Mother's Day
What do I want for Mother's Day? I'll start with what I don't need right now. I don't need perfume, jewelry or spa treatments. I don't want a new cell phone with more bells and whistles, considering I haven't figured out the features on the one I've had for two years! I don't need an I-Pod, since I have little or no time to listen to music and actually prefer silence when I have a moment to myself. I don't need any more gadgets that take up the spaces that I no longer have time to keep organized.
Here's what I do want. I want to spend time with my family, without any fighting among my children. I want to have a complete conversation with my husband, without being interrupted by the kids or the phone. I want to sit down and read a magazine without guilt, as if I have nothing else to do. I want to watch a movie on the "Lifetime" network and one of those home makeover shows on "HGTV". I want time to go through old photos, to see how just how much my girls have grown. I want to eat food I didn't have to shop for or prepare. I want one day where I don't have to find something that's missing, or drive anyone to a practice or lesson. I don't want to have to worry about my makeup, hair or what I'm wearing for one day. I want peace, quiet and sleep! All these things you can't put in a box and tie with a bow, but they are the "luxuries" this busy mom can't seem to afford these days. Happy Mother's Day!
Cell Phone Bill Shock
I have officially joined the ranks of parents with cell phone bill horror stories. My teenage daughter went for more than a year without going over the minutes allowed monthly on her first cell phone. Not only were my husband and I thrilled about that, she also didn't lose the phone itself. Then she discovered text messaging!
Needless to say, the number of messages my child sent and received in one billing period amounted to more than most monthly car payments. The majority of it happened during our spring break trip to visit relatives in California. The separation from her friends was obviously too much to handle, so she kept in constant touch through her fingertips. We had warned her about not talking on the phone too much, but did not specifically mention texting. I guess the rest of us were enjoying ourselves so much, we didn't notice her very busy hands.
The lesson has been learned. She is on a payment plan to reimburse us for the big bill. She will be doing a great deal of babysitting in the future. As for her phone, we could have opted to change our plan to "unlimited" text messaging, but we chose to eliminate texting completely for now. We survived without it until this point. I like her having the phone for safety reasons and for the convenience of being able to get in touch with her instantly. For now, we'll just have to do good "old-fashioned" talking on the phone, instead of texting.
I Have A Teenager
I have reached another parenting milestone! My oldest daughter just turned thirteen. I am the mother of a teenager. I now understand what people have told me about how fast time flies by.
I can remember the day she was born. I remember the mixture of fear, excitment and love I felt that day. I worried about everything when I took her home. Was I holding her correctly? Was she eating enough? Was I going to be a good mother? Which diaper brand should I buy? How times have changed!
Thirteen years later I still worry. I worry about things like, am I teaching her to be a good and responsible person? I worry about her making the right choices when she's feeling peer pressure. I worry whether she'll ever put anything above cell phones, clothes and boys on her list of top priorities. I still worry, am I a good mother? Maybe I'll know the answer in another 13 years!
Sick of Sickness
We are on yet another round of some sort of stomach bug at our house. Two kids down and I'm sure the third will be not feeling well soon. I can't help but wonder what has made this such an unhealthy winter? Am I not wiping away the germs as well? Has my harping on hand washing fallen on deaf ears?
It's surely been a record-setting amount spent on tissue and cold medicine this year for my family. The same goes for trips to the doctors office. It gives me a headache (more of those this year as well) just thinking about it! Nothing is worse for me that watching my kids suffer with an illness.
I can't wait for warm weather to wipe out whatever germs that seem to be thriving near members of my family. Here's to a healthier spring and summer!
Babysitter Book
I knew my life had changed the day I turned down the chance to go to Las Vegas with my husband. It's too much work to leave! A "getaway" weekend is not what it used to be, ever since I had my three beautiful children. Getting away for three days usually means even more days of preparation. First I have to find a babysitter. Not only is there packing involved, there's grocery shopping and laundry to do. Then I have to sit down and write out list after list. There are lists with the emergency numbers and doctor names. I write down who likes what to eat. I also have to write down the weekend soccer games, birthday parties and gymnastic classes. I attempt to cover all the bases to make it easier for the wonderful people looking after my girls.
That brings me to my newest discovery. It's a new book written by two local moms that simplifies the process of leaving information for the babysitter. "By the Book: How To Take Care MY Kids" is a binder-style book, divided into sections that range from emergency information to the daily routine. It has pages to write down information you might not think of leaving, like where the water shut-off valve is in case a toilet overflows. It even has a section for parents who want to know how to find a nanny and a contract for you and the nanny to sign during the hiring process. Parents fill out the pages and all the information is there in one, easy-to-find place. You can just hand it to the babysitter, whether it's the teenager you've hired for a few hours or the grandparents who are watching the kids all weekend.
While the book can't help with packing, laundry or other preparation needed for "getting away" it certainly makes it easier to have the information the babysitter needs, at your fingertips.
Comic Relief for Parents
My job means I get the opportunity to see many of the shows that pass through St. Louis. I'd like to take a moment to rave about the most recent one called "Parenting 101: A Musical Guide To Raising Parents". The show is at the Westport Playhouse and it is one of the funniest productions I've ever seen, probably because it's not far off the beaten path of being a parent!
I went with a friend and we laughed the entire two hours. The show features four actors and together they make almost 90 costume changes. Each "scene" has a familiar song, with the words changed to fit the particular topic. It starts out with "birth". You know, the moment in the delivery room when the mom-to-be is in agony and dad's got the camera rolling!
It goes on to put all the parenting "milestones" that follow, in a hilarious light. The show tackles subjects like the battle to find a reliable babysitter, mom's status as a referee between fighting kids, how everything is better at grandma's house and why being "supermom" is so much better when you're wearing the "S" on your chest! One of the last songs is about sending a child off to college, a sad day, which in this case, ends up with mom and dad dancing and celebrating. "Parenting 101" even makes puberty funny!
Each song was better than the next. It was so much fun to laugh at things that normally stress parents out! I think my husband would have liked the show as much as I did but this is also the perfect "girls night out". You are right there at Westport Plaza so you have many options for dinner before or after the show. I'm no critic, but I give this show two thumbs up!
Goodbye Guinea Pig
It's been a sad couple of days at my house. Our guinea pig, Harry, died last Saturday. We had him for almost eight years, a year beyond the average life span of guinea pig. We'll miss the little fur ball who loved to eat carrots and be scratched on the head.
Harry was my oldest daughter's pet. I think she got him has a reward for a good report card. She'd been begging for a dog, but my husband and decided our on-the-go lifestyle wouldn't be good for a dog. The kids always tell us they'll do all the work that comes with owning a dog, but I've always known better!
A guinea pig turned out to be a good option for us. Harry didn't mind being held, or pushed around in a doll carriage. He didn't make any noise, he didn't need to be walked and he didn't eat a lot. We could leave on vacation and have a neighbor check on him every few days. Not to say he was completely easy to care for. His cage did get stinky and needed to be changed at least once a week, but that was a good lesson in responsibility for my girls. He did need fresh water and more food every few days.
We'll miss our family pet Harry. His cage is empty for now, but chances are a new guinea pig will move in some day.
