Category: marriage

children, family, humor, kids, marriage, motherhood, parenting

Happy Anniversary/Birthday/Christmas to You!

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I was chatting with a friend and we were discussing our December wedding anniversaries.  We both realized that at the time of our weddings, December seemed like an awesome to wed.  There were holiday decorations everywhere and it made us feel as if the whole world was celebrating with us.  However, subsequent wedding anniversaries smack-dab in the middle of the demands of the holiday season (which grow exponentially with children), are not always easy to make special.  Never one to keep things simple, throw in T.Puzzle’s sixth birthday the day after this year’s anniversary, and let’s just say, romance may very well have left the building.

T.Puzzle gets ready to make a birthday wish.
T.Puzzle gets ready to make a birthday wish.

In the midst of all this, Mad Dog and I were lucky enough to have an evening to ourselves (thank you, Grandma!).  We reminisced about our fateful third anniversary where instead of going out to dinner, we opted for the maternity ward of our nearby hospital.  I gave birth to T.Puzzle in the wee hours of the morning.  To be honest, I would take anniversary jewelry over labor any day.  Of course, hands down, once I was through the labor stuff, T.Puzzle has been my favorite anniversary present of all time. 

Mad Dog and I marveled at the speed of these past nine years and how thankful we are that we are still standing.  I believe the secret to our marriage is simple.  I talk and he listens.  He doesn’t always agree, he may even zone out to football scores/standings in his head, but he appears to listen.   At least that is what I plan to tell Mad Dog.  Whether or not he actually listens to me is hard to know.

children, humor, kids, marriage, mommyhood, motherhood, parenting

No and Yes

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One of the goals of parenthood is to teach your children to be independent.  In theory, the more they are able to do on their own, the more freedom it will give you.  However, sometimes in the process of teaching your two boys who don’t pay attention to details the art of loading the dishwasher, it can turn slightly calamitous.  Somehow water ends up everywhere but the sink and they will attempt to start a load for only two plates when I’m not looking.  This load is done without detergent of course.  In their defense, those two, lonely plates really did shine.

I try to be patient, I try to let some things slide…especially my feet in the watery abyss surrounding my dishwasher, and yet there are still daily tasks for the boys I haven’t allowed them to do.  

Over the weekend I went for a morning run leaving Mad Dog in charge.  When I came home, I asked if he had followed up on the parentally supervised tasks of the boys’ morning.

Did they get their vitamins?

No.

Did they get their glasses cleaned?

No.

Is their hair combed?

No.

Did T.Puzzle get his nasal spray?

No.

Finally in exasperation Full Speed declared, “Everything you are going to ask Daddy the answer is going to be no!”

Mad Dog didn’t miss a beat.  “That’s not true.  You have to ask the right questions.”  Then he went on to list all the questions he would easily be able to reply yes to.

Are the boys protected?

Do they have a roof over their head?

and, this one’s my favorite…

Do they have love?

Yes, yes and yes.

So, let’s ponder this for a moment.  To quote Full Speed (he gleaned this little gem from a movie), “Happy wife, happy life.  Unhappy wife, stone-cold misery.”

children, humor, kids, marriage, mommyhood, motherhood, parenting

Black Belt Mommy

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Here’s a few things you should know about Mad Dog.  He’s handsome, incredibly smart, generous and he works a lot of hours.  For him long work days are like that he has brown eyes.  They are simply a part of who he is. 

As I mentioned earlier, he is also an incredibly smart man.  He knows that raising two boys, especially the two that I have, is quite a challenge.  Since he isn’t available to help out more, he has always encouraged me to enlist the help of babysitters.

I hit the jackpot last year when my hair stylist offered up to help me with the boys on her free days.  I was surprised because I had shared honestly about my boys and she volunteered to help me anyway.  She finds their extreme energy and strong personalities adorable.  She joined in the routine quickly and has been a tremendous help with the boys and especially  karate.  If you’ve noticed, there have been much less posts about traumatic incidents at karate since she’s joined the ranks about a year ago.

Quite frankly, I owe it all to this sitter.  She is a lifesaver.

Now, her lifesaving efforts will soon be over.  She starts a new job, will have less free days and won’t be able to lend a hand during the week. 

Unless they award black belts to stressed out Moms for their wine consumption, I don’t see how this will end anything but badly…!

Fortunately, with boys as awesome as mine, I can get through anything stone cold sober and with great aplomb. Well, maybe not entirely. Does aplomb have a sarcastic variety?
children, gratitude, humor, kids, marriage, motherhood, parenting

No Question About It

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When Mad Dog traveled for work this week, it actually went fairly smoothly at home (please, no one tell Mad Dog this).  The boys did go over the hyperactive deep-end one of the evenings he was away.  Blissfully, it was my monthly book club meeting and my incredibly patient babysitter suffered the brunt of their antics.  So while the week had been good, it was not without its bumps.

Additionally, my cell phone was broken which effectually ceased all my communication with Mad Dog.  While he is a champion of text-returning while away on business, connecting by phone with him is nearly impossible.  There was an unexpected bonus to this.  I was not subjected to his thinly veiled ‘suggestions’ on how to keep things in order on the home front.  He often will do this cleverly in question form.

Examples:

1.  Did the boys help you bring in the recycle bins?

Translation: Sure hope you remembered to put out recycling.

2. Was the bank busy when you were there?

Translation: Sure hope you remembered the check I asked you to deposit.

You get the idea.

These kind of questions used to push my buttons.  Now, they only kind of do and mostly I find them to be humorous.

Fortunately for me, as Mad Dog has evolved, so have his questions.

Examples:

1.  How do you manage to look younger every, single day?

2.  How did you get so beautiful?  (this one is my favorite)

At the end of the day, there is no question about it.  I sure do love that guy.

children, gratitude, humor, kids, marriage, mommyhood, motherhood, parenting

Are You Ready for Some Football?

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Do you ever wonder if we complain about something just to give ourselves something to do?  How can I be upset that my husband loves football?  It’s not like I didn’t know this before we got married.  If any of you know him, he will gladly recount his famous “The Buckeyes are Why I Got Married” story. 

So, he may be less available to me on the weekends and/or we will have to plan our weekend fall activities around Buckeye games.  It could be worse.  I could be forced to watch the games and I’m at a point in my life that I would much rather read a book or go to a movie with a friend or start my hair on fire… you get the drift.

There is an upside to all of this.  Everything has an upside if you scrutinize it enough.  Mad Dog is involving our boys in his football passion.  They already are reciting Buckeye related phrases on command and Full Speed is becoming much more invested if they win or lose.  This means the boys will be spending more time with Mad Dog. 

Maybe I like to complain about football because I feel so left out.  Maybe I’m worried that I will be completely forgotten about on weekends and have to eat my meals in solitude or go for long, contemplative walks by myself.  Or maybe that sounds like a little slice of heaven.   

Maybe I should complain less and embrace more.  Maybe football season will become my very favorite season after all.