10 Things Your Kids Will Do This Summer to Slowly Drive You Insane

The bad news is, your kids will definitely, absolutely, without a doubt, attempt to drive you crazy over the summer… and here are the specific ways they'll do it. However, the good news is the kids will go back to school eventually. Let's just hope they don't drive their teachers as crazy as they drive their moms.

Last Tuesday, my son told me a story about a Minecraft character. I'm fairly certain, three days later, he's still telling that story. It's as though kids out of school enter a world's longest story competition. Aaah!

Most parents get a little lenient with bedtime during the summer, but once the kids get wind of that, they turn bedtime into an endless game of "How late can I stay up?" And remember, the later kids go to bed the earlier they wake up. What fun.

It's only been a few weeks of summer and I've already lost my marbles playing Candyland with my 5-year-old. That's because Candyland is one of those "all ages" games that never ends. The kids are thrilled to play for hours on end, but mom will bribe her kids just to stop the never-ending spin cycle.

If you have a pool, or you take your kids to the beach, your house will be filled with wet towels. No, they won't be drying on towel racks. They'll be all over the floor in wet piles waiting for you to recover them.

If you thought your kids couldn't get enough of you during the school year wait until you enroll them in Camp Mommy and they want to be with you every minute of every day. Ugh.

Summer is all about ice cream, right? Count on your kids to focus on the ice cream and not your request that they sit while they eat it. They won't get two licks in before that gorgeous vanilla cone goes tumbling to the ground. Cue the temper tantrum. And yes, you will buy your kiddo a replacement just to end the waterworks.

All children see summer break as a great time to practice their wrestling skills on their sibling. Your kids will fight more than they won't and you'll spend your summer playing referee. It's enough to make a mom lose her mind.

Image via Twenty20/melissadoar

Mom and dad may be lax on rules during the summer, but kids will see that as an opportunity to stage a mutiny. Expect to find your darlings eating cookies for breakfast, using your walls as a canvas and using the furniture as a dance floor. Eventually, you'll just pretend not to notice. It's not like they listen when you say, "Get down!" anyhow.

Everything is a mess over the summer. The kids will be covered in popsicle stickiness. And they'll drag everything from mud to sand in the house. There will be piles of dirty clothes everywhere, and if the kids make their beds once over the summer, you'll be lucky. By August, you'll surrender knowing your house will be clean again when the kids go back to school in a few short weeks.

You know those camps you signed your kids up for in April? The ones that cost you an arm and a leg? The one your kids begged to go to? Count on your kids to complain about each and every one of the camps they begged you to attend. But don't pull them out. They'll complain about being at home, too.