Aim High, I Say

Safety Boy and his trustee sidekick Crazy Girl were coming upstairs from the basement where they were doing Safety Boy's chores. It's his job to empty the all bathroom trash and to bring the recycling downstairs and Crazy Girl goes along for the fun of it all. When he finally reached the top step he said to me,

"Mom, I don't know if I want to be a garbage man or a recycling man."

I replied that yes, since both were such noble professions that it would be a tough decision but he had plenty of time to figure that out. I don't want to offend anyone but they say you want better for your children that what you have and I'm thinking that might not be in the right direction. Thank goodness I have 12 years to work on this. One less thing to have on today's to-do list.


They insist on wearing their rain boots when they do the chores. I think it makes them feel more official.

Say What? ... Gee, Thanks!

There was definitely some conversation at dinner tonight that left room for thought. Crazy Girl decided to add to the discussion, "Daddy's bum is this big", holding her hands 8 inches apart "and Mommy's bum is this big", with her hands as wide as they would go. Really, well thank you for that useful information that I will ponder as I decide who Santa will be generous to this year. Hmmm. He know who's been naughty and who's been nice and I think I know what list Crazy Girl's on.

On top of this, my old and spiteful dog is causing civilized adults to yell at my house as they walk by. Here's the history. Since our other dog died last November, Old Dog howls and barks incessantly when we leave the house. I know this but there is nothing I can do. She is twelve years old and a bitch. Well, she is a female dog so enough of the tsk, tsking for the foul language. Well, yesterday while hard at work, Husband tells me during a phone conversation that our neighbor has seen people walking by and yelling at the house. Honestly, I have much bigger things on my mind now, like how am I going to shrink my huge bum so that Crazy Girl doesn't announce to her class on the first day of school, "you should see my Mom's bum, it's huge!" Mind you, this is not the first time that the size of my body has come up in conversation with her. For goodness sakes, I feel like the big Stay Puff Marshmallow Man from Ghostbusters.

He's Growing Up?

When I arrived home from work the other day Husband told me that he let a neighborhood boy mow our lawn and he paid him! In my head I am thinking, "Where did my husband go?" First, he is too cheap to part with his money and secondly he loves to mow the lawn. It's his therapy like laundry is mine. But before I could say anything he told me to watch a video he took. It was of Safety Boy mowing our backyard. I couldn't believe it. He's only 5, soon to be six, and he's a small five as in he's in the 10th percentile (if he's lucky). But he mowed the whole lawn by himself and loved it. It amazed me because there are so many days that I think to myself, when is this kid going to grow up a little. Maybe I need to let go to let him grow up and give him more responsibilities. He does some chores around the house. Being a control freak that I am I'm not sure what to give up. I guess I need to think about this one and if anyone has any suggestions, I would be happy to hear them. Regardless, I was so proud of him and obviously he was very proud of himself.


Here is a picture of Safety Boy with a
friend on her tractor that was
taken last year.











Here are some other things going on in our home.

Here is angry rocker girl with her new guitar.

"No, we are not going to have a party in the potty!" Yes, I had to say these words to my darling children when I heard Safety Boy exclaim from his seat on the throne, "it's a party in here." After they evacuated the site, this is what was left.

It's A Conspiracy

I worked yesterday and Husband stayed home with the kids. He took them to his Mom's pool and they went for a walk. I think he's crazy to be doing anything physical in the heat but what do I know. The thought of sweating on a walk just grosses me out. If I am going to sweat it is going to be after a hard long hour at the gym sans kids. I digress. When I walked thru the door after a long hard day at work (not really hard but it sounds better when I say it that way), the kids started. I guess they had been a little grumpy all day but who wouldn't be in this heat. Can you tell I am not a fan of this oppressive weather, unless I am on a float in a pool with a nice cold drink in my hand of the alcoholic kind. So I come in and they start crying and yelling. Just what I want to come home to. Why didn't I work a 12 hour shift and come home right a bedtime. Anyway, Husband and I were hanging out and talking after the kids went to bed last night. His quote, "they wait to get all wound up until it's the end of the day and they know WE are exhausted." Men crack me up. It's always about them. So I looked at him with a look of confusion and replied, "Oh, you mean it's all a conspiracy?" To which he answered, "yeah." Well that clears it all up then. That goodness we have that problem solved. So what do we do now? Since it is obvious he is the expert on child development I will let him figure that one out. Until then I will just accept the fact the kids were exhausted and leave it at that.

This is what I would love to come home to. You may not be able to see them, but the kids are there too. They are playing in the water.

A Job Change

I finally switched roles, at least on a part time basis. Last week was the start of my new job at the hospital with a weeks worth of "training". I had to sit for 40 hours and listen to people and learn the computer system the hospital uses. I went from being a stay-at-home mom and part-time student to 40 hour work week woman and mom. Kuddos to all the women out there who do it all the time. I got thru it just fine because I knew it was temporary, I was extremely organized and I have an amazing husband who took the first three days off from work to be with the kids. Oh and of course my BFF Amy took the kids the other two days. Have I mentioned that she is amazing and my kids love her like a second mother. That being said I wouldn't want to do it permanently. It was lot of planning, prepping and worrying about it all working out.

I never understood all the hype about stay-at-home moms vs. working moms. Probably just the media making it up anyway. I'll be honest and just lay it on the line. I love to work outside of the home. I did it occasionally before I started this job and I enjoyed it. I think it makes me a better mom. It gives me the break I need, intellectual stimulation and adult interaction all of which does not revolve around my kids. As you can tell from my previous posts I think my kids are great and I love them so it's not that I am running from them, though there are days I wish I could. It just seems to me a good thing for them to see me work. Most women I know of that work say they think they are better mom for working for all the reasons stated above. I am glad I have the option to do it part-time since it just seems like the perfect balance for me.