motherhood – Page 13 – Writes for all Mommies

Thankful: Why I Will Never be (C)lonely

22/11/2018 WFAM

The first time I held Full Speed, I had an out-of-body moment. A sense of calm filled me and a quiet understanding of love filled my heart. This fleeting moment of peace buoyed me through those first weeks of motherhood.

As family and friends paraded through our home excited to meet our firstborn, one theme remained constant, his eery physical similarity to Mad Dog. In fact, my mother would sometimes feel uncomfortable holding him because she had an unsettling feeling that she was actually holding Mad Dog. While she loved Mad Dog dearly as a son-in-law, she preferred an occasional polite hug to extended snuggling. Frankly, I was so tired I probably wouldn’t have noticed either way.

With Full Speed’s paternity clearly locked down, as the years passed, I wondered if he would ever resemble me in any capacity. Other than showing a penchant for writing, he almost is 100% Mad Dog. The upside of this is, whenever Mad Dog travels, I have an outstanding stand-in to keep me company. Lately as a bonus, he is even throwing in the exact behavior patterns of Mad Dog’s that sometimes drive me a little crazy. For instance, he cannot find things that are in plain sight, runs into counters and cabinets oftentimes knocking himself soundly in the head and he insists I did not tell him something when I absolutely did(!).

Thanks to you Full Speed, I will never be (c)lonely.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Just to clarify, Full Speed’s the one in glasses.

humor, motherhood

The World Needs Me

14/11/201814/11/2018 WFAM

I have only met a handful of neighbors on my street. When I walk my dogs, it is rare that I stop and chat with someone.

I admit, I’ve become complacent.

Over the weekend, dressed to the hilt in my pajamas, it was time to walk the dogs. I had on no make-up but did take the time to match my checkered pants to my hat and jacket. All Cubs-themed of course and super-chic. I knew I was pushing what is socially acceptable when T.Puzzle commented on my attire.

“Your pants are super baggy,” he said.

This should have given me pause because he never notices these things. But, it did not. I simply zipped up my coat and headed out of my house with confidence. I was certain my streak of not speaking to another person would remain alive.

I have never seen so many people in my life!

Of course, all of them wanted to talk to me or pet the dogs. And, I had to stand there like a normal person and own-up to my ridiculous outfit choice.

So, my advice to you is this; if you want to meet new people, proudly wear your pjs outdoors in the middle of the day.

Your neighbors will pour out their homes anxious to meet you and/or evaluate your mental status.

Long live pjs!

fullsizeoutput_5e — This is similarly awesome to the exact outfit I was wearing. I know what you are thinking, stop writing about motherhood and start writing a fashion blog. The world needs me.

motherhood

Already Here

07/11/2018 WFAM

As November amps up and we head at a dangerous clip towards the holiday season, I am taking a moment to count my blessings. Sure, when I sat down in front of my mighty laptop and writer’s block settled over me, I had no idea where this post would take me. For inspiration I scrolled through some older WFAMs and thankfully, I found writing that stands the test of time. Of course, the writer has evolved but the themes like love, self-acceptance and humor are the threads that remain consistent.

My boys are growing older and older and I don’t know what that means for the future. I don’t know how this blog will unfold as they set about making their way in the world.

What I know for sure is I am so grateful to have them in my life. I am grateful I have been here to watch them grow into fine, young men and I am grateful to have a husband that supports all of my writing endeavors.

It is quite possible I have reached the pinnacle of good fortune. Maybe this is where I stop trying so hard to be ‘more’ and simply savor the blessings already here.

children, humor, motherhood

‘G’ is for Good

31/10/2018 WFAM

It has come to my attention that all Hallmark movies have the same plot. While this isn’t completely shocking for me, it’s mildly annoying nonetheless. Not that the plots are eerily similar … no … this is what I love about them, it’s that I have a rather vocal family member who spouts off Hallmark spoiler alerts like it’s nobody’s business. It has gotten to the point that Full Speed can almost predict to the minute when the star-crossed lovers seemed doomed to be forever apart.

However, I do not need to hear it.

Hear that?

I DO NOT NEED TO HEAR IT.

I watch enough football, well, a loosely based version of what constitutes as ‘watching football’, and enough high-action dramas (seriously, how many explosions can one main character survive?) that as a reward, Hallmark movies are essentially my birthright.

You can take them or leave them but I’m telling you, if a Hallmark movie is rated ‘G’, it means it’s GOOD.

Deal with it.

From last Xmas. Oh, you better believe we are buying matching pjs again for the holiday season with Hallmark movies running on a non-stop loop. Deal with it.

children, motherhood

Well-Behaved?

24/10/201824/10/2018 WFAM

T.Puzzle swiped my phone from my grip. He clicked it open and scrolled through to his current grades. My attention remained on the road.

Traffic is no joke here.

“I got an ‘E’ in behavior. What does that mean?”

Full Speed and I shook our heads.

“Oh, man, T.Puzzle. If you think Dad was frustrated with me last night about geometry, wait until he hears this,” Full Speed said.

I chimed in. “Yep. ‘E’ is about the worst mark you can get for behavior.”

Honestly, neither of us had any idea what we were talking about. I had an inkling ‘E’ was a good thing. I figured no contact from his teachers meant he was staying on track. Still, being a new school with a different classification system, we couldn’t resist messing with T.Puzzle a little bit.

“Really?” T.Puzzle said.

His eyes scanned the screen for more information. “It says ‘E’ stands for exemplary. What does that mean?”

“Exemplary? Wow. This is really bad T.Puzzle. First it goes ‘O’ for outstanding, ‘S’ for satisfactory, ‘U’ for unsatisfactory and then waaaaay below that comes exemplary. Dad is going to lose his mind,” Full Speed said.

T.Puzzle kind of believed him and he kind of didn’t. However, he looked mighty relieved when I told him exemplary meant awesome.