Tag Archives: mothering

Wonder Woman

Posted on July 24, 2012 | 2 comments

For every handful of days that I feel like a turd that needs polishing there is a day like today. An unbelievable, Wonder Woman kind of day.

I hopped out of bed this morning relatively pain free. This was a good start to the day. I ate a bowl of Cheerios. With sugar. Low carb, no sugar day be damned. As of this morning I have lost twenty pounds since May 1. I can do anything. I can do hard things.

A closet, mid summer. Note the lack of winter coats and scarves.

So I cleaned out the hall closet. This week when I pushed my grandmother’s mink coat out of the way to grab my vacuum (that I use daily) I questioned the wisdom of storing a coat I wear once a year in front of an item I use every single day, thankyouverymuchdogthatsheds.  And today I solved that problem. Not an impossibly hard task. But one I had been putting off.

And then I got the fever. I shoved all the furniture in to the center of the living room and started taping. I didn’t have paint yet. But if I got all the taping done I’d have no excuse not to paint, right?

Truth be told it is the taping I hate.  Patience is not my thing.  I like to just dive in.  The prep the whole damn room before you even go and buy the paint plan was perfect. I could not possibly skip a step.
I owe the next few hours of productivity to my big girl.  I could not have done it without her.  Em played with Lucy for three hours straight in the pillow pile they had assembled in the living room. For this, I let her pick the tunes.  This turned out to be a bonus.  I got my living room painted and I may very well have been cured of my freakish and somewhat out of character obsession with Katy Perry.
A clean closet and a painted living room might have been enough for Average Mom to have an above average day. But Wonder Woman? She conned her six year old in to playing with her wee one for an extra half an hour and stuffed some chicken breasts with the leftover filling from last night’s stuffed mushrooms, made some jasmine rice and heated up some frozen carrots (with maple syrup!!) and managed to have dinner ready AND the living room painted when Dad got home.
I’m still sporting the overalls.  I am setting a new goal.  Wonder Woman 2.0 will have a shower, too. I can try again,  I have at least three more rooms to paint this summer.
Join me on Facebook for my before and after painting pictures!

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Posted in Family, Parenting

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Focus

Posted on June 9, 2012 | 2 comments

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It is said that mothers have eyes in the backs of their heads. I wish I had a second set in front. Mine have been working overtime.

My big girl had a bang up week. Last day of school on Friday and a soccer trophy the night before that. I put my constant surveillance of “the baby” on hold for the week. My big girl was getting bigger by the minute and I didn’t want to miss it. Friday morning before she left for school I said “grab your backpack, baby” and she said for the very first time “I’m not a baby.”

I’m glad I was watching this week. I sat on the steps with a cup of coffee in my hands watching her head down the driveway to the bus stop on Thursday morning. I don’t know what made me sit down and watch her. But I’m glad I did.

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Emily’s graduation was Wednesday morning. Soccer game on Thursday. Last day of school on Friday. I don’t think I took my eyes off of her for 72 hours. It is like she was made of bamboo. She was growing up. And I could see it.

Friday morning I sat down on the back deck and had a cup of coffee and a chit chat with Lucy. Maybe it was just the shorts. But I don’t think so. She grew, too. While I wasn’t looking. Dammit.

I need to get these two on a schedule. Because they can’t keep growing at the same time. I’m gonna miss something.

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Posted in Parenting

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Let the sun shine in…

Posted on April 23, 2012 | 8 comments

My brother went to the Naval Academy.  He was 19.  I was 23 when he began his Plebe Summer.   We walked through campus on Induction Day, we stood in lines.  We waited and we hugged him a lot.  The whole time I kept thinking how in the hell do you make a decision so permanent?  This one day… you are saying “today I will begin a career in the Navy that may be life long…” and that blew my mind.

I kept wondering when he would start to look like a midshipman.  Would it be over Christmas when I saw him next? I can tell you when it was. The moment was the same for every one of the boys and girls that became men and women that day.  It was when they got their hair cut.

Scott looked like a baby and a grown up all at once.  He’d had his ears lowered.  It was summer and his tan didn’t quite go all the way up to his hair line anymore.  All these young kids filed in to this hall and we saw them spilling out the other side with this “oh shit, I’ve really done it now” face.  Young men and women that had a plan.  And a new do.

I didn’t have my ears lowered today.   Nor did I sign up with the United States Navy.  But I did have one of those “Sign me up and cut it off” moments.

I got a Mom haircut.  There’s no turning back.  I’m giving Lucy twenty good years and then I am retiring.  Heh.  We’ll see how well that works out for me, huh?

Lucy seems slightly less suspicious than Em. Em said "Hmm... it's creepy, I want my Mom back." Here's hoping Mike is more open to change.

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Posted in Nonsense, Parenting

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