Since my new job involves working on-site instead of at home, the kids have more 'unstructured' time that they are quick to use on their electronics. Needless to say, this represents a large number of hours devoted to hopping up and down in front of the TV as they play the gamecube or X-box.

To try and remedy this, and provide a 'good' aspect of my new job, the kids are ONLY allowed to play electronics when I'm at work. The whining and pouting quickly dried up, (at least about why I went out and got a new job), and the kids were relatively okay with me being gone for long periods of time. There's some crankiness when I get home and the TV goes off, but all in all it seems to work well for us.

So we get to today, and I'm sleeping in. Michael and Matthew come tiptoeing close to where I'm laying on the floor chatting with a friend over IM and ask,

"Mom, when are you going to work today?"

I look up and frown. "I'm not. I have the day off."

Their faces fall. Michael asks, "Are you sure you don't have any work to do today?"

Not quite sure where they're going with this, I amend myself. "Well, I have housework I need to do."

Matthew moans and Michael wails. "That's even worse!!"