Yikes!

Sorry it has been too long on the blogging front. But there have been new changes in the Work AT Home front. I have become a guide at ChaCha which is really fun! You can learn more about it at ChaCha.com. Also, I have become involved with MommyMixer, which I am super excited about. See MommyMixer.com for details. There are a couple of other opportunities that I'm working on, but I'll let you know how those pan out.

Hallomaybe???

Well. We are about to embark on the fun filled night of Halloweening. My son is ready to to adorn his Black Spiderman costume, which he has already played in, slept in, you name it. And my daughter will be Herself?!? In her closet will be this gorgeous Snow White dress, never worn, and she will be wearing regular clothes. Why will she not wear it? Who knows, she's only 2 (or maybe that is the reason) Suffice it to say I will be hoping against all hope that tomorrow will be different. Maybe the enticement of all the candy will be enough. We will just have to see.

Power of Pigtails

Oh the power of pigtails. They must have some hypnotic power that cannot be blocked by the typical human brain. Take my example.... little girl crying over broken cookie = sorry honey its still the same cookie, just eat it. same little girl crying (this time with hair in adorable pigtails) = Awww honey don't cry, lets see if we can get you one that's not broken. Go figure... And their power seems to intensify for daddies. Hmmmm, I wonder if I'm too old for pigtails...

The terrible threes???

OK... So I subscribe to one of those parenting websites that send you age appropriate emails about your kids.... OK so I subscribe to maybe more than one. Anyway, my most recent one is about how age three might actually be worse than age two as far as the "terrible" stage goes. Are you kidding me??? Now I know this isn't new news by any means. And its true I have a five year old so "its not the first time I've been around this block" but come on... I already have my rose colored glasses on when I remember my sons earlier years. I will try to block this thought of the "terrible threes" whenever my freshly turned two year old throws a tantrum when she wakes up, or when I don't let her climb into her car seat, or when I think she's done pooping in her diaper (even when she says she's got more). Jeez! Can you believe she's already shushing me? I better go ahead and phone in my Valium order for her thirteenth birthday... I have a feeling I'm gonna need it. :)

Dont ever be late!

I just found out I can never be late to car pool pickup. Not because of the school, but because of my sweet and tender son. I went through the car line at normal time, but he must have not heard his name being called because when I got to the front of the building he wasn't there. They called his name again and he came out crying. He said he thought I had forgotten about him. Jeez! I wasn't even late! I told him I would never forget him, but now I've started getting there even earlier and he notices. "Mom how did you get here so fast" I'm really setting myself up for the day when I'm five minutes late...

Peer pressure on my side...

Can I just say, I am lovin school lunches. I decided to let my son eat school lunch the first week, so that he could get used to the process of waiting in line, ordering and paying. After that, I could make him a lunch when he wanted take one. Well, here we are two weeks in, and no complaints. No "I dont like my lunch" or "can I just have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich". These are of course what he says to me when he is home. Now dont get me wrong, these are not free range organic meals we're talking about. But they are hot (semi) nutritious meals that my son would NEVER choose ordinarily. And thats the thing, he has a CHOICE at lunch and he is CHOOSING baked chicken over hamburgers. Well, my thanks go to you other little kindergartners for getting my son to eat real food at school. Next week, could you work on getting more fish into his diet???

Cutting the strings...

No not those strings. Are you kidding me, my apron strings are made of braided barb wire (sorry kids!) But I'm talking about the diaper bag strings. You see, my Sis-in-law bought my daughter a cute micro mini tote for her birthday and freedom has begun. There's room for a diaper, some wipes, even a toy. No gigantic bag for me to carry anymore....no way. Call it a purse and my daughter will even carry it. Lovin it!!! Don't worry, I still leave my In Case of Emergency (extra diapers, extra clothes, snacks) in the car. But now I can take my fav purse inside and leave the diaper toting to my little one.

A Fathers Love

This is just an example of how a fathers love can be unwavering... a girl I know has been having trouble lately. She's young (22) and has been living in the area since she came here for school. Her family lives in a nearby state but she hasn't seen them that often recently. She, by her own admission, has made some poor decisions and it has taken a toll on her physically, mentally and financially. She made a single call home and her father was here within a few hours to help move her home. This was a wise decision on her part. But what I thought was great was that her father dropped everything to be there for her. He was compassionate but not patronizing. I hope she uses this short stay at home to recharge and sort things out, but I also hope she realizes that she has a terrific dad, if she had any doubt.

A day of Firsts!!!

Today is a day of many firsts...

First time blogger...long time reader. I figured I would join the land of blogging to share, vent and connect with other moms. Like so many, we surround ourselves with knowledge, gossip even folklore on parenting and still fly by the seat of our pants (or whatever that expression is).

First day of my eldest son's kindergarten. My husband and I walked our son to his first day of "big" school. Complete with camera in hand, we took many pictures of the walk and even video taped my son saying he was most excited about the lunch line (OK...) We managed to even make through without our youngest ( a freshly turned 2 year old girl) causing a too big a tantrum. We met the teacher, said our goodbyes, gave kisses and hugs and left....but not before the teacher handed me a ziplock bag. We walked back to our car proudly as we made it without tears. Once inside I opened the Ziplock bag and read the note inside. It was instructions on how to use the items inside....A teabag to settle our nerves, Tissues to wipes our eyes, Cotton balls to remember the softness of our childrens spirit and a lima bean to represent our child ready to grow and sprout....and thats when I cried. Damn you Lima Bean!!! Oh well, at least I made it out of the building. Anyway, at pick-up I learned the first rule of car pool... Get there Early! (Oh yeah and bring a book!)

Well, I am looking forward to the road ahead..... both of blogging and of PTA meetings and volunteering and everything else associated with public school. Hopefully we will all share and laugh along the way!!!