Category: gratitude

children, gratitude, humor, mommyhood, parenting

Designated Spaces

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The Atlantic Ocean.
Image via Wikipedia

For sake of the imagination and in the interest of a unique outing, Mad Dog and I took the boys to view some model condominiums near the ocean.  This is not to say we are purchasing one, it’s just fun to look.

Full Speed and T.Puzzle immediately charmed our saleslady and happily traipsed around the grounds of the complex.  They met each model condo with overwhelming enthusiasm.  T.Puzzle showed a special affinity for the appliances.

“Ta da!” he exclaimed as he opened a small closet housing a stacked washer/dryer.   Or, he would say, “Oooooh, look at the refrigerator.  Isn’t it cool??”  Full Speed was more interested in the bedrooms and somehow always managed to pinpoint the master suite and claim it as his own.

We saw three with furniture and our last stop had the best view and was completely unfurnished.  This was the boys’ favorite.  It had the most open space and therefore they set to work claiming which rooms were designated karate rooms (this apparently turned out to be all of them but the kitchen) and the area near the fireplace in living room was the best place for a wrestling ring.

We commented to the saleslady that it was time to wrap things up as the boys were close to their breaking point.

“When they start acting like this, it means that either they need food or a sedative,” I quipped.  I’m glad she laughed and realized I was kidding.  Sometimes people take my humor literally and that can be very awkward especially if you are trying to show that you can responsibly pay a mortgage.

In the end as we were seated at lunch, Mad Dog and I agreed the third furnished condo was our fave.  Full Speed looked at us and said, “My favorite was the one with the karate rooms.”

Of course.

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children, eyesight, gratitude, mommyhood, surgery

Post-Op

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Little T.Puzzle plays with his portable Thomas track from Grandma in the waiting area.
Little T.Puzzle is confounded by the dot that marks his eye prepped for surgery.
The ride home after many tears and frustration over having to wear his eye shield.
Little T.Puzzle glares at me as I yet again admonish him from removing his eye shield. Once he ate some food, he was more compliant but his anger is still bubbling just under the surface.

Little T.Puzzle’s lens removal went smoothly. His recovery, not so much. He is younger then when his big brother went through this process and therefore it is harder for him to comprehend why he has to wear that pesky eye shield. He’s really mad, too, because his glasses won’t fit over it. I think he is experiencing more pain as well. He had more stray ‘strands’ surrounding the lense that had to be removed. The good news is that the lens  removal may help center his pupils. They are slightly off-center due to his ectopia lentis.

He is a trooper and I know tomorrow will be so much better.

children, gratitude, happiness, mommyhood

Well Behaved (don’t get your reading glasses, I really wrote that)

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We went to Costco as a family. I do not enjoy shopping in a large warehouse setting packed to the gills with merchandise and shoppers. The noise, colors and smells in this vast space bombard me at every angle and make my skin crawl. You add in the antics of the boys and I’m all but hunkered down in the wine department pleading for a Costco worker to give me a sample. Now there’s an idea, if Costco gave out wine samples like they did their foodstuffs, it would quickly go to the top of my best-store-ever list.

Of course Mad Dog loves it even without the promise of free alcohol. He could spend hours bumping into people, perusing the gigantic lasagnas and nibbling on samples of cheese if he so desires.

To compromise, our trips to this mecca of bulk-shopping are rare and since I know how much Mad Dog loves it and I love him, I go.

As we entered the store I took a deep pull of breath and braced myself for the worst.

I was pleasantly surprised. This surprise is in reference to the boys.  They behaved with the utmost respect and decorum. They behaved how I always knew they could. The rest of the experience was much as I imagined; crowded, loud and larger-than-life.

This refreshing and unexpected of calmness of T.Puzzle and Full Speed was enough to help me endure the ocean of Costco madness.

Way to go, guys!  Now, let’s take this rare occurrence and supersize it Costco style!

children, gratitude, happiness, humor, mommyhood

The Sword Fighting Champion

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Little T.Puzzle and I settled back into the couch’s cushions and prepared for the smack-down sword fight to begin. Full Speed was already talking a big game. Before he had convinced Mad Dog to do battle, he had tried unsuccessfully to sweet talk me into a sword match.

“Mom, remember how you used to be sword-fighting champion of the world?” he argued.

Not really. I’m guessing at some point either myself or Mad Dog made this outrageous claim to entertain ourselves. Leave it to Full Speed to file this fictitious tidbit in his infallible memory and believe it as truth.

As ‘sword-fighting champion of the world’ I politely declined.  Full Speed was more than happy to turn his aggression on Mad Dog.

About the third match in, Full Speed crouched low to the ground. You could sense he was pooling his energy in his legs and was about to burst forward and administer a mighty blow.

Little T.Puzzle and I waited for the dramatic outcome. Full Speed yelled, flailed his arms and shot up like a rocket. Instead of his sword making contact with Mad Dog, it flew out of his hand and landed harmlessly a few feet away.

I burst into laughter. Soon, we are all cracking-up and I realized that being a sword-fighting champion pales in comparison to a great, cacophonous laughing fit.

Thanks for the chuckle, Full Speed!

gratitude, humor, kids, life in pictures, marital blissishness, mommyhood

Dedication

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Mad Dog has encouraged me to post the following:

Mad Dog left me a note (I’m serious) containing the breakdown of the Lightning Bolt’s statistics. At season’s end the Lightning Bolts were 15-0 with over 120 goals scored (I think Full Speed scored about 5 of those) with only 6 goals allowed (two of these we accidentally scored on ourselves–it can get confusing out there).

Full Speed was the youngest and least experienced of the bunch but hands down brought the most comittment and enthusiasm. His skills improved considerably over the course of the six week season.

Full Speed in action

Mad Dog would also like to take complete ownership of his team’s success. He believes his leadership and superior game tactics led the Lightning Bolts to their storied season. He is already formulating a book tentatively called “The Winner’s Circle: Musings of a Great Man”.

If you want my opinion (please don’t read this Mad Dog because I really want you to dedicate your book to writesforallmommies), I believe we lucked out with players that were older, experienced and happened to possess mad soccer skills. I couldn’t believe how some of these kids could march that ball up and down the field and get in shot after shot. They were certainly a talented bunch.

It’s all subjective, right?

You can check out more of my subjectivity in MY upcoming book, “Always ‘Agree’ with Your Husband and Pray He Doesn’t Read Your Blog”.

I’d dedicate it to Mad Dog, of course!