Excuse me!? Do you see the golden arches over the door?

I've never been big on New Year's Resolutions, however, thanks to a statement made by our oldest this morning, our family as a whole now has one. It all started bright and early this morning as I attempted to pour myself a cup of coffee. Now, just so you know, having my cup of coffee is a requirement that must be met before I am capable of meeting the needs of anyone else in the a.m. (Maybe if Xander ever decides to wake up less than, oh say, 4 times a night, this need will go away...for now though it is a must.) So as I am pouring a cup of coffee...and my first one at that...Carter begins asking...scratch that...pretty much demanding... a PB & J sandwich. Mind you, it is only 7 a.m. at this point. It is not as though he has been sitting around all morning without eating and is starving...it is very early. I tell him that after I finish my coffee, and when he as asked nicely, including please, I'll make it for him. He then says,(hope you're sitting down...) "But mom, you have to give your customers what they want!" When the breath that had been knocked out of me returned, I replied, "Uh-Humm....EXCUSE me? Do you SEE Golden Arches over that door?" Did he really just take our mother/son relationship and compare it to that of a waiter and a customer??? After telling him where we keep the bread, PB and jelly, (and of course reminding him that I am his mother not his waiter) I sat down with my cup of Joe and began to realize that in my quest to keep my household running as smoothly & efficiently (and neatly) as possible, I am slowly robbing some of the boys (and maybe Gabe's too for that matter) independence. Rather than appreciating what I do, they are coming to expect it. Rather than doing things for themselves, they ask me to do it. Or better yet, they don't even ask, I just jump in and do things for them to save time...or a mess. For example, not 2 minutes ago, as I typed this, Hayden brought a granola bar to me and asked me to open it. As I started to do it for him, I stopped and asked him if he had even tried to do it himself. I handed it to him, and he opened it with no problem. In the mornings I still help Hayden get dressed. Not because he can't do it, but because it's faster if I do! Back to the PB and J....Carter is 6 after all, and has made his own sandwich on several occasions. Of course I don't mind doing it most of the time, but as he gets older, it is time for him to realize that he is capable of doing some things (within reason of course) for himself. A few minutes after I left him with the ingredients, he proudly brought his completed PB and J to me and said "Look mom, I even toasted it!" I realize that some of my reluctance to give up the control and let them do more for themselves is because it forces me to realize that my "little" boys are quickly turning into big boys. So thanks to this epiphany, brought on by Carter's rather rude comment this morning, our Family's resolution is to do more for ourselves and take on more responsibilities and to appreciate the things that are done for us rather than expecting them.Oh, and I even made one for Xander....to sleep all night! Happy New Year! May 2011 bring many blessings and much laughter.