Saying Goodbye

We had a hugely hectic weekend this past weekend.  We had my daughter's birthday party, with 20 kids (!), plus a neighborhood get together, plus family and a friend in town, plus my daughter attended another child's birthday.  On top of all of that, on Sunday morning our 14 year old cat died.  I adopted her when she was about 3 or 4 months old during my first year in college.  It's hard enough to loose a pet, but to have to tell your child that a pet they love has died is heartbreaking.  There are no shortcuts to that, no easy way out.  It's pretty clear that she'll notice the cat has disappeared, so not saying anything is not an option.  Surprisingly, Seven has taken the news incredibly well.  Of course she cried, as one would expect.  She has now started calling a gray stuffed cat that we gave her years ago because it looked like our cat, Sophie - a tribute to our lost family member.  Sophie, the stuffed cat, now travels around the house with our daughter, the play thing the real pet would never be.  We held off telling her for several hours on Sunday, ostensibly so she could enjoy the birthday party she had that afternoon.  But, in reality, I'm not sure I could have talked to her that morning.  I will miss my sweet cat, and I know our daughter will miss her fiercely.  Sweet dreams, Sophie Cat.

Summer Can Be Harry, Part I

Right, so it's summer time, meaning my daughter, age 6, is no longer in school.  Also meaning, I am now responsible for coming up with some activities for her to do that she will be excited about and that I can tolerate.  Let's just say hours and hours of Barbie playing and ANT Farm (picture a less cool Saved By the Bell with child prodigies) watching does not make it high on the list.  But I do love to read, and if the child will sit still, she loves to hear the story.  So I decided it was time to venture into the world of Harry Potter.  I've been dying to read this with her since I read them while I was nursing her.  So I came up with a great plan, if I do say so myself and it requires very little to no work on my part!

During 10 month old brother's naps, 6 year old and I are reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.  After each chapter, she draws a picture of her favorite part and we talk about that part of the story.  I also usually ask her why it's her favorite part.  Once the whole book is finished we'll watch the first movie during a special movie night.  She is also writing letters to her Aunt, and possibly other friends and relatives, about the book.  That's it!  It's so simple it's ridiculous! 

Of course being the busy mom that I am we've only made it to the sorting hat ceremony so far, but Six loves it and I'm enjoying our time together reading one of my favorite stories.  I actually have a video of her first picture but haven't been able to get it together enough to have both my blog and my phone and the attachment piece to hook my phone to the computer in the same place at the same time.  Oh well, maybe next week. . .

Good Thing He's Cute

My precious 10 month old son has been an incredibly difficulty baby from day one, but that's a story for a different day.  This is the story of last night when he would not go to sleep!  Of course this happens when my husband is out of town.  As a way to get some mommy-daughter time, I put the little guy down a little earlier than normal, but nothing extreme maybe 15 minutes or so.  Six and I spent the next 2 hours watching So You Think You Can Dance and then headed for bed.  Around 11:30, I hear the whimpering from the monitor - possibly my least favorite sound on earth!  And then all hell proceeded to break loose.  For the next two and a half hours, I spent my time, awake, with a screaming, angry 10 month old.  That's right, two and a half hours!  Wouldn't it be awesome if the point of this story was to say that in the midst of the crying I was able to tap into my inner mother and discover a fountain of love that finally soothed my infant into a peaceful sleep.  Sorry, this is not that kind of blog.  I am not a person who does well without sleep, and all I could think about the whole time was that my alarm was set for 6:30am.  I love my children, but at 2 in the morning I don't like anyone!  I didn't get in touch with any inner mother goddess, but I did get in touch with a super tired mommy.  My butt has been dragging all day today.  Sitting with my clients took all of the energy I could muster.  So dinner tonight was pizza delivery and story time was blissfully short.  And tonight I find myself avoiding bed like that might keep last night's nightmare from repeating.  The rationality of the sleep deprived is laughable.  And yet, looking at that picture of my little boy brings a smile to my lips and love to my heart.  That's the real world of parenthood.  It's a good thing he's cute.

Monsters University

Last Friday, I had a chance to do one of my favorite things with my 6 year old daughter.  We went to a movie in the movie theater.  It's the first time we've been able to do that since the little guy arrived almost 10 months ago.  She was so excited, I think more about the popcorn kid pack than the movie.  But we went to see Monsters University on opening day.  What better way for the lazy mom to spend quality time with the kiddo than to chill in a dark theater with some movie theater popcorn!

The movie was excellent as well.  6 and I both really liked it and got a lot of laughs.  There were some parts that were a little scary but the intensity was below Snow White, so most kids would be fine unless they are just super sensitive.  The story was good and the theme of following your dreams was solid.  This lazy mom gives it 2 thumbs up.

But really, the movie was just a bonus.  The best part was spending some quality time with 6, munching popcorn in the dark and laughing together. 

Hey there!

So I got the idea for this blog the other day when I was looking for summertime activities to do with my 6, almost 7, year old daughter.  In my journey through Pinterest (mistake #1!), I was seeing all of these mommy bloggers who somehow manage to bake gluten free bread from scratch while cleaning their kitchens with homemade organic products as they chop veggies for all the meals they will be putting in their freezers to feed their families for the next 50 years, all while spending less than $5 on groceries a month.  Well, some of that might be an exaggeration but based on my reality, that might as well be what I try to do for all the success I could have with it.  I started wondering, "Where are all the moms who barely manage to get a shower each day and hold down a job, keep their kids alive, talk to their husbands/partners, eat, and sleep?"  Then I realized we're all too busy with all that stuff to write a blog! 

But here's my soapbox rant, and why I decided this blog was needed:   Being a mom is hard!!!  Society has so many expectations of us, we have so many expectations of ourselves, our partners have so many expectations (although they won't admit them if they are even semi-intelligent!), and other moms certainly have expectations.  And all these perfect mommy blogs just cement those expectations even further into our psyches.  Then if we don't meet the impossible standards, we feel like we've failed somehow!  It's crazy making!  So, I wanted to be a voice of reason and to speak, as well as I can, for the moms who celebrate just making it through today, the moms who look forward to Monday because it means going back to work and getting a break from the kids, the moms who love their family ferociously and still dream of a quiet bath, a glass of wine, and a good book WITH NO ONE ELSE AROUND!

Before people go all psycho mom on me and start telling me how I don't love my kids or how if I didn't want to parent I shouldn't have had children - don't!  I know how important it is for children to grow up surrounded by love.  I also know that for me, that does not mean that their lips will never touch a french fry or that they will never watch a moment of television until the age of 50.  I am a better mommy when I work, when I interact with other adults, when I do things to take care of myself, and when I am sitting with my kids watching our favorite shows.  Sometimes parenting can feel like dead man walking, but, honestly, I'm too tired for that!  I'm lazy mom sitting!