We're Not Perfect Friday

Alright, this post is for Nikki Jo. Today is the day where I will tell you all how I am not a perfect mom, how I’m human, make mistakes, and refuse to lie to make myself look better in the eyes of others. The bottom line for me is that I love my children fiercely, absolutely, with no equivocations. But am I the perfect PTA mom? Absolutely not. Life is hard and fast, and some days they have pancakes for dinner. Here are the top ten things I’m sharing in honor of We’re Not Perfect Moms…

1) I spend all day at work missing my kids, but then when I get home and they fight and scream constantly, I lose my patience. Some days I resort to yelling, thankfully DH sweeps in and calms everything down and reminds me that they’re just kids, of course they’re loud.
2) Some nights I sit by myself and read instead of spending that time with them. On those days, the like the Wii better than me anyway.
3) When I shove a mildly sick kid off to school because I have to go to work, I feel bad, but that doesn’t stop me from doing it. I’ve learned that if he’s really sick, the school will call me.
4) I hold other people to higher standard than myself, when it comes to my children. It’s not okay for someone else to snap at them or be impatient.
5) Yesterday, when my older son forgot to brush his teeth, I made him rinse with Listerine before we ran out for school instead of sending him back upstairs to actually brush.
6) My little one is 4, and has just gone to the dentist for the 1st time. Yep, I know that’s horrible.
7) My older son watches movies and plays video games that aren’t age appropriate. Resident Evil, Red Steele, and Scary Movie 3.
8) When my kids were younger, I’d silently pray for someone to take care of them when they were sick, because I was always afraid I wouldn’t know what to do. Now, I feel as if I’m the only one qualified to be with them when they’re not well.
9) My husband accuses me of coddling the boys, and it’s true. They’re mine, and real life is hard enough. Let me try to make things fair and easier for them while I still can.
10) Last but not least, most nights when I promise them I’ll come back in, yet again, after the last good night, bed time story, affirmations of love and another glass of water, I don’t.

Be sure to come back next Friday and find out why I'm not a perfect wife, either!

Random Family

A woman I work with loaned me a book called "Random Family" and I've been compulsively reading it for 2 days. It follows a Puerto Rican family through their life in the Bronx, starting in the mid 80's. Drugs, violence, prison and every woman with 6 kids by the middle of the story. Everyone dropping their babies off with strangers so they can go party. Everyone sleeping with everyone else, then lying about it. Kids being neglected and abused, because the parents are just too self involved to care. The writing is mediocre at best, but the story itself is addicting. If I had regrets about my mistakes in life, this book makes me feel like a fucking saint.

"Lamb - The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal" is still making me laugh. I'm purposely slowing myself down with that one because it's a short book, and I don't want it to end yet. Ever do that? Jodi Picoult's books are the same way, except the only way to slow down is to wait in between novels. Once I open one of her books, my OCD takes over and I have to read it all the way through because I get sucked into the story and NEED to know how it ends.

Some inconsiderate person re-heated fish for lunch here at work. The stench is killing me.

For some sick reason, the theme song to Laverne & Shirley is stuck in my head.

My ipod is playing "Pass the Dutchie" right now.

This is my new favorite site - http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5235881
My birthday's coming up... hint, hint

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

DH and I at Universal Studios in 1996, two years before we got married. And probably the last time my stomach saw the light of day.

Just Call Me Kathy Lee

Sometimes I feel bad that I air my kids' dirty laundry here online. But not bad enough to stop. At least I protect their little identities by not calling them out by name. That'll last until I forget, and then one day my older son will be mortified by this whole thing. Right now he sorta thinks it's cool that mom's got a blog and his picture ends up there. That's because I haven't let him sit down and read it.

Last night Golden Boy asked me if I hope they have a spring dance at school. I asked him why, and he said because if the rule book doesn't prohibit it, he'd like to ask a girl from a different school. He wants to ask a girl from his old school, who had transferred out a year before he did, but I've kind of kept in touch with her mom. What I wanted to do was say, "That's so cute! Of course you should ask her!" but what I did say was, "Make sure you have a back up plan, in case it's a dance for students only."
My thought here is that 4th grade boys probably aren't the most attentive dates out there, and he'd wander off with his friends and leave her all alone with a bunch of kids she doesn't know.

Today I've got Steve Burns' album, Songs for Dustmites, playing over and over. For those of you who aren't cool in the 3 - 5 age set, Steve used to host Blue's Clues, and has probably been the subject of many mom fantasies. The new host, Joe, is a certifiable douche bag. In fact, I don't like a lot of kids shows that feature grown up humans, it kind of creeps me out. The Upside Down Show being the exception, but I'm certainly not fantasizing about those guys.

For some reason, Blogger is refusing to check my spelling today. So if this comes off like a mental patient scrawled it on the wall with a dull crayon, now you know why.

It Was a Good Run, But...

Ah, just when I thought I didn't have a darn thing to blog about today. Belly called me to tell me he got a note home from his teacher because he bit someone. I asked him what happened, he says, "When ___ was playing, I bit him, and he hit me, and I said sorry. He said it's okay, but my teacher put me on yellow and sent you a letter. Now can I play the Wii?" *sigh* That kid's dad was in such a good mood this morning, too.
The kids have a behavior chart that starts on green and progresses to red with their little indiscretions. When you stay on green all day, you get a sticker. Belly had a nice collection of stickers going until today. He's not aggressive by nature, and he's not "a biter" so I have no idea why he did this.
Of course trying to ask for a rational explanation from a 4 year old is very much like asking a peanut butter sandwich for dating advice.
So I asked him again why he would do that to someone who just yesterday he claimed was his friend. I'm having trouble following the pre-k who's who list. Apparently one particular girl is an untouchable (if it is, indeed, a caste system) because Belly says that he's not friends with certain kids based on their friendship with her. He claimed he terminated his friendship with someone else over a "Pink Power Ranger" slur was hurled at recess. Another one is his friend even though he hit Belly in the head with a shoe. Delicate social ties, these kids.
And still, all Belly keeps calling me to ask is, "Can I play the Wii now? I said I was sorry!"
I'm sure you all know the answer to that :)