Is it possible for the honeymoon to be over before it starts?

I don't think I'm ready to parent a teenager. Or maybe just not the particular teenager that I will be parenting full-time in December. It seems that the more time goes by the more Jarrod is pushing the boundaries we're trying to set. His bedroom has been a mess for over a month. I've told him several times to clean it and he'll go away for awhile and come back and say he's done. There are still clothes everywhere (despite him having an empty closet and built in drawers) and the clothes that he has put away are just shoved in drawers. We also found out last weekend that he's been stealing from Ashton. At our house it was just 10 or so Hot Wheels but at my parent's house Ashton had about $3 turn up missing after the last time Jarrod was there. We've also found some reading matieral that isn't appropriate for children stashed in the bathroom cabinet where Ashton could easily find it. Danny and I were in need of a break and cancelled last weekends visit but we can't do that every week so something needs to change.

In other news, Ashton starts Kindergarten next week. We have a "porch visit" tonight where someone from school will come talk to us for a bit and then Thursday is the school's Open Opening (basically an open house) where we'll get to talk with his teacher and the other kids that will be in his class. He's excited and nervous about going to school all day all week plus he'll be riding the bus and he's not too sure about that right now. He seems to think he won't get to spend any time with me after he starts school so I've been reassuring him that since I changed shifts at work I'll be home when he leaves for school and when he gets home and I won't leave for work until after he goes to bed.

Also in the last few weeks I've taken up knitting! After a few stressful weekends I decided I needed a hobby to keep me sane. I do some cross-stitching but that takes more concentration than I've had lately and I've always wanted to try knitting so I bought a kit and some cheap yarn from Wal-Mart and dove in. My first project was a big scarf that I gave to Danny. It turned out pretty well so I decided to try an afghan. The afghan is a pretty big project so I also started a scarf for Ashton for those times when I just want to work a few rows quickly. I'll try to get some pictures of my projects posted soon!