The Ultimate Freak Out

I'm a cardiac nurse. 
I've seen ridiculously disgusting things.
I've seen open incisions with guts fully visible.
I've packed gauze into infected chest wounds where a sternum should be.
I've seen things that would give any rational person nightmares for weeks. 
I've taken it all in stride. 


But show me a tooth precariously dangling from a 7 yr old's cutie patootie mouth and watch me squeal, freak out, dance in a circle on my tiptoes and scream "Ewww, ewww, ewww!"


And watch my little girly laugh and giggle that she could make her Momma sweat and want to pass slick out.


S/N: This tooth losing extravaganza reminded me of a tip my Mom gave when I first had children. She said to always have a RED washcloth stocked in the cabinet. When a child loses a tooth or nicks or scrapes themselves, use the red washcloth to "hide the blood" and this knocks out a lot of their anxiety. Works.

KIDS!!

My dear, sweet, ever-so-loving little boy was sitting at the kitchen counter this evening. His 5 yr old chin so delicately resting on his hand when he inquisitively asked: "Mom are you fat?"

I looked up ever-so-shocked and retorted, "No, I'm not fat! Why would you ask me that?"

And he responded ever-so-matter-of-factly, "Well, you don't LOOK fat but your butt sure is getting bigger. Haha." (And yes, he actually said "Haha" instead of laughing.)

And I ever-so-stated, "Go to your room.... And stop looking at mommy's behind."

Whoops!

Last week as I was parked on the floor folding clothes in my daughter's room, she was bouncing and dancing circles around me. Attempting to slow down her hyper-twirl swirl, I noted she should be helping; she's old enough now. 

Her response, "Do I HAVE to help with stuff like this?" 

My response, "Yes and you are going to start now."

Daughter, "Because I'm a big girl and that's what six year olds do?"

Me: "How old are you again?" 

Daughter: "Six. Momma, you remembered that didn't you?"

Me: "Of course I did." 

Dang, I just forgot for a minute.... was thinking she was still 5. Actually sat on the floor and did the math for a second. HOW does a mom forget this????? My bad.

Roooad Trip

I'm taking a much needed partial-break from reality next week and will be beach bound. I say "partial-break" because my two munchkins will be in tow. The challenge will be to actually get there with as little drama as possible. For the 630 miles each way, I'm working on a list of things for them to do. So far I've have coloring books, "I spy" games, and a dual screen DVD player I'm borrowing from a seasoned traveler friend with little hellions as well. Did I mention this movie player has headphone jacks?!? Ahhh, thank ya Jesus!

While my kids are enjoying their entertainment, I will be upfront with my iPod and my 6-disc car CD changer. I've reserved two slots for kiddie CDs that I can somewhat tolerate. But the other four positions are alllll mine. Each CD will have a theme and here's the breakdown:

Happy, Sappy, Rocky, Cocky

Sounds good to me. Happy- feel good, life is great music. Sappy- songs that string the chords in my heart. I plan on playing this minimally. Rocky- ya gotta love a bit of hairband magic and a few screaming guitars. I may have to curtail my normal singing at the top of my lungs to keep the natives in the backseat calm. Cocky- get up and dance, I'm the shihitz... ya know, those songs you don't actually own up to knowing.

So that's the plan. And if the three of us go absolutely mad together in the car, I will do my best to convince my friend in the car ahead to swap kids for a little while. Musical car seats. I hope it works. Either way, it will be worth every whining moment to sit on the beach, "take it all in" and let the tide take away my troubles. Can't wait. No, really I CAN'T wait. Sooo ready to lose myself for a while!

Secrets of the House

It's been a while since I blogged, I've had the thoughts but not enough time in the day. Summer is here, school is out, the kids are wild, and I'm putting a deck on my house. You get my drift... you're probably on the same pattern as well. Shewww! I'm tired! Just wanted to share a few shortcut "secrets" tonight:

I would love to scrapbook adorably cute, forever memorable albums for my children to browse through with their children. However, I've succumbed to the fact it "ain't never gonna" happen. Sooo, my second best alternative is to buy cute photo albums with a memo section built in preceding the picture slot. Here I put cute little scrapbooking stickers and write little notes from that day. It's more personal and sure beats an album packed with photographs but omitting its story. You could go yet another route and print those in book form through snapfish and the like. I, however, would end up with 400 books and it's just too costly for that!

My friend let me in on a fantastic idea she does with her children's artwork. She takes a favorite and has it made into blank notecards. Do you need to send a quick thank you to Auntie for your child's birthday present? How perfect is the notecard for that! Note to the teacher? Even better! (Brown-nosing points included.) The only problem I am running into is: how on earth do you choose just ONE per kid?!

You know, with digital cameras I take entirely tooo many pictures. I really do. I was originally trying to clear out "less than stellar" photos before transferring pictures to a thumb drive. Then I started thinking about how my kids will never be THAT age again. That day has passed. What's one more picture? That's the joy of digital photography. You can keep every single moment and you don't HAVE to print every picture. I look at my babies and can't believe how much they have changed since we moved here. Time flies. And I'm going to keep every precious moment I have, so what if the picture isn't "perfect." Someday all these silly times will be just perfect memories.

Love Is All Ya Need.

For a Valentine's Day celebration, I had the wonderful opportunity to "put on" my daughter's kindergarten party. There's nothing like 23 giggly five year-olds overly excited to put you in the spirit. My daughter was absolutely BEAMING. Sitting at her little table, grinning ear to ear, she kept waving to me and her dad. She was so proud and told everyone at her table who we were. The kids were so excited to loot through their valentine mailboxes. A simple candy heart stacking games was a success. Those little, innocent giggles are downright infectious and it was just what I needed. (Cheap prizes make all the difference too!) It was a simple little party that probably made my day more than hers. Later while snugging my daughter in bed, I kissed her little forehead and thanked her for letting me do the party. Her big blue eyes lit up; she asked if I had fun. Of course I did, I tell her. She hugged me tight and said I was the best momma ever. My heart started to melt. Those skinny little arms around my neck just hit the spot. It was the perfect reminder of true, unconditional love. Things aren't perfect. Things are downright tough sometimes, but I wouldn't trade a minute of it.

From Where I'm Standing

The one fact is that life is constantly changing. I thought I had my world planned out. Like dancing through a field of daisies, I was oblivious to the looming thunderstorm ahead. Within a very short time, my dear Mom passed away, my marriage was ending, and I had an 18 month old and 3 year old relying on me to not fall apart. So I picked up the pieces (aka "putting my big girl pants on") and kept on going.

So here I sit, three years later in a different house, with a different life, even different furniture. I should admit I shoved all of the old out the front door and had an impromptu yard sale in a moment of indifference. But what relief, moving to a new house and leaving broken memories behind! Only one thing in my life has remained constant and that is to give my children stability, continuous love and affirmation that we were going to be FINE.... even better than fine. We were going to be wonderful and have a great life. So many changes and I often worried I just wasn't doing enough, that they would feel short changed from my decisions, that my best just wasn't enough for the three of us.

I was updating my daughter's baby book last night when I started thinking about transitions and separations over the past few years. I was SO worried about her riding the bus today. I was positive my heart would leap out of my chest before the moment arrived. While looking at pictures from the moment SHE arrived, I realized she's already been through some incredibly challenging times. She has always known I was here when she needed me- she could see me, grab my hand and look to me for reassurance. Sure, we stumbled here and there, but we always kept going. Getting on the bus today was the center point of her KNOWING I am still here, always. She climbed to the top of the steps, looked back at me with her half smile, I nodded reassuringly, she gave me a full smile back and off she went. As I watched the bus carrying my precious doll, tears filled my eyes. I halfway expected her to grab my leg, to beg me to let her stay home, to hold on tight. But she did none of those. Life has thrown my little 5 year old some curve balls, and today gave ME the reassurance that she can adapt to anything and she knows I will not fail her and I am always holding her hand....