motherhood – Page 44 – Writes for all Mommies

children, family, humor, kids, motherhood, parenting

Winner Takes it All

17/02/2013 WFAM

In recent months I have made the conscious choice to try to see the bright side of parenting. Most days I do a pretty good job of staying positive and counting my blessings. And, most days my boys give me plenty of reasons to do so. This weekend however, I couldn’t muster the strength to keep this positivity thing going. I live in a culture of competition. Literally, everything is a competition. My boys can turn the art of teeth brushing into a competitive sport. Combine this with the way they handle losing (badly is putting it extremely mildly) and it’s a lot to handle. And let’s just say Mad Dog’s win-at-all-costs mentality only seems to stoke my boys’ fire. When a family trivia game turned into an all-out meltdown, I was about ready to throw in the towel. In that moment of seeing Full Speed rage about not knowing an answer to a question, it made me realize finding something positive was going to be a real challenge for me.

If I’ve learned anything over the past years it’s that winners don’t quit. We may get knocked down, we may have our dreams of a quiet family game night dashed, but we always get back up, get that game board back out and throw down.

Maybe winning is everything.

Sure, they are all sweet and adorable until they,... aren't. — Sure, they are all sweet and adorable until they,… aren’t.

children, family, humor, kids, motherhood, parenting

Goals (Soccer and Otherwise)

11/02/2013 WFAM

Children are some of our greatest teachers. Young children especially have this wonderful ability to start each day confident in who they are. They embrace every aspect of themselves and express every emotion they feel. As we grow older, it is easy to lose this confidence. Soon, we find ourselves so worried about what the world will think of us, that we begin to filter they way we speak and the way we act. We opt for fitting in as opposed to being who we really are.

I decided enough is enough. For one day I was going to use my boys as my example and I was going to speak and act what was really in my heart. We attended a U.S. Women’s soccer game and instead of being calm and cool in the presence of these incredible athletes, I by all accounts lost it. I was so overcome with excitement by being within feet of my role models, that I screamed and yelled as if my life depended on it.

When I was a kid, there weren’t a lot of female athletes to look up to on a national level. To be given the opportunity to see in person, the women I cheered on to Olympic gold last summer was awesome. Watching women play at this level and intensity makes me feel like anything is possible. Gender, age, you name it, nothing should hold us back. If Abby Wambach, my favorite player, can be only six goals shy of breaking Mia Hamm’s all-time record, what can I do with my day? What can I do with my life?

Abby Wambach on the move...! — Abby Wambach on the move…!

I cannot tell you how great it felt to express every ounce of emotion and joy I was feeling. Trust me, kids have got this stuff figured out. There is something magical about feeling something and expressing it the exact instant you feel it with no holds barred.

All three of my boys enjoyed the 4-1 victory over Scotland.

For today, allow yourself to be inspired by something. Let go, be yourself and trust me, all your goals will seem within reach.

GO USA!!

children, family, humor, kids, motherhood, parenting

On Fire

04/02/2013 WFAM

As we were leaving Grandma and Grandpa’s last night I hurried the boys along. I wanted to make sure we got home in time to watch the halftime show of the Super Bowl. Mad Dog said to the boys, “You can stay up and watch BeyoncÃ© and maybe the start of the second half.”

“What’s a BeyoncÃ©?” asked a clearly perplexed T.Puzzle.

We figured once he watched her perform, he would understand. I mean how can you define a BeyoncÃ© anyway?

I don’t know what was more entertaining to watch, while the Destiny’s Child reunion was pretty awesome, the look of dazed wonder on my boys’ faces as BeyoncÃ© shimmied and shook across the stage was entertainment in and of itself. They didn’t quite grasp what was happening and then Full Speed got extremely concerned when flames shot from the stage.

“Fire on the stage is very dangerous,” he said sternly. He looked worried that BeyoncÃ© could burst into flames at any moment.

Give it a few more years and something tells me the boys won’t need flames to think BeyoncÃ© is hot. Right now, I’m going to appreciate that fire safety is more attention-getting for them than her shaking booty.

As for Mad Dog’s take on the show, for his own reasons for personal safety, he never shared them out loud.

children, family, humor, kids, mommyhood, motherhood, parenting

Brain Washed

29/01/2013 WFAM

In the past I have dedicated entire posts to the ‘Mommy-Brain Phenomenon’. You don’t even need to be a parent to reach this level of scattered thought. All that is required are adult-sized responsibilities, lots of them and no personal assistant to guide you.

I can admit that I do my share of forgetful things. Last week I read a text wrong from Grandma and wasn’t there for my boys’ school pick-up (turns out she was getting them the NEXT day). Thank goodness for my brother-in-law who graciously saved the day and brought my guys home for me. I misplace things, can’t finish a thought and at times, baffle store clerks as I forget to sign-off on my credit card or hit the wrong button repeatedly. I hope you can relate. And if you can’t, please don’t tell me. Then again, I’d probably forget what you said to me anyway.

So, today, when Full Speed pulled his homework folder out and showed me this week’s packet while standing in our entry, it was a mystery to me when he couldn’t locate it five minutes later. If I hadn’t actually laid eyes on it, I would have thought he left it at school. I had seen it, so it had to be here.

We searched all the common sense places like the desk and in the car. Then we started getting more creative. We looked under the grandfather clock, in the bathroom (thank goodness it didn’t turn up by the toilet!) and in the pantry.

We could not find it anywhere. I started to doubt myself. Had I imagined him holding his homework packet? Had I completely succumbed to Mommy-Brain?

Then, it dawned on me. He had won a cup at school for successfully reaching a milestone in a reading program. I had asked him to put it in the dishwasher and….

He couldn’t have hidden better if he tried.

children, family, humor, kids, motherhood, parenting

I Tink I Would Like to Change Now

24/01/2013 WFAM

One of the challenges of being a stay-at-home or work-at-home parent is finding the motivation to be presentable to the outside world. It’s even harder for me because the two people who see me the most, Full Speed and T.Puzzle, could care less what I look like. It doesn’t matter if I spend two minutes or two hours on my appearance, they think I look exactly the same. I actually appreciate this about them because it helps me remember in our appearance-focused culture, that what we look like really isn’t why our loved ones care about us.

On most days, I make at least a small amount of effort to put myself together. Granted, 90% of the time I’m in work-out gear but at least it is color coordinated, almost obsessively so, and I actually work-out.

This morning I did something I seldom do. I decided that I would drive the boys to school in my pjs. They thought this was absolutely hilarious. Frankly, I was surprised they even noticed. I figured we would get there early, as usual, and no one would be the wiser.

Wouldn’t you know it? The school PRINCIPAL was on duty helping kids get out of their cars. She rarely is on drop-off duty and to make matters worse, she was as early as could be. So much for going unnoticed. Never in my life did my Tinkerbell pajama pants taunt me so loudly. At least my hair was combed,… well, kind of combed.

I did the only thing I could do. I told the boys to use their manners, give her direct eye contact and wish her a good morning. My strategy was to disarm her with their adorable manners. Adorable manners are very powerful. She greeted us warmly and sent the boys on their way.

The moral of the story is, if you are going to wear pajamas to school drop-off, make sure at least your hair is combed, at least moderately so, and pray your school’s faculty are fans of your Disney character-themed pants.