DRAMA . . .

I truly feel like I am in a life action soap opera. My every day life feels chaotic and overwhelming. I don't want to come off complaining, I just need to vent these feelings so I can process my feelings and evaluate the lessons learned.

For example, this evening I learned a valuable lesson on expectations equaling effort. My foster daughter wants to go down to see some friends but she doesn't have any money. She asked if she could do some extra chores to earn $2.25 for bus fare. I agreed and decided she needed to clean the bathroom and do the dishes. After about ten minutes cleaning in the bathroom she went to her room. I thought maybe she was just taking a break but after 30 minutes I wasn't sure she still wanted to go. So, I asked if she still wanted to earn the money. Apparently, she had "forgotten" to do the rest of the chores. When I told her she still needed to mop the floor in the bathroom she informed me that she had sprayed the floor with a degreaser and wiped it up. I was pretty flabbergasted that she was only doing the minimum, so I asked her if she wanted me to give her a half dollar bill. My thinking was if she was only going to put in half effort then I was going to only put in half the pay. When she came out to do dishes she threw a small tantrum and stormed off to properly clean the bathroom. Later on after she had done some of the dishes and went back to her room I had to ask her if she was going to finish the dishes before leaving. Again, another small tantrum complaining that the drying racks were full. I plainly said that she needed to dry them then finish the rest of the dishes. I don't know if this is coming off too harsh but I have learned that she is prone to only putting forth the smallest effort while still getting what she wants. I have just reached a point where I'm not going to give her slack anymore. She needs to learn to do things right the first time because when she gets a job her boss won't take half done work. It will be his way or the highway.