Grand Central Station

I need to work on communication in my house.

We need a large whiteboard, or pagers, or something, so that I can know for absolute certain that if I tell someone something, they will remember it.

For instance:

"Hey boys, I have plans early tomorrow morning, my friend is coming over, and then again that evening."

This somehow translates to

"Do whatever you want, I don't need the living room, ever."

Because I was supposed to (emphasis on supposed) have my friend over for breakfast this fine morning. I was supposed to get my writing done first, have some coffee.

What is actually happening is something else entirely.

The boys came home at 6am. (Which is normal and totally fine.)
They brought a friend from out of town with them. (Which is more than totally fine, I enjoy this kid.)
That friend is sleeping on my couch. (Normally, totally fine. Today, not so much.)

So I am creeping around my house, typing on my laptop in the bedroom, and silently texting my friend to see if he wants to go out to breakfast so we can actually speak to each other and not have to hide in the bedroom or garage.

See, normally, this would SO not be an issue. SO. This friend of the boys knows he is always welcome in our house, and he is. But there have been multiple, and by multiple I mean A HELL OF A LOT of instances when T and I had plans or friends over or something and the boys determined that their wants and needs were more important. I am never going to tell someone they have to sleep in the car, or need to find somewhere else to go, so we wind up with 4 people sleeping, unhappily, in my living room.

It's irritating. I'm not being very eloquent about it. I'm mostly just pissed that yet again I can't be comfortable in my own home, that I have to change my plans last minute because the boys listened to what I told them and then immediately did whatever the hell they wanted.

And now I'm off to shower.