Tag Archives: Parenting

Featured!

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Remember yesterday when I hinted about having something exciting to share with you on Facebook? Well, here it is…

What’s really exciting… this is the second time that I’ve been featured on BlogHer! The first was back in Novemeber about a soldiers homecoming.

I was shocked when I got the email on Thursday because the post that they’re featuring is one that I just posted on Tuesday this week. Did you see it? How to prepare for becoming a parent… there are 15 simple steps that one needs to follow and then they’re all set to become a parent. Trust me these are easy peasy and very true.

Anyway, I love that they noticed it and are featuring it… to me it’s a huge honor.

Anyway, check out my feature on the front page of BlogHer it’s in the BlogHer Moms topic section and let me know what you think.

Oh, and this is happening too…

BlogHer '13
Really… please come talk to me! I look scary… I’m not I promise. I’m just not super outgoing.

15 Reasons

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This week is all off because of the holiday on Monday and so in honor of keeping things off around here I thought that I’d do one of Mama Kat’s prompts this week. The first one is easy peasy… 15 Reasons You’re Awesome and it’s kinda fun because the other day I wrote about 15 things then too! The real test will be if I can come up with a 15 list for Friday!

Honestly, I’m wondering if I can even come up with 15 reasons I’m awesome… then again I could just make things up and hope they sound good.

awesome

1. I am a mom. That alone is pretty awesome because it’s no easy task being a mom.

2. I am awesome because I finally stuck with a weight loss plan and am now starting to make better choices for myself. It’s no longer a weight loss plan… it’s a life style! One that will keep me in shape and hopefully in better health.

3. I am awesome because after deciding that I was done having kids before my 30th birthday I went out and did it again. That probably just says that I’m crazy instead of awesome, right?

4. I am awesome because I survived alcoholic parents & an abusive step-dad.

5. I am awesome because I finally decided to go back to college while working full time and having 3 kids at home. It was important to me that I did it and proved that I could do. What it proved, besides those two things, is that college is freakin’ expensive and that I’d go to school and listen to lectures forever if I could.

whew… this is getting hard! Listing reasons why I’m awesome… maybe I’m not as awesome as I thought I was!

6. I am awesome because I can watch Jeopardy and get the majority of the questions right. Yes, I am the queen of useless knowledge!

7. I am awesome because I am a blogger. That alone should be at the top of the list, right?

8. I am awesome because I can sit here and write this post while answering one of the kids, watching Jeff Dunham, and pondering dinner. #multitasker

Wow… look at that! I’m over half way done with this list.

9. I am awesome because my teen is painting my 3 yr old son’s nails and I’m letting her. My husband on the other hand won’t like it that much and we can’t hide it because the toddler is pretty damn proud of his pretty nails.

10. I am awesome because I’m not all hipster cool like that and I haven’t degraded far enough yet to wear mom jeans. But I do have mom hair.

11. Speaking of mom hair… that’s another reason I am awesome. Not everyone can rock mom hair…. maybe I’m wrong about that. I probably am.

12. I am awesome because I “rescued” a dog while out on my bike ride last night. The dog was following me so I pulled off on to a side road so neither of us would get hit by a car. The dog didn’t have a collar or anything that would help find his family so we waiting until my husband & toddler came to get us in the truck. We spent the next hour driving around, stopping at houses in the countryside looking for his home, and we never found it. So, we took the dog home, gave him a bath, and let him in the house. He was a super friendly dog and you could tell that he was used to being in the house and around kids…. I hope that he gets back to his home.

13. I am awesome…. I’m outta things

14. I am awesome because well, #12 should be enough to count for the two that I skipped.

15. I am awesome because I’m the mom and I said so.

There are millions of reasons why we are all awesome! It seems that I could  have come up with a better list than this… oh well.

Now it’s your turn! Tell me why YOU are awesome!

 

How to Prepare for Becoming a Parent

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I spent some quality time cleaning up my email and happened upon this email that had been forwarded to me and as I read through it again I laughed. It was hilarious and oh so true! And before deleting it I had the genius idea of sharing it with all of you.

So if you’re already a parent you’ll laugh as you nod your head and if you’re not a parent already take notes. This is how to prepare for becoming a parent in the simplest format.

prepare to be a parent

Lesson 1

Go to the grocery store.
Arrange to have your salary paid directly to their head office.
Go home.
Pick up the paper.
Read it for the last time.

Lesson 2

Before you finally go ahead and have children, find a couple who already are parents and berate them about the following

  • Methods of discipline.
  • Lack of patience.
  • Appallingly low tolerance levels.
  • Allowing their children to run wild.

Suggest ways in which they might improve their child’s breastfeeding, sleep habits, toilet training, table manners, and overall behavior.
Enjoy it, because it will be the last time in your life you will have all the answers.

Lesson 3

To discover how the nights will feel…
Walk around the living room from 5PM to 10PM carrying a wet bag weighing approximately 8-12 pounds, with a radio turned to static (or some other obnoxious sound) playing loudly.
At 10PM, put the bag down, set the alarm for midnight, and go to sleep.
Get up at 12 and walk around the living room again, with the bag, until 1AM.
Set the alarm for 3AM.
As you can’t get back to sleep, get up at 2AM and make a drink.
Go to bed at 2:45AM.
Get up at 3AM when the alarm goes off.
Sing songs in the dark until 4AM.
Get up. Make breakfast. Keep this up for 5 years.
Look cheerful.

Lesson 4

Can you stand the mess children make? To find out…
Smear peanut butter onto the sofa and jam onto the curtains.
Hide a piece of raw chicken behind the stereo and leave it there all summer.
Stick your fingers in the flower bed. Then rub them on the clean walls.
Cover the stains with crayons. How does that look?

Lesson 5

Dressing small children is not as easy as it seems.
Buy an octopus and a small bag made out of loose mesh.
Attempt to put the octopus into the bag so that none of the arms hang out.
Time allowed for this – 15 minutes.

Lesson 6

Take an egg carton. Using a pair of scissors and a jar of paint, turn it into an alligator.
Now take the tube from a roll of toilet paper. Using only Scotch tape and a piece of aluminum foil, turn it into an attractive Christmas candle.
Last, take a milk carton, a ping-pong ball, and an empty packet of Cocoa Puffs. Make an exact replica of the Eiffel Tower.

Lesson 7

Forget the BMW and buy a minivan. And don’t think that you can leave it out in the driveway spotless and shining. Family cars don’t look like that.
Buy a chocolate ice cream cone and put it in the glove compartment.
Leave it there.
Get a dime. Stick it in the CD player.
Take a family size package of chocolate cookies. Mash them into the back seat.
Run a garden rake along both sides of the car.
There. Perfect.

Lesson 8

Get ready to go out.
Wait outside the bathroom for half an hour.
Go out the front door.
Come in again.
Go out.
Come back in.
Go out again.
Walk down the front path.
Walk back up it.
Walk down it again.
Walk very slowly down the road for five minutes.
Stop, inspect minutely, and ask at least 6 questions about every cigarette butt, piece of used chewing gum, dirty tissue, and dead insect along the way.
Retrace your steps.
Scream that you have had as much as you can stand until the neighbors come out and stare at you.
Give up and go back into the house.
You are now just about ready to try taking a small child for a walk.

Lesson 9

Repeat everything at least (if not more than) five times.

Lesson 10

Go to the local grocery store. Take with you the closest thing you can find to a pre-school child. (A full-grown goat is excellent).
If you intend to have more than one child, take more than one goat.
Buy your week’s groceries without letting the goats out of your sight.
Pay for everything the goats eat or destroy.
Until you can easily accomplish this, do not even contemplate having children.

Lesson 11

Hollow out a melon.
Make a small hole in the side.
Suspend it from the ceiling and swing it from side to side.
Now get a bowl of soggy Cheerios and attempt to spoon them into the swaying melon by pretending to be an airplane.
Continue until half the Cheerios are gone.
Tip half into your lap. The other half, just throw up in the air.
You are now ready to feed a nine-month old baby.

Lesson 12

Learn the names of every character from Sesame Street , Barney, Disney, the Teletubbies, and Pokemon. Watch nothing else on TV for at least five years.

Lesson 13

Move to the tropics. Find or make a compost pile. Dig down about halfway and stick your nose in it. Do this 3-5 times a day for at least two years.

Lesson 14

Make a recording of Fran Drescher saying “mommy” repeatedly.
(Important: no more than a four second delay between each “mommy”; occasional crescendo to the level of a supersonic jet is required).
Play this tape in your car everywhere you go for the next four years.
You are now ready to take a long trip with a toddler.

Lesson 15

Start talking to an adult of your choice. Have someone else continually tug on your skirt hem, shirt-sleeve, or elbow while playing the “mommy” tape made from Lesson 14 above. You are now ready to have a conversation with an adult while there is a child in the room.

There you have it. 15 easy lessons on how to prepare to become a parent.

Okay…. what has been left out? Share your tips in the comments!

Letters to my Kids – Dear Caitlin

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Welcome to the first Letters to my Kids link up. I hope that you will join me in this new bi-weekly meme about well… letters to my kids. There is always so much to say to our kids and sometimes it’s easier to write it out. It’s a great way to vent, create memories to share later, talk to your child in a way that you can’t do in person, or maybe share something that they might not understand now but will later. Whatever the reason I hope that you’ll be inspired to write whether you’re a mom, sister, aunt, grandma, or just someone who has a child in their life that they want to share a letter with.

letters to my kids

 

Dear Caitlin,

I decided to start this series with you because you’re my oldest. My first baby… the one that I learned on as I went along on this journey called motherhood. When they handed you to me my life changed in so many ways and I knew that being a mom was what I was supposed to do.

First and foremost, I want you to know that I love you more than you’ll ever know. You will always hold a special place in my heart as will your sisters and brothers. Yes, I meant that to be plural because at one point Danny was mine and circumstances changed that.

Sometimes it’s hard to talk to you and I so want to be your friend as well as your mom. I know that some say you can’t do that but I think it’s possible. I want to be there for you when you need someone to talk to, someone to vent to, someone to laugh with, and someone to just listen when things aren’t going right.

Maybe it’s because we alike in so many ways… scary, huh? But I see it in the things you do or say once in awhile and it’s then that I realize why we don’t always get along.

I will also admit that I’m not that easy to get along with… I’m not sure why this is. I guess it’s just the way I am. I can be cranky I suppose and that is the result of stress which I don’t mean to take out on you. For that I apologize deeply.

I also know what it’s like to be a teen and talking with your parents isn’t always at the top of your list of things to do. You have to believe me when I say that I’ve been there and that I understand. Probably a lot more than you realize.

Caitlin, I want you to know that I am very proud of you and all that you’ve done. You’ve worked so hard and I know because of that you will succeed at anything that you put your mind to.

I have much more to share with you but I’ll save it for another letter or two.

I love you,

Mom



On being a parent

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Well, it’s Monday again and in lieu of the Monday Menu (I couldn’t come up with something good) I decided to link up with Just.Be.Enough for a change.

It’s been a while since I wrote anything for their weekly link up but something just clicked this week… I’m not sure what it was. Oh wait, yes I do.

My sister called me Sunday evening and we talked as we normally do but then out of curiosity I asked if she had spoken with our dad in a while. I pretty much knew the answer… she hadn’t. But I wanted to hear what she had to say and if she was still upset with him, of course she was.

Each of us has a different style of parenting, a different style of discipling, and different ways of showing love to our kids. There isn’t much out there either to say that one way is wrong and another is right and we all do what works best for our families and our situation. Honestly, I think that we all make mistakes once in a while…. almost daily in my case. I know that I’m far from perfect and try to realize where I go wrong and not do it again.

My sister and I are pretty close and often a day rarely goes by that we don’t talk. In ways we are similar… scary similar and then in other ways we are so different, but that’s what makes us who we are. Raising our kids is one of the ways that we differ.

While she was home my parents got upset about the way her & her husband treated their son(s). They thought that my sister & her husband were to hard on the boys and didn’t treat them equally. My parents said something to them and caused quiet a stir that weekend… needless to say things were a little tense.

Did I agree with the way they treated the boys? No, but it’s not my place to say anything how they raise their kids. They’re not mean, they’re not abusive, or anything like that. What they are is strict and they mean business when they say something… they’re also a dual military family (20+ years in the service for them). I think that alone says something.

Did I agree with how my parents went about saying something? No, but that’s just them. Really, it could have been a lot worse…. my parents held back a lot. But they couldn’t hold it in for long and my dad finally called my sister and let her have it.

Long story short my sister is still upset and through our conversation she said something that stuck with me…. there are things that I do as a parent that she doesn’t like. She didn’t elaborate on it or even hint at what it was, but while I know we don’t agree on things it caught me off guard. What was it that I do wrong? What is it that she doesn’t like?

It’s been bugging me ever since I talked to her…. is there a lot that I’m doing wrong? Have I done everything wrong as a parent?

Am I enough?

I love my kids dearly.

I would do anything for my kids.

I try my best every single day.

I want only the best for my kids.

I listen to them.

I give them the best advice I have.

I set boundaries & have rules.

I am enough!

We’re all different as parents and we all do the very best that we can each day.

That said… I am enough and so are you.

Random Thoughts for Wednesday

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Today’s post is going to full of random thoughts…. why? I guess because I have a lot on my mind and some things I can share and others I can’t. So we’ll just go with what I can share for now.

I was super lucky and was able to get into Melissa’s (@MelACulbertson) incredible class, Content Brew . It’s only been two days but I’ve already learned a great deal from the class, which by the way is a go at your own pace so I don’t have to worry about not being able to keep up! But this is what’s got me…. my content sucks. I decided a while back to post on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday leaving Tuesday and Thursday open for reviews/giveaways if necessary and then the weekends are always off. After filling out the content calendar I realized that what I have is barely my own… Monday is recipes, Wednesday is usually a Wordful Wednesday link up or Pour Your Heart Out, and then Friday I usually save for the fiction prompts over at Write on Edge. There is nothing that is full of depth, emotion, or something that has readers coming back for more.

I mean it’s not like I don’t have anything to write about…. I have 4 kids ranging in age from toddler to teen! Geesh… if that isn’t blog fodder I don’t know what is!

I think that this is what it comes down to. Time. The amount of time that I have to actually sit down and write a couple of posts is pretty limited. Okay, it’s non existent. I manage to do a post the night before it goes live and that’s it and any planning further ahead doesn’t happen much.

The random thoughts continue….

This past week summer has come early here in Michigan with temps in the mid 80’s. Yes, you read that right….80’s so we’ve pretty much skipped spring this year. Temperatures that are 40 degrees above normal! The good part about this is that I’ve been able to put to use some of the cool tips and tricks I’ve learned in the SITS  Pinterest Challenge with Courtney from  Click it Up a Notch and because of it my pictures have been a lot better!

Andrew

If you’re looking to create great pictures for yourself, your blog, Pinterest, or whatever I’d  highly recommend checking out the series!

Andrew2

Random proud mom moments….

We’ve also had some proud mom moments this past week. My middle daughter, Natalie, has had district band festival and DI (Destination Imagination) recently and did incredibly well at both! At DI her team had to come up with a skit complete with a set, music, costumes, and everything in between on their own… no adult help at all. Her group had a lot of fun with their challenge and with the secret challenge… each group is presented with a challenge where they have like 5 minutes to come up with a solution for it and spectators are not allowed. In their age group they came in 5th out of 14 groups. Pretty good if you ask me!

Natalie

For district band festival the entire 7th grade band performed for judges and then took part in a sight reading. At the end of the day they received a score of straight 1’s which is the highest score that you can get. Our school district has a long history of music excellence and have never gotten anything less than a perfect score.

Natalie

More randomness…..

I’m hoping that the Content Brew class really helps me out because I need it! I want better content… something that will grab people’s attention… something that will want them to come back for more…

I hope that soon I’ll be able to share some of the things that I can’t talk about right now…. because sometimes getting another person’s perspective and thoughts on something is great.

Alright, enough of the randomness for today.

                

On being a mom

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Before I was a mom there were very few things that I worried about. I was young, carefree, and was enjoying my life from one minute to the next without pondering the future too much. I wandered the mall with friends, shopped, and ate lunch where ever we wanted while evenings were spent bar hopping or at the movies. Summers at the beach and winters hitting the slopes.

As a mom my life changed considerably. Carefree wasn’t part of who I was anymore and the way I thought, acted, and who I was as a whole changed.

There were feelings that would wash over me like no other and they still do. As a mom you are full of joy, love, fear, worry, concern, happiness, and your head will spin in circles as each day passes. It’s a roller coaster ride and one that I never thought that I would be on and one that I am enjoying every minute of.

caitlin

My days and nights are filled with my children, the little loves of my life.

There are times though that I find myself day dreaming of free time. Time to do whatever I want and whenever I would like to do it and I can’t imagine that I am the only mom that has ever felt that way. But I find a few stolen moments here and there to call my own where I can simple be me again. A few moments to center myself and start again as mom.

natalie

I find myself hoping that I’ve done all that I can to show my children how much I love them. I hope that I have taught them well. I hope that I’ve been a good mom. I have so many hopes & dreams for them …. as well as fears, which I think is all part of being a mom.

Being a mom can be the most challenging job out there without a doubt, but it can also be the most rewarding thing that you ever do. I promise!

Lauren

There are days I wonder if I have even done anything right…. between the fighting, back talking, and the spitting toddler  I find myself wondering where in the world I went wrong. I wonder if I’m cut out for this job of being mom sometimes.

Andrew

Then it’s the  simple things can brighten a moms day and make her heart swell with joy…. a smile from their baby, laughter from a toddler, an achievement at school, and just about everything in between. From an infant all the way through teenage years there is always something that my children can do or say that makes me smile everyday. It’s the little joys that get me through to the next day.

Without children I don’t know where I would be or what I would be doing. Honestly, it’s something that I haven’t even considered!

Is being a mom everything you thought it would be?