Tuesday, April 28, 2009
how is your day?
just a quick not to check on your day. how is it so far? mine...it's almost 11 am and already cara has been stuck on top of her father's bureau (which stands about 5'), topless i might add, and jack set off the smoke alarm. you see, he decided that i have been on the computer too long, so he set the kitchen timer for me. really, he just turned the oven on to 370 degrees. oh, and the air conditioner is still broken. have a good one!
new religion (possibly a little tmi and a little "risque")
i'm thinking of breaking off and starting my own little sect of catholicism. i was raised roman catholic (and i'm irish to boot...you're shocked when you read this and realize i have five children, i know). but, the older i get, i am seeing some inconsistencies in the teachings of the catholic church. i think in my religion, i will keep all the same rules and stuff (that would be A LOT of work to come up with all of that stuff, like commandments and what not), but i will spread the word about how i think god is.
my god is not the benevolent, all forgiving god. nor is he the stern god who is counting sins and passing down judgement. he is more of a...well, i don't know, kind of a regular guy, with a warped sense of humor and the power to act on it. the teachings in my religion would be more "do what he says, or you'll be sorry" than "thou shalt not..." or even, "if you're going to play, you're going to pay" type of philosophy.
for example, in catholic school, we are taught that sex before marriage is a HUGE sin (sex at all except for the purpose of procreation is a no-no). so, in my religion, instead of going to hell when you die, you wind up pregnant before you're married and then have to tell your parents and aunts and uncles and meet your boyfriend's family as "the pregnant girlfriend." none of which is much fun, trust me. so, now you are married and you have sex, just for the sake of sex (not procreation, in fact you even try to prevent pregnancy). haha, got you...you will have 4 babies in two years. (at this point, i do have to admit that sometimes i think children are WAY too extreme a punishment just for having sex).
this was all brought home quite clearly for me this weekend. one of my cousins got married. my husband was the dj at the wedding (my husband was also the dj at the bar that i worked at 10 years ago. that's how he wound up as my husband). i think it is safe to say that everyone at the wedding had a great time. i, in particular, had a really great time as i was feeling a little nostalgic about being somewhere that tommy was dj'ing and my sister and i were there with no children. i also thought it would be a good idea to drink slightly more heavily than i would on any other saturday evening. my god's response to this...a communion party for thomas' classmate. i knew about this ahead of time. i was fully prepared for it (everyone's clothes were laid out...the boys outfits were ironed). however, when we started to get ready for the party (in our house with the broken air conditioner on a 90+ degree day), the girls LOST IT. freakin' flipped out. took off shoes and socks, cried hysterically, ripped the bows out of their hair, pulled at their dresses and untied their sashes...LOST IT. was this really necessary? i was going to the party (late, but we were going!). i even went to mass, WITH all three boys. shouldn't that have cancelled out some of my partying from the night before? so i left them home with a babysitter (thanks, liz!) and put them to bed. apparently, this did not please my god, because i found myself paying for my actions again later. when we got home from the party, the little darlings were well rested and sweet as pie. around 9:30 when i was falling asleep (i was so tired i did not even attempt to watch "the tudors"), the girls decided to rebel...again. by 11:30, i gave up on the bedroom and took the girls downstairs where they could watch tv until they fell asleep and i could lay on the couch. what time did they finally fall asleep? 2:30 am. for real. the lesson i have learned from all of this? no partying (literally) like it is 1999 (thomas was born in january 2000. my rockstar days ended in 1999). and don't take the easy route out and leave kids home. my god is having none of that. i'm pretty sure he is up there having a good chuckle at me, though.
my god is not the benevolent, all forgiving god. nor is he the stern god who is counting sins and passing down judgement. he is more of a...well, i don't know, kind of a regular guy, with a warped sense of humor and the power to act on it. the teachings in my religion would be more "do what he says, or you'll be sorry" than "thou shalt not..." or even, "if you're going to play, you're going to pay" type of philosophy.
for example, in catholic school, we are taught that sex before marriage is a HUGE sin (sex at all except for the purpose of procreation is a no-no). so, in my religion, instead of going to hell when you die, you wind up pregnant before you're married and then have to tell your parents and aunts and uncles and meet your boyfriend's family as "the pregnant girlfriend." none of which is much fun, trust me. so, now you are married and you have sex, just for the sake of sex (not procreation, in fact you even try to prevent pregnancy). haha, got you...you will have 4 babies in two years. (at this point, i do have to admit that sometimes i think children are WAY too extreme a punishment just for having sex).
this was all brought home quite clearly for me this weekend. one of my cousins got married. my husband was the dj at the wedding (my husband was also the dj at the bar that i worked at 10 years ago. that's how he wound up as my husband). i think it is safe to say that everyone at the wedding had a great time. i, in particular, had a really great time as i was feeling a little nostalgic about being somewhere that tommy was dj'ing and my sister and i were there with no children. i also thought it would be a good idea to drink slightly more heavily than i would on any other saturday evening. my god's response to this...a communion party for thomas' classmate. i knew about this ahead of time. i was fully prepared for it (everyone's clothes were laid out...the boys outfits were ironed). however, when we started to get ready for the party (in our house with the broken air conditioner on a 90+ degree day), the girls LOST IT. freakin' flipped out. took off shoes and socks, cried hysterically, ripped the bows out of their hair, pulled at their dresses and untied their sashes...LOST IT. was this really necessary? i was going to the party (late, but we were going!). i even went to mass, WITH all three boys. shouldn't that have cancelled out some of my partying from the night before? so i left them home with a babysitter (thanks, liz!) and put them to bed. apparently, this did not please my god, because i found myself paying for my actions again later. when we got home from the party, the little darlings were well rested and sweet as pie. around 9:30 when i was falling asleep (i was so tired i did not even attempt to watch "the tudors"), the girls decided to rebel...again. by 11:30, i gave up on the bedroom and took the girls downstairs where they could watch tv until they fell asleep and i could lay on the couch. what time did they finally fall asleep? 2:30 am. for real. the lesson i have learned from all of this? no partying (literally) like it is 1999 (thomas was born in january 2000. my rockstar days ended in 1999). and don't take the easy route out and leave kids home. my god is having none of that. i'm pretty sure he is up there having a good chuckle at me, though.
Friday, April 24, 2009
mother of the year part 2
tommy just took the boys to the dentist. all three of them. this is the one aspect of parenthood i will not be responsible for. i HATE the dentist, so i am not going to be responsible for making my chidlren undergo the torture that is the dentist's chair. it's pretty dumb really, considering tommy had to take a day off work to do this, but oh well...i take care of all the other details, i am giving myself a free pass on this.
now, here is where i really begin to question my sanity...as i send my sons out the door to the dentist, my daughters are crying (because they want to go too. they have no idea i sent them off to be tortured). what do i do to make them stop crying? why i give one a taffy, one a fruit roll-up and then both of them gum. for real?!?! what kind of example is that. here, you don't have to go to the dentist so let's find the worst stuff for your teeth that we have in the house and eat it all at once! mother of the year indeed.
ps - the picture is of the girls showing you their gum. cara has been wearing the tutu nonstop for three days now. she also swallowed her gum immediately, but when i said show me your gum, she opened wide.
also, last week i was given a friendship award by my friend at her sane with out drugs blog (http://sanewithoutdrugs.blogspot.com/) and i am to pass it on to five others! thank you again for giving me this. i would like to forward it to:
i picked these girls simply because i really like their blogs. hopefully, someday i will earn how to post links and this will look a lot cooler, until then, sorry.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
mother of the year
so this morning i get up to get thomas ready to go to school. i wake him up, collect all the sippy cups from other children, tell him to brush his teeth (because he needs to be told this EVERY SINGLE MORNING), gather up his uniform and lay it out for him and go downstairs to make his and tommy's lunches. i reach into the microwave to get the bread for his daily pb&j sandwich and come up empty. no white bread. hmmm...so he has pb&j crackers. i tell him to make pretend he is a giant eating little itty, bitty sandwiches. he looks at me weird. i get his snack out and go for his juice box and, you guessed it, come up empty. luckily, i find one hidden in the back of the fridge that is missing it's straw (the girls CONSTANTLY help themselves to juice boxes but are unable to put the straw in, so we wind up with a lot of beat up looking boxes with no straws). i scrounge through my silverware drawer and find an odd straw and throw that in his lunch box. poor kid. at least he has a nice communion banner, right?
Monday, April 20, 2009
"dear" letter
i am so stealing this idea from other bloggers. think of it as my highest compliment...
dear third grade teachers,
i understand that church should be decorated for first holy communion, i really do, but banners? do you really think that the third graders are sitting at home making these banners by themselves? also, do you think that people just have these supplies laying around their houses waiting to be put to good use (besides my cousin lisa, who probably does have these supplies)? couldn't we have done posterboard signs or something? because when i spend almost $60 on supplies for said banner, and then my baby starts putting the letters for his name on there crooked, it really, truly pains me to let him continue. doing this project caused me to use almost more self-restraint and patience with my child than i usually have in me. i really wanted it to be a project we did together, but come on, he's a nine year old boy...do you really think his vision for this banner and mine were the same or his ability to draw and cut out a chalice and host? also, it has to be felt...are nine year olds allowed to use hot glue guns, because at our house the hot glue gun was aimed at two different siblings and then laid dripping hot glue on the dining room table (partially my fault...i should not have told them it was a hot glue GUN, nor should i have used the nickelodeon magazine as a place to sit it).
anywho...i think we did a good job, thomas designed (with a little inspiration from his dear mother) and i executed. and i did let him put the letters on, even though they are not perfectly straight. however, i drew the line at sewing the ribbons on, i didn't think he was up to weilding a needle and thread yet...maybe for his confirmation banner.
love,
thomas' control freak of a mother
Saturday, April 18, 2009
solution to my dilemma
first, i would like to thank everyone who expressed concern and offered advice on my previous post about my zoloft dilemma. i have decided that it is time to concentrate on myself a little more right now and hopefully everyone will benefit. instead of going right back on the zoloft, i have decided to work harder at my diet and make a concerted effort to get to the gym regularly. my gym offers babysitting, which my kids think is lots of fun and it allows me to do something for myself, alone, for an hour each day. my hope is that by taking better care of myself, i will improve my own self image and how i value myself, which will in turn make me a happier person, which will then help me deal with my children and all of the other things that go on in a more positive way. if, however, i find that i am still snappy and grumpy towards the kids (after improving myself), it's back to zoloft.
thanks again for all the kind thoughts and good advice. i really do appreciate it!
thanks again for all the kind thoughts and good advice. i really do appreciate it!
leather furniture
today, i discovered the very best thing about leather furniture. when i went to buy a couch a few years ago, i thought "no way can i buy leather furniture. the kids would ruin it!" so i bought a really pretty couch that was totally destroyed in three years. this time around, i did my furniture shopping at a really high end furniture place (sam's club) and decided to go with the three piece set for $1000.00. i figured if i got three years use out of that, it would be worth it. my three pieces are dark brown leather chair, couch and ottoman. i am pretty happy with them as i can wipe up any spills pretty easily and dust them off with a damp rag. they are starting to look a little worn from things being spilled on them and not wiped up quickly enough, but it doesn't bother me too bad.
this leads me to today. i was up at 8:30 am and off to the gym. stopped and picked up some fruit to eat with my special k (instead of the bacon, egg and cheese muffin from mc donald's that i really wanted) and came home and fed the kiddies. immediately after eating, i took thomas to get his baseball team picture done and then went back home to shower and dress for the day. this was all accomplished by 11:30 am. tommy had all of the kids bathed while i was gone, so we got everyone dressed and i hopped in the shower. i had a great day planned. i was going to my parent's house (they have a great big yard and enough toys to amuse a daycare center full of kids) to hang out and maybe take a nap (tommy had to work this afternoon and night). while i showered and tommy got dressed, apparently the girls were doing some experimenting...with a half gallon of syrup...and my living room furniture (again, anyone want to tell me how much fun they think it would be to have twins?!?!?!). this was discovered when caroline came up to me in the bathroom and said "ka-ie makin mess with syrup. i say no. i keen it up, see." as she holds out her sticky hands and shows me her shirt.
needless, to say, by 12:30, the girls had their second baths of the day, second set of outfits and my furniture had been thoroughly cleaned with what appears to be every single clean dishtowel in my house. if you can get past the fact that my house smells like the original "log cabin" and the slight stickiness when you rest your feet on the ottoman, it really wasn't a total disaster. buying leather furniture may have been one of my best decisions yet! something to keep in mind next time one is considering car upholstery.
this leads me to today. i was up at 8:30 am and off to the gym. stopped and picked up some fruit to eat with my special k (instead of the bacon, egg and cheese muffin from mc donald's that i really wanted) and came home and fed the kiddies. immediately after eating, i took thomas to get his baseball team picture done and then went back home to shower and dress for the day. this was all accomplished by 11:30 am. tommy had all of the kids bathed while i was gone, so we got everyone dressed and i hopped in the shower. i had a great day planned. i was going to my parent's house (they have a great big yard and enough toys to amuse a daycare center full of kids) to hang out and maybe take a nap (tommy had to work this afternoon and night). while i showered and tommy got dressed, apparently the girls were doing some experimenting...with a half gallon of syrup...and my living room furniture (again, anyone want to tell me how much fun they think it would be to have twins?!?!?!). this was discovered when caroline came up to me in the bathroom and said "ka-ie makin mess with syrup. i say no. i keen it up, see." as she holds out her sticky hands and shows me her shirt.
needless, to say, by 12:30, the girls had their second baths of the day, second set of outfits and my furniture had been thoroughly cleaned with what appears to be every single clean dishtowel in my house. if you can get past the fact that my house smells like the original "log cabin" and the slight stickiness when you rest your feet on the ottoman, it really wasn't a total disaster. buying leather furniture may have been one of my best decisions yet! something to keep in mind next time one is considering car upholstery.
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