This is my motto for the summer! It came from a recent trip with my boys and wonderful girlfriends ( and their kids). We visited Seaside, OR in June. Now the weather was typical Oregon Coast weather…gray, windy, and a bit cool. The kids could care less and for the most part I didn’t mind either. It wasn’t pouring, the party was on! Since the weather wasn’t warm, I dressed my children appropriately-long pants and sweatshirts. The first night we were there my kids went headlong into the frigid ocean-fully clothed-and then preceded to roll in the dry sand. Fun times! The walk back the house was quite a trek and the boys were miserable. They had to be stripped at the door and thrown in the bath to thaw out. Their 5 minutes of fun created more work for me! Bitter, moi?

The next day we are frolicking on the beach once again. And I spent the entire time screaming at Will and Henry to stay out of the water. They continued to press toward the water line and eventually attained their goal! Soaking wet! I began to fume and my dear friend, Chris, looks at me and quietly asks, “So, you are getting upset because they are getting wet at the beach?” Ouch! Only a true friend can present the truth in such a calm way and make it undeniable! Love that! And yes…I was mad at them for getting wet at the beach. I couldn’t simply enjoy the moment with them because I was thinking of the aftermath. The screaming, the falling down on the way to the house, the blue lips, the sand, the bath, the WORK! Who does that? Well, a mother who mistakenly believed she was going on vacation.

I came to the realization and accepted that I, in fact, was not on vacation. I had only moved the location of my job. My KIDS were on vacation. Hour 36. I had my come-to-Jesus moment and the rest of the trip was great. CRAZY, loud, chaotic..but GREAT! I learned not to “fight the ocean” and I was a much happier women. Yes, they were going to be kids and get dirty. And yes, it is my job to help clean them up!
(Plus, who could stay mad at these two! I also got smarter and put them in their suits. If they thought it was warm enough to swim; it was warm enough to wear a swimming suit!)

These are the titles that could been posted below my name if I sat at a cubicle!

I spent a LARGE portion of my day (and every day) coaching young boys on good behavior. I will spare you all the details because most of my strategies prove to inefficient! However, I only lost my cool once today. That was when I was forcing Will and Henry to shove down a McDonald’s Happy Meal in less than 10 minutes. Will put his straw in his juice upside down and then was surprised when the juice went every where. Henry’s banshee screams disrupted another customer’s conference call (which I will not even BEGIN to go into-since it is RIDICULOUS to think you have a right to be annoyed by a loud child when you are taking a business call in freakin’ McDonalds!!!! I digress!), so we departed without finishing lunch or getting a treat! Bummer for everyone!

If I am asked for snacks less than 5 times a day….that is a good day. Fruit and carbs….I would ask for snacks all day too! On a road trip, snack managing is a higher art form. You are traveling 75+ mph, steering with one hand, and reaching in the back to replenish dwindling snack supplies. Finding snacks that all can enjoy, without making a disgusting mess in the backseat, and can be self-fed by a two year old-this is a challenge! I injured my shoulder quite badly during our trip to California because I was sitting in the passenger seat and my left arm is not conditioned to reach into the backseat hundreds of times. This snack managements is serious business and is not for sissies! (I am serious about my arm being injured and how it happened!)

How do you knowingly plan a beach party for your child in June-when you are fairly certain it is going to rain? What am I thinking! I just ordered the “goodie” beach bags and beach balls from Oriental Trading company..no turning back now! I told Will his friends weren’t going to bring gifts and he said, “OK.” But, he had this look on his face that said…..”then why do I always spend time finding the perfect gift for all my friends and then sit and watch them open it?” I guess I should really tell him it is because mommy doesn’t want ANY MORE TOYS! Hmmmm….Is it horrible just to tell him that we are a kinder family and other people just aren’t as thoughtful? Don’t answer that!

What will my job titles be tomorrow?

Will is Star of the Week at school this week. Aaron was sweet to be his special visitor during first choice. He and “the boys” played Legos for the entire time. Will was very excited to show him around his classroom and share him with his friends! What great dad!

Yesterday I felt recharged. I rediscovered the real reason I had children. Fun! We woke up in the morning and had NO plans! What a gift! Aaron and I decided to so something spontaneous even though it was raining and dreary. We packed some snacks and rain gear and headed to Discovery Park. It was so enjoyable and the boys LOVED it! It was relaxing. When do I get to say that anymore? After, we stopped in Magnolia for pizza at a place we had never been. It felt like old times- when you could go to lunch on a Saturday without a 4-tier plan of attack. Ahhh. Maybe a little bit of our “old selves” are still there and we just need to relax to let them return?

Sunday afternoon we took the leap into riding a bike without training wheels. Will has been riding a tiny bike with training wheels since he was 3. He has outgrown the bike and desperately needs a bigger one. (Plus, Henry is CRAZY to get on that bike!) Being frugal and a hard liner, I told Will he couldn’t get a new bike until he learned to ride on two wheels. Yesterday, I got the wrench out and took ’em off! I gave him a 30 second pep talk about falling, getting up, and not getting it right away. I fully expected major bails, crocodile tears, and a defeated little man. I ran holding the back of his seat for about 5 minutes in our cul-de-sac…the next thing I knew he was doing it! I was stunned. He was SO darn proud. By the end of our afternoon, he was riding around the large circle, turning, and stopping.

I take no ownership over his accomplishment! It was all him. Most things with him are not this smooth or easy, so it was SUCH a treat for both of us! Guess he is getting that new bike for his birthday!

Unfortunately, for boys, there are expected manners every where you go. Most specifically when you are in public! Henry has not learned the protocol when you browse at the library! He bee lines it to the same section EVERY TIME we go to the library, which is about once a week. He l-o-v-e-s the non fiction section focused on vehicles. Today he proceeded to take 3/4 of the books off the shelf before I even got into the kid’s section.

Now I did make the effort to re-shelve the books the best I could. (Thank goodness for those dewey decimal system lessons when we were kids!) However, as I was re-shelving the vehicle books he was dumping the sea animal books. My re-shelving the books was actually creating MORE work! I had to finally give up! I did ask the librarian, as we were checking out, if I should bring the books that Henry “read” to the counter or leave them at the table. She thanked me, with a smile, and told me to leave them on the table. Little did she know it was about 50 books! Hey, I asked, right!?

Why blog? Because the cool kids do it? No, I want to write as a form of free therapy! Often times at the end of the day, I wonder if I am the only one that needed to send a child to his room 8 times for not listening and talking back. Or if any other mother had to add a lock to the door into the garage so that her toddler wouldn’t sneak out to sit in “daddy’s car”! Or if am the ONLY ONE who feels like the hostess, waitress, cook, bus boy, and the dishwasher. And no one ever seems to leave a tip!

If you would like to “listen” in….I am happy to share! Any advice? I would be happy to take it!

1. I LOVE MY KIDS. (This should be a mantra I chant to myself throughout the day!)
   
2. I would love my signature drink to be a “straight up vodka martini with three olives”. I have tried and failed miserably! Shall I keep trying? Yes I will!
3. I had a much better name for my blog, but worried that I would be shamed had anyone outside “my circle” found out my blog address!
4. I appreciate my girlfriends who are keepin’ it real about being a mom! Love you dearly! You help me keep my sanity.