Category: mommyhood

children, gratitude, kids, mommyhood, motherhood, parenting, self-discovery

Watch and Learn

WFAM

I had taken the boys to the pool and sat back and watched as they energetically tackled the slide and sprinklers.  At the top of the slide are two attached water cannons.  When the slide gets crowded these cannons become quite popular.  A boy a good head taller approached T.Puzzle and attempted to yank the cannon from T.Puzzle’s grip.  I had to coach myself to stay put and let it unfold.  As much as I wanted to leap to his rescue I decided to see how T.Puzzle would handle it.  Turns out years of assertiveness training from his older brother paid off.  T.Puzzle stood his ground and as the older boy continued to try to intimidate him with words and a few swings of his arms, T.Puzzle didn’t budge.

I learned a valuable lesson.  The minute you stop trying to control something, especially the behavior or circumstances of your children, these are the moments when they begin to show you who they really are.  If you are really lucky they may show you something unexpected.  They may show you that bullies are only as powerful as you allow them to be and sometimes a four year old can handle a confrontation without hesitation.  That’s when you realize maybe you need to start taking notes from your kids instead of always insisting on being the one who is teaching.

bad day, humor, mommyhood, motherhood, parenting

???????????????????

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At what age can I safely take my very active boys to a store and not have that semi-sinking feeling in my gut?  Will I ever be able to run a quick errand with them or will they always, always end up in some sort of time-out by the end of t?  Will they ever let me pay in peace?  Is there a time when I can walk through a parking lot and not have extreme anxiety that one of my flibbertigibbet boys will get maimed or smooshed?

Is it me or is it quite normal to say these questions aloud when there is no one around to listen?

Was today a good day?

Will tomorrow be better?

Will I make it through?

Maybe…

Maybe not…

This is the million dollar question.

children, humor, kids, mommyhood, motherhood, parenting

Injuries ‘R’ Us

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the boys participating in a rare, non injurious activity

The odds are against us.  I’m noticing that the more hours the boys spend together the threat of injury increases exponentially.  Whether it means a popped lense from a glasses frame (two this week and counting) to an unfortunate biting incident with intensified retaliatation, I’m starting to become concerned.  Every yelp, scrape or karate chop is beginning to illicit real fear in the depth of my soul.  I am pacing around like a crazy woman in mad, little circles with my ears trained for any sign of calamity.  Yesterday, I used almost an entire box of band-aids and that was only for one kid.  I used half a box on the other.  If only they made band-aids that could suture together the frayed remnants of my fragile state of mind.

Keep us in your thoughts and wish us the best.  Or better yet, send us some band-aids.

children, happiness, humor, mommyhood, motherhood, parenting

Home VS Away

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On one hand I am silently counting the days and minutes until I can send the boys back to school.  On the other hand, I’m not ready for them to go.

Every day is up and down.  One minute they are bouncing off the walls and pushing me to the brink while in the next minute they surprise me with an unexpected laugh or hug.

Full Speed is becoming quite skilled at cracking me up.  He realizes this and now makes a daily effort to do so.

T.Puzzle says random things like, “I don’t want any Mommy in the world but you” and “I love my whole family soooo much.”  He usually accompanies these statements with a downpour of kisses, too.

Maybe I can negotiate with their schools and if they are having a really great morning, I’ll keep them home.  In return on the nutso mornings I will have them promptly to school at eight a.m.

Problem solved!

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

A Really Good Week

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While Full Speed has been honing his basketball skills at camp this week, T.Puzzle and I have spent much quality time together.  T.Puzzle didn’t make the age requirement for camp so I tried to plan some special things for him and me to do.  Here’s the breakdown along with T.Puzzle’s assessment of the each day:

Monday- Chik-fil-a lunch and play time at the indoor playground

T.Puzzle said, “Monday is a very good day!”

Tuesday- Storytime at the library concluded with an art project

T.Puzzle said, “It was probably a little bit good.”  Apparently the quiet sitting and the craftiness were not truly his thing.

Wednesday- Pool time along with pizza from the Tiki Shack

T.Puzzle said, “This is probably a very awesome day!”

Thursday- bike ride to the park and playing hide and seek with Mom

T.Puzzle said, “I’m getting boring (referring to his boredom over the bike ride), when are we gonna be there?”  As for the rest he highly enjoyed himself.  Here’s a video of him ‘sharing’ a goldfish (his favorite snack) with his Dad.

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Friday- We had to stick around home as the laundry situation had reached emergency status.  While Mom tackled the laundry problem, there was still time to read some books together.

T.Puzzle said, “Friday was a really good day.”

I completely agree, except for the laundry part of course.