2012 August

Back to school – okay, now I’m ready!

August 30, 2012 By Steph 14 Comments

Last week, I wrote a post complaining about all the hassles that go along with back to school time. And while I do need to rejigger my brain in anticipation of inevitable craziness the school year will bring, there’s so much that I’m also looking forward to.

Obviously, my kids are driving me nuts and I can’t wait to get them out of the house. It’s been a rough August. So, that I am clearly looking forward to. But more than just getting them out of the house, I’m looking forward to getting them back into a schedule.

You know what they say: an idle mind is the devil’s workshop. That is certainly true when it comes to my boys. For the past month, since camp has ended, all they’ve wanted to do is go next door to play video games in a dark basement.

Not a huge fan of this activity, I’ve been trying to keep them busy. But it’s not been going well. I offer to take them to the movies; one wants to go and the other doesn’t. I offer to take them to the park; one wants to go and the other doesn’t. Or, they both agree to some activity or another, we do it, then we get home and they’re immediately bored. So to the dark basement they go. Too drained at this point to do anything else about it, I let them.

But during the school year, between school and all their after school activities, we are rarely idle. I am looking forward to reengaging their little bodies and brains in productive and healthy activities.

I’m also looking forward to watching Mr. A, my 9-year old, play soccer and baseball. Sure, it can be a grind. But there’s little that compares to the feeling of watching him pitch a great game or score a goal for his team.

I’m looking forward to watching D-Man, my almost 8-year old, continue to come out of his shell. He’s not always the most confident of souls. (hmmm… where does he get that from?) But with each new friend he makes and with each new skill he learns, he becomes more self-assured. I enjoy seeing his face light up when he talks about something great that happened to him in school that day or how he now knows how to do math like his big brother.

Then there’s me. I’ve become quite lazy over the summer. I’ve been sleeping till 8:00 or later. I haven’t’ stepped foot into the gym. I’ve been eating like it’s my last day on earth. So for my own well being, I’m looking forward to getting myself back into a schedule. No more excuses.

I am looking forward to taking conference calls in peace—without having to put my phone on mute every two minutes to yell at my kids.

I’m looking forward to being able write more. Where it will take me, who knows. But it makes me happy, so writing I will do.

Mostly, I am looking forward to a change in scenery. While I love summer and the carefree lifestyle it brings, I’m ready for something new. I’m ready to have some new life infused into my family. I’m ready for some new experiences.

So, school year… here we come. I’m so ready!

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Filed Under: Mom's Musings Tagged With: back to school, back to school time, benefits of going back to school, kids going back to school

Chock Full of Funny

August 28, 2012 By Steph 14 Comments

Each week, I link up to Finding The Funny hosted by My Life and Kids and Kelley’s Break Room. Not only do these two chicks crack me up on a regular basis, their link-up attracts some of the funniest posts around. And this week, I got to choose my favorites.

Let me tell ya, there are some really funny, creative, engaging bloggers out there. I had so much fun reading these posts and had a really hard time narrowing down my favorites. And of course I feel badly that I wasn’t able to choose more, but I had to stop somewhere.

All that said, here goes… my favorites from last week:

As The Dollhouse Turns by Hollow Tree Ventures - What a hysterical take on a visit with mommy-in-law. Who would have thought dolls could be so interesting — and passive aggressive?
She’s Not Psychotic, She’s 16 by Forever 51 - This post has me feeling relieved that I have boys. Not sure I’d have the wherewithal to have conversations like these with a teenage girl!
The Perfect Country Song by Just Keepin It Real, Folks! - This is pure brilliance at work here, ladies and gents. This funny blogger took the recent trials and tribulations of country star Randy Travis and made them into a hysterical country song. Check this one out!
Teen Tales And Then It Went Bang by Your Doctor’s Wife – In this unique post, Emma used photos and videos to tell a hysterical story about her teenage son’s quest (and subsequent failure) to build a super computer. Check out the YouTube video in this post. It’s great!
From Bad to Worse by There’s More Where That Came From – This poor woman has had some recent unfortunate luck with her cars. In this post, she recounts phone conversations she had with her husband and her adjuster regarding the latest automotive mishap. This Chiquita makes me laugh!

So there you have it — my favorites from Finding The Funny.

Thanks, Kelley and Anna for having me this week.

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Two Truths And A Lie
I Can’t Stop This Train
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Filed Under: Mom's Musings

I am a work in progress

August 26, 2012 By Steph 14 Comments

Sometimes, I lack confidence. Sometimes, I beat myself up for not being better at something or for not handling certain situations with more grace or for not achieving some great accomplishment in life.

But then I remind myself that I am not today, nor will I ever be, perfect. Nobody is.

As I grow older, my list of successes grows, as does my list of failures.

Each time I fall down, I know there is a lesson to be learned.

Each time I stand tall, I am reminded of how good I can really be.

I am not a perfect mother. I make a lot of mistakes. But with every hug I give, with every lesson I teach, with every knee I bandage, I am getting better every day.

I am not a perfect wife. I am not always the kindest that I can be. But with every expression of support, with every act of compromise, with every gesture of affection, I am getting better every day.

I am not a gourmet chef or a master gardner or a brilliant writer. But with a little perseverance and a lot of practice, I am getting better every day.

I don’t always know where I’m headed in life. But I try to remember that each step I take, regardless of its direction, is leading me down my true path.

This is what I tell myself in moments of doubt and weakness.

I am not today, nor will I ever be perfect.

I am a work in progress.

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For more like this, see my reflective posts.

Filed Under: Mom's Musings Tagged With: making mistakes, nobody's perfect, self confidence, self esteem, self improvement

Back to school… Ain’t all it’s cracked up to be!

August 23, 2012 By Steph 8 Comments

In two weeks my kids will be back in school. While I am delighted at the thought of regaining some level of peace in my house (and in my head), I am finding that there is more that I am dreading than looking forward to:

The morning routine. This usually starts with an argument about what constitutes a healthy breakfast, followed by an argument about what I am to pack them for snack, followed by multiple arguments about brushing teeth, brushing hair and getting dressed.

The search for the missing shoe. Every single day we have an incident with a missing shoe. Yes, we have a shoe tray where all the shoes are supposed to go. But we also have a golden retriever who likes to pick up random shoes and bring them to undisclosed parts of the house.

It’s no biggie when we’re living the life of leisure in the summer. Hell, half the time nobody even bothers to wear shoes in the summer. But when we’re rushing out the door for school, nothing frustrates me more than a single missing shoe! Frankly, I’d rather the whole pair go missing.

Homework. There is no part of homework that I enjoy. Yeah, I know it’s how they learn… blah, blah, blah. But it’s also the cause of the majority of the fights in my house between September and June.

The constant search for a sharpened pencil. Our homework troubles usually begin with never being able to find one single sharpened pencil anywhere in the house.

The bedtime routine. My kids require me to lie down with them at night. While I do enjoy it and I know it will only be a matter of time before they no longer want me, it is a hassle. We have a whole routine that must be adhered to. And Hubs is NEVER part of it.

Paperwork. OH, the paperwork! I hate doing anything that requires any form of handwriting. And for some ungodly reason, the huge stack of forms we’re required to fill out for school comes home to us the old fashioned way: via their backpack. Seriously, in this day and age is there really no mechanism for performing this menial task online? Aren’t we supposed to be going green? Wouldn’t it be great if last year’s information was saved and therefore pre-populated into this year’s forms, eliminating the need to rewrite the same crap over and over again. Geeze, my hand is hurting just thinking about it.

Back to the gym. Over the summer, I’ve become “soft and mushy,” to quote my precious 9yo. My 20 year high school reunion is coming up and I need to get my giggly ass back into shape. Oh and by the way, I hate working out.

The other moms. I am lucky… I have a ton of mom friends that I talk to when I drop off and pick up my kids from school. But there are a few (you know the type) who grab a hold of my ear and never let it go. This is the mom who will go down the laundry list of the things their kid did or will do that day, followed by a ten minute monologue about some spectacular feat this child recently accomplished, topped off by what they will eat for dinner that night. Yes, this I dread.

Activity after activity after activity. Starting in September, we will return to the jugging act of after school activities. Between tae kwon do (black belt testing coming up soon, which means even more classes), soccer, baseball, homework, required reading, extra credit reading and dinner, I’ll be lucky to make it to bedtime in one piece (emotionally speaking).

Forking over tons of cash for unexpected but inevitable crap. Think about it… it adds up: Lunch money, milk money (yes these two things are separate expenses in our school), PTA membership fees, classroom collections for teacher gifts and parties, class pictures, soccer pictures, baseball pictures, field trip fees, etc… When will I stop being surprised at these little expenses?

I can’t wait till my kids get back into school and out of my hair. But I dread all the nonsense that goes along with back to school time.

What do you dread about this time of year?

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Filed Under: Mama's Sanity, Mom's Musings Tagged With: back to school, hassle with back to school

You Swore You’d Never Do THAT!

August 20, 2012 By Steph 17 Comments

Before your kids were born, you had an idea in your head of what kind of parent you’d be — you know, cool, hip, all-knowing, etc… You’d look at other parents in judgement as they did things you swore you’d never do.

Then you became a parent and all your preconceived notions went out the window.

1. Back then… you’d become irritated every time your friends called you up just so you could hear their baby coo. Now here you are… so awestruck by your baby’s ability to gurgle on queue that you feel the need to share it with everybody you know, including your single, childless friends.

2. Back then… you believed that anyone who’d allow their 1-year old to suck on a pacifier should be reported to the American Academy of Dentistry. Now here you are… watching your 2-year old soothe himself to sleep by the gentle sucking motion of his favorite binky.

3. Back then… you thought a minivan was the most uncool vehicle on the planet. Now here you are… luxuriating in your 8-person kid mobile, enjoying the automatic sliding doors, the wide screen DVD player and all the awesome storage compartments.

4. Back then… you’d become violently ill at the sight and sound of Barney and his freakishly creepy friends. Now here you are… praising his name as you hastily turn to PBS, while your kids scream and cry only to be consoled by the annoying purple dinosaur.

5. Back then… you’d look on in complete annoyance as parents let their kids thrown earsplitting tantrums right in the middle of the grocery store. Now here you are… ignoring your inconsolably upset child (and those around you) in an effort to teach him that screaming bloody murder won’t win him that candy bar.

Having kids turns even the coolest of people into versions of themselves they never knew was in them. It’s an inevitable fact of parenthood.

How about you? What did you swear you’d never do?

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Filed Under: Mom's Musings Tagged With: life with kids, Parenting, what happens after kids