Category: motherhood

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.

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

Birthday with a Bite

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A lady doesn’t share her that it’s her birthday unless she’s shopping at a shoe store that offers a birthday discount.  Then she will shout it from the highest mountain top if needed.

So, my birthday was the thirteenth.  As you can tell I was pretty psyched for my $5 off birthday coupon at the shoe store.  Before I went shopping I had a lovely breakfast with my boys.  I told them that some of the best presents I had were their Dad and the two of them.  I said that I was very lucky to have two of the best sons in the whole world. 

“I love you no matter what,” I said.

“Even if we bite somebody?” asked T.Puzzle.

T.Puzzle has an unfortunate history of biting.  I would like to say it’s a phase but if something last three years and has yet to stop, that’s more likely a life habit (life sentence?) than a phase. 

I didn’t hesitate to reply to him yet it pained me ever so.

“Yes, T.Puzzle.   I love you even if you bite somebody.”

Unless you bite me! 

 Did I say that out loud?

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

The Two Mouseketeers

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Posing in front of the Disney Dream

There comes a time in your life when you finally understand that while you may not always get what you think you want, you end up with exactly what you need.

This blog about motherhood has always been my attempt to make sense of what it means to raise two active and highly spirited boys.  I have learned that while I may never totally understand their temperaments, they are pretty amazing exactly the way they are.  There is great freedom and beauty in this acceptance.

I have never appreciated their personalites more than I did on our Disney Cruise over the Labor Day weekend.  It was an absolute blast.  The boys and their phenomenal energy and spirit only enhanced the experience.  Well, except for the few times we were confined to our cabin.  At these points, I may have appreciated considerably less energy as would any rational human being.  Despite the slightly cramped quarters, the whole cruise was fantastic.  And best of all?  I got to bring home two of the best Mouseketeers any Mom could hope for.

children, humor, mommyhood, motherhood, parenting

The Long and the Shorts of It

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Sometimes all a Mom wants is a morning off from having to supervise her children getting dressed.  Even though I try to lay out the boys’ clothes the night before, there are times an intervention is needed.  I had left Mad Dog in charge of the morning routine and as walked in the living room I stopped short.  I mean I stopped because I saw Full Speed’s shorts.  Full Speed had on T.Puzzle’s clothes and vice versa.  Not only did Full Speed’s shorts hug his little booty in a very form-fitting manner, the shirt he had on barely came to his waist.  As for T.Puzzle in his oversized ensemble, he resembled a miniature gangster.

I asked Mad Dog if he noticed that the boys were in the wrong clothes.

“Hey, you leave me in charge and about all I can promise is that they will be alive when you get back,” he replied.  Apparently anything else goes.

So, as I headed upstairs I hoped that when I returned, the clothes situation would be sorted out and each boy would be in shorts that actually fit him.  This was mostly true.  The shorts were correct and even their shirts were properly switched.  However, on closer inspection I realized that Full Speed’s shirt was on inside out.

Thankfully, above all else, he was still safely alive.

children, humor, kids, mommyhood, motherhood, parenting

The Calm Before Normal

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T.Puzzle was unusually calm this morning.  As we entered his school he quietly walked up to the receptionist and said ‘good morning’.  He stood placidly in place as I signed the attendance binder.

After I had dropped him off and was getting ready to leave, the receptionist commented on his demeanor this morning.  I said he didn’t quite seem himself.

It is rather telling if my child acts ‘normal’ or ‘calm’ that it is immediately assumed something is amiss.

Will the day come when rowdiness is the new normal?  If so, I will be on easy street.