Category: kids

kids

children, health, humor, kids, mommyhood, motherhood, parenting

Full (Speed) of Hot Air

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Children and gastrointestinal issues go hand in hand.  Mad Dog and I have witnessed this firsthand.

When Full Speed shared that his ‘tummy hurt’ and then proceeded to turn a sickly pale color, we changed our dinner plans.  Nevermind that we had only seconds before pulled into the restaurant parking lot and were ready to exit the car and head inside.

We weren’t in a gambling mood.

Instead we decided to grab some food at a drive-thru and eat at home.  That way if Full Speed had any issues, we would be out of the public’s always watching eyes and have access to cleaning products if the need should arise.

We couldn’t figure out if Full Speed was really ill.  He was pale and restrained one moment, then hyper and happy the next.

After we picked up our food and had it spread out on our kitchen table, a low rumbling noise began deep in the bowels of Full Speed.  It went on and on a rose with a vengence and a long-winded burp escaped from his lips (you could have spelled Mississippi fourteen times before it was over).  An embarrassed smile spread across his face as he smirked out the words, “Excuuuuse meeeee!”  Mad Dog and I could tell he instantly felt better as the color returned to his cheeks.

Aha!  Full Speed’s stomach ailment was solved.

If only all mysterious child illnesses and behaviors could be dissected so easily.

children, humor, kids, mommyhood, motherhood, parenting, Taekwondo, terrible threes

Dreams with a Bite

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Oh, T.Puzzle.  There were times when I was nicknaming you for this blog, that unfortunately words like shark and razor tooth were at the top of the heap.  As I went through the catalogue of your gifts and idiosyncracies, a fascination with using your chompers for evil was a strong contender for possible names.

So happy I went the puzzle route instead.

We all dream our children will find their passion.  We hope they excell at whatever they choose to endeavor.

One of T.Puzzle’s favorite endeavors is to bite his brother.

It didn’t start out this way.  He used to bite about anyone or anything in his path.

I told you he was gifted.

Thankfully, except for the rare attempt here and there on innocent bystanders, he now seems to mostly isolate his attacks on Full Speed.

Is it bad that I’m secretly grateful he is only biting his brother?

I feel if he keeps it in our family there’s less chance of a lawsuit.

What’s a Mom to do?

I wrote an extremely unfavorable behavior report for tae kwon do about his recent double-biting-brother escapades over Thanksgiving break.

Here’s how it went down:

“First, let’s commend little Bobby for helping his sister with the dishes,” exclaimed the instructor as he rattled off the first exemplary behavior report.

“Wow, great job to little Jenny for being polite and using her manners,” he continued.

It went on and on.  One after the other did something more extraordinary than the student before him.

Until…

we got to T.Puzzle and his report of biting doom.

And this was when my other dream of having a child stand out in a crowd was fully realized.

Maybe it’s time to start shopping around for some new dreams.

children, gratitude, happiness, humor, kids, life in pictures, mommyhood, motherhood, parenting

What We Did For Thanksgiving Vacation

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Whew!  Full Speed had a whole week off and T.Puzzle stayed home most of the week, too.

You know some mayhem ensued.

Oh how it did.

We were a busy bunch.

The week started with a ‘date’ for Mom and Full Speed.

The boys saw Santa with their cousin.

We celebrated Thanksgiving and Mad Dog’s birthday.  And yes, as a nation, I do believe in our entirety, we felt extreme gratitude that Mad Dog’s birthday coincided on this special day.   Or something like that.

 

Then, Mad Dog and I celebrated his birthday again as Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Pink graciously hosted our boys.  Upon our return, it is unlikely they will be invited back anytime soon.  Apparently, someone really needs to talk to their parents about their rowdy behavior.  Our apologies.

 

love you, Mad Dog!

Then, if all that wasn’t enough, we decorated our Christmas tree.  I tried oh-so-hard to let the boys do their thing without anxiously hovering about.  They seemed to have fun and I did too, just as long as all our breakable ornaments were hung at the top of the tree (by me!).

By the end of the week, we had two very tired boys on our hands.

 

So glad they have an 'off' switch.

 

When all was said and done, the thing that I am most grateful for is that I was actually sad to send them back to school because we had so much fun together.

Mothering these two strong spirited boys has not been without challenge.  To be able to say that I am honestly going to miss them as they trounce back to school is a turning point.

I am learning that even though there were days during vacation that they drove me to tears with their outlandish and stubborn behavior, I am now beginning to see the emergence of who they really are underneath.

Thankfully, they are two very cool little dudes.

Hope you all had a great holiday!

children, kids, mommyhood, motherhood, parenting, self-discovery, self-image/self-acceptance

The Question

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Once in a blue moon a question is posed that makes you seriously evaluate the direction your life has taken.

In an attempt to consistently utilize my remaining brain cells, most have left the building since motherhood, I participate in a monthly book club.  The conversation never stays on topic and that is one of the reasons I enjoy it so much.

“I’ve never understood why stay-at-home Moms have college degrees?  Why would someone spend all that time and money on an education and not use it?”

This was the question that gave me serious pause.

The person posing the question obviously did not know that the woman seated next to her (me!) was one such stay-at-home Mom ‘wasting’ my college degrees.  Apparently, I had fooled her in to thinking I was highly educated and gainfully employed.  In her opinion, one cannot exist without the other.

Oh, I’m sure I could’ve gone off on a rant to defend the choices in my life.  I didn’t see the point.  Her opinion was solidly formed and the other women of the group heatedly joined in with their two cents.

When I left the group later that evening I realized that the question, however personally I may or may not have taken it, doesn’t matter.

As with any path we choose in life, as long as we are comfortable with who we are, no question, person or judgment will tear it asunder.

bad day, children, humor, kids, life in pictures, mommyhood, motherhood, parenting, tantrums, terrible threes

Over It

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All Moms are familiar with the phenomenon that when one of your children is out of control, your remaining children become eerily angelic.  This is helpful because having one kid lose it is more than enough.

Then, there are the special days.  The days you are convinced that your children made some sort of evil pact to share the burden of dreadful behavior equally. Those are the days where all you can hope for is that you don’t lose your cool enough that the neighbors alert the authorities in some capacity.

First, it started with T.Puzzle.  He called his brother a ‘diaper head’ and ran screaming away and hid in a corner when I punished him for the name-calling.  I took away all of his stuffed animals and Thomas blanket and he screamed, “You’re mean!” at top volume.  This was later followed by a meltdown about sharing a toy riding car.  I had to carry him kicking and screaming to his room for punishment.

I could already feel how special the day was becoming.

He eventually pulled it together.

Great, I thought.  Now we can enjoy this awesome weather with friends and look forward to our dinner out with Mad Dog.

Post T.Puzzle meltdown. Miss Cutie enjoys the calm and a ride before Full Speed's turn to lose it.

Well,.. Full Speed decided to get in to the act.  He was glorious in his sassiness, which started because he lost a game of Red Light, Green Light.  The unfortunate power struggles and tantrums that ensued culminated in him screaming, “I never want to live in this house again!”  Oh, and he also hit me.  A knock-down, oh-no-he-didn’t veritable knick-knack patty-whack across my back.

We didn’t go to dinner (foiled again!!!), they went to bed so early I’m pretty sure I heard the faint whisperings of the five o’clock news in the background, and I dropped to my knees and prayed to my God (Supernanny) for guidance.

Some days are good, some days you wish you ‘never want to live in your house again!’, and some days are better when they are over.