"Don't touch the wall. I just painted it."
"Don't touch the wall." In a monotone voice.
"Don't touch the wall." In a sing song voice.
"Don't touch the wall." In a firm parent voice.
If you touch that wall, your butt is grounded."In the ultimate threatening voice.
Child #3 (who is only 5 years old) replies, "So my butt will be the only part grounded?" Followed by giggles.
What a smart ass!
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Circles
So the project was to redo the kids rooms over their Christmas vacation. They received new bed sets for Christmas. Great no problem. All I have to do is paint. We also bought a new bunk bed for Child #1 and Child #3. Child #2 is getting her own room. You may ask why is Child #2 getting her own room? Well my first response would be that Child #1 opted out of having her own room. But, it really stems from who causes the trouble at night while everyone is trying to sleep. Even though Child #2 causes the most trouble, she is the only one who is a neat freak. In my favor, I would prefer her to have her own room because at least one room would stay clean. And to the credit of Child #2, Child #1 and Child #3 do not want to sleep alone in a bedroom either. In a perfect world, we have a solution.
Anyway back to redoing the bedrooms. We bought a bunk bed so that the two sharing a room would have more room. In the past, we had three beds in one room. When they were little, none of them wanted a bunk bed because no one wanted to sleep on the top. Now Child #1 is willing to sleep on the top so we decided it would be a great space saver.
Off to the paint store to buy some paint. To try to make their room fun, I decided I would try to match the pattern from their comforter.
First mistake. Don't ever try to match patterns. Make sure to go with just a solid color.
I had to paint one wall with primer since I had a dark color on it. There goes the first coat. Then I paint all the walls one color. No problem everything goes fairly smooth. Then comes the patterns. I figure, I will trace the shapes on the wall with a washable marker.
Second mistake. Never use a marker to outline patterns. Even if it is a washable marker and a light color. It will show up no matter what.
In order to try to cover up the lines, I primed the shapes on the wall. So now I'm up to the third layer of paint. Then I begin to fill in the shapes with the intended colors. The plan was supposed to be just simple dots, big and small, in different colors spread over the wall.
Third mistake. My obsessive need to have things done the right way. The lines were bothering me. So the design became more intricate to cover up the lines.
The results after four days of painting.
Granted, during those four days we were busy doing other activities like going down to Chicago to see my grandma, visiting my dad in the hospital after his surgery, and ice skating with my younger brother and the girls. So I spent my afternoons and evenings working on the room. I managed to get the room set up and finished like I promised the girls by tonight. Miracles of miracles I was able to complete my promise.
Now I am onto Child #2's remodel. I'll give myself a break and wait to start that one tomorrow. It shouldn't take as long, but that is what I said about this room.
Happy New Year!
Anyway back to redoing the bedrooms. We bought a bunk bed so that the two sharing a room would have more room. In the past, we had three beds in one room. When they were little, none of them wanted a bunk bed because no one wanted to sleep on the top. Now Child #1 is willing to sleep on the top so we decided it would be a great space saver.
Off to the paint store to buy some paint. To try to make their room fun, I decided I would try to match the pattern from their comforter.
First mistake. Don't ever try to match patterns. Make sure to go with just a solid color.
I had to paint one wall with primer since I had a dark color on it. There goes the first coat. Then I paint all the walls one color. No problem everything goes fairly smooth. Then comes the patterns. I figure, I will trace the shapes on the wall with a washable marker.
Second mistake. Never use a marker to outline patterns. Even if it is a washable marker and a light color. It will show up no matter what.
Third mistake. My obsessive need to have things done the right way. The lines were bothering me. So the design became more intricate to cover up the lines.
The results after four days of painting.
Happy New Year!
Sunday, December 25, 2011
To Believe or Not to Believe
We went to 10pm mass on Christmas Eve this year. This was our last ditch effort to get Child #1 to still believe in Santa. The girls got in the car while I hung back and quickly placed the gifts under the tree from Santa. When we came home, they were so surprised we let them open up all the presents. Not exactly sure if Child #1 truly believes, but she was so excited to finally get a Nintendo DS that she didn't say one word about Santa not being real. This truly will probably be the last Christmas she believes or half believes. So sad to reach this milestone with her. If only they could stay innocent forever.
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
St. Mom to the rescue or maybe the cover up. You decide.
So at 7:00am on December 6, I get a finger poke in the middle of the back (and its not just a little poke saying hey wake up, it's one of those pokes with attitude). I roll over to eye which one it is.
Child #1 says in a hushed, but firmly angered voice, "You forgot to put out the St. Nick presents."
My response is, "You are right. I sure did." Technically this was not supposed to be my responsibility. I did not celebrate St. Nick while growing up, but my husband did and he wanted to continue his tradition. It was in agreement that he would take on the responsibility. But of course, he was out of town last night. I bought the gifts. I remembered the night before, but while I was waiting for the girls to fall asleep, I fell asleep. Imagine that.
Now understand Child #1 already has figured it out that there is no Santa, Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny, etc. (Thanks to all the other wonderful children at school who can't keep a secret). Oh well, but we've made it clear she has to play along with Child #2 and Child #3.
Of course, Child #2 and Child #3 wake up and run for the stockings. My mind is going a mile a minute. I am running scenarios through to figure out what one sounds the best.
The one that wins and here it goes...
"Mom St. Nick forgot to leave us presents," with such disappointed faces and stuck out lower lips.
My response oozes a matter of fact tone, "Well, you know guys, St Nick and I were talking last night about how kids just don't really appreciate gifts anymore. We were talking for awhile so he got distracted and forgot to put them in the stockings. But he left them under my bed, so you guys go potty and I will bring out the gifts and put them in your stockings."
With all their excitement that they were getting gifts and St. Nick hadn't forgotten them, they totally bought it.
I have to say it wasn't the best excuse, but it was perfect when Child #3 opens her gift and says, "That's it. That's all we get."
Of course that is where I shake my head and say, "See this is exactly what St. Nick and I were talking about children just don't appreciate what they get for gifts anymore."
Boy did that change Child #3's attitude toward what she got. She was overly appreciative after that.
Child #1 says in a hushed, but firmly angered voice, "You forgot to put out the St. Nick presents."
My response is, "You are right. I sure did." Technically this was not supposed to be my responsibility. I did not celebrate St. Nick while growing up, but my husband did and he wanted to continue his tradition. It was in agreement that he would take on the responsibility. But of course, he was out of town last night. I bought the gifts. I remembered the night before, but while I was waiting for the girls to fall asleep, I fell asleep. Imagine that.
Now understand Child #1 already has figured it out that there is no Santa, Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny, etc. (Thanks to all the other wonderful children at school who can't keep a secret). Oh well, but we've made it clear she has to play along with Child #2 and Child #3.
Of course, Child #2 and Child #3 wake up and run for the stockings. My mind is going a mile a minute. I am running scenarios through to figure out what one sounds the best.
The one that wins and here it goes...
"Mom St. Nick forgot to leave us presents," with such disappointed faces and stuck out lower lips.
My response oozes a matter of fact tone, "Well, you know guys, St Nick and I were talking last night about how kids just don't really appreciate gifts anymore. We were talking for awhile so he got distracted and forgot to put them in the stockings. But he left them under my bed, so you guys go potty and I will bring out the gifts and put them in your stockings."
With all their excitement that they were getting gifts and St. Nick hadn't forgotten them, they totally bought it.
I have to say it wasn't the best excuse, but it was perfect when Child #3 opens her gift and says, "That's it. That's all we get."
Of course that is where I shake my head and say, "See this is exactly what St. Nick and I were talking about children just don't appreciate what they get for gifts anymore."
Boy did that change Child #3's attitude toward what she got. She was overly appreciative after that.
Saturday, November 19, 2011
I've heard stranger things, but this one is up there
I had a friend tell me a story about another mom telling her daughter to go put lip gloss on before she left the house. And when the child who is nine years old asks why the mother's answer is "because your lips should always look glossy."
You could analyze this until the cows came home, but I'm going to go off on some tangents first. This got me thinking about my childhood.
My mom dreamed about dressing her only daughter in the frilly dresses with two perfect braids tied with pretty bows, but instead she got the daughter that wanted to wear her hair loose and play soccer with the boys (dresses didn't always work out). Now my mom never critiqued me on anything I wore or told me she didn't like what I was wearing, but I knew at certain times she didn't care for my style and would prefer something more girly. Not that she didn't teach me the basics about fashion or other girl things, but I had a mind of my own and chose to implement what I thought was best for me. I have a point so bear with me.
If you can push the time travel button and hop back to when you were in 4th or 5th grade (about 1985) when the Punky Brewster era was in full blast, I had a pair of red stir up pants, yellow shimmery button down long dress shirt, and two layered socks to match. At the time I thought that outfit was the coolest thing, but looking back on it I probably looked like the ketchup and mustard on a hotdog. No one ever said anything about that outfit (I understand kids are crueler today), not my friends, not my brothers, not my mom. Maybe people talked behind my back, but I was in a blissfully happy world and never new if they did or didn't. Even an old friend from Kindergarten still remembers our first day on the bus together and what I was wearing. I actually didn't remember what I was wearing, but she reminded me I had on a pair of red corduroy overalls (to this day I still wear a lot of red, I love it). Even back then red corduroy overalls weren't cool, but she became my friend anyway. My point here is people will like you for who you are and not what you wear.
As long as it is weather appropriate and age appropriate, I never tell my girls what to wear. Even when a plaid skirt is worn with a poka dotted shirt and striped tights. Now my mom has changed her views because she constantly is trying to get my kids to match their clothes, but they've learned that when we go to see grandma they put on matching clothes (at home they revert back to what they want to wear). No matter what I tell my three girls (with three completely different personalities and fashion styles) they are going to still choose their own style (the apples don't fall far from the tree). Whether your child hates to wear lip gloss or likes to wear soft pants instead of jeans, why not let them?
As for the mother insisting on the lip gloss, I don't know if she is looking to bring back the Donna Reid era, but are we any different than she is?
Whether you're a parent pushing your child hard in a sport or a parent telling your child they have to wear a certain name brand of clothing, aren't we all looking for the same thing? For our children to fit in, but are we going to far? Yes. I believe parents today are the problem (I've witness some parents do some pretty extreme things to make sure their kid was part of the crowd). If our child isn't perfect in the public's eye, we try to make them conform to be like everyone else or to be normal. What the hell is normal anyway?
I am definitely far from the perfect mother, but I will measure my parenting success on if my children find their inner happiness and become confident in who they are and not what someone tells them they should be. I have a lot of confidence to share (Nik and Mike, I know you're smiling on that one) so I hope to lead by example. Only time will tell.
You could analyze this until the cows came home, but I'm going to go off on some tangents first. This got me thinking about my childhood.
My mom dreamed about dressing her only daughter in the frilly dresses with two perfect braids tied with pretty bows, but instead she got the daughter that wanted to wear her hair loose and play soccer with the boys (dresses didn't always work out). Now my mom never critiqued me on anything I wore or told me she didn't like what I was wearing, but I knew at certain times she didn't care for my style and would prefer something more girly. Not that she didn't teach me the basics about fashion or other girl things, but I had a mind of my own and chose to implement what I thought was best for me. I have a point so bear with me.
If you can push the time travel button and hop back to when you were in 4th or 5th grade (about 1985) when the Punky Brewster era was in full blast, I had a pair of red stir up pants, yellow shimmery button down long dress shirt, and two layered socks to match. At the time I thought that outfit was the coolest thing, but looking back on it I probably looked like the ketchup and mustard on a hotdog. No one ever said anything about that outfit (I understand kids are crueler today), not my friends, not my brothers, not my mom. Maybe people talked behind my back, but I was in a blissfully happy world and never new if they did or didn't. Even an old friend from Kindergarten still remembers our first day on the bus together and what I was wearing. I actually didn't remember what I was wearing, but she reminded me I had on a pair of red corduroy overalls (to this day I still wear a lot of red, I love it). Even back then red corduroy overalls weren't cool, but she became my friend anyway. My point here is people will like you for who you are and not what you wear.
As long as it is weather appropriate and age appropriate, I never tell my girls what to wear. Even when a plaid skirt is worn with a poka dotted shirt and striped tights. Now my mom has changed her views because she constantly is trying to get my kids to match their clothes, but they've learned that when we go to see grandma they put on matching clothes (at home they revert back to what they want to wear). No matter what I tell my three girls (with three completely different personalities and fashion styles) they are going to still choose their own style (the apples don't fall far from the tree). Whether your child hates to wear lip gloss or likes to wear soft pants instead of jeans, why not let them?
As for the mother insisting on the lip gloss, I don't know if she is looking to bring back the Donna Reid era, but are we any different than she is?
Whether you're a parent pushing your child hard in a sport or a parent telling your child they have to wear a certain name brand of clothing, aren't we all looking for the same thing? For our children to fit in, but are we going to far? Yes. I believe parents today are the problem (I've witness some parents do some pretty extreme things to make sure their kid was part of the crowd). If our child isn't perfect in the public's eye, we try to make them conform to be like everyone else or to be normal. What the hell is normal anyway?
I am definitely far from the perfect mother, but I will measure my parenting success on if my children find their inner happiness and become confident in who they are and not what someone tells them they should be. I have a lot of confidence to share (Nik and Mike, I know you're smiling on that one) so I hope to lead by example. Only time will tell.
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