AGGRAVATION!

I am having issues with my children. They refuse to develop any sense of responsibility whatsoever. Everywhere they walk is like a tornado or bomb went off. Mess, mess, mess. If they eat cereal, they leave the box on the counter and the empty and dirty bowl on the table. Is it SO hard to walk it over to the sink? If they get undressed, their clothes lie in a pile on the floor. If they play with something and move on...the toys lay there all discarded, right where they left them. It does not seem to bother them at all! I thought that if I gave thems ome chores and made them take responsibility for some of the mess, that maybe they would get a clue....but no such luck. Mostly they do a halfway job on the chores. I am forever dragging them back to the site and making them do the deed again and again until it is done right. I swear Max Roberts would lose his head if God had not securely fastened it to his shoulders. He loses EVERYTHING. Today it is a library book that is missing. I have torn this house apart and cannot find it anywhere. I have just about had it with these darned kids. This will be the third....THIRD library book that we have paid for in a month. The first one, Max spilled something all over and did not tell anyone...just returned it, so that we got this letter from the library. Mommy does NOT like surprises like that. Then, the second one Clara decided to take a black marker to. She was in big trouble for that and I paid for that one too. NOW....we have lost one and I have to say that I am really mad about that. I can't even begin to tell you how much it bothers me. I mean...even though I did not lose it...my child did and I take that too personally I suppose. They may be MY children, but I am sure that MY genes are not overly present in them. It seems that no manner of yelling or screaming or asking nicely or bribing or rewarding or punishing seems to get them on track. I look forward to them going back to school....but I DO NOT look forward to having to keep the boys straight with all of their assignments and projects. My two boys can make a person crazy with that. Chris and I are supposed to have a date tonight....I guess I need the stress relief and the chance to get away from them...but I'm so aggravated that I am not really in the mood to go out. How's that? I'm SO aggravated that I need a break, but TOO aggravated to take one. I had no idea when I became a mother that those tiny little babies could create this level of frustration. I am so stressed over it all that I am nearly nauseas. I think my kids are giving me an ulcer. I could use some meditation or something. Anyway, lots of complaining I guess today. In the big scheme of things, a 4 dollar library book is hardly the end of the world...it just happens to be one more thing on a really big load of other things! My prayer is for peace. Just peace. Not patience...I certainly am not praying for any more of that. Not even wisdom on this one...but for peace to accept the situation. Max is grounded until he finds the book. No t.v., no gameboy, no playstation. And no more library priviledges for a month....I don't know what else to do. Max doesn't seem overly concerned about the book....that makes me mad too. I told him that he will have to pay for the book out of his own money...he doesn't seem too worried about it at all...which makes me mad. He needs to sweat over it a little. GRRRRRRRRR. I am not good at this mom stuff. Life is aggravating here in the desert.