I have a confession to make.

 [looks left, looks right and quickly turns out the light before locking front door]

I am not a huge fan of last minute play dates.

[blows a sigh of relief]

My kids know the drill.

I will only schedule play dates with at least 24 hours notice and - unless, in an emergency, or whenever another mom's schedule is, you know, even crazier, than mine - in philosophy, it has served me well through the years.

At the risk of sounding slightly structured to some parents - I've learned that the key to keeping a fairly organized household is a clear directive and proper planning - in theory.

My children, however, reject my reasoning and have replaced it with their own - Mommy suffers from a physically debilitating condition of not being able to say, "No!"  Resulting in futile attempts at avoiding after school confrontations, such as:

• Pitching backpacks over car seats.

• Slamming doors.

• Hauling tail end out of the parking lot.

Still, they  just can't seem to get it.

My Kid:  "Can so-and-so come over, today?"

Her Kid: "Pleeeeeze!"

Me:  [staring off into space]

Her:  "I mean, if that's okay with you?"

Me:  "Oh...uh...she has girl scouts, today."

Her:  "Oh...okay...what time?"

Me:  "Well...um...later and there's homework, and all."

Her:  "Oh, that's okay, they can do it together!"

My Kid (formerly known as "beneficiary #2"):  "Yeah, toghether!"

Me:  [very unenthusiastically, while impatiently looking around for lightning bolt to strike]  "Well, for a little while, I guess so."

Her:  "Oh, you can drop her off after dinner - that should give you enough time to get to girl scouts!"

Me:  "Get...in...the...car!"

My Son:  [crying now]  "Not all these girls - again!"

My Oldest:  "But...uh...mom, I thought you hated last minute play dates!?!"

Me:  [pitching backpacks, slamming doors, etc...]

Oh, well - what's one more, right?

[heavy sigh]

Please excuse me - while I attempt to grow a back bone and hide the laundry - feel free to ask me something in the mean time, so I can practice saying, "NO!"