I’m trying to let go of control a little more and give my babysitter more responsibility. I know this will get easier with time and my life might even feel more manageable. Imagine that!
First up, I gave her a litany of instructions and let her pick up Full Speed from school. This way I could go get my monthly allergy shots which are available at the most inconvenient times.
She picked him up without a hitch and I survived my three shots of lord knows what and all was good.
Once I returned home, I picked her and Full Speed up and we headed to T.Puzzle’s school. I added her to my child pick-up list and showed her the ropes.
Again, smooth sailing. I was so proud of myself. Look at me, everyone! I’m letting someone help me.
It was liberating.
We get in the car and my boys were being, well…., boys.
They were chatty and loud. They were fighting and hugging. They were boisterous and sassy.
The babysitter looks at me.
“Well, now I know why you stopped at two,” she joked.
Full Speed: I promise to be the bestest boy in all the land.
Considering his initial behavior at our New Year’s lunch out by the ocean, this goal may be slightly on the lofty side.
Mad Dog: To get fit and have more patience with my boys.
First of all, I think he looks fantastic as is and secondly, I’m thinking he wanted to add ‘and more patience with my wife’. Since he was speaking this goal directly to me, he was wise to leave that part out.
Me: To have more gratitude for what I already have.
Case in point...
That’s the great thing about motherhood, it gives you many reasons to be grateful. I’m serious, mostly…, and no, I haven’t fallen and hit my head (at least not badly).
These are some of the lessons I learned throughout 2010.
1. No matter how much you dream it or wish it, you are not in control of your life or your children. It seems the more I try to micromanage Full Speed’s and T.Puzzle’s behavior, the more likely I am to fail and be miserable in the process. Sometimes you have to let go and let them be who they are, even if that means they act wild sometimes, forget their manners and generally drive you and your spouse nuts.
2. On good days, motherhood is about the balance between caring for the needs of your kids and caring for your own needs. On bad days, motherhood is about survival. All you can do is survive until your children’s bedtime, chalk it up to a bad day and start the adventure anew the next day.
3. When the bad stuff happens, it’s your best opportunity to learn.
4. I am extremely lucky to have someone like Mad Dog as my children’s father. Kids love to emulate what they see, and fortunately for me, this means they see love, respect and generosity as a way of life.
Full Speed puts his hands in his pockets just like Mad Dog on our day at the zoo.
5. Frustration doesn’t get you very far. Acceptance, an action plan and forgiveness go a whole lot further in this world.
6. Having kids allows you to remember your own sense of fun. It’s also a great excuse to wear silly hats when you ring in the new year.
Image by erjkprunczyk - Happy New Year! via Flickr
Mad Dog and I took the boys to see ‘Yogi Bear’. If I’m being completely honest, sitting through children’s fare, especially the type common to theaters in recent years, can be a bit taxing on your sense of sanity.
I tried to keep an open mind to the inanity of it all.
When my attention wasn’t captured by the movie, which was most of the time, I quickly became absorbed in thought. How could I change my perspective and appreciate this movie, this experience and this moment?
Well, it helped a ton to hear the unfiltered giggles emitting from each boy on either side of me. It also wasn’t the worst kid’s movie I’ve had to sit through either.
I couldn’t maintain a zen outlook the whole time. In the moments I could, I sat back and was more content to watch Full Speed and T.Puzzle enjoy their cinematic adventure. And enjoy it they did.
I counted myself lucky that we live close to a theater, had gift certificates to pay our way (thank you, Grandma and Grandpa!) and Mad Dog available to join us.
The movie didn’t end up on any of my top ten lists, but the company was divine.
It’s Christmas morning and the presents are already unwrapped.
The cookies for Santa are gone, the new toys are already in play and the waffles made by Mad Dog already eaten.
Things start early on Christmas day when your kids are young.
We had some new traditions and kept some old.
on our way to Christmas Eve dinner at a Japanese Steakhouse.
the official reading of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas' in our Superman pjs
two very excited brothers get ready to sleep in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would appear.
T.Puzzle announced that ‘Jinker Bells’ was his favorite holiday song.
Full Speed summed up his Christmas Eve experience at church as ‘good AND boring’. It was good because he made a lot of new friends and it was boring because he had to keep ‘standing up the WHOLE time!’
For the introspective lot such as myself, it is a time of reflection.
Some of it sad, like missing loved ones you’d like to have near and most of it glad because of the loved ones you do have with you on this special day.
Mad Dog shows off his new office art.
Life is like a Christmas tree.
Compared to others it may not be the tallest or the brightest. It may not have the most presents or look exactly the way you want it.
If you embrace it for exactly what it is and appreciate how special it is because it is the only one you have, then maybe, just maybe you will realize that you have the tree and the life you were meant to have.
