What is the primary attribute that initially attracted you to your mate? Looks? Sense of Humor? Adventurous spirit? Ambition? Love of children?
There are a few of us who are fortunate enough to have found a mate with at least a little bit of all those. But, the first thing that really turned my head about my hubby is that, simply put, he's a LOT of fun! He's willing to try all kinds of things, he loves to explore new places, and he just plain loves to have a good time. Sometimes to the detriment of the appearance of the front yard, but I digress...
Over the weekend, we had a second-chance opportunity to go whitewater rafting with some new friends (the first chance was ruined by a fever bug Little Man was gracious enough to share with his none-too-appreciative Mommy). Having grown up in Ocoee, within miles of the site of the 2006 Olympics, Hubby had been down the river in his distant past. Even though I'd lived within a hour of the site myself for my entire life, I'd never had the privilege. Neither of us are good swimmers, both more than a little skittish when water is over our heads, but we were game to give it a try.
And we are SO glad we did! We were both nervous, but it was so worth it. The friends we went with were, literally, world-class paddlers, so that certainly added to the fun (and made it less scary, these people KNOW what they're doing!). But, most of all, I enjoyed getting away from the every-day ordinary to do something new and fun with my best friend. I've spent the last 3 years watching him have fun with our kids, which I've enjoyed more than words can say. However, I finally got a chance, for just a few hours, to have him and his fun-loving, adventurous self all for me!
Our relationship is far from perfect. But, I'm so glad I've been given someone so much fun with which to live this imperfect life!
Monday, August 30, 2010
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
The Moment You Discover You're Not Smart Enough To Be a Coupon Mom
For ages now, I've been encouraged by people in my real life, as well as online writers, to take up "couponing". As if it's hobby, just like camping or scrapbooking or knitting. With the notable exception of being an insatiable reader, I'm not a big hobby person. I've never jumped into the world of couponing. But, it seems like proponents are everywhere! Online ads, stay-home-mom friends, church seminars...the pull seemed relentless. And how do you argue with someone who says things like, "Well, I bought $643 worth of groceries and only paid $0.79!!" It had really gotten to the point that I felt like it was a 401(k) match I'd missed out on for all these years. Seriously, free money? How can I pass that up?
Since I worked at CVS for 2 years and was pretty familiar with the Extracare system, I thought "CVSing" was the place for me to start. So, last Sunday morning, we stopped on the way home from church so I could get a Sunday paper.
Strike One: There was no CVS sale ad in the paper. Uh, makes it a little harder to determine the sales for the week, don't you think? I decided to look online at the ad, but that didn't seem to work either. Forget starting small, I'll go ahead and look at the other ads...
Strike Two: Have you ever seen how many ads there are in your typical Sunday paper? By the time I was done looking through them, the all-too-sacred naptime was over, children were ripping the sections apart, and I had a shopping list that ranged from digital cameras to school supplies to ground beef. The list also spanned something like 20 stores. Yes, I can see this working...Clip out seventeen coupons per store, load a preschooler and an infant into car seats, drive to first of 20 stores, load children into the cart--oh, wait, they both won't fit in the cart--so perch Little Lady's carseat precariously on cart seat while chasing Little Man through Store #1. Obtain 3 items on list at Store #1 and make way to checkout line. Purchase items with sale prices and coupons after explaining Store #1's obscure coupon policy (gleaned from various couponing websites) to cashier over the din of children screaming. Give up, load kids back into car for drive home after having only gotten 3 items on weekly list.
Strike Three: I simply can't figure it all out!! Mind you, I'm a fairly well-educated woman. A doctorate under my belt along with several years of college-level math. But, I still floundered among all the "wyb" and "ecb" and "rp 8/01" to ever get to "makes it free!" My sleep-deprived, child-addled brain just cannot process how to make it work.
In conclusion, I've decided that, while I may find a coupon worth hanging on to occasionally, I'm just not a couponer. I am amazed and awed by women who are, much like my amazement and awe toward women who complete triathlons and run companies. Press on, you CVSers! But, alas, my sanity requires that I spend my time and my limited brain cells elsewhere during this season. Guess I'll stick with my store brands and my bulk shopping for now.
Since I worked at CVS for 2 years and was pretty familiar with the Extracare system, I thought "CVSing" was the place for me to start. So, last Sunday morning, we stopped on the way home from church so I could get a Sunday paper.
Strike One: There was no CVS sale ad in the paper. Uh, makes it a little harder to determine the sales for the week, don't you think? I decided to look online at the ad, but that didn't seem to work either. Forget starting small, I'll go ahead and look at the other ads...
Strike Two: Have you ever seen how many ads there are in your typical Sunday paper? By the time I was done looking through them, the all-too-sacred naptime was over, children were ripping the sections apart, and I had a shopping list that ranged from digital cameras to school supplies to ground beef. The list also spanned something like 20 stores. Yes, I can see this working...Clip out seventeen coupons per store, load a preschooler and an infant into car seats, drive to first of 20 stores, load children into the cart--oh, wait, they both won't fit in the cart--so perch Little Lady's carseat precariously on cart seat while chasing Little Man through Store #1. Obtain 3 items on list at Store #1 and make way to checkout line. Purchase items with sale prices and coupons after explaining Store #1's obscure coupon policy (gleaned from various couponing websites) to cashier over the din of children screaming. Give up, load kids back into car for drive home after having only gotten 3 items on weekly list.
Strike Three: I simply can't figure it all out!! Mind you, I'm a fairly well-educated woman. A doctorate under my belt along with several years of college-level math. But, I still floundered among all the "wyb" and "ecb" and "rp 8/01" to ever get to "makes it free!" My sleep-deprived, child-addled brain just cannot process how to make it work.
In conclusion, I've decided that, while I may find a coupon worth hanging on to occasionally, I'm just not a couponer. I am amazed and awed by women who are, much like my amazement and awe toward women who complete triathlons and run companies. Press on, you CVSers! But, alas, my sanity requires that I spend my time and my limited brain cells elsewhere during this season. Guess I'll stick with my store brands and my bulk shopping for now.
Friday, August 20, 2010
The Moment You Realize You'd Sell Your Soul to Give the Pacie BACK
Little Man loves his pacie. I've always described it as "baby Valium" for him. When he's stressed, tired, scared, you name it--in goes the pacie and you can see him visibly relax. He's been pretty attached to it since he was around nine months old. Before that, he could take it or leave it. But since then, he'd keep it in his mouth 24-7 if you'd let him.
We've weaned him down considerably, to just having it at sleep times. But, we recently decided that it was time to--literally--pull the plug. There are as many suggestions for HOW to get rid of the pacie as there are kids in the world. From Hubby's friend who remembered his father unceremoniously yanking out his brother's pacie and tossing it out the car window to Little Man's gal pal at day care who was dreading her 3rd birthday because she'd been told Tinkerbell wouldn't bring pacies to 3-year-olds anymore. One bright idea I'd read was to seal up the last remaining pacie inside a Build-a-Bear. Sounded great--just touchy-feely enough to prevent an overload of mommy guilt, but still be effective.
So, off we went to take a family trip to Build-a-Bear Workshop. With a whopping dose of "You're SUCH a big boy now!" and a little give-him-whatever-he-wants-to-keep-him-happy, he proudly marched out of the store with Pluto, the pacie bearing dog, and a pack of Silly Bandz (seriously, what IS the deal with those things??). The first night, as expected, was rough. He took forever to go to sleep and woke up multiple times with difficulty going back to sleep. I guess if someone told me to go to bed without any blankets or pillows, I'd eventually go to sleep, but not without difficulty. But, he remained super-proud of his big boy status and carried Pluto nearly everywhere (after first determining there was no zipper through which to retrieve his beloved pacie).
Fast forward almost 2 weeks...he's now sleeping ok at night, although still taking a while to go to sleep. But naptimes are killing me!! Before the pacie extraction, he'd drop off to sleep right away and doze for a good 2.5 hours before wandering down the stairs bleary-eyed and sweaty-faced. Now? He'll toss and turn for at least 30 minutes before finally giving in to an annoyingly brief nap of 45 minutes or so. I'd be more grateful for the break time if it wasn't for the monster-child who appears a couple of hours later due to Lack of Sufficient Nap Syndrome.
Seriously, moms trying to do the Cry It Out thing with an infant think they have it tough? Ha! Just wait until you find you've voluntarily sacrificed that nap you worked so hard to establish in the first place! Then the person needing Valium will be you!
We've weaned him down considerably, to just having it at sleep times. But, we recently decided that it was time to--literally--pull the plug. There are as many suggestions for HOW to get rid of the pacie as there are kids in the world. From Hubby's friend who remembered his father unceremoniously yanking out his brother's pacie and tossing it out the car window to Little Man's gal pal at day care who was dreading her 3rd birthday because she'd been told Tinkerbell wouldn't bring pacies to 3-year-olds anymore. One bright idea I'd read was to seal up the last remaining pacie inside a Build-a-Bear. Sounded great--just touchy-feely enough to prevent an overload of mommy guilt, but still be effective.
So, off we went to take a family trip to Build-a-Bear Workshop. With a whopping dose of "You're SUCH a big boy now!" and a little give-him-whatever-he-wants-to-keep-him-happy, he proudly marched out of the store with Pluto, the pacie bearing dog, and a pack of Silly Bandz (seriously, what IS the deal with those things??). The first night, as expected, was rough. He took forever to go to sleep and woke up multiple times with difficulty going back to sleep. I guess if someone told me to go to bed without any blankets or pillows, I'd eventually go to sleep, but not without difficulty. But, he remained super-proud of his big boy status and carried Pluto nearly everywhere (after first determining there was no zipper through which to retrieve his beloved pacie).
Fast forward almost 2 weeks...he's now sleeping ok at night, although still taking a while to go to sleep. But naptimes are killing me!! Before the pacie extraction, he'd drop off to sleep right away and doze for a good 2.5 hours before wandering down the stairs bleary-eyed and sweaty-faced. Now? He'll toss and turn for at least 30 minutes before finally giving in to an annoyingly brief nap of 45 minutes or so. I'd be more grateful for the break time if it wasn't for the monster-child who appears a couple of hours later due to Lack of Sufficient Nap Syndrome.
Seriously, moms trying to do the Cry It Out thing with an infant think they have it tough? Ha! Just wait until you find you've voluntarily sacrificed that nap you worked so hard to establish in the first place! Then the person needing Valium will be you!
Thursday, August 19, 2010
The Moment You Realize Your Mama-Bear Instinct Is Now a Two-Headed Monster...
Now, I certainly can't argue with the concept of the mama-bear instinct that rears its head whenever my son is cheated on the playground or spoken to in an unnecessarily harsh way. Since Little Man is only 3, I'm sure that moments of mommy indignation will only increase in frequency as he continues to learn to live in our world. It seemed only natural that I'd have that same protective gut feeling when I had the Little Lady.
What I wasn't prepared for was the notion that sometimes my protection of one child would come at the expense of the other. Let's face it...the instinct to protect your child from absolutely any wrong is not always particularly rational. You give my daughter what I perceive to be a nasty look--I find myself having to rein in the desire to claw out your eyes. Instinct? Yes. Appropriate? Certainly not. We, as civilized human beings, have to moderate our behavior.
However, I found myself in a bit of a dilemma just yesterday when Little Man decided to try out his drummer-boy skills on the side of Little Lady's head. First thought, "Protect Little Lady! Destroy the perpetrator!" Second thought, "No one hurts my Little Man! Hug him!" Third thought, "Mad at Little Man! Want to hug Little Man! Want to comfort Little Lady!" The thoughts swirled in a confusing mass inside my head until I just growled--quite Mama-Bear-like, I must admit.
Just one more unexpected turn in the road to mama maturity....
What I wasn't prepared for was the notion that sometimes my protection of one child would come at the expense of the other. Let's face it...the instinct to protect your child from absolutely any wrong is not always particularly rational. You give my daughter what I perceive to be a nasty look--I find myself having to rein in the desire to claw out your eyes. Instinct? Yes. Appropriate? Certainly not. We, as civilized human beings, have to moderate our behavior.
However, I found myself in a bit of a dilemma just yesterday when Little Man decided to try out his drummer-boy skills on the side of Little Lady's head. First thought, "Protect Little Lady! Destroy the perpetrator!" Second thought, "No one hurts my Little Man! Hug him!" Third thought, "Mad at Little Man! Want to hug Little Man! Want to comfort Little Lady!" The thoughts swirled in a confusing mass inside my head until I just growled--quite Mama-Bear-like, I must admit.
Just one more unexpected turn in the road to mama maturity....
Friday, August 13, 2010
The Moment When You Realize All Your Children Are Asleep...
When you are a mommy to small children, you spend much of your life trying to get them to sleep. Everyone asleep at one time is the holy grail of mommydom. At least, it is at our house for right now. My sister, whose 12-year-old son is rapidly speeding toward his teen years, seems to spend most of her mornings trying to get him OUT of the bed! But, for me, the magical moment when both of my babies are sleeping is rare, fleeting, and something to be enjoyed to the fullest!
Since Baby Girl is, after all, a baby, her sleep has tended to be the most unpredictable. She's a super-easygoing gal, but naptime and bedtime have been challenging with her from day one. Now that I finally have her on a reasonable nap schedule, I made the momentous decision to remove the pacie from Big Brother. My formerly great sleeper now takes a sweet forever to go to sleep and naps for about 15 seconds before waking himself back up. Ugh! We're not even a week into the pacie removal, though, so I have high hopes for the future.
But that moment...the moment all we mommies work so hard to achieve...the entire world is quiet. Everyone's breathing is deep and slow. You peek oh-so-carefully into their rooms to find eyes closed, grubby faces pressed into mattresses. You take your own deep breath and feel the freedom. You've punched the time clock and you're free to do what you choose for as long as it lasts. You may choose to fold a load of clothes or wash some dishes...but you can do it with only your own thoughts running through your mind. It's time to recharge your mind while balancing the checkbook.
And, of course, within minutes...the phone rings...
Since Baby Girl is, after all, a baby, her sleep has tended to be the most unpredictable. She's a super-easygoing gal, but naptime and bedtime have been challenging with her from day one. Now that I finally have her on a reasonable nap schedule, I made the momentous decision to remove the pacie from Big Brother. My formerly great sleeper now takes a sweet forever to go to sleep and naps for about 15 seconds before waking himself back up. Ugh! We're not even a week into the pacie removal, though, so I have high hopes for the future.
But that moment...the moment all we mommies work so hard to achieve...the entire world is quiet. Everyone's breathing is deep and slow. You peek oh-so-carefully into their rooms to find eyes closed, grubby faces pressed into mattresses. You take your own deep breath and feel the freedom. You've punched the time clock and you're free to do what you choose for as long as it lasts. You may choose to fold a load of clothes or wash some dishes...but you can do it with only your own thoughts running through your mind. It's time to recharge your mind while balancing the checkbook.
And, of course, within minutes...the phone rings...
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