Mommin' It Up!

January 29, 2015January 28, 2015

Pop Quiz

I think I am having an identity crisis.

Last night when I was saying goodnight to Joshua as he climbed into bed I got really weepy. I mean, he will be eleven years old in a month. And laying there in his bed, he looked HUGE. And he was kinda just like, “Ok lady, tell me good night and get out of here.”

Instead I told him a story, a true story about how when he was a baby, once he really got communicative, between say 6 and 18 months, and he was SO sweet, I used to say to him ALL THE TIME: “Joshua, I hope you always love me as much as you do right now.”

Because he LOVED me. SO much. Unabashedly. With abandon. And he was just indescribably sweet. His babyhood for me was much easier and more enjoyable than Sophie or Jonah’s, both because he was an easy baby and because he was the only one. I was his and he was mine, completely.

And now he loves Minecraft and friends and watching Agents of Shield with Daddy.

And he’s almost 11 and I’m 37 and…when did this happen? I still feel like I should be 26 with a newborn.

So…pop quiz: who am I, and what am I supposed to do with this giant man-child who could take or leave me?

Anyone have a cheat sheet?

January 27, 2015

Randomoscity

Lots of things are floating around in my brain right now, but none of them have taken the shape of a real, actual post. So, since I haven’t a) done a random-things-on-my-mind post or b) made up a word for a post title in a while, I thought I’d do both.

In no particular order…

– Is this a mom thing? I am so tired of constantly wheedling my family into doing things they don’t want to do. Or, things they do want to do, just not right at the moment. Or, things they should want to do and would enjoy/would be good for them if only they would listen to me. Examples include going to the zoo to see the holiday lights display and going to swimming lessons ~~that we pay a lot of money for~~ on a regular basis. I feel like I am the only one dealing with the actual space-time continuum that means if Thing A is going to be done, Steps 1, 2, and 3 have to be completed by Time I. Am I alone here?

– My braces and I are in a good place right now. I can eat and talk without too much pain for the most part. This means, of course, that they’re due to be tightened. I have to go next Thursday to have the last set of wires put in – the super-sturdy ones that are going to hurt like a mofo. So, it’ll be back to ~~milkshakes~~ vitamin-infused smoothies and speech impediments for me. Between that and preparing for the hysterectomy to fix a problem that isn’t visibly causing me any issues, I am beginning to question the idea of preventative medicine.

– I guess I didn’t have enough angst when I was a teenager, because I am having it now. I am in a “What is the point of life?” phase at the moment and I’m not entirely sure why or how to get out of it. But really. If you know what the point of life is, please enlighten me.

– In my ongoing attempt to screw my kids up as little as possible, I downloaded this book the other day. Jenny and I have seen Brene speak a few times and she is super amazing. You should definitely download it too.

That’s all I’ve got. What’s going on with you?

January 22, 2015

Word Nerds!

Saturday, Joshua and Sophie were BOTH in our district Spelling Bee. Last year they both qualified, also, but Joshua did not want to do it, and we didn’t make him. This year, however, he was ready, but he did NOT want to win. He was like, terrified of getting to the final round where he would compete against 6th-8th graders as well as his own 5th grade winners. Sophie, however, was in it to win it! We studied pretty hard. I even made Joshua study because I told him he HAD to do his best, but I gotta be honest – the 5th grade words were ridiculously hard!

Anyway. Before we left for the big Bee, we had to do a family coin toss. Why? You ask.

Because both kids wanted Daddy to come with them in the spelling room. We had to flip a coin to see which would claim the Daddy prize and which would get stuck with boring old Mom.

Sophie lost. And let me be clear, LOSING = me accompanying her to the 2nd grade spelling bee.

Harumph.

Despite her handicap of getting stuck with moi, Sophie spelled her heart out and came in 4th place out of 20 spellers! She was SO excited, and I was SO proud. She spelled with confidence and made it through 18 rounds before she got out!

Joshua and Bobby fared well in the 5th grade room, but not AS well as Sophie. The details are a little fuzzy, because when I asked how he did, they could only come up with “I was in the top 10 but not the top 5.” I had to laugh! We are so proud of Joshua for overcoming the fear that kept him out of the spelling bee last year!

And of course, the same week of the spelling bee, both kids also qualified for the district speech meet. Which means…another early Saturday morning coin-toss is in our future.

I sure do love my little Word Nerds! Even though they love Daddy more.