One Perfect Mess

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I read a blog today that got me thinking. It was about making your kids eat what you’ve made for dinner or go hungry. I see their point in that they want their children to try new things. I totally agree that trying things is important and even trying things you didn’t like before to see if maybe you’ve changed your minds. But I honestly don’t understand telling a child that we’re having X for dinner and you can eat it or eat nothing. I sure wouldn’t like it if someone did that to me. I can’t tell you how many nights my meal plan has indicated baked chicken and veggies for dinner and I blew it off and defrosted some homemade spaghetti sauce instead. Or, alternatively how many nights I have tried a new recipe that I ended up not caring for and having some cheese and crackers later on because I didn’t eat enough. It could well be that I’m totally messed up in how I view food. That wouldn’t surprise me at all actually. But I honestly think it is a fair point. I don’t like raw tomatoes and I don’t care how many times you put them in front of me I will never enjoy eating them. People like different things and have different tastes. Is it really so bad if one child hates broccoli? I don’t think so.  As long as they are willing to give it a try, having likes and dislikes doesn’t make them bad eaters. I hope.

I spent the morning in court and it has put me into the hole. I am so seriously depressed about society. There were 200 people in that court room today without any respect for anything. They acted like it was insane that they were actually expected to be there on time and despite being asked repeatedly not to talk during proceedings they would just not shut the fuck up. The conversations I overheard gave me a headache that I still have several hours later. It was like a regular old day at the office for some of them. Not the least bit concerned that they would be sentenced to a few weeks in jail for beating someone up or drinking and driving. No big deal. My 2 year old can sit still longer than most of them. They were up and down, in and out every five minutes. Smoking half a cigarette at a time. The entire room reeked and I felt like I was sitting in a petri dish full of germs with all the sniffling and sneezing and hacking up of lungs. To think that scene plays itself out five days a week in every county in this country makes me want to cry in frustration. Is it THAT hard to follow the rules? I like to have fun. There are plenty of ways to enjoy life that don’t involve breaking the law. It is so totally senseless. I’m left wanting to build a fort for my family in the middle of the woods and become recluses. Please somebody point me in the direction of my faith in humanity.

What is your favorite food?

Orange Juice

What is your favorite color?

All my colors.

What is your favorite toy?

Molly

Who is your favorite cat?

Eli

Who is your best friend at school?

All of my friends

What is your favorite thing to drink?

Apple juice and orange juice

What is your favorite dessert?

M&Ms

What is your favorite movie?

Nemo and trains

Favorite TV Show?

Wonder Pets and Kai Lan

Favorite book?

Five little pumpkins

Favorite thing you do with Mana?

Play trains and cars

Favorite thing you do with Cici?

Play with the blinds

Favorite thing you do with Granddaddy?

Play with trains

What is your favorite thing to do with Papa?

Watch trains on computer

What is your favorite thing to do with Daddy?

Play monster hide and seek

What is your favorite thing to do with Weebles?

Play with Molly in the tub

I’ve never been big on carrying purses. I really prefer to throw my debit card in my back pocket and be done with it. But, with kids I have found there are lots of little things that I find useful to have on hand. Today while waiting for a doctor’s appointment I decided to make a quick list of items I saw just glancing inside the small bag I had with me.

Diaper

Purelle

Two cans of play doh

M&M’s

Hair clip

Thomas

Ultrasound DVD

$11 in cash

Letter from DA’s office

Torn up pay stub

Burger King receipt

Hospital bill

4 pens

Ketchup

7 crayons

Finn McMissile

Three sets of keys

Popsicle stick

Mints

Chapstick

Stack of coupons

Benadryl

Two debit cards

Three lollipops

Driver’s License

 

Originally written August 28

 

Here is where my post would have gone about the Warrior Dash this weekend. I knew when I signed up months ago that if things went as planned I would be just about two months pregnant. But at the time I was feeling fairly cocky. I’d been running every day and I was determined to continue doing so throughout any future pregnancies. Oh, how easy it is to forget all the cute little quirks of pregnancy. I was still planning on going and doing run/walk intervals and skipping any obstacles where falls were probable but after injuring my calf last week, having a cold and the appearance of a hurricane… it all just did me in. Driving five hours round trip just didn’t sound appealing, so I basically slept the entire day instead.

 

The mental health aspect just isn’t going very well right now. I’ll speak to my midwife at my first appointment but I’ve been feeling constantly anxious for the last few weeks. 32 more to go? Mother#$()*! I’m hoping that getting on steady footing with a schedule and adding in a prenatal yoga class will help me feel more centered. Because right now I’m thinking there’s no way I’m going to make it. Trying to decide what to have for dinner keeps me confused for hours and just looking at the laundry that needs to be done has me in tears. Basically I’m a hot damn mess.

All around the country, people are excited about getting an extra weekend hour. Let me break down for you how DST works for parents of small children.

In the spring, time moves forward an hour. That means that the kids’ internal clock allows for them to sleep an hour later. That is all well and good, unless you actually have places to go in the morning which I’m betting upwards of 80% of us do. So then you just get to wake a sleeping kid (THE HORROR) and have a sleepy, grumpy, uncooperative hot mess on your hands all morning. This also means that at nighttime, they want to stay up an hour later. LOSE – LOSE SITUATION

In the fall, time falls back an hour. That means that the clock said five AM this morning when my toddler woke up instead of the usual, and already intolerable, six AM. So in reality I end up feeling like I’ve LOST an hour of sleep instead of gained one. The only real win for me in DST is that tonight when their little clocks tell them it is time to sleep, I will get an extra hour to fiddle around on the internet.

So, what did I do with my extra hour this morning? Well, I cleaned up after the cat threw up about four times. I broke up half a dozen extra arguments between the kids. I did an extra load of laundry. And, I wrote this blog post. That’s something I suppose.

This post was originally written on July 29

 

So here I am, like 35 seconds pregnant and already I can feel the onset of all the annoying pregnancy maladies. Have I mentioned I am HORRID at enjoying pregnancy? I love babies like… what is better than babies? However, I just despise the ordeal of pregnancy. If you are one of those glow-y types that just loooves being pregnant then go on and go away.

 

My back hurts, my nose is already stuffy, I feel like somebody kicked me in the babymaker with some steel toed boots, exhaustion overwhelms me throughout the day and I have to pee every fifteen minutes. Boy am I going to be a bucket of giggles 30 weeks from now. And of course there is the morning sickness. Except it isn’t so much in the mornings but when I try to go to sleep at night. Nothing spurs a good night sleep like nausea.

 

Today my baby is the size of a poppy seed. Those are tasty.

Mommy I think this baby is going to be brown.

Me: what?

You know, like Zymirrah from school.

Me: Silent while pondering a response…

Can we name him chocolate?

Me: umm no?

How does one explain race relations to a four year old?

It is November. There are Christmas carols being played in Target and there is frost on the ground every morning. So, I guess the holidays are coming. Thanksgiving is three weeks from today. All that makes me want to do is crawl under the covers. I love, like big L love, Thanksgiving and Christmastime. I normally make Andrew drag all the decorations out of the attic November 1. If I’m taking down the Halloween stuff, might as well go ahead and put out the next round. This year I just can’t muster any excitement. This makes me so sad. I know part of it is simply that I have no energy. The thought of even making a gift list, or ordering Christmas cards makes me weary. But even the year that I was due the week after Christmas I was out in the front yard directing the placement of twinkle lights on the house. I know another thing dragging me down is my mom. There is really no explaining it. She just gets depressed every Christmas season. I’ve tried to find out why but I will go to my grave never getting a straight answer out of her on anything. But again, it has been that way my whole life so that isn’t new. I’m just in the hole again I guess. I hope I manage to get out in the next week or two so that I am able to enjoy my favorite time of the year. If not that is just going to make the post holiday blues even worse.

What is your favorite food?

Spaghetti

What is your favorite color?

The whole wide world and the rainbow and pink and purple. And you know what else? Yellow.

What is your favorite toy?

My engines.

Who is your favorite cat?

Eli

Who is your best friend at school?

Tripp and Dominic and Joey

What is your favorite thing to drink?

Orange Juice

What is your favorite dessert?

Ice cream and M&M’s and Skittles

What is your favorite movie?

Day of the Diesels

Favorite TV Show?

Peppa Pig and Thomas

Favorite book?

Let’s see…. my smelly books. (me: what?) The Mickey Mouse books that smell good.

Favorite move in ballet?

Curtsies

Favorite thing you do with Mana?

Paint with her!

Favorite thing you do with Cici?

When her comes to visit here.

Favorite thing you do with Granddaddy?

When he takes us to explore and play somewhere.

What is your favorite thing to do with Papa?

When he gives me kisses.

What is your favorite thing to do with Daddy?

Daddy bringing me on adventures to museum and buy new fish and he earns money for us to buy our toys.

What is your favorite thing to do with Bug?

Color with him when he wants me to color with him at school.