Thursday, February 21, 2008

Love Thursday

I am not a girly girl. Never have been. And I thought that if I ever had a little girl I would never go crazy with the pink, the dresses and the hair stuff. For the most part I haven't, but I did find these funky hairbands at a local shop and I had to try them out. Too cute for words. I think I may be living a bit of girly girl through Renee. Happy Love Thursday!

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Just another day.

I have never been a fan of Valentine's day. When I was young and geeky in high school I certainly never got a rose or chocolates or anything of the like. I didn't have a boyfriend in high school, so I always felt sorry for myself on February 14th and spent the day wondering what the hell was wrong with me. I had lots of boys who were friends, but that was because I was a gym rat and played alot of sports. They never saw me as a "girl" but rather a passable basketball player with a half decent jump shot.

I often thought "well, maybe this is the year that I get something from someone". And each year I was disappointed. When I was in university I dated a bit, but was always single on Valentine's day. It didn't bother me as much then - I had alot of single girlfriends so we all got together and gorged ourselves on chocolate and tried to convince ourselves that someone somewhere was missing out big time by not having us as girlfriends.

My first real valentine was Ken. I told him that I wasn't a big fan of Valentine's day, and that he didn't have to get me anything (ok, I did ask for a card, but that was it). A couple of days before Valentine's day he had a hair appointment (I am laughing as I type this - he now has NO HAIR) and the hairdresser asked him what he was getting me for Valentine's day. He told her that I said to only get a card, and she proceeded to tell him that I didn't mean that and that I would be pissed if he didn't get me anything. So he went out and got me a spa package. An expensive one. And what did I get him? A card. Nothing else. Just like we agreed. And I felt like crap.

Last night Ken told me that he was sorry, but he got me nothing this year. He has been so busy with work that he hasn't had a chance to go out and get a card. I was ok with that - I have been so busy at home that I didn't get him anything either. At least we are on the same page. In all honesty, I'd rather Ken come home on June 22nd or any other regular day with an armload of flowers and tell me he loves me. He doesn't need February 14th to do that.

But this year, I have really enjoyed Valentine's Day - because of the boys. Each of them worked hard on Valentine cards for their classmates, and they both came home with an armload of cards and treats from their friends - and most of them handmade. They spent about an hour on the floor going through all their cards, and talking about their friends. It was nice. It is what Valentines should be about - all the kids made and got cards. They had small parties at school. At five and three it is all so innocent and fun.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

My gummy wonder.

Last night I did something I swore I would never do as a parent. I bundled up my screaming baby and put her in the car and went for a drive. At midnight. The intent was to try to get her to calm down, but if that didn't work, I was on my way to the hospital to see if they could figure out what the hell was wrong. I am sure it is her teeth - she has been teething for what seems like months, but nothing is coming through. I swear she will be walking before she even pops one tooth through.

The poor little bugger was screaming for about an hour before I decided to put her in the car. Honestly, I had no idea what to do with her. You'd think that with her being my third that I would have a bit of a clue, but after giving the tylenol with no change and her absolutely beside herself I was at a loss. So I buckled her in, started driving and within five minutes she was asleep. Mission accomplished - that is until I had to get her out of the carseat. That is why I never liked the idea of using the car - none of my kids transfer well from the car to the house, so I figured that I had better drive for awhile before the attempt to get her out of the car, up the stairs and to her room. Sure enough, as soon as I pulled in the driveway and turned off the engine she woke up. Screaming. O...M...G. Got her to bed, and she settled down - for about an hour and a bit. And then she was at it again. I KNOW as a parent this is temporary - but holy crap, I am getting too old for this. On a good day I look like hell. Today I think I scared most of Ethan's kindergarten class. Let's hope tonight is a better night - and if not, it will be a movie day for the kids tomorrow while I crash on the couch - that is if Renee will nap.....which she didn't do today. OY.

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

Love Thursday

There is many a time I have seen a baby and I think to myself - "You are SO CUTE I could just eat you up". Well, I guess my son thinks pretty highly of himself - he had a good go at his reflection.

Checking him out.

Today Nicholas got his "report card" for his swimming lessons. He failed. Oops, sorry, he didn't fail, he needs to "re-register in the same level". Now I would never tell him that he failed - he had fun, and he learned a few new things that his ex-competitive-swimmer-mom and ex-lifeguard-dad couldn't get through to him. For that I am thankful to the kid who was teaching him.

I call his teacher "the kid" because he is barely into his twenties. To him, I must look like a washed up suburban housewife who barely keeps it together, and on a good day, will manage to slap a coating of lip balm on before leaving the house. So when he handed Nicholas his report card for the class the first thing I did when I got home was to see if this "kid" was on Facebook. Sure enough he was. And even more astounding, his profile was open for all to see. So I had a look. Nothing on there shocked me - photos of drunken university parties (hell we all did that - thankfully digital cameras weren't around in those days for me), his background, what he took in University, yada yada yada. I am sure that he would have been shocked that an old fart like me is on facebook. It reminds me of the conversation that I overheard a few days ago of a few teens discussing facebook and what other options to use because one of the kids discovered that his mom was on facebook. He told his buddies - and there was silence, followed by "Dude - your MOM is on facebook?". Yes, we are slowly taking over the world.