This morning, my baby boy came up to me.
“Mommy, I need a huggy.”
I reached down and lifted him up into my arms. His little arms wrapped tight around my neck as he hugged me so very tight. I thought of one of my favorite quotes…
My heart was full to bursting with love for this little guy. He’s so sweet. So very special. And he’s mine.
All I could do was offer up a prayer of thanks for this person God had placed in my life.
“Mommy,” he whispered.
“Yes, baby?”
“I have to toot.”
Sigh.
The other day, someone said something I hate to hear. “You’re the perfect mom.”
Oh sweetie. Clearly you don’t know me very well.
Yes, my kids were dressed up for church, sitting quietly together. But that was a mere 5 minute window into our day.
You didn’t see me yelling at them to get in the car. Or telling my daughter to “stop whining” while I tried to brush her crazy hair into something presentable. Or having to reason with my son over why he couldn’t wear only his Star Wars underwear and a pajama top to church (“Why can’t I? God knows what my butt looks like! He made it, Mom!”). Or the piles of laundry I stepped over on the way out the door.
I am so so far from a perfect mother. Most days I feel like a “Barely Adequate Mother.” For so many reasons. Like:
For every time I walk out of Target with a smiling, behaving children, there is probably a time I walked out with someone crying because I didn’t buy them [insert toy/book/stickers/whatever here]. For every time you see us in public looking presentable, there was probably a battle beforehand about what they were going to wear, how we will do their hair and, most likely, both.
We’re all that mom with the screaming kid. That frazzled mom hissing “STOP IT RIGHTNOWORELSE” through her teeth. That mom who looks every bit as exhausted as she feels.
You might just catch us on a good day.
This week, Ellie is at a new camp.
Sorry, this week The Child Formerly Known as Ellie is at a new camp.
Yes, Ellie is trying out a new name.
Ellie’s name is actually Elizabeth. A week or two ago, she asked me if she could choose a new nickname. She feels that Ellie is a little girl’s name and she really wants to try out a different name.I was really surprised – I thought she really liked her name. For years she has refused to be called Elizabeth, insisting that Ellie was her “real” name.
I explained that because everyone knows her as Ellie, not Elizabeth, so it might be strange and confusing if she is suddenly Lizzy or something. I suggested if she is really serious, she should go by Elizabeth for awhile, then try a new nickname.
Just to be sure she likes her ‘new name’ she is testing it out at a camp where she doesn’t know anyone. So this week, she is known as “Eliza” to everyone at camp. So far she says she really likes it and she think this is a better name for her than Ellie.
I guess this is part of growing up. She is outgrowing things she used to love… including her name. I’m not upset by it – I’ve actually said to my husband that I like Eliza better than Ellie and wished we had called her that instead. But this symbolizes a beginning of a growing up journey – and her beginning to find herself and becoming her own person.
And I’m wondering who she’ll grow into. Ellie? Eliza? Elizabeth? Liz? Beth?
I thought I knew…
Because its not summer in Philly without a trip to the Jersey Shore! Even a cloudy day is fun when you’re at the shore. We went down to the beach for the day with a big group of friends and had an absolute blast. Even though it was cloudy and a little chilly when the breeze kicked up, we stayed all day. We found starfish, crabs, and shells. We learned how to boogie board, then learned what happens when your boogie board hits something, and learned what it feels like to do a somersault and face plant in the sand. We learned how to defend ourselves from seagulls. We learned how to build the biggest, hugest drip castle in Ocean City.
(Don’t worry. These creatures were returned to their natural habitat.
I told the kids before we got out of the car at the beach that we were NOT bringing home anything that was alive!!!)
And after releasing our little sea creatures into the wild, we enjoyed a big dinner of extremely healthy, organic boardwalk food.
To quote Colin, “Even when its cloudy, the beach is perfect with all of your friends!”
As my kids get older, I’m noticing that more and more friends are getting cell phones at younger ages. The average age a child is given their first phone is 12.1; the average age for a child’s first smartphone is 13.8, but in our neighborhood, I often see 10- and 11-year-olds with iPhones.
Now, as parents, we have another arena we have to supervise – Mobile Safety. Here’s the challenge – once my daughters have cell phones, they can be contacted anytime by anyone — without my knowledge. And once they have a smart phone, the entire internet is at their fingertips. According to AT&T’s Mobile Safety study, one in five children say they have received a bullying text message and nearly half know someone who has received a sexual message or picture over their phone.
The AT&T Mobile Safety study questions were designed to examine parents’ concerns and children’s behaviors, and to better understand where gaps in safety awareness exist today. It surveyed 1,000 parents and 500 children, ages 8-17, and this is a must read, folks. The study showed:
But one light at the end of the tunnel…. the study also showed that
As parents we can set limit for our kids on their phones and enforce them. 2 out of 5 kids with a mobile phone say their parents have not talked to them about staying safe and secure when using the mobile phone. Its time to step up, parents, and protect our kids and teach Mobile Safety.
To see more, this AT&T Mobile Safety Infographic is really helpful. We’ll be talking more over the next month or two about Mobile Safety and ways we can protect our kids.
Disclosure: I am proud to be part of an AT&T Family Safety Ambassador program. This is a compensated position
Its so true.
Friday, I found my son outside proudly showing me his new best friend:
His name is “Toadie.” And Colin asked if he could keep him.
“No.” “Maybe.” said my husband and I simultaneously. (Guess which one was me?) We were heading out the door, so we put Toadie in a bucket while we ran our errands.
“Why are we putting him in a bucket? We’re not keeping it!” I said and was ignored by everyone.
Half an hour later, we were in PetSmart, next door to the Barnes & Noble where we had stopped.
“Why are we here? We’re not keeping it!” I said and was ignored by everyone.
Then we were looking at terrariums.
“Why are we looking at these? We’re not keeping it!” I said and was ignored by everyone.
Then I listened as my husband was discussing frog/snake/reptile habitats with the PetSmart employee.
“HELLO!! We’re not keeping it!” I said and was ignored by everyone.
See this is the problem: Daddies are little boys at heart. So when their little boy finds a toad or snake or {insert slippery slimey creature here], Daddy is like “Awesome! My mom never let me have one! This is my chance!!” They are still made of frogs and snails and puppy-dog tails… they never truly outgrow it. So they try to talk you into things like keeping that snake you found while camping and honestly think that a boa constrictor is a fabulous family pet, never mind the fact that it would probably eat the cat. And your baby nephew.
Luckily, while debating between a terrarium and aquarium, my husband finally realized that this was actually quite an investment for a wild toad found hiding in the tomato plants and we decided that we should wait and do more research before investing in an animal habitat. Especially since he wants to get one that will work for toads, fish, lizards (remember Bob?) and snakes.
So we came home and let Toadie go.
Thank goodness.
I think it is absolutely hilarious that they think I’m going to live somewhere that has a snake in it.
I’m working on a project.
I need kid quotes!
I’ve decided on a few favorites…
“Be who you are and say how you feel cause those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.” -Dr. Seuss
“Aslan,” said Lucy, “you’re bigger.”
“That is because you are older, little one,” answered he.
“Not because you are?”
“I am not. But every year you grow, you will find me bigger.” -Prince Caspian
“You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem and smarter than you think.” -Winnie the Pooh
“The more that you read, the more that you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” -Dr. Seuss
“It is our choices that determine who we are, far more than our abilities.” – Harry Potter
“As soon as I saw you, I knew an adventure was going to happen.” – Winnie the Pooh
What kids quotes am I missing?
Last week, right before we left for vacation, my husband and his dad tiled the floor of the mudroom. The tile is down and looks fabulous. We still have to paint, install new trim, and grout.
So obviously, we’re still not done, This is not surprising, seeing as it took us a full six months to finish our bathroom renovation. I’m currently deciding between 50 shades of tan to find the exact color I want for a room I barely spend time in. (Obsessive, much?)
God help us if we every decide to redo our kitchen!
Anyway, the reason this is stressful is that tiling the mudroom means we had to move the washer and dryer into the family room.
Which means I am unable to do laundry.
You’d think this was a good thing.
Its only been like 5 days (since I was able to do laundry on vacation) and you would not BELIEVE how much laundry is piling up. A heat wave and kids at going to nature camp and coming home happy, exhausted and completely filthy is not helping.
Our house is starting to look like an episode of Hoarders.
But there is no WAY I am going to a laundromat in the middle of a 100-degree heat wave.
Anyone have a washer and dryer I can borrow while I spend way too much time deciding between nearly identical paint colors???
On Saturday we went to Dorney Park for my husband’s work party. It was like a hundred zillion degrees outside, so shockingly the park was practically empty. Most people were smart enough to stay home in their air conditioning instead of melting in the sun.
Colin was hilarious. He started out so so timid in Camp Snoopy, riding all the little rides there, like his favorite ride, the race cars:
Finally, we got him on the kiddie roller coaster. Which he loved.
And then he discovered the cars. Do you know how many times we rode these?? Colin wants you to know he is an excellent driver who stayed on the road the whole time and will someday be a racecar driver.
Then he started getting much braver. I think he was trying to keep up with the big boys, cause he was going on some rides that he was a little small for! By the end of the night, he was even on the scrambler! Look, you can barely see his head!
Such a fun day!!
via