Tag: family time

children, humor, kids, life in pictures, mommyhood, terrible threes

Only Child

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Over the weekend Mad Dog and I had the rare opportunity to spend some time with only T.Puzzle.  Full Speed went to Grandma’s and we kept T.Puzzle home.  He had a runny nose and we thought he shouldn’t be around the dogs at Grandma’s because he is so allergic to them.

Turns out, he rather enjoys being an ‘only’ child.  He behaved like an angel at the grocery and when we purchased him some popcorn chicken (the real kind, not the Mad Dog invented version), he held it to his chest so lovingly, you could almost see a shiny aura of goodness surround him.

When we got home, he said ‘Yes, ma’am!’ and ‘Yes, sir!’ to everything asked of him.

I’m wondering if the best solution to surviving the terrible threes is to only have one child in the home during this difficult period.

Any takers on Full Speed?

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children, mommyhood, tantrums, terrible threes

Mommy Instinct

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We happily survived our visiting nephews. There were some tense moments here and there, but overall, they are good kids. It is fun to talk to them and hear their ever-expanding take on the world around us.

The boys have a movie night with their cousins. Popcorn anyone?

Grandma and Grandpa picked all the boys up (T.Puzzle and Full Speed included) this morning and took them to church. With all the activity we’ve experienced in the past few weeks, my mommy-instinct was on high alert that little T.Puzzle needed to attempt a nap today. I tried to explain this as clearly as possible to Mad Dog who chose to politely ignore my warning. As we headed to pick up the boys, Mad Dog decides that this is the day he HAS to sync Grandma’s phone. A phone sync can be a long and tedious process. I knew, I mean really, really KNEW, we were running out of time concerning little T.Puzzle.

“Do the phone sync another day,” I urged. “T.Puzzle needs some rest time, pronto!”

It was like I wasn’t even talking. Mad Dog was convinced the phone sync would be fast and we’d get little T.Puzzle home soon enough (I strongly disagreed). Well over an hour later the phone was still backing up and little T.Puzzle’s mood had hit the danger zone.

So, when little T.Puzzle reached his inevitable level-10 meltdown, guess who had the honor of dealing with this disaster? (And it got very ugly, fast.)

Me.

Never doubt the mommy-instinct. Those who go against it inevitably will have an irate wife experiencing her own meltdown. Or something like that (insert your own worst nightmare here).

gratitude, happiness, mommyhood

Vacation from My Vacation

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I know you all can relate. Vacations are great but sometimes it would be nice to have a few ‘recovery’ days before heading back into your normal routine. Especially if your normal routine involves the likes of T.Puzzle and Full Speed.

My sister and her family are leaving tomorrow. We have been very lucky to get to spend so much time with them. It has felt nice to reconnect with my nieces and nephews. They are a great group of kids.

Here are some of the lessons I learned on this vacation:

1. No matter how much time or distance separates you from the people you care about, the love you have for them remains constant.
2. SPF 100 does not prevent sunburn on a Florida beach in the heart of July. Ouch and ouch!
3. When you are three and five (like my boys) having your cousins around to play with is tantamount to having cookies for breakfast or watching fireworks every night (which we did our three nights at Disney last week).
4. Some of my best vacation memories will be the simple ones. Quiet conversations with my ever evolving nieces, watching my oldest nephew bond with T.Puzzle and Full Speed, marveling that my littlest nephew finally lets me hold him without tears and soaking in the chaos that is my family and loving it.

Thanks for the memories…

All the gang at Bukkets Bar and Grill oceanside JAX Beach
children, mommyhood, parenting, terrible threes

Stubborn Streak

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Mad Dog surprised the family and came home early enough that we could all go to dinner. We picked the boys up and headed to eat pizza outside. Little T.Puzzle was feeling the unfortunate need to continuously test his limits and by the time dinner was over, Mad Dog had certainly reached his own kind of limit.

T.Puzzle was being difficult and wouldn’t get in the car. He kept locking his legs and simply refused to sit nicely in his car seat. In frustration Mad Dog says to him, “Do you want to go to Box Seats or do you want to go home and go to bed?”

T.Puzzle sticks out a defiant chin and replies, “I want to go home and go to bed.”

Yeah, right! My children and their stubborn streak never cease to amaze and baffle me.

I magnanimously offer to take little T.Puzzle home as I will gladly bypass the sports bar, video car-racing experience. However, both Mad Dog and T.Puzzle relent.

Shucks.

All I know is that if Mad Dog had asked me, I would have chosen to go home and stuck with it.

I guess I’m stubborn, too.

children, gratitude, parenting

All Mine

WFAM

I love baseball. My Mom loved baseball. So, to play baseball with my boys is pretty awesome. Mad Dog had purchased some whiffle balls, a bat and some cones for bases and we all took turns batting out in our cul-de-sac.

Of course the dream in my head of idylically playing America’s past-time did not quite match up to my reality. It was hard for the boys to take turns (make that impossible!),  T.Puzzle had to be in time-out three times, and then Full Speed was angry because T.Puzzle threw a ball at him.

It still was awesome.

It ain’t perfect but it’s all mine and I love it.