Mom rant: Tired, cranky people

Warning: This blog entry contains mom-rant. Those without children may want to proceed to Sports.

The third grader sure picks her moments. For the past two or three weeks, she's done much better at waking up and getting ready for school. (Background: this is the child who accumulated tons of tardies in the fall because she refused to get up and get ready without a major tantrum, resulting in cups of water on the face, raised voices, spankings and once even being pulled out of bed and to the front door in her pajamas before grudgingly getting dressed. Yes, we did try getting her up earlier.) Today, though, she decided she was too tired to get up when awakened the first three times. Why? Today's reason: I hate school. It's not fair that my brother and sister get up and get ready (don't go there) and that everyone in my class hates me and makes fun of me and my brother and sister have friends and that doesn't happen to them (she speaks in run-on sentences). Third grader has a very selective and short memory, and a loud, feel-sorry-for-me voice. Third grader is grating on mom's sleep-deprived nerves. She finally gave it up after mom told her it didn't matter because the law doesn't require her to have friends at school, just to show up on time enough days. At least the eighth grade brother got ready and left with dad and other sister. He likes to move in slow motion in the mornings, to the point where he's also in tardy trouble, despite parental efforts. For anyone who remembers watching the Carol Burnett Show, the boy is like the little old man that Tim Conway played, the one who shuffled along in exaggerated slow motion. It's like watching paint dry. These people frustrate me greatly. I NEED coffee....