The new thing in the house is the rainbow loom. Sigh.
I sigh because this was meant to be a project for Freddie and I and it's become a project for me while Freddie watches. Which translates into, how patient can I stay while Freddie sits over my shoulder and I try to defeat this stupid thing meant for 8 year olds and not teach my 6 year old new cuss words he doesn't already know. Which isn't many, for the record.
As I we are sitting there, he's playing with a rubber band from the rainbow loom and I'm looking down trying to weave one of the most impossible bracelets Freddie could find, (because that's what my child does...) and something goes flying through the air.
Me: Freddie. Did something just go across the room, maybe like a rubber band?
*very quite child sitting next to me....*
Freddie: Yes. I'll pick it up.
After he picks it up, I started chuckling to myself.
Freddie: What Mommy?
Me: Did you think I wouldn't see it?
Freddie: You see everything. You have eyes everywhere.
Me: Yes. Yes, I do.
Freddie: Scotty P told me so.
Don't ever forget that son. Don't ever forget it.
Friday, February 28, 2014
Thursday, February 27, 2014
Mommy, you'll never be old to me.
I don't know how, or where, but Freddie has always told me I am young. And I'm not going to complain about this, I actually think it's pretty precious, so if I ever feel old or I make a comment that I'm getting older I always hear him pipe up, "Mommy, you're not getting old, you'll always be young."
Sigh. ♥ A son's love for his Momma.
Last night, Freddie and I had a pretty funny conversation on our way to dinner. We were sitting in the car and we were listening to music on the radio.
Freddie: Momma, I like these songs, but I don't think I've ever heard them before.
Me: That's because these were songs when I was growing up.
Freddie: Is it old songs on the radio day?
Me: Are you calling Momma old.
-- Complete and utter silence--
Freddie: No, I'm calling the songs old, because they had to make the songs, and it probably took them a while to make them before they came out on the radio, so technically they are older than you. They are old like my Daddy and Scotty P.
Me: Good save, Freddie, good save.
Freddie goes quiet for a few minutes...
Freddie: Mommy?
Me: Yes, Bubba.
Freddie: You'll never be old to me. And remember, when you're my Daddy's age he's going to be 43. And he's old already. You'll always be younger than him. Plus, grandma is super old.
I am dying by now....
Freddie: Mommy?
Me: Yes, baby.
Freddie: Don't tell grandma I just called her super old.
Me: As long as I am always young, it's a deal.
Haha. I love my baby and his heart as well as his humor. I can't wait for the day he looks back on this and he reads this, ESPECIALLY the day he dares to call me old....
Sigh. ♥ A son's love for his Momma.
Last night, Freddie and I had a pretty funny conversation on our way to dinner. We were sitting in the car and we were listening to music on the radio.
Freddie: Momma, I like these songs, but I don't think I've ever heard them before.
Me: That's because these were songs when I was growing up.
Freddie: Is it old songs on the radio day?
Me: Are you calling Momma old.
-- Complete and utter silence--
Freddie: No, I'm calling the songs old, because they had to make the songs, and it probably took them a while to make them before they came out on the radio, so technically they are older than you. They are old like my Daddy and Scotty P.
Me: Good save, Freddie, good save.
Freddie goes quiet for a few minutes...
Freddie: Mommy?
Me: Yes, Bubba.
Freddie: You'll never be old to me. And remember, when you're my Daddy's age he's going to be 43. And he's old already. You'll always be younger than him. Plus, grandma is super old.
I am dying by now....
Freddie: Mommy?
Me: Yes, baby.
Freddie: Don't tell grandma I just called her super old.
Me: As long as I am always young, it's a deal.
Haha. I love my baby and his heart as well as his humor. I can't wait for the day he looks back on this and he reads this, ESPECIALLY the day he dares to call me old....
Wednesday, February 26, 2014
Either you eat it now or you eat it later. Your choice.
I love our children and the fact they will try anything once. With that we are grateful. We are slowly getting over the hurdles of bad habits which get brought over from the other homes. They know when they step into this house it's "our world" with "our rules" but at times we have bumps in the road...and sometimes these bumps turn into miniature hills.
The one thing we find the most challenging in this house is keeping track of who eats what, who won't eat what, who decides to like one thing and the next day won't like it even though two hours ago they were raving about how much they LOVED IT... because as you know, they are children and depending on which way the wind blows dictates their mood and what is going to happen that day.
In this house the options are: either you eat it or you eat it for your next meal. We aren't playing this game. Sounds mean, but bare with me here. (The exception to this rule is lunch because they either buy or I make them lunches they'll eat.)
My mom still humors my brother and I and caters to us and makes us meals according to what we like and what we don't and we are grown adults. We are spoiled, ain't gonna lie. Nor are you really gonna hear me complain. We love it. When I was home a couple of months ago, my mom said to me, "I wish I hadn't of done that with you two." You know what, I wish she hadn't of done that with us either. She never truly got to enjoy a meal because she was so busy cooking us all different thing. We also grew up not eating certain things because one person didn't like it. Example, my dad doesn't like broccoli. It wasn't until college I started eating broccoli and I freaking LOVE it. She also mentioned I was a lot stricter on the kids when it came to eating then most parents. This is true.
She had two of us. There are three of them. I am not catering to three kids. Either you eat it now or you eat it later, but either way, you're eating it and you're going to be grateful. You're other option is learning how to cook.
Now days, I sit and I watch how bratty children are. I see how rude or how ungrateful they are. At the end of meals my children say, thank you for making me eat that, I never would have realized how much I liked ____ if I didn't try it. Now that is what we call rewarding. It may have been a bit of a struggle, and it sucks having to battle it out with the little person, but I'm not going to raise a little snot either. We have enough of those running around.
This is because I don't want my kids to think they are going to get away with whining or crying to get out of everything. (And people wonder what's wrong with kids today... I wonder.) Not happening here. Our pickiest eater is Abi as well as our sloooooowwwessst eater. It's painful at times. Even the dog gives up waiting for food to be dropped because she gets tired of standing there. If she's done first and wants seconds, we know we are in for a growth spurt. Her and Freddie are in a growth spurt together right now and I am pretty sure by the end of today there will be no food in the house and I JUST went to the store two days ago... I'm taking donations for free food.
With Abi she would try to out last us at the table. Little did she know, I am the queen of stubborn. Ask my Dad. My Daddy is one patient man, but when it came to me and not wanting to eat, I'd just sleep at the table. If I didn't want to eat, I wasn't going to eat. So they gave up on forcing me to eat. Smart man or else I'd be 30 something and still sitting at my parent's dinning room table.
I had mentioned this issue to a coworker of mine because Scotty P and I just didn't know what to do. We had tried the putting her to bed early, the making her sit there until she broke down, the "fine we don't care" attitude, but it just didn't seem to be working if anything it seemed to get worse. As I was talking to this coworker he said to me, when I was younger my grandparents (who raised him) did this tactic on him once and never again did they have eating issues with him. His grandmother made food he didn't want to eat, so they said, "Okay, go to bed early since you're not going to participate in this family, and it will be there for you when you're ready for breakfast." He said to me, " I wasn't going to eat it for breakfast, I didn't want it for dinner, why would I eat it for breakfast!?" So breakfast came around and he didn't want to eat it and his grandfather put it back in the fridge and told him it would be there for lunch... by the time lunch came around he was so hungry he ate it. My coworker said, never again did I try to cop out of a meal.
I thought, brilliant. So that night I mentioned it to Scotty P, sure enough, Abi refused to eat dinner. Off to bed she went, to the fridge went her food and the next morning it was her breakfast. Eating issues have become a minimum (aside from being slow, but if that's the worse of it, I'll take it).
Lessons learned?
1. You can't outlast children even if you think you can. Stop fooling yourself.
2. There is always a way to beat them at their own game. It's just a matter of how.
The one thing we find the most challenging in this house is keeping track of who eats what, who won't eat what, who decides to like one thing and the next day won't like it even though two hours ago they were raving about how much they LOVED IT... because as you know, they are children and depending on which way the wind blows dictates their mood and what is going to happen that day.
In this house the options are: either you eat it or you eat it for your next meal. We aren't playing this game. Sounds mean, but bare with me here. (The exception to this rule is lunch because they either buy or I make them lunches they'll eat.)
My mom still humors my brother and I and caters to us and makes us meals according to what we like and what we don't and we are grown adults. We are spoiled, ain't gonna lie. Nor are you really gonna hear me complain. We love it. When I was home a couple of months ago, my mom said to me, "I wish I hadn't of done that with you two." You know what, I wish she hadn't of done that with us either. She never truly got to enjoy a meal because she was so busy cooking us all different thing. We also grew up not eating certain things because one person didn't like it. Example, my dad doesn't like broccoli. It wasn't until college I started eating broccoli and I freaking LOVE it. She also mentioned I was a lot stricter on the kids when it came to eating then most parents. This is true.
She had two of us. There are three of them. I am not catering to three kids. Either you eat it now or you eat it later, but either way, you're eating it and you're going to be grateful. You're other option is learning how to cook.
Now days, I sit and I watch how bratty children are. I see how rude or how ungrateful they are. At the end of meals my children say, thank you for making me eat that, I never would have realized how much I liked ____ if I didn't try it. Now that is what we call rewarding. It may have been a bit of a struggle, and it sucks having to battle it out with the little person, but I'm not going to raise a little snot either. We have enough of those running around.
This is because I don't want my kids to think they are going to get away with whining or crying to get out of everything. (And people wonder what's wrong with kids today... I wonder.) Not happening here. Our pickiest eater is Abi as well as our sloooooowwwessst eater. It's painful at times. Even the dog gives up waiting for food to be dropped because she gets tired of standing there. If she's done first and wants seconds, we know we are in for a growth spurt. Her and Freddie are in a growth spurt together right now and I am pretty sure by the end of today there will be no food in the house and I JUST went to the store two days ago... I'm taking donations for free food.
With Abi she would try to out last us at the table. Little did she know, I am the queen of stubborn. Ask my Dad. My Daddy is one patient man, but when it came to me and not wanting to eat, I'd just sleep at the table. If I didn't want to eat, I wasn't going to eat. So they gave up on forcing me to eat. Smart man or else I'd be 30 something and still sitting at my parent's dinning room table.
I had mentioned this issue to a coworker of mine because Scotty P and I just didn't know what to do. We had tried the putting her to bed early, the making her sit there until she broke down, the "fine we don't care" attitude, but it just didn't seem to be working if anything it seemed to get worse. As I was talking to this coworker he said to me, when I was younger my grandparents (who raised him) did this tactic on him once and never again did they have eating issues with him. His grandmother made food he didn't want to eat, so they said, "Okay, go to bed early since you're not going to participate in this family, and it will be there for you when you're ready for breakfast." He said to me, " I wasn't going to eat it for breakfast, I didn't want it for dinner, why would I eat it for breakfast!?" So breakfast came around and he didn't want to eat it and his grandfather put it back in the fridge and told him it would be there for lunch... by the time lunch came around he was so hungry he ate it. My coworker said, never again did I try to cop out of a meal.
I thought, brilliant. So that night I mentioned it to Scotty P, sure enough, Abi refused to eat dinner. Off to bed she went, to the fridge went her food and the next morning it was her breakfast. Eating issues have become a minimum (aside from being slow, but if that's the worse of it, I'll take it).
Lessons learned?
1. You can't outlast children even if you think you can. Stop fooling yourself.
2. There is always a way to beat them at their own game. It's just a matter of how.
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
Children, to the shower. But Mom, we need to shave our faces!
My children have a lot of fun together and they are extremely creative when it comes to trying to find ways to avoid chores or things they don't want to do... which is also followed by a series of questions.
The conversation the other night after they were told they had to take showers.
Freddie: Mommy.
Me: Yes.
Freddie: Before or after dinner?
Me: Your call.
Livie: Before.
Me: And away you go!
*thud thud thud... three kids half way up the stairs*
Me: Hey.
Three little people: *complete silence....*
Me: Where are you THREE going, only TWO of you should be headed upstairs... Livie, your bathroom is downstairs.
Freddie: Mommy - can we shower together?
Me: No. You can shower upstairs and Abi can shower before or after you. If Abi really wants she can shower with her sister.
Abi: I'm showering with Livie. (Little did I know, this shower would end up causing a flood.)
Me: That's fine, just don't make a mess. (This is me cringing...)
Freddie: We won't, but we need to shave our faces first.
Livie: And then our legs, have you seen how hairy our legs are?
Am I hearing this right?
Yes. Yes I am.
This is what I ended up walking into. When having children you learn silence is not golden, it's scary, unless you know for a fact they are asleep.
These are my children, shaving their faces. Yes, you read that right, shaving. their. faces.
The best part about this is, I promised them I wouldn't post the pictures on Facebook, but I said nothing about blogging. :)
Mommy - 3
Children - 0
As a side note - at dinner the kids mentioned to Scotty P how much softer their faces were and how much smoother their legs were since they shaved. Just smile and nod Daddy, just smile and nod...
The conversation the other night after they were told they had to take showers.
Freddie: Mommy.
Me: Yes.
Freddie: Before or after dinner?
Me: Your call.
Livie: Before.
Me: And away you go!
*thud thud thud... three kids half way up the stairs*
Me: Hey.
Three little people: *complete silence....*
Me: Where are you THREE going, only TWO of you should be headed upstairs... Livie, your bathroom is downstairs.
Freddie: Mommy - can we shower together?
Me: No. You can shower upstairs and Abi can shower before or after you. If Abi really wants she can shower with her sister.
Abi: I'm showering with Livie. (Little did I know, this shower would end up causing a flood.)
Me: That's fine, just don't make a mess. (This is me cringing...)
Freddie: We won't, but we need to shave our faces first.
Livie: And then our legs, have you seen how hairy our legs are?
Am I hearing this right?
Yes. Yes I am.
This is what I ended up walking into. When having children you learn silence is not golden, it's scary, unless you know for a fact they are asleep.
These are my children, shaving their faces. Yes, you read that right, shaving. their. faces.
Freddie - Age 6
Abi - Age 6
Livie - Age 6
Mommy - 3
Children - 0
As a side note - at dinner the kids mentioned to Scotty P how much softer their faces were and how much smoother their legs were since they shaved. Just smile and nod Daddy, just smile and nod...
Livie shaving her oh-so-hairy legs.
Monday, February 24, 2014
Whatever you do. Don't. Cry.
As Scott and I sit at our desks we hear this conversation going on behind us:
(To set the scene, there are teddy bears being dropped off the balcony from the second story, which is usually a "not an okay" in this household, but today we are letting it slide because they are laughing their asses off and their laughter is always our favorite thing coming from them. Next to them sleeping. Deeply.)
Freddie: Incoming.
Livie: Got it.
Abi: Oh.
Freddie: Uh. Oh. *Thud thud thud...running down the stairs*
Livie and Freddie to Abi: Whatever you do. Don't cry. Please don't cry....
Instilling fear into these children one rule at a time. All the while we continue to sit at our desks laughing our asses off.
Parents of the year.
(To set the scene, there are teddy bears being dropped off the balcony from the second story, which is usually a "not an okay" in this household, but today we are letting it slide because they are laughing their asses off and their laughter is always our favorite thing coming from them. Next to them sleeping. Deeply.)
Freddie: Incoming.
Livie: Got it.
Abi: Oh.
Freddie: Uh. Oh. *Thud thud thud...running down the stairs*
Livie and Freddie to Abi: Whatever you do. Don't cry. Please don't cry....
Instilling fear into these children one rule at a time. All the while we continue to sit at our desks laughing our asses off.
Parents of the year.
Sunday, February 23, 2014
3 children + 3 piles of dog poop = DANGER AHEAD
I mentioned to the children today they were old enough to start doing things around the house. This has been an ongoing conversation for us because they want an allowance. Fair enough. We discussed how this would be approached and the things they were expected to do, the things they would get paid to do, and the things they would get "fined" for.
So I went through the whole mom schpeel of you're expected to do A, B, and C. D, E and F pay out $__, but if I catch G, H and I you have to pay me back $__. So we went over some of the extra items they could get cash for. I mentioned laundry and how Freddie had helped me do it this week without being asked and at this time laundry would be a paid chore, but at a certain age it would become an expected chore. They agreed and thought it was fair and everyone was happy.
*insert enormous dog head into picture here drooling onto the children.* This is our monster. (Innocent bystander of all things that go flying through the air and pillow to all the children.)
Talk about another dog in the house has been going around and I look at them and say, you guys do a good job feed our monster, but one dog poops enough and Scotty P and I clean up after her we don't want to have to clean up after two monsters. Livie pipes up and says, well there's three piles of dog poop in the back yard and three children, so....? Hey. I'm not gonna stop ya. Just wash your hands on your way back in, as soon as your done.
The next thing I know, I hear Freddie screaming like Tarzan and the girls screaming bloody murder.
How today's conversation started with chores and ended with Freddie swinging a bag of dog poop over his head around the back yard chasing the girls, I will never know, but that's okay.
Sometimes I wonder, what exactly my kids hear when I talk to them... or what they don't hear. Either way, they cleaned up the dog poop. Mission accomplished.
All in a day's work.
So I went through the whole mom schpeel of you're expected to do A, B, and C. D, E and F pay out $__, but if I catch G, H and I you have to pay me back $__. So we went over some of the extra items they could get cash for. I mentioned laundry and how Freddie had helped me do it this week without being asked and at this time laundry would be a paid chore, but at a certain age it would become an expected chore. They agreed and thought it was fair and everyone was happy.
*insert enormous dog head into picture here drooling onto the children.* This is our monster. (Innocent bystander of all things that go flying through the air and pillow to all the children.)
Talk about another dog in the house has been going around and I look at them and say, you guys do a good job feed our monster, but one dog poops enough and Scotty P and I clean up after her we don't want to have to clean up after two monsters. Livie pipes up and says, well there's three piles of dog poop in the back yard and three children, so....? Hey. I'm not gonna stop ya. Just wash your hands on your way back in, as soon as your done.
The next thing I know, I hear Freddie screaming like Tarzan and the girls screaming bloody murder.
How today's conversation started with chores and ended with Freddie swinging a bag of dog poop over his head around the back yard chasing the girls, I will never know, but that's okay.
Sometimes I wonder, what exactly my kids hear when I talk to them... or what they don't hear. Either way, they cleaned up the dog poop. Mission accomplished.
All in a day's work.
Saturday, February 22, 2014
Did you order Mommy's boyfriend online?
The one thing we as ex-spouses always know of our former spouses is when their love lives are going well or when they aren't due to their level of annoyance in our lives. Trust us, we have this down to a science.
Every day, for the last three years, we have prayed and begged to any one who would listen to include the online dating profile Gods that Scotty P's ex-wife would finally get into a relationship so she would leave us alone. (We even considered hooking her up with my ex-husband out of desperation.) As we started to lose faith in this higher power of on-line dating Gods our faith was restored when we were informed by the girls their mom had a new boyfriend when Abi asked the simple question to Scotty P: "Daddy, did you order Mommy's boyfriend online?"
Now, these are the moments we don't know whether to keep it together or just bust up laughing. Luckily Scotty P knows how to keep it together more then I do and he said, no, all credit to your mom's relationship goes to her.... The only thing we could conclude to was, maybe she met him online and this is what she came to, or he's a mail order groom. Whichever you fancy.
The biggest concern for the girls was this:
1. Now their mom has a boyfriend, maybe she will yell at their dad less.
2. Now their mom has a boyfriend, maybe their mom will be less grumpy.
Ironically, these are our concerns as well...
On-line dating Gods - 1
Us - 1
Poor fool - 0
Sorry, dude. We are truly rooting for you (for many reasons). We sincerely hope that your relationship with her goes better.
We realize that sometimes people just aren't meant for each other and just because our ex-spouses didn't work for us, doesn't mean they won't work for anyone else.
But all I have to say is: ABOUT. DAMN. TIME.
Every day, for the last three years, we have prayed and begged to any one who would listen to include the online dating profile Gods that Scotty P's ex-wife would finally get into a relationship so she would leave us alone. (We even considered hooking her up with my ex-husband out of desperation.) As we started to lose faith in this higher power of on-line dating Gods our faith was restored when we were informed by the girls their mom had a new boyfriend when Abi asked the simple question to Scotty P: "Daddy, did you order Mommy's boyfriend online?"
Now, these are the moments we don't know whether to keep it together or just bust up laughing. Luckily Scotty P knows how to keep it together more then I do and he said, no, all credit to your mom's relationship goes to her.... The only thing we could conclude to was, maybe she met him online and this is what she came to, or he's a mail order groom. Whichever you fancy.
The biggest concern for the girls was this:
1. Now their mom has a boyfriend, maybe she will yell at their dad less.
2. Now their mom has a boyfriend, maybe their mom will be less grumpy.
Ironically, these are our concerns as well...
On-line dating Gods - 1
Us - 1
Poor fool - 0
Sorry, dude. We are truly rooting for you (for many reasons). We sincerely hope that your relationship with her goes better.
We realize that sometimes people just aren't meant for each other and just because our ex-spouses didn't work for us, doesn't mean they won't work for anyone else.
But all I have to say is: ABOUT. DAMN. TIME.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)