Boys and Their Guns

June 21, 2012 at 3:43 pm (Uncategorized)
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You have heard of the saying, “Boys will be boys.” Well, my 4 yr old is a boy’s boy. He loves cars, dirt, making messes, wrestling, and making his momma crazy. Now added to the list, is pretending he is shooting everything in sight. When I say everything, I’m talking me, the wall, TV, his sister, the sky, and strangers. I can play dumb and act like “I have no idea where he gets this from,” but the truth is I know exactly where he gets it from. No matter how much we have tried to not allow our children to watch people shooting each other, there have been times when we are watching a movie while the kids are playing in the other room and just when someone’s head is about to get blown off, here comes the innocent little man up behind the couch saying, “what happened to him Mommy?” Does he come in the room during the other times when nothing bad is going on? Of course not, kids have a way of showing up in the exact moment you don’t want them to. So based on past experiences, we don’t watch those kinds of shows while the kids are around, or if we do, we make sure they are locked away in a dungeon somewhere. (I kid) Then there are times when we finally sit down after a long day thinking the kiddos are asleep, watch Games of Thrones, where people are getting stabbed and things are happening you kind of wish you didn’t know about, and then BAM, you hear your little sweet boy ask, “Why’s it all red Mommy?” Your boy sneaked out of his bedroom and is laying on the floor upstairs where you cannot see him, right smack in plain sight of the TV! So great, you think you’ve scarred him for life because God only knows how long he has been watching. Now you realize you cannot watch anything else but Yo Gabba Gabba until he is 18, basically your life is over. (by the way, anyone else think that show is creepy?) So now he likes to build “guns” with his blocks, position his fingers to “shoot” things, and wants me to buy him a gun. I don’t know what is the right thing to do:  1) ignore it, 2) put him in time out for “shooting” his sister, 3) quickly tell him to not do that, or 4) give up and buy him an AK 47. This used to not be a big deal, kids used to play “Cowboys and Indians and  Bankers and Robbers,” but times have changed. Just like we don’t ride in the back of a pickup truck going 60 mph on the freeway and fight over who is going to ride the “hump,” or lay out in the sun without any sunblock and burn till you look like a lobster, we know better now. Studies show that kids who watch violent shows, videos, etc… at a young age have a tendency to become aggressive and violent as they become older. It probably takes more than watching a few clips of shoot em ups to get this way and there are other factors that come into play, but I can’t help thinking if I am being overly sensitive about this or if I should send the message that “shooting” people although it is just pretend, is not okay. I know guns don’t kill people, people kill people, and blah blah, and I have no problem if he wants to shoot a gun one day, but at an appropriate age and in an appropriate environment. So I tell him that it isn’t nice to “shoot” at people, he responds with “Why Mommy?” or “no, Mommy, it’s not a gun, it is a water hose.” See how they turn it around on you?
Maybe I’m worrying too much (Moms do that), because his innocence is still there and probably won’t disappear until puberty (then I’ll run for the hills). He comes up to me and gives me a kiss for no reason, always asks if I’m ok when I hurt myself, makes sure he gets his sister a cup of water before he gets himself one, and wants me to hold his hand and hug him for “5 more minutes Mommy,” before he goes to sleep. Hopefully, this is a normal phase and it will pass, but now I have  an additional problem: my darling 2-year-old girl has started to get into the “shooting” action and likes to “shoot” me too, but she does it with a wink. What  is that all about? Is she trying to send me a hidden message? 

Should I worry or just let this phase pass?
Tell me your thoughts, I’d love to hear them! (as long as I agree with them- jk!)

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Time-Out Thursday/Thank you “Goddamn” Dora

March 22, 2012 at 2:36 pm (Uncategorized)
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For those of you not aware, there is a much-needed twitter account, @goddamndora.  I think this person read all parent’s minds who have had to endure Dora or other annoying characters on TV.  (Caillou anyone?)  I have been resistant from the start about Dora.  Who is this chica and why do her parents let her go “exploring” with just a backpack, a monkey with ugly red boots, who has to worry about a creepy fox that steals sh*t?  I do not like the fact that she speaks Spanglish, “Hola Amigos!  I’m Dora and this is Boots.  Mira, it’s Swiper the fox.”  I have never been a fan of those, either speak one language or the other, but not both!  (Ok, Handy Manny, Diego, and Ni Hao, Kai-Lan?  It is sooo annoying!)  On a sidenote, I have learned that Nick Jr on demand has episodes of Dora that are purely in Spanish, so I now download those and have them watch that instead.  Ok, continuing…

Even though I have been hesitant to letting my kids watch Dora, the minute my little girl mouthed the word, “Do-ra,” when she saw her in the store and the way her eyes lit up, was the minute my heart melted and I thought I would give this chick a chance.  Now we are on Dora overload:  Dora shoes, Dora pinatas, Dora shirts, Dora coloring books, OH MY FREAKING GOD, what have I done?  Now I can’t get rid of Dora even if I tried, I think my 2 yr old daughter would pimp slap me and say, “Momma, you see those crayons over there?  Yes, those. You want me to make a mural out of that wall?  Yeah… I didn’t think so..”  I’m serious, everyone thinks my girl is the sweetest and cutest  in the world, but when no one is around, let me tell you, she turns into a diva!  So basically, Dora is in our lives forever.  Also, I guess Dora isn’t as bad as I thought because my son somehow repeats things that have been said during an episode or remembers the lesson the show was teaching.  It still boggles my mind though how he does learn anything, I mean trying to get their attention when they are watching their boob tube program is beyond ridiculous.  A freaking freight train that catches on fire that is carrying fireworks  could go through my living room right next to my kids and it wouldn’t even faze them.  “Hello?  kids?  Look at Mommy. Hello………?  Do you hear me?  I’m talking to you!  Turn around… Hey!…You want a cookie?….What, still nothing?…How about some crack?….Hello Hello Hello??!”  Geez,Louise so frustrating.  The trick is to just turn off the TV, and then it is Bam, “Mommy, turn it back on!…. I want to watch Dora!…No it is not over!….I don’t want to go outside!…I’m not hungry!…. Why did you do that , Mommy?”  Ummmm, to make sure you weren’t trapped in your body?  Ok?  I know as a parent of two tots, I am not alone in my annoyances with these TV characters.  Someone out there in this sea of barf inducing kid TV programs, is an angel in disguise, and her name is @goddamndora.  That is my time-out for today and actually everyday when I need a break from all this and need a laugh or two, or three.  It is for my own sanity, because just when I think I am going to go crazy and be taken away in a white suit by 3 large nurses if I hear just one more time, “Swiping, no swiping, swiping, no swiping!  Seriously, shut the F up!,”  I can check my twitter to see what this Dora is tweeting today….

Like:  “First, we go through the rainforest. Next, we have to cross Crocodile Lake. And that’s how I get to school every goddamn morning.”

Or…. “I’ll never find it now? Seriously? All you did was throw it over that fucking bush! Dick.”

Awww, I love you @goddammndora, you might need therapy, but don’t we all?

So what do you think of this whole Dora shenanigan?

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Time-Out Thursday- Timeout with the Kids

February 23, 2012 at 9:11 pm (Uncategorized)
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Is it possible to take a time-out with the kids?  If someone were to tell me to take a time-out with the kids, I would probably give them my “whatcha talking ’bout Willis,” crazy look.  After an overwhelming week, that is exactly what I did, and I plan on doing more when I feel stressed out.

This has been one crazy, no let me rephrase, one crazy quarter at school.  It seems like with each new quarter, comes more challenges, more work, harder classes, and thus more stress.  I still have a little over a year left with school and it seems like this is taking forever.  I am going for a B.S. (haha I know, BS) in Business, majoring in accounting and boy this is the most difficult thing I have ever done.  I would rather go through childbirth again than to be put through this daily mind scrambling and stress like you are going to explode type of feeling.  Maybe it is because going thru labor with my kids, although it was extremely painful due to no other choice but au natural labor, the whole process of squeezing the little ones out only took a few hours.  (but all of that is another future blog post)  So, going through a few hours of  pain, is so much easier than going through 3 years of excessive stress.  Now, I am not writing this to get people to feel sorry for me, “oh poor girl, college with kids is sooo hard, she is getting this opportunity of a lifetime and it is so stressful, imagine that….” and blah blah.. I understand that I am fortunate to be in this circumstance considering many mothers cannot stay at home  while their husband is the sole income while they go back to school to get a degree.  That being said, venting about your situation is different then complaining about it.

Ok, continuing….  I hear from other classmates or family members, “I don’t know how you do it, 2 kids and all this work, I could never do that,”  or I hear… “when do you have time to study?  How do you get all your chores done, and cooking and cleaning too?  You must be super busy all the time..”  To be honest, I don’t know how I do it either, but putting more time in one thing, means I’m not taking care of other things.  I study in the morning before the kids wake up, sometimes I “try” to do homework while they are awake, work on projects and papers during their nap times, and other studying or field trip/group meetings on weekends.  Chores you say?  Ha, my house is a mess 90% of the time and I do some trick cleaning before company comes over.  Dinners you say?  Ha, crock pot is my friend but also my enemy. I do not remember ever having a crock pot meal that made anyone say, “that was the best damn meal I’ve ever had,” yeah don’t think that will ever happen with a crock pot.  Mondays and Wednesdays, I usually pick up dinner because I have a late class and on weekends, I am so lazy to cook that all I want to do is sleep or sprawl out on the couch and watch a mind numbing show at full volume to overcome the “Mommy….I want peanut butter…..Mommy where’s my Mater truck…Mommy outside….Mommy I want to watch Yogi Bear…Mommy….Mommy….Mommy…..!”  This last week got to the point where I felt like giving up, and telling myself that I don’t know why I am doing this.  I don’t get to spend time with my kids, I get maybe 20 minutes/day of uninterrupted adult talk with my husband, I miss out on things with family/friends because I have to study, my house has a sign on the window that says “clean me,” and I don’t remember the last time I was able to relax.  My son tells me the other day, “Mommy, stay home, you don’t need to go to class, you go to school too much.”  I wanted to cry, the last thing I wanted was for my kids to feel neglected.  My son doesn’t understand why I am doing this, all he knows is Mommy doesn’t spend much time with me.  My daughter is too little to express how she feels, but I’m sure she misses me too.

So now coming to the time out part.  After another overwhelming day in the life of moi, instead of doing dishes, another load of laundry, or reading from my Accounting book, I stopped and told the kids we are going upstairs.  My daughter looks at me, “Mimi?” (shortened word for sleep in Spanish)  Then my son says, “I don’t want to go Mimi, Mommy.. I want to play 5 minutes.”  I said, “No we are not going mimi, let’s go play.”  I blasted some music in my room to the tune of one of my son’s favorite songs, “I need a dollar dollar, a dollar is what I need….hey hey…”  My son loves the hey hey part and my girl loves anything with a beat.  We just danced and ran around in the room and sang the song at the top of our lungs.  Then played a few more songs and we danced until I exhausted myself and of course the kids still had tons of never-ending energy!  Afterwards I felt so relaxed and wonderful that I don’t know why I didn’t do that more often.  I think it should become our end of the day routine from now on… dancing in our pjs, then brushing teeth, books, then bed.

What ways do you take a time-out with your kids?

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Time-out Thursday

February 16, 2012 at 3:03 pm (Uncategorized)
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Welcome to Time-out Thursday, where I’ll be posting those special moments when I have needed or took a “Mommy Time-Out.”  You know those times where if your precious child just looks at you the wrong way, you are going to scream your freaking head off and will get those “Mom’s gone coo coo for coco puffs” kind of looks.  Or the situations where you are trying to discipline your little angel and she gives you a puckered lip look and it takes everything in  your power not to laugh.  Yes, those are the times we need to say, “Ok, Mommy needs a time-out!”  So let’s begin!

Yesterday, my husband was driving me to class and the kiddies were calmly entertaining themselves in the backseat.  It was a  rainy and chilly evening, and in California that means people forget how to drive in it.  The car in front of us was going extremely slow, so my hubs switched lanes and the car in front of  him now decided to slow down and turn left.  He goes to switch lanes again and then the light turns red.  Proceeding down the road, we get every single red light that has been invented and get behind every old person that has ever existed.  You can imagine the frustration building in my husband’s face and hands as his jaw clenches and his hands become tightly griped on the steering wheel.  Finally, he has had enough and shouts out “For F**k’s Sake!” forgetting in the moment that we have two little beings in the back that seem to always tune in at the wrong times.  Immediately my son’s ears perk up and his eyebrows lift as he asks:

“Fox?   Where’s the fox?”

Hubs:  “Oh yeah, uhhh the fox, ummm he went that way!”

Son:  “Well, where?  What’s a fox sake?”

My husband glances at me as if to say…”Did I just say that outloud?” and looks to me for some help. 

Me: ” Sorry, you’re on your own buddy.  You said it, you gotta deal with it.”

Since my hubs didn’t answer..

Son:  “Mommy, what’s a fox sake? ”

Well sh*t, what the h-e-double hockey sticks am I suppose to say?  I didn’t say it, arghhh!

Me:  “Uhhh, Mommy is in time-out!”

Son:  “Oh, ok, Mommy.”

Whew!  Point for Mommy as my son just starts playing with his toy cars and his sister’s doll.  (Hey it is OK, he has his car in one hand and taking care of a baby in the other- he multi-tasks!)  Thinking that I have some how gotten away from a sticky situation:

About 10 minutes later-

Son:  “Mommy you still in time-out?”

Me:  “No sweetie, Mommy is not in time-out.”

Son:  “Oh, what’s a fox sake?”

For the love of 8 pound, 19 inch,sweet baby Jesus, help me out kind sir!  Then, my hubs pulls up to the curb that is now illuminating with light as if God is showing me the way….. yes showing me the way out of this situation yet again.  I exit with a smile on my face as I look back at my husband while he gives me a gerbil in a microwave kind of look, “helpless” is the word.  Hey, I was the one last time explaining to my son why we don’t call people a “poopy butt-crack,” I think the hubs can handle this one!

Thanks for joining me in this edition of “Time-Out Thursday.”  What is your time-out moment of the week?

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One Day

January 15, 2012 at 9:13 am (Uncategorized)
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ONE DAY

One day, I’ll make more money

One day, I’ll wear that dress

One day, I’ll take care of myself

One day, I’ll stop being a mess

—–

One day, I’ll be strong

One day, I’ll be free

One day, I’ll be more patient

One day, I’ll take you seriously

—–

One day, I’ll have more fun

One day, I’ll keep in touch

One day, I’ll make more friends

One day, I won’t stress so much

—–

One day, I’ll go to the gym

One day, I’ll play more with my kids

One day, I’ll take them to that place

One day, I’ll forgive

—–

I need to stop saying one day and change it to today, cause before I know it

One Day, I’ll pass away

—–

What Life is About
2 Reasons for Doing Things Today

 

Are there things you are putting off for another day?  What is stopping you from doing them now?  

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No, I’m Not From Oklahoma

January 6, 2012 at 5:31 pm (Uncategorized)
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Yes, I am from the Sooner state of Oklahoma and now that famous song from the musical “Oklahoma” is popping in my head.  I moved to California quite a while ago, but every time someone hears I am from Okieland, I know the jokes are going to start coming and those country accents.  Contrary to belief, not everyone from the Midwest sounds like a “hick” or says things like “Whooo, wee” and “Y’all.”  I have never cow-tipped in my life, I didn’t grow up on a farm, I don’t even know where to find a piece of wheat to chew on it, I didn’t go around barefoot, and you cannot shoot a mosquito with a shot gun.  Being a representative of that state, I can tell you that I have tried my dandiest to dispel those types of stereotypes and misconceptions.  I will admit, there have been times I have been embarrassed to call  myself an Okie, especially around election time, but like the saying goes, “never forget where you came from,” I will never forget because it shaped who I am today.  I was raised in an environment that encouraged education, respect, loyalty, love, silliness, being a good citizen, and standing up for what you believe in.  So in essence, I can’t knock my roots, because I am my roots.  Then there are incidents like what happened a few years ago, that make me deny my rootage (a word?).  Here is the story:

A few years after moving away from the good ol’ Land of the Red People (what Oklahoma translates to- thanks history class), I went back for a visit.  Now prior to this visit, I have never denied being from Oklahoma.  If someone asked me or in conversation I would volunteer the information because I like to talk about myself (who doesn’t?), then I would proudly reveal that yes I in fact am from Oklahoma.  Then I would wait from the little chuckles and make some jokes myself, and all in good humor.  This time was different.  My hubby and I decided to go to Subway for lunch, nothing fancy, just wanted a delicious club with all the fix in’s(Okie talk).  We proceeded to go to the counter and placed the usual order… 6 inch subway club on wheat bread, provolone cheese, light on lettuce, a few pickles, mayo/mustard, oil and vinegar with extra vinegar.  I didn’t notice any avocados, so I thought that they must have run out or had some more in the back.  I asked the guy behind the counter, “Do you have any avocados?” and he gave me this look like I asked him what he thought about the US foreign policy.  He looked outraged and then gave me one of those swanky kind of grins and then squealed, “A-VA-CA-DA? … Y’all aren’t from around here are ya?”  He said it in a way that was the most stereotypical, hickish way you could imagine.  I cowardly responded, “No, we aren’t, we are from CALIFORNIA!”

For the first time in my life, I could not admit that I was in fact from there.  I couldn’t help it, I was always trying not to be like that kind of “Okie” because people judge you if you are a little too country, they assume you are not educated or have a backwards type of thinking.  Now I know better and don’t really care if someone makes that kind of assumption because I gots my edumacation and backward thinking types do not exist in accents, or certain states, cultures, or one particular country, they are everywhere and one of them could be your neighbor!  (Wooo, scary)  I’ve learned to be proud of who I am and where I came from.  That is what makes me unique in this sea of surfers, parking lot attendees (traffic), and celebrity stalkers.  Also, when bands come along like “Kings of Leon,” it makes me really proud of what Oklahoma soil can breed.  On a side note: if you haven’t heard all their songs because you have been under a rock like I have, listen to them and play them over and over again.  They are incredible and when they get their stuff together and have another concert, my hubby better make it happen.

I will close with the song that has been in my head while writing this that way You can have it stuck in your head all day.

“Oklahoma, where the wind comes sweeping down the plains.  And the waving wheat, it sure smells sweet…” and then my mind cuts to… “O-K-L-A-H-O-M-A, Oklahoma, OK!”

You Are Welcome!

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Santa as a Discipline Tactic

December 23, 2011 at 4:27 pm (Uncategorized)
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The innocence of childhood means you can tell your children literally anything and they will believe  you.  (Suckers!)  In some ways it is a right of passage, your parents lied to  you, their parents lied to them, and now it is your turn.  Tricking your kids to believing in a fat, jolly, white-beared man who rides in on a sleigh and somehow squeezes his big ol’ butt down a chimney to deliver presents, is now your job as a parent.  I was conflicted about whether or not to continue this tradition with my kids because I felt a little uneasy saying, “Santa is going to give you toys,” and “you better be a good boy, you don’t want to be on the naughty list.”  Once I realized that I can use this as a discipline tactic, my qualms quickly vanished.  Common sayings in my household this holiday season have been, “pick up your toys or Santa isn’t going to bring you anymore,”  “Don’t you want to be a good boy?  I guess I need to call Santa and tell him not to bring you anything,” and “be nice to your sister, Santa knows if you are being naughty or nice.”  Another usage I have found for the whole Santa fiasco is that I have been able to get out of the store without the usual whining and temper tantrum scenes after I tell my son he can’t have a toy.  Every freaking time we go to the store, he thinks he will get a toy, and when he realizes that Mommy isn’t buying that, he will scream and try to jump out of the cart.  Now, thanks to Santa,  I tell him that we can’t buy him anymore toys right now because Santa is going to bring him toys for Christmas.  If we buy him a toy now, Santa will have to take his toys back.  It works like a charm!  My darling son will just say, “Oh, ok Mommy, I get it.”  Then I pat myself on the back, pause, then start thinking that maybe he is really saying ok Mommy, I get it, you are screwing with me.  I’ll get you back one day.  Hahaha!  Then my senses come to me, not my sweet son, he wouldn’t think such a thing,no way!  I just don’t know what I am going to do when Christmas is over.  How am I going to get out of buying him that millionth car that he just has to have so he can take the wheels off and tell me that he broke it?  Or another train that he likes to get so he can lose it and tell me a lion took it?  His birthday is in March, so I can probably use the same tactic as that approaches, but what will I do before then?  Just tell him “no” like the good ol’ days and then remind myself that this is why duck tape was invented?  Well, I know that once I see the light in my kid’s eyes as they open their presents, all my uptightness will go away (for the moment) and will see how the whole rush and stress of the holidays is all worth it.  I can’t wait to see the glitter in their eyes as we look in the sky to see if Santa and his reindeer are up there.  Later coming back to the house after looking at Christmas lights to see a half eaten cookie, a little milk spilled on the table (Santa’s a little slob ain’t he?), and presents left for the kiddies, all to see the amazement on their faces will be priceless.  I guess I need to sit back and enjoy all the wonderment that is Christmas and if for only because of the joy it brings my kids.  Seeing their cute little faces smile and laugh is worth everything.  So before Santa is ruined for them, most likely by another kid like it was for me, I’ll embrace the holiday, Santa and all. Hang in there everyone, and have a very jolly, drama-free (hahahaha) MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

How are you surviving the holidays?  Do you use Santa to keep your kids in line?  Tell me!

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Being Happy with Children

December 6, 2011 at 3:51 pm (Uncategorized)
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A study just came out regarding how although dads are doing more to help with housework and children, moms still report feeling more stressed then dads do.  It is an interesting study which I’ll put a link at the bottom, but what I found the most interesting was not the topic (no new news to me), but something else mentioned.  It stated that research shows that people with no children reported feeling happier then those with children.  Mental well-being was higher among the childless and  those whose children have left the nest.  Reading this article made me realize that there needs to be a change to how we view raising children and what should be expected of us.  I love my children and I know those with children like me would do anything for them, couldn’t imagine our lives without them, and wouldn’t want to be in this world without their kids, but let’s be honest, do you feel happy more than stress?  Do you feel stress more than happy?  I am taking a stress management class and I have been more aware of just how much stress I actually feel everyday, and it is most of the time.  I always knew that I felt the symptoms of stress:  anxiety, uneasiness, trying to do 100 things when I only have time for 10, and tension in my body, but what I didn’t realize was to the extent that it affects my whole day.  In the class we have to write down times we feel stress, what caused it, how we reacted, and what we did about it and in this whole process, it has really made me aware of the damage it is doing.  In the class, I have learned that not all stress is bad, there is actually good kinds of stress(eustress).  That is the kind of stress that forces me to get up at 5 in the morning to study for my classes so I can graduate, the kind that makes me go to the doctor to check out a suspicious mole, the kind that helps me get the house in order to get ready for hosting a party, and the kind that has me sacrifice to save money for things I want for my children.  Without this kind of stress, we would just lay there and do nothing, just a lump on the couch taking up space.  Unfortunately, most of the time I feel the bad stress and it is because I try, like many moms, to do it all.  When I think about it, it makes sense that having children doesn’t really make you happier and that childless people are on average more content in their lives.  With children come interrupted sleep, more worries, more tasks, more vulnerability, more responsibility, and less time for yourself and your spouse, and many other things that take a toll on you.  I get so stressed throughout the day that towards the end, ok let’s be real, after a few hour(sometimes by noon), I bark at my kids for something that is a normal kid thing:  spilling water on the floor, making noise, running around the house, climbing on the counters, marking on the walls, fighting with each other, and washing their toys in the toilet…among other things.  So one little thing happens, and BAM, here comes CRAZY MOMMY!  Yes I feel better after I have yelled at them, but just for that moment, then I feel like crap as they look at me with their big brown eyes and as their little bottom lip sticks out, then I give lots of hugs and I’m sorries.  I want to change the outlook on having children, I want to Be Happy With Children, if not happier then if I didn’t have kids.  They enrich my life so much, it is just hard to see it through all the chaos.  Why do we put so much on ourselves?  I feel so overwhelmed with school, laundry, cooking, cleaning, laundry, running errands, taking care of the kids, laundry, paying bills, grocery shopping, laundry, oh yeah, did I mention LAUNDRY??!!? It never ends!  Ok, so then I ask myself, why, why, why, WHY?  We can’t do it all and we shouldn’t.  What we should be doing is spending more time with our family, and less time doing chores.  Our kids will be grown in a blink of an eye and I’m sure we won’t be saying, “If only I cleaned more,” no we will be saying, “I wish I played, read, laughed, made messes, tickled, kissed, wrestled more with my kids.”  I always tell  my son that mommy will play with him after I do this…. and after I do that…and put him off.  I should be putting off whatever chore I’m doing and spend an extra 10 or 20 minutes with him, “F” the laundry(it is my enemy). 

So if you want to read more about the article that started my rant (even though I just touched a small portion of it), the link is below…

   http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-he-multitasking-parents-20111201,0,4356544.story

Now, I have to get back to doing the laundry….

Let me know what you think, what are some ways you try to be happy with your kids?  Are you childless and have some tips for us Moms and Dads to maintain or recoup our sanity?

Thanks for reading!  Follow my blog and follow me on twitter:  @lifeintoylane

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I Need a Mute Button

November 14, 2011 at 8:04 pm (Uncategorized)
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How can so much noise come out of two little kids?  If it isn’t coming from their yelling or crying, then it is coming from banging on their piano, rolling the toy lawn mower on the floor, cars being scraped on the wall, chairs being pushed on the tile floor, and toy trains/cars/planes/anything they can get their hands on crashing together to make the loudest freaking “clang” you can think of.  Also, who was the genius who bought these noise creating, make you go insane toys?  Oh yeah, it was me.  When you are at the store, you think “oh this is a good toy, educational, hours of fun” and then you bring it home and you soon realize it was a huge mistake.  Later you decide to put one up and soon follows another loud toy in its place that you thought you got rid of.  After some thinking,  you then decide that  you’ll only let the kids play with one noise inducing toy at certain times of the day when you have more patience.  That doesn’t work because now the kids are fighting over who gets to play with the ear-piercing toy, so you bring out two noise enhancers and surprise, they both want what the other has.  So, you try to negotiate over the crying and screaming until you get to the point where you want to cry and scream and finally you yell, “Enough, no one gets to play with the stupid toys!”  Yes, not exactly your finest moment. What also doesn’t help is when your significant other says “Well why did you buy that for them?”  Yeah….not a good time ok!!?? 

So then it occurs to me that it be nice to have a portable mute button that you can use whenever the noise level exceeded your toleration level.  You could set it so when noise is > toleration level, mute button goes on.  Then everyone is happy.  Kids get to make all the noise they want and mommy doesn’t have to hear it.  Daddy is also happy because then he doesn’t have to hear mommy gripe about how she is going to go crazy if she hears one more freaking scrape on the floor or how she is going to break the toys in two.  Aww yes, the magical mute button, it could have other uses as well.  You spent how much at the store?  (mute to not hear husband)  Do you want to sign up for this newspaper to get all the coupons?  No? Don’t you like to save money? (mute to you annoying person at the grocery store)  Person next to you in class that is talking to you while the teacher is talking. (Mute to you blabber mouth.  I am trying to get an education)  It might even work for other people’s kids! (might have to tweak the settings)  So much potential!

It would be a great stress reliever, don’t you think?    Do you have any other ideas that would make your life a little easier?  Tell me about it!

Thanks for reading!

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I’m Having an Affair…

November 11, 2011 at 10:31 pm (Uncategorized)
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… with coffee!  Oh coffee, how I love you so, you never seem to let me down.  Those who know me might remember a time when I never drank the stuff.  I have always loved the smell of coffee brewing, but never cared for the taste.  It has been a gradual process from:  yuck, I can’t believe people drink this stuff, to:  Oh Starbucks, yum, I’ll have a sugar laden Mocha frappucino with some sugar sprinkles, and oh yeah with an extra pump of sugar!, to:  Ok Starbucks, I’ll try your regular coffee.  Ok, pretty bitter, me no likey.  I think I’ll stick with the sweet stuff.  Give me a Caramel Macchiato please with extra whipped cream and some extra caramel, oh and a side of diabetes please. Thanks!  Then another progression to: Ok, I think I get this coffee thing now, ok barista, I’ll order a tall, iced Caramel Macchiato, upside down, with an extra pump of vanilla, yeah baby!  (I’m getting better, I kinda laid off some of the extra sugar right?)  To the present:  Ok Starbucks, I am tired of wasting all this money on you when I am capable of brewing my own coffee in the comfort of my own home.  As long as I have a bucket size of coffee grounds, a gallon of half/half, and some splenda, I am set!  I never need to see you again!  I am talking to Starbucks, not the coffee itself, because my love affair is not with Starbucks though you could have interpreted it as so, but my affair is still with coffee and I do not intend in ending it, ever!  My husband will just have to understand that coffee will always be the other man in my life, please do not make me choose.  I would hate to split up the family, sad I know. 

I have listed below my 5 favorites in case you were wondering which ones are worth “cheating” on your partner with.

1.  Jose’s Vanilla Nut (at Costco) – delicious and sinful at the same time

2.  Don Francisco’s Hawaiian Hazelnut – reminds of the time I spent in Hawaii, or wait was that L & L ?

3.  Don Francisco’s 100% Columbian Supremo

4. Don Francisco’s Vanilla Nut

5. Yuban’s Dark Roast 

As a mom, coffee has become a life saver.  It helps pull me through the days when all I want to do is shut my eyes and sleep till noon like my pre-kid days.  So since those days are far behind me and I will probably never be able to sleep that long again, I have to rely on Mr. Coffee to get me up in the morning.  On the days that I don’t feel tired and do not need that caffeine jolt, oh wait, I don’t think that has EVER happened, so nevermind…

Well, what are your favorite coffees?  Please share so I can try them!  I always like to spice things up!

Follow my blog and follow me on twitter!  My twitter handler is @lifeintoylane. 

 

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