motherhood – Page 39 – Writes for all Mommies

children, gratitude, humor, kids, motherhood, parenting

Summer Vacation Highlights

07/08/2013 WFAM

1. On our trip up north, Full Speed showed us some genuine gratitude. We were all set to get him a soccer t-shirt while we attended the USMNT‘s Gold Cup Championship game at Soldier Field. He was so thankful to be attending the game, that he politely declined. He said being at the game was more than enough. Needless to say, he got a t-shirt anyway. I would have gotten him a car, too. I basically would have gotten him anything he wanted.

2. Even though T.Puzzle continues to insist on asserting his independence from me, when he won 1000 tickets at an arcade, he rushed to tell me all about it. I guess maybe he hasn’t outgrown his Mom after all. That’s a relief. Seriously.

3. We did lots of spectacular things this summer especially in Chicago. Watching the men’s team win the Gold Cup, eating on the 95th floor of the Hancock, riding the ferris wheel and a surrey bike at Navy Pier and carriage ride at night downtown just to name a few. Out of all these things, some of my favorite moments were the ones where conversations with my nieces and my boys would unexpectedly flow. Sure, we were experiencing unique and awesome events, but the true wonder was simply being together.

Too bad summer can’t last forever.

children, humor, kids, motherhood, parenting

Stomach Trouble

24/07/2013 WFAM

There’s something about raising stubbornly defiant boys that leaves you a little scarred. Yes, they’ve matured and yes, there has been tremendous growth in their public behavior. However, T.Puzzle is still testing the waters of maturity. He absolutely has improved a lot behavior wise and because of this, my trust in his choices is tentatively growing. This trust is shaky and it doesn’t take much for me to jump to the worst conclusions.

Today, when his basketball camp coach pulled me aside, my heart froze just a little. In a matter of seconds my mind raced to a myriad of scenarios. Maybe he finally injured someone in his rather ungraceful attempts to steal the ball. Maybe he lost control and karate kicked an instructor in the leg. Maybe he screamed, cried and threw the mother of all tantrums.

No. It wasn’t any of these. He claimed his stomach hurt and needed to sit out a drill or two (my guess is they were ones he didn’t really like anyway.).

I rejoiced. Yay! My son has gastrointestinal issues!

After I regained composure, I felt slightly guilty that I was so pleased he felt unwell. Thankfully, the guilt was as fleeting as T.Puzzle’s imagined stomach upset.

children, humor, kids, motherhood, parenting

Camp Champs

16/07/2013 WFAM

It’s no secret I am coping with summer by having the boys in every variety of camp. They’ve already been in soccer, basketball and a full-day camp (my personal fave). This week they’ve headed off to an afternoon Lego camp. Generally speaking, T.Puzzle has a much more laid-back attitude about camps and life overall. He’s happy wherever he goes and maintains it. Full Speed, he’s a little slower to warm up to new camps and ideas.

Out of all the camps, the full day one was the toughest sell for Full Speed. I’m guessing because they did things that weren’t competitive that it really started to irk him. He sees no value in singing silly songs or crafting because at the end of it no one ‘wins’. That’s why when Full Speed won Camper of the Day I was extremely pleased. Somehow I know for him achieving this accolade made the entire week-long experience worthwhile.

Full Speed shows off his Camper of the Day certificate.

As for T.Puzzle? He honestly was happy throughout the whole entire thing. Crafting? Loved it. Singing songs? He could do it all day long and then some. Swimming? He is a complete fish in the water. However, after Full Speed won his Camper of the Day award, I could tell that T.Puzzle was kind of wistful for one of his own.

Full Speed explained in simple terms how to get this honor. “All you have to do is listen really well and behave all day long and then you’ll get it, T.Puzzle.”

T.Puzzle shook his head defeatedly, “Well, that doesn’t really help me, Full Speed.”

It must have been his great attitude or his awesome dimples because he pulled out Camper of the Day on their very last day. Who needs perfect behavior when you are this darn cute?

children, humor, kids, motherhood, parenting

Mall Nirvana

09/07/201331/01/2018 WFAM

As a Mom of two extremely energetic boys, I’ve had to make some adjustments in my day-to-day living. I’ve learned to avoid certain places, discipline like nobody’s business and at times, pretend I’m not related to them. It’s only recently that I’ve grown the courage to take my boys to the library on a regular basis. For a long time I was certain we were on the library ‘watch list’. I feared as soon as we crossed the threshold, we would be intercepted by library security.

Having successfully conquered my fear of libraries, stores, doctor’s offices, etc., I didn’t give it a second thought when I needed to run an errand in the mall with the boys in tow. As soon as we walked in, I had serious pause.

They were awestruck.

They were blown away by the sights and sounds. They begged to ride on the escalator. Full Speed almost passed out from joy when he was given a pretzel sample. T.Puzzle stared longingly as the miniature trained chugged past him. They wanted to go in every store. They wanted to eat at every restaurant. Then it dawned on me, it had been years since I had braved the mall with them.

What else have I sheltered them from without even knowing it? When they go to college, will they know how to act in socially acceptable ways? On the bright side, they may forego wild parties for a rockin’ time at the nearest Food Court.

children, family, humor, kids, motherhood, parenting

The Art of Raising Boys

28/06/2013 WFAM

As I navigate the sometimes choppy waters of raising boys, I’m often left wondering if I’m a balanced disciplinarian. There’s a fine line between boys just being boys and blatantly disrespectful behavior. I don’t want to live my life as Captain of the ‘No-Fun-Ever’ Police, but I also don’t want my boys to run wild. I never know if I’m getting it right.

Here’s a list of common behaviors that fall into a gray area and how I view them.

1. Wrestling constantly with your brother usually in a light-hearted manner. ACCEPTABLE

2. Yanking your brother’s glasses off his face while wrestling and tossing them across the room. UNACCEPTABLE

3. Passing gas on command and cracking up endlessly. Depends on the context and thankfully, it’s rare, so I usually let this one slide. Do I understand the hilarity of it? Never.

4. Thinking you are AWESOME at everything. ACCEPTABLE

5. Smacking your booty every time you complete a math problem on the computer. To clarify, only T.Puzzle does this. I think it’s crazy and I do my best to ignore it. At least he’s doing something academic, right?

6. Arguing when told to do something. Unequivocally UNACCEPTABLE. This issue alone is the main reason my boys have come to know time-out and consequences intimately.

7. Crying or having a terrible attitude when you lose. UNACCEPTABLE

8. The weird inability to pay attention to what I tell them to do. As soon as a direction has left my mouth, I usually am asked 27 detailed, repetitive questions about what I just said. As long as they comply with a good attitude, I chalk it up to that male quality that renders them deaf to the sound of female voices.

9. Being averse to hugs and kisses from their Mom. UNACCEPTABLE They have to suck it up. Just like I know they won’t change some aspects of who they are, neither will I. Full Speed is politely resigned to my affections. T.Puzzle is a little more squirmily defiant. Either way, it’s happening.

10. Giving corrective feedback. Well, if I married Mad Dog, the king of subtle, corrective feedback (an influencing genius if you will), then, can I really be shocked his boys share this trait? I usually let it slide but if they catch me on a bad day, all bets are off. For some reason, I’m much less open to Mad Dog’s feedback than the boys’. Go figure.

I hope one day that my boys will be parents. Ideally, they will have only girls and will be as confused as I am.