy to see my elderly father-in-law have some acreage to wander around on with his son and sit and watch while Charley works on this and that.   Sylvia says she knows how to weed too.  

So stay tuned.   Preparation in the meantime.  

The next thing

The day begins and I try to scramble in my head for solutions to whining students, plan a plan of attack and proceed.   One room school house.   That IS what we home school mom's have.    Wiggly short people and middlin' children who want to disappear in the cracks, youth who really want to follow their own plan.   At least this is how it is at my house many days.    Slow and steady wins the race.   I am still a turtle.   I went to bed at 8:30 last night as I was completely done listening and responding.   My reluctant reader is sitting beside me right now and lacks focus as I am typing this blog.  Stop typing this blog.   Keep going kid.   Do the next problem.   You can do it!   Find time with this child.  The younger kids are biting at his heals and he doesn't realize it yet.   Jockeying for position.   Mom needs  time to also spend time with her confused middle writers.   "I can't write!" cry the middle ones.   Slow and steady wins the race.    How do I clear away time and silence to just focus on them.   Where do I drive them to get complete quiet and attention.    It IS all working ultimately but that doesn't mean it isn't frustrating at times.   I get to hear all the chatter all day as I steer them to focus.   It isn't always easy as I said but the kids do seem to be turning out pretty well all things considered.   Deep breath.   Carry on.   Time for Catechesis kids!!!!

Van righteousness

Eldest daughter and I were musing last night about how, "he who drives a 15 passenger van, is truly righteous."   We were merely giggling over van pride and size as surely if we have that many children our righteousness MUST be secure.  (sarcasm).   My dear hubby took the 15 passenger van to work today as he is the designated driver for their Christmas work dinner out.   Last night he requested a laundry basket to clean out said van to prevent embarrassment over his children's flotsam.   I noticed he found a few towels from the summer swimming pool adventures.   If it is lost, look in the van should be our motto.   Six months of flotsam is sort of scary sometimes.   I am the mom who has to psyche myself up to loading small children into their car seat in our van as the effort to get there is daunting at times.   "Come on Karin, you can do it!"   Or, I with a guilty heart, plead with my older children to lock the little dears into their seats.   I think this began as pregnancy weariness and the mere effort of lifting my self up to do this but now I do not have that excuse and the little cherub faces really want mommy to do the job.   I guess I should see my 15 passenger van as yet another opportunity to burn calories.   Every parenting event surely is an opportunity for weight loss.   I wonder how many calories I burn folding all of their laundry and putting it away?   I should write a book about all the opportunities for weight loss with a family of nine kids.   Picking up the laundry off the floor would be right up there.    Who needs a gym anyway?   I have a house which I can barely keep up with and  kids who are much like I have been in this life of tidying up and can't seem to get their stuff put away.   The calories burned in chasing them down on these tasks and the mere thought of the chasing can leave me tempted by the bed magnet.

So.....does my van size make me righteous.   NO!!!!    It just gives me more opportunity for weight loss if I look upon all the opportunities as opportunities and not burdens.   Here's hoping.  

Lab rats

This is the flip side of the last post.   The little cherubs residing in our home might need compassion but they also are at times little buzzards.   Little sinners, little buzzards.....    In a lame attempt to discover a more peaceful home, I have been chasing all sorts of methods to better cheerfulness around here.  The first experiment on the lab rats was to make a star chart and hand out stars for random acts of responsible, helpful behavior.   Now I just need to remember to do it.   They seemed to respond to that variable.   The best news is the husband really has responded.   That is so cute.   He has been doing an amazing job of helping out around here.   His 13 year old clone also seems to appreciate the star chart so I will somehow have to remember this more often.    The littlest people could use some stars if they actually spend any length of time not whining, crying or screaming.  

In light of little screamers, I pondered how to extinguish this behavior for increased peace around here.   Yesterday I was pretty much intolerant of this behavior and had children washing floors, running around the house and sitting on their beds to do their own pondering.   It got a bit ridiculous so my revised plan is to pick a kid and try to assist one at a time to work on their screaming, whining habit.   I don't mean I will let the rest get away with stuff but if I try to extinguish this loveliness from everyone at the same time, it will probably only leave me screaming and whining.   Chillax people!!!    I will have to do a combination, wash the floors if you whine, with "yay, you get a star for making it through an hour without whining or screaming!"

  It is the vast quantity of little buzzards, conspiring to suck the life out of me, which is the most challenging.   Focusing and finishing anything seems hampered by all the interruption so somehow I hope to make some progress on all of this for everyone's sanity.   I know!   I can carry treats in my pocket and when they illicit the proper response to my experiment, they get a treat!    Facepalm.   Breathe.