It's My Life

Some time ago, I told you all that at the beginning of the school year, The Boy decided to pledge a fraternity.    The pledging process has been both a struggle and a blessing this semester. As a mom I have worried for hours concerned about his living situation, grades, partying, hazing, money and a rather large host of other things. From his perspective he has made some good friends and had a lot of support during this transition to college. After a month home for Christmas break, The Boy returned back to college a week or so early so he could participate in Hell Week with his faternity. Never having been involved in Greek Life when I went to school, I am not sure exactly what Hell Week entails.  As a Mom, it does not sound like a thing you want your children participating in. Before he left I gave him my best Mom speech:  "Son, you know I was a GDI (Gosh Darn Independent) in college and it worked well for me."  "Son, you know you do not have to do a...

I can't say I never thought the day would come. I, of course, always did.  I mean you can dread a date as it approaches but you can't deny the fact that time always passes in the same manner; twenty-four hours and a new day starts. It is a constant in this life we can count on.  It's just, when I put the date on our calendar it seemed so far off. Something I would have to deal with in the future. Then the future becomes the present and before you are fully prepared you are dealing with something that maybe you just were not ready to deal with. My son graduated from high school. I am still trying to get use to the reality of that sentence. My son graduated from high school and will be going away to college this fall. Another not so elusive date on the calendar. When the school year started the end seemed so far away. But slowly as the school year has progressed and with it came many last dates. Last football game, last home basketball game, last school dance, last day ...

Life is so bittersweet. The sweetness is mixed with the salty. The joy with the sorrow.  Pleasure with pain. The good with the bad. The yin and the yang.  Obviously, we know life is bittersweet or we would not have so many ways of describing it. Bittersweet is how I have come to describe The Boy's high school graduation.  It is honestly a very happy time. To see your child accomplishment a goal  is a wonderful feeling. He earned his A+ diploma. He has been accepted into his dream college. It is a wonderful time for him. He is not the only one celebrating. We all are. As parents, we accomplished a goal as well. Sometimes you just don't want to become a statistic. You don't want you child to become involved in drugs and alcohol, you don't want them to become teen parents, you don't want them to get involved in the criminal justice world. You don't want them to take the hardest path they can find.  I can honestly say, we made it through (bumpy at times!) wi...

Her: "Mom, I have a new boyfriend." Me: "Oh, what happened to your other boyfriend?" Her : "He stopped calling me his girlfriend." Me: "So, what does he call you now?" Her: "His friend." Me: "So because he stopped calling you his girlfriend, you got a new boyfriend." Her: "Yes, his name is Robert. But he wants to be called Robbie." Me: "How did Robbie become your new boyfriend? Did you ask him or did he ask you." Her: "Oh, he asked me "Do you want to be my girlfriend?"" {as she mimics his body movements} Me: "What did you say?" Her: {As she scrunches up her face} " I said sure, I guess so!" Her Daddy: "I don't like this Robbie guy." Her: "Mom, can I have two boyfriends at once?" Me: "No, you can not." Her : "Darn! That was a good plan!" ...

Some of The Short Chic's friends have started losing their baby teeth.  We have not. I have found myself having conversations with a five year old that I did not think I would have until she was a teenager.  I promise it happens to everyone. I don't know when it will happen but I promise one day it will. Everyone's body is different.  No, sweetheart, you have not been forgotten. I keep reminding her that she was three weeks shy of her first birthday before she even got her first baby tooth. I think it will be a while before she loses them. It does not comfort her. In fact, none of my words have comforted her.  I never expected anyone to get a broken heart over her teeth falling out. Well, technically, not falling out. In an attempt to distract her, I set about making a Tooth Fairy door. I found this idea on a blog link up, it was from  Nest of Posies  and I have had it pinned for a super long time. I loved it. I was just...

It was an exciting morning in our household.  During a rather uneventful breakfast The Short Chic announces quite proudly that she "did it!" The Husband and I might have expected to see a mess when we turned around. However, instead we were so excited to see she had tied her shoe by herself for the first time...EVER!  I was even more excited because she credited me with showing her how! I love it when little kids finally figure it all out. The sense of accomplishment is huge. She did not just do it once, she tied both shoe laces and then gave herself double knots.  How can that not melt your heart? And if it could not get any better, tonight The Short Chic got herself ready for dance.  She wanted her hair to look pretty so she did it herself. At the age of 5,she put her own hair up in a bun.  Did I say she did it all by herself?

It was a big week at our home; our Short Chic started Kindergarten. We knew this day was coming and we recognized that we had some things to get ready for. The Short Chic has never had any type of schedule. We have been fortunate enough that my in-laws took care of her, so she never had to be up at any given schedule. Since she never had to be up at a certain time, we never put her to bed at a designated time. We would wake her up right as we were ready to walk out the door in the morning but often she left home without breakfast, without her hair being combed, or even dressed for the day. If she wanted to wear her pajamas all day long, that is what she wore. I should also confess that The Short Chic also still slept in bed with us. She has been a third bed partner for years. The Husband and I both kinda liked having her close by. The number one reason we kept her close to us was it gave my husband and I more quality sleep. We did not have to get up and down in the middle of the...

It is flu season. For weeks, I have been seeing post on my Facebook News Feed about all my "friends" who were battling the flu. I was just silently praying that it would skip my family. Then at 3:00 a.m. on Tuesday, the dreaded "middle-of-the-night-shoulder-shake" occurred. The Boy was standing there asking me if I had anything to help with an upset stomach. Well, I knew I did not because recently I had gone one of my get rid of all outdated medications kick. But I looked, just in case. Instead I settled for making him some Ginger Tea. Then I settled myself at the foot of his bed and tried to sleep until the next phase began. Around 3:30 when The Boy started vomiting. Every half hour. Finally he is stomach was empty of all food and the dry heaves started. Throughout the day, every half hour. We actually had one reprieve, of two hours and then we were back to more vomiting. By late afternoon, we are exhausted. His body had worked hard  and I ...

I am just going to put this out there. I am a nervous wreck! As a parent, or even as a parent substitute, we find at times our children do things that concern us. We want to teach them autonomy so we encourage them to make their own decisions. When they are younger we can intervene in those decisions and direct them before disaster occurs. As they get older those chances for intervention become less frequent and we can only rely upon the years when our influence mattered to come through. It happens with friend choices. It happens when your teenagers starts to drive and "go out" on the weekend. I must be currently feeling what my parents felt when I went off to college. Of course, we do not let our children  know how concerned we are. We want to give the illusion of support. But you all know, we don't sleep till they get home, we can't think of anything else until we hear from them. As you may recall, I introduced you all to Miss Medical Student here . She is n...

She rules my word. We had an entire Mommy/daughter weekend. We played Princesses. We stayed up late. We ate pancakes for breakfast. We watched a lot of Nick Junior! We laughed. We snuggled. And we played dress up. She was Cinderella. I was Prince Charming. Her stuffed leopard married us. (Please no one tell her it is not a legal ceremony! I would hate to ruin her moment!) In the month of Thanksgiving, I am thankful for boy's fishing weekends.  They allow extra Mommy/Daughter  time!

When it comes to parenting, I have done things a little bit different. By no means am I alone. There are many families like mine.  My children are years apart. I got one completely through early childhood and into adolescents and then started over. This is important to me because I have had a moment of what life will be like for me in a few years at the same time, I am charting new territory. I am muddling my way through adolescents with The Boy and I am repeating parenting a preschooler with The Short Chic. The Boy is a great sleeper...NOW. Back when I was a single mommy and he and I lived in a two bedroom house, I could not get him to sleep by himself. He told me later he was scared. He never felt safe in his bedroom.  Once I remarried and we all lived together, he immediately started sleeping in his own bed. And I got acquainted with sleep again. Then The Short Chic came along. Having had years of sleep, I liked it. I loved it! So I took the easiest ro...

Today was a big day in our household. My Short Chic started preschool. She woke me this morning around 7:30 a.m. when she ran into my bedroom crying. (Before I go on, I feel the need to provide you with a small amount of background information so you can see how relevant the 7:30 a.m. is to me.   I am the mom who lets their child sleep with them. Sleep is very important to me and I would just rather have her comfy in my bed, safe, than get up in the middle of the night. Easy habit to get into...bad habit to break. I decided over my mini-vacation that I would break her and have her sleep in her own bed. Recognizing that ME getting up and taking her back to her bed when she climbs into mine is the KEY. So last night, she came crawling into bed with me at 1:00. I got up, carried her back to bed and thought I would lay down with her until she went back to sleep. Well, I woke up with a start when I realized I was the only person in her bed. She had crawled out and was back in MY bed...

I just got home from enrolling my eldest in .....HIGH SCHOOL! No way, no how! It seems like only a few years ago he and I went shopping for his first ever school supplies. I remember taking off work for two days to get him use to his new routine called Kindergarten. How on earth did he become a freshman in HIGH SCHOOL? Wasn't it just a  few short years ago he transitioned from elementary school to Middle School? We had to transition to a new start time. Elementary starts school at 9:00 but Middle School starts at 8:00. But, now he has gone and finished Middle School. No way, no how! In a few short days, he will enter the doors of the building below and begin his high school journey! No way, no how! The line at registration was the longest line I have seen, outside of an amusement park. We waited in line to turn in our health forms. Then we waited in a massive line to turn in our registration forms. I also learned how expensive high school can be. Class dues, student ...

"You melt my heart!" It's a line from the movie,   Hope Floats.  The Boy and I have been saying it to each other since the movie first came out. He was much shorter back then. In fact, he was only about 2 years old when I first saw that movie. Then along came this guy and he really melted my heart! But of course, he does not say it back. Too mushy for him. He just rolls his eyes. And smiles. Or winks. It's okay, I know I melt his heart too! When The Short Chic came along, we started telling her, "You melt my heart." I expected her to repeat it when she learned to talk. But she did not. As with everything, she has her own way of doing things. Here is how it goes now.... Mommy: "You Melt My Heart!" The Short Chic: "You melt my fish!" Mommy: "What does that mean?" The Short Chic giggling: "I have no idea!" This morning The Short Chic randomly told me that I melted her fish. It melted my heart! If...