Rain, rain, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD GO AWAY.

It's raining, and I'm beginning to think all three of the kids have Seasonal Affective Disorder. At the very least, they're suffering from what I'd like to call It's Raining So I'm Going To Be A Butt To Everyone Syndrome.

All day long they've been tv-watching, computer-game-playing zombie children. Since there is a direct correlation between how much time they spend vegging in front of electronics and how late at night they stay up insisting they are not remotely tired, I decided five or so hours of the tv blaring one episode of Malcom in the Middle after another was quite enough and it was high time for them to find Something Else To Do. My helpful suggestions to take out the trash and recycling were somehow not appreciated, so they all decided instead to make themselves scarce and find alternate activities.

Unfortunately, said alternate activities included making obnoxious noises without stopping for 10 minutes straight, yelling at the sibling making obnoxious noises (also for 10 minutes straight), sitting on the bed of a sibling trying to read a book in peace, whining and crying that someone was sitting too close and therefore somehow preventing him from reading, arguing over whether or not sitting on the wooden bed frame counted as "being on the bed," and just generally yelling in a cranky voice anything at all that needed to be said to anyone for any reason--or anything that didn't need to be said, too.

I know this is Texas and everyone is excited we're getting some badly needed rain, but if this doesn't stop soon I'm going to send them outside for the rest of the day and look forward to the pneumonia they might catch because then maybe they'll BE QUIET for a few minutes...