grief, loss of parent, self-discovery

Mother’s Day

WFAM

I’m not too keen on celebrating Mother’s Day this year since I no longer have a mother. To counteract my sad little funk I thought I would share a couple of fun pics of my Mom.

This first photo is of her enjoying our last, big family trip to Disney World. The background is dark because we were in the tunnels of ‘It’s a Small World’. She’s smiling because my boys were so into it and because she was happy. Happy to have so many loved ones in one place.

The second is a fun photo of her by a Ben and Jerry’s sign. Ice cream, hot dogs and baseball were possibly the only things she loved almost as much as her family. You could always keep her happy with a turtle sundae or a cone filled with butter pecan.

So, today is Mother’s Day. If you are a Mom I celebrate you for doing one of the hardest jobs in the world. If you still have a Mom, give her a call, a card or a present of thanks. Enjoy your day!

children, life in pictures, mommyhood

No Help

WFAM

Every parent of young children knows that the hours from about three p.m. until roughly seven or eight p.m. (assuming your children go to bed at a decent time) is a tough stretch of the day. Especially if your kids are super active (like mine) and you already have had an extremely busy day.

I turned and asked Mad Dog, ” What are we doing with the rest of our day?”

He didn’t have a good answer and then proceeded to fall fast sleep.

Not helping, not helping at all.

children, mommyhood, tantrums

Scream

WFAM

So, I’m attempting to get my act together in the cooking realm of motherhood. Since the nights I take the boys to Tae Kwon Do are so hectic, I need to plan ahead and start creating crockpot meals. The one I used this week was simple, tasty and I will make it again. The main components were all things the boys enjoy separately (broccoli, chicken, cheesy noodles) but little T.Puzzle was having a hard time with them being all mixed together. He refused to eat, threw a tantrum and was eventually so out-of-control, had to be sent to his room. He proceeds to tantrum on for a solid twenty minutes.

As the screams are winding down I head upstairs to talk to him. I open the door and ask “are you done screaming?” He calms instantly and says, “I wasn’t screaming (which he says as ‘creaming and I find to be aggravatingly adorable), I was yelling.”

“Well, are you done yelling?”

“Yes.”

I’m so glad that semantically we were on the same page. Now if only we could see eye to eye on eating quietly at the table…

children, gratitude, happiness, mommyhood

Cute Kid

WFAM

As little T.Puzzle is passionately fighting to be independent, he’s had some serious behavioral infractions and a series of time-outs and tantrums. These have all been meticulously documented by me on this very blog. I thought maybe I would share some good stuff so I don’t get stuck in a woe-is-me rut and T.Puzzle can only partially blame me for his possible future emotional dysfunction. And, I wanted to do it because sometimes this kid can be really, really cute.

The first picture is of him playing in the sand at a nearby park. My friend and her baby walked with us there. Little T.Puzzle tried to act as if my friend was his personal assistant. He immediately starts ordering her around and telling her where to put the water, the bucket, etc. He is very directive just like his brother and father before him. And you wonder why I have issues? Anyway, he had a blast and he was a lot of fun to watch as he attacked the sand with gusto. My friend was gracious and patient with him as always (thank you!).

This second picture shows that even though he craves independence, he doesn’t ever like to be left alone even if I’m only in the next room. On the days it’s the two of us, he follows me from room to room about 90% of our day. Here he is playing with his beloved Thomas the Train at my feet while I blog. He knows enough to leave Mommy alone when she’s typing but there are times he still manages to put his feet (yes, his feet not his hands) or his Thomas the Train on the keyboard just to make sure Mommy is paying attention.

This third one is to show how marvelous his dimples are! I mean with a smile like that, this kid could get away with just about anything.

I posted these pics to remind myself tantrums and/or aggressive behavior do not ultimately define my little T.Puzzle. They are just a small part of him and all the other parts like tenacity, creativity and zest for life are pretty spectacular.

Love you, little T.Puzzle!

children, mommyhood, self-discovery

Why??

WFAM

This is my pet peeve; telling me you don’t have to use the bathroom when asked point blank and then five minutes later announcing you have reached emergency bathroom status. Both boys were in the truck and we were on our way to Tae Kwon Do. We were running late and Full Speed exclaims “I really have to pee!”

Like a fool I start to argue with him (meaning why reason with someone who is five years old and who is just doing their best at existence?). “Why didn’t you say you had to go when we were in your class not FIVE minutes ago? Why did you wait until I have you both buckled in to tell me you had to go? Did your need to pee really increase that much from there to here? Did it? DID IT?”

Full Speed looks confused and highly uncomfortable by my angry questioning. I get a grip and stop asking. I make a snap decision. My decided upon plan could go flawlessly or let’s just say there would be a ‘contaminated area’ in the back of my truck, we’d have to skip Tae Kwon Do and spend the rest of our evening sanitizing Full Speed and his car seat. I hop in the front seat and for me (which isn’t very), drive aggressively the two minutes to Tae Kwon Do. I pull up to the studio, heave the bag of all their stuff over my shoulder, grab the boys and we race at top speed (which is more like speed walking in a rickety fashion) and manage to get Full Speed to the bathroom without incident (he also thankfully did not lock himself in there).

No matter how many questions I ask in the hopes of changing what is unchangeable, the answer remains the same; boys will be boys and their Mom will drink cocktails.