I'm Living Proof that God Has a Sense of Humor

I don’t even know where to start….

2012-01-26T09:33:00.001-08:00

Believe it or not, my house was perfectly clean just two days ago.

TWO DAYS AGO!

And now…..

Sigh….there are simply not enough hours in a day.

No more "bored" games for us....

2012-01-25T09:16:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite things to do with my kids is play board games.

I know, I know...some parents would rather undergo a painful root canal than play a board game with their kids. Tim, in particular. He considers them "bored" games and refuses to partake in our twice-a-week ritual. Honestly, I think it's because he's afraid the kids will kick his ass at Monopoly but that's just between me and you guys, okay?

I think spending quality time with your kids playing games is so important. Not only for the cognitive learning possibilities (counting numbers on a pair of dice, identifying colors, following a sequential pattern, etc) but also for the social opportunities it provides (learning how to wait your turn, good sportsmanship, etc).

One of our absolute favorite games to play is Monopoly (the electronic banking version). I used to get frustrated having to deal with all the fake money but with the electronic banking version, it makes it really simple for young players.

Every player gets a plastic card (similar to a credit card) and you simply slide the card in the banking device to add money or take money from your account. Even my 4-year olds know how to operate it.

And I love that they're essentially learning how to handle money. Like, for instance, they land on a property they were hoping to buy but they don't quite have enough money to buy it. Or when they owe another player money....they know they have to make good on their loan or there will be consequences.

Great life lessons, right?

Another game we love is Battleship. Not only do I love the competitiveness of this game but I like that the kids are learning how to plan strategically. They really have to use their brains in this game, pay attention and try to outsmart their opponent.

They also have to know their letters and numbers in order to identify spots on the board, which has been helpful for the little twins.

Lastly, a perfect game for the little ones (preschool age) is Yahtzee Junior. Even my big twins love this game.

It's super easy to play...simply roll the dice and try to match up the faces of the characters.

This game teaches kids how to count, recognize matches and good sportsmanship. Garrett and Landon have even learned how to add up their scores at the end of the game to determine who the winner is.

Those are just a few of our favorites! We have stacks and stacks of various board and card games that we enjoy.

Board games are such a wonderful way to bring the family together (unless, of course, you have one particular person in the family who is a party pooper....cough, cough...Tim).

And one of the perks is that all these games are affordable! There are plenty of ways to save on Hasbro games...right now you can get 35% off!

If you don't already enjoy a family night of board games, why not start? I can guarantee it's something your kids will love and come to really look forward to!

What games does your family enjoy playing together?

A day in the life of a 4-year old...

2012-01-24T05:30:00.000-08:00

Ah, to be 4 years old again.

To have your days filled with nothing but excitement and curiosity....silliness and good times.

No worries in the world, other than hoping you can have chicken nuggets again for lunch (for the 5th day in a row).

Your "homework" consists of practicing your writing skills, while learning number sequence.

And you know that no matter how many mistakes you might make, your teacher is still going to give you a high-five and a gold star...simply because you applied yourself.

There's no better feeling than when all your hard work pays off, as you finally figure out how to blow bubbles....a skill you've been trying to master for months.

Whipping up a batch of mini-cakes in your sister's Easy-Bake oven is your idea of "really cool fun"...especially because you know you'll get to lick the spoon and the bowl (even though your mother has warned you numerous times about salmonella poisoning).

Nothing makes you happier than eating the other half of the giant burrito your dad couldn't finish....because you're such a big boy with an endless appetite.

You've got nothing but time on your hands and you have no problem taking a few minutes out of your day to say hello to a friendly cat, even though your mom is nagging you to hurry along.

"Cats need love too," you tell her.

Throwing leaves in the air makes you giggle until you're doubled over with a bad case of hiccups.

No worries about where the leaves land....you love to scoop them all up into a huge pile and throw them up in the air...over and over again, with boundless energy.

Every open road leads you wherever you want to go. The options are unlimited.

The world is your oyster, just waiting to be discovered and acted upon.

To be 4 years old again....life just seemed so simple, didn't it?

What good is being married to a computer geek if I can't take advantage of him?

2012-01-20T05:00:00.000-08:00

I often joke with my friends about how awful it would be to be married to a male gynecologist.

I mean, think about it. After looking at endless vaginas of all shapes and sizes ALL. DAY. LONG. and having to endure in embarrassing conversations about "women issues", does he tell his horny wife, "Sorry, honey, not tonight. If I have to look at one more vagina, I'm gonna claw my eyeballs out."

Another example. The car mechanic. Does he really want to spend his entire weekend fixing his wife's car, after having spent his entire work week repairing everyone else's car? Probably not.

Tim is the average computer geek.

Sure, he doesn't exactly look like one...you know, the stereotypical introvert who wears his hair greased and parted on the side, glasses always slipping down to the edge of his nose, pens in his shirt pocket and can't hold a decent conversation to save his life because being around people makes his palms all sweaty.

HTML is his language of love, though...which proves he is, in fact, a complete computer geek. He loves this kind of stuff so I never gave it much thought any time I had a problem with my computer.

Last week, I opened my laptop and saw some weird test was running.

"What's this?" I asked him.

Complete silence.

"Yo, computer geek. What's this on my laptop? It's doing something strange," I repeated.

"Oh, are you talking to me?" he asked.

Bordering on annoyance, I said, "Yes, I'm talking to you. You are the resident computer expert, aren't you?"

He walked over to my laptop, shrugged his shoulders and then went back to eating his breakfast.

"Well?" I begged. "Is that normal?"

"I don't know. Let it finish running the test and then I'll look at it," he explained, nonchalantly.

20 minutes later, the test was still running and I was growing more worried.

"Will you please have a look at my laptop? Something's not right," I pleaded.

He rolled his eyes and said, "Okay, okay....geez, calm down."

"I can't calm down. My entire life is on that laptop!"

"Have you been backing everything up like I showed you? The pictures? Your book?", he asked.

I mumbled under my breath, "Uh, not exactly."

"Dammit," he shouted. "I told you to back everything up! This is the third time this has happened!"

"Well, any time I work on my book, I save it to a flash drive but I kept forgetting to take care of the pictures. You know, I kept meaning to and then I'd forget," I tried to explain.

He shoved his chair away from the table and sat in front of my laptop. I watched his fingertips tap endlessly on the keyboard.

"Shit," he sighed. "Probably a virus or your hard drive crashed."

With that, he went upstairs.

"Well," I shouted after him. "What should I do?"

"Just shut it off when it's done running the test and I'll work on it when I can," he replied.

"But I need my laptop NOW," I pleaded.

"Just use another computer until I can get to it. Use the one I'm preparing for the demo in Vegas."

Later that day, after he had a chance to look at my poor laptop, Tim said, "I'm going to see if I can recover all your docs and pics off your hard drive. But I'm getting sick of this always happening. You HAVE to backup everything. I tell you this all the time!"

"I guess I figure you can always fix it if there's a problem," I commented.

"I can't always fix it, though. That's the problem. You think I can just work magic and fix everything. Just back everything up from now on and stop putting me through this!"

"But...but....but you're a computer whiz. You can fix anything. Friends call and you rush to fix THEIR computers. My mom and sister always have computer issues and you have no problem helping them. You're like the super hero of computers!" I offered.

"Whatever," he remarked.

"Don't 'whatever' me!" I complained. "You love this kind of stuff. What good is being married to a computer geek if I can't take advantage of you!"

Uh-oh...I knew where this was headed. Me and my big mouth.

"Tell you what," he smiled slyly. "You can take advantage of me if you let me take advantage of you."

"Well, that's not exactly fair now. I mean, you fix everyone else's computer with no expectations. Why not mine too?"

Tim shrugged his shoulders. "That's the deal. Take it or leave it."

My laptop now sits naked, without its hard drive, on the kitchen table.

It's being held hostage, basically. And I'm getting more and more desperate to be reunited with my beloved laptop.

I may have to let Tim take advantage of me so he'll get the damn thing working for me again.

Sigh...

I wonder if our dentist's wife has to put out any time she needs a root canal.

Okay, who spiked the Kool Aid?

2012-01-18T06:00:00.000-08:00

It happened, people. It FINALLY happened.

I knew eventually my time would come if I could just learn to be a little more patient.

Over the years, I'd listened to friends brag about their experiences and I'd seethe with insane jealousy.

I'm a good person...how come I was never one of the fortunate ones? When would it be MY time?

Marcia, Marcia, Marcia....

Well, friends...my time finally came.

I took the kids shopping for new shoes and, the first time ever, I didn't want to run out of the store and throw myself into oncoming traffic.

We went to two different stores. First, was Payless Shoe Source because I'm cheap and Garrett and Landon go through shoes quicker than Kim Kardashian goes through husbands.

The store manager measured their feet and, within ten minutes, they each had picked out a pair of shoes that made them squeal with delight. TEN MINUTES. That's like a world record when it comes to picky preschoolers finding that exact perfect shoe.

I paid for the shoes and tried not to keel over in shock when both boys shouted, "Thank you for our new shoes, Mommy!"

Okay, who spiked the Kool Aid?

On our way over to the other store, I couldn't stop gushing about their impressive behavior.

"I was super proud of your behavior in the shoe store. You all stayed together, you didn't pull endless boxes of shoes off the shelf, you helped each other...there were no tears, no snot, no foul smells randomly emitted.  Seriously, I'm beyond thrilled with how well behaved you guys were!"

They were all smiles...getting along fabulously, singing along to the radio.

WTF?   Was this really happening? Best not to overanalyze it...

At the second store, Big 5 Sporting Goods, Cole and Bella were excited to buy their first pair of Heelys, which they'd been begging for for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, I caved and agreed.

They both promptly sat on the floor and began trying on various pairs, while Garrett and Landon sat on the floor next to them and watched.

Let me just repeat that again because it simply merits repeating.

Garrett and Landon sat on the floor next to their older brother and sister, patiently waiting for them to settle on a pair of shoes to purchase.

THIS. NEVER. HAPPENS. Usually, while I'm helping Cole and Bella, the little twins are tearing through the store, ripping things off of shelves, annoying other customers.

On the drive home, there was nothing but happy chattering from the kids.  They were sharing gummy worms with one another. I was hearing tons of "May I please have another gummy worm?" and "thank you's".

From the very back of the minivan, Cole and Bella both shouted, "We love our shoes, Mommy. Thank you!"

Again, I ask, WTF?

I suddenly felt the urge to find a huge hill covered with green grass, hold hands with my kids and sing at the top of my lungs.

The hills are alive with the sound of happy children....la, la, la, la

I kept waiting for lightening to strike. Or John Quinones, the host of Primetime: What Would You Do to appear out of nowhere and say, "Ma'am, we're doing a segment on why some parents go clinically insane after taking their kids shopping for new shoes...."

Upon returning home, they immediately tore into the bags and put on their new shoes...leaving a mess of open, scattered shoeboxes all over the floor.

Not wanting to ruin our happy day, I chose not to complain about them leaving behind a huge mess for me to clean up, as they joyfully sprinted towards the backyard to test out their new shoes.

Beggars can't be choosers, I suppose. And some battles just aren't worth fighting, especially when I just experienced a major milestone...a wonderful shopping experience with my kids.

As I peeked out the window and witnessed them all chasing one another in the backyard, laughing happily and getting along beautifully, I thought, "This is what I've been waiting for. This is how I imagined motherhood would be."

My very next thought?

Where can I get some of that freakin' Kool Aid?

The social life of a 7-year old girl...

2012-01-16T10:15:00.000-08:00

I met Bella outside her classroom the other day after school. She and another little girl in her class were chatting about the day's events.

As they bid one another farewell, the little girl shouted to Bella, "Call me!"

I glanced at Bella and asked, "Uh, did she just tell you to call her?"

Bella nodded her head. "Yeah, she gave me her phone number. She wants me to call her tonight."

"But you just spent an entire day with her at school and I'm assuming you sat by her at lunch and played together at recess. What on earth could you two have to discuss that you haven't already talked about," I grilled her.

With her signature rolling of the eyes, she answered, "We have lots to talk about."

Oh, Helene...how quickly you forget what it's like to be a young girl in the midst of fitting into the social scene at the local elementary school.

With a huge sigh, I left it at that and figured she'd probably space out and completely forget to call her friend.

But, of course, she didn't. Because this is Bella we're talking about, after all, and she can still remember the flavor cake I made for her 3rd birthday party. This child has the memory of an elephant.

That evening, after dinner, Bella grabbed the phone and asked me to dial the girl's number.

I teased, "The rule should be that if you can't even dial your friend's number then you shouldn't be using the phone."

Her voice riddled with obvious annoyance, she huffed, "Mommy, come on! Please dial her number for me."

"Let's make sure you have proper phone etiquette before it gets potentially embarrassing. When her mom or dad answer the phone, you say 'Hi, may I please speak to Natalie? This is Bella, her friend from school'. You don't say 'Let me talk to Natalie' or 'Is Natalie there'. Be polite. Don't yell into the phone. And don't spit into the phone, for the love of God," I explained.

"Spit into the phone!" she repeated. "What's the big deal...it's not like the spit is going to land on her through the phone!"

"Yeah," I said. "But I might be the next one to use that phone and I don't want YOUR spit all over MY face."

Another signature eye roll and another "Mommy, come on!"

She was growing impatient with me. I do love to have my fun.

Once I dialed the number for her and assured that she was politely requesting her friend and identifying herself as the caller, I nodded my head, giving Bella permission to take the phone with her to the top of the staircase where she wouldn't be bothered by the excessive noise coming from her 3 obnoxious brothers.

After a few minutes of wondering what the hell these girls could be discussing that simply could not wait until the next day, I decided to spy and heard Bella saying, "OMG, I know...Totally...Oh, I know...Yeah... Whatever... OMG, she did?...Yeah, I know...OMG!"

Pause for a few seconds of silence. You know, let her friend get in some more words here and there.

And then, again, "OMG. I totally can't believe that. Tomorrow, let's just tell her that she can't play with us if she's not going to be nice."

Uh-oh, is there drama going on in the 2nd grade....again? Of course there is.

She was quiet for a minute or two.

Then, "Okay....yeah.....uh-huh....I know. Yeah...cool. Okay....yeah, see you tomorrow."

Bella handed the phone back to me and I had to ask, "Soooo....what's going on? Any drama to tell your mama?"

She shook her head and answered, "No, I've got it covered."

"Oh, please, just tell me," I begged. Because I don't have enough drama in my life after watching The Bachelor and Keeping Up With the Kardashians.

Letting out a irritated sigh, she explained, "Well, we were having problems with a girl in our class being mean to us at recess. So Natalie and I just, like, decided to ignore her. That's all."

"Oh, I see. Sounds like you have it all under control, my little friend. And I'm so proud of you for handling it the way you did. Sometimes just ignoring a mean person is the best way to handle it. Don't let them get under your skin, you know."

"Mommy, don't worry about me so much," she assured me. "It was just one little thing. No big deal."

The very next night, she was back on the phone again with this same little girl.

Only this time, they were discussing little brothers and how gross they are.

Ah, to be 7 years old again.

Then again, no thanks.

Dear Jersey Shore Cast...guest post courtesy of The Literal Mom

2012-01-12T07:27:00.000-08:00

Today's entertaining guest post comes to you from the beautiful and talented Missy at Literal Mom.

You know how when you stumble upon a blog for the first time and after reading merely a few paragraphs of one of the posts, you feel instantly drawn in? Kind of like coming home after a long vacation?   You feel an overwhelming connection to this blogger, as if you've been lifelong friends, and you just know if you were to get together in person, your friendship would be the kind where you finish each other's sentences.

That's how I feel about Missy. I ran across her blog one day and have not stopped reading since.

She is a devoted wife to her loving husband and the mother of two precious daughters, as well as an active community volunteer, an advocate for childhood education and a leader in several community organizations.

Not only is Missy witty, funny and incredibly sweet, she writes with such purpose and honesty. She's not afraid to put her thoughts and experiences on parenting out there for the world to read. Missy writes about things that some of us are afraid to admit, such as when our kids get hurt and we get more caught up in what others think of our parenting skills rather than our injured child.

She has helped me to become a better mother....a THINKING mother, which is the whole point behind Literal Mom.

I hope you enjoy this hilarious guest post from her! And after reading it, please leave Missy some comment love and then go to Literal Mom and be sure to subscribe!

========================================

Dear Jersey Shore Cast

I want  to thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for what you've done to change pop culture and how our yutes today view their role in society and, more specifically, drinking establishments.

My husband and I recently went out on New Year's Eve with some good friends of ours. Good friends whom we've had copious amounts of alcohol in public places  socialized with before. So we know each other and like to "have each other's backs," much like you do when you go out to find out who's DTF for the evening.

And that raises my first "thank you" of this letter.

The DTF.  What a witty way to describe a woman who's willing to engage in what we used to call a "one-night-stand." I think it's really quite ingenious of you to incorporate it not only into your lingo with each other, but to use it as a pick up line! What better way to learn if a woman is "DTF - down to fuck" than by asking her!

I understand how a man wants to know the end result of his evening's work.

Being a married woman myself, I'm sure my husband greatly appreciates that I'm a sure bet on our nights out. Or DTF, as you would say. I think, though, if I have one bit of advice, it would be to recognize that I am not DTF to YOU. I am DTF to my HUSBAND. Therefore, if you come up and start the DTF dance on me (see below) and my husband taps you on the shoulder and says, "That's my wife," your response should not be "I don't see a ring on her finger."

And when he takes said ringed finger and shoves it in your face so that you do indeed see it, your next response should not be, "Yeah, well, she's dancing. It looks like she likes it to me."

That kind of thing doesn't go over well with a married man of 14 years whose wife drank too much and is now dancing like it's still the 80s enjoying a night out with his wife.

To the ladies in regard to DTF, how nice it is for YOU to not have to worry about the mixed signals you may send through the evening. Now, thanks to the Jersey Shore men, you have the chance to answer yes, no, or maybe later when asked if you are DTF.

Which brings me to my second reason to thank you:

DTF Dancing.  I really like how you've taken dancing to the next level. I love how you double team drunk girls (I'm quite sure it's to help them stand up from massive alcohol consumption and has nothing to do with an animalistic desire to have a 3-way with her) and I love how you've taken things that used to be left for the bedroom and exposed them for public consumption!

How I would have loved to be in college and have a guy I barely knew come up behind me, grasp my hips and start rubbing his money maker all over my booty. Really, really a boost in confidence that most girls need.

And to the girls, I love the outfits you wear to both encourage booty dancing and make it easier to booty dance effectively.

Which brings me to my next reason to thank you.

The Booty Dress. Your dresses! My have they shortened in the past several years! That must be so helpful to the men who want to DTF with you. And that's so nice of you. Recently I saw a particularly stunning booty dress. It was so high and so tight, the wearer could show "crack" from the bottom, NOT the top. Isn't that neat? So she didn't have plumber's crack, she had booty dress crack.
And let me tell you, the men were loving it.

After 4 drinks too many Because I am a mother, I felt it only right to go and remind them that she is someone's daughter and maybe her parents wouldn't want to see you men reaching up under her dress and patting her crack-showing bottom. But I didn't have to, because after it rode up even higher, arguably over her entire bottom, she must have felt the breeze, so she pulled it right back down where it belonged, just under the bottom of her bottom. With a teensy little bit of crack hanging out.

Finally, my 4th reason to thank you.

The TMT.  Oddly, this acronym is close to TNT - dynamite. The TMT is what I like to think of as Too Much Testosterone. But I imagine it can also be the TME - Too Much Estrogen.

And you guys haven't even coined this acronym yet! This one's all me. You are welcome. Just don't try to sue Abercrombie if they put it on a t-shirt - that's my job, K?

Anyway. Back to TMT. I really like how you, all of you, will fight with anyone, anytime, anywhere when alcohol, DTFs and Booty Dresses are in play. And I got to see this phenomenon you've created first hand on New Year's Eve!

And that was so nice, because we didn't go out on New Year's Eve to have fun with friends, dance and ring in the new year together. We actually did go out to see if we could re-create a Jersey Shore moment. And when so many of your proteges were on-location with us, our evening became a fait accompli.
All thanks to you. The DTF. The Booty Dress. And testosterone.

So thanks again for all you've done for popular culture. I CAN'T WAIT until my girls are old enough to learn from you first hand!

Signed,

The Literal Mom

How does this Mommy spell relief?

2012-01-09T06:00:00.000-08:00

P-A-X-I-L

Yeah, I said it. I have no shame, people...but, then, most of you already knew that.

Remember my post from a few weeks ago where I described hitting rock bottom once again?

Well, I clawed my way out of the darkness and it feels good. No, it feels better than good. It feels triumphant, it feels victorious, it feels amazing.

Winning? Most definitely.

For starters, I requested a different psychiatrist at my doctor's office. My former psychiatrist...she and I just never seemed to connect. I didn't feel like she really listened to me, as I would go in every 6 months to check in and she would literally sit glued to her computer the entire time, going through her checklist of things.

"Are you still taking the prescribed dosage?"
"Are you getting enough sleep?"
"Have there been any major changes in your life?"

I complained at one point that I didn't feel like the Wellbutrin was helping any longer and her answer was, "Well, then quit".

Uh, okay....

So I weaned myself off the Wellbutrin and went about my life.

But, within time, it became evident that I couldn't do it on my own. I walked around in a rage all the time, the littlest things would set me off, everyone around me walked on eggshells.

My coping skills were completely unhealthy and, at times, dangerous.

The new psychiatrist listened to me...he heard every word I said. And then he repeated back to me all my symptoms and then asked a series of questions.

"Would you say you spend most of your day feeling anxious and worried?"
"Would you consider yourself an obsessive and/or compulsive person?"
"Do you lose sleep because you feel like you can't shut your brain off?"
"Do you feel like you can't breathe or you feel trapped most of the time?"

As I fiddled anxiously with the zipper on my sweatshirt, I nodded my head vigorously as he asked each question.

Then he said, "I think your main issue isn't the depression. You seem like an extremely anxious person and when you're anxiety gets out of control, it leads to depression...this feeling of being trapped and then you panic. Am I right so far?"

I don't think I ever stopped nodding my head in agreement with everything he was saying.

"Your brain is constantly on, all the circuits going haywire...it never shuts off," he continued. "You probably crave calmness and that's why you clean your home compulsively and things feel chaotic when your home is disorganized, right?"

"I'll bet noise affects you, as well. And with 4 young children, I'm sure there are times where you want to just rip your hair out when the noise reaches a certain level," he smiled.

Finally, I felt like I could breathe. Someone truly understood how I was feeling. And he wasn't just anybody, he was someone who was in a position to help me.

And then he spent some time discussing various medications with me, giving me the option of choosing which one I felt would be the best fit based on side effects and whatnot.

Ultimately, I decided on a low dose of Paxil, with a scrip for Klonopin on an "as needed" basis. The Klonopin, he explained, would help with insomnia if I took it at bedtime or it could help me during the day should I feel overly anxious, rather than rely on an unhealthy and/or dangerous coping mechanism.

After a few days of taking the Klonopin at night and not liking the way it made me feel the next day, I stopped taking it and went solely with the Paxil.

And here's how I can tell it's been working...for the first time in years, I enjoyed spending time with my children during winter break.

I wasn't panicked every minute of the day, wondering how to entertain them. I didn't feel like a total failure if I wasn't overseeing every single activity.

We baked cookies together, we played board games for hours, we went on long bike rides, we took walks, we shopped, we watched movies, we played the Wii...we had a FABULOUS time.

Not only have my children noticed a huge difference but Tim has, as well.

Yesterday, he said, "You come down the stairs in the morning in a good mood. The way you're interacting with the kids is so different. You just seem able to handle everything so much better now."

You want to know the best part?

When I smile, I feel it. Truly feel it...from the top of my head to the bottom of my feet.

Finally, my soul feels joyous and peaceful.

Want to know how my first week of the new year is going??

2012-01-05T09:27:00.000-08:00

Well, 2012 is in full swing and let me tell you all how my first week of the new year is going so far...in numbers.

6 - the number of puke puddles I've had to clean up

1 - the number of children who were responsible for half of the puke

1 - the number of cats who were responsible for the other half

34 - the number of times I gagged and dry heaved as I cleaned up the puke

3 - the number of times I had to chase the cat away from eating its own puke

9 - the number of miles I've ridden my bike while the little twins rode their scooters alongside me

4 - the number of times I said, "Okay, let's cross the street but be sure to stay in the cross walk."

7 - the number of times I screamed, "Stay in the freakin' cross walk for God's sake! Do you want to get run over by a car?!"

2 - the number of times the little smart asses laughed and said, "Yeah, that would be cool"

5 - the number of times I warned the little twins about the uneven cracks in the sidewalk

5 - the number of times the little twins flew over the handle bars of their scooters every time they ran over the uneven cracks in the sidewalk

25 - the number of minutes one of them cried afterwards, even though I had already hugged him for...

3 - the number of minutes I comforted the crying child

2 - the number of annoying strangers who asked me if I knew that one of my kids was crying

8 - the number of times I threatened to never bring them on a bike ride with me ever again

0 - the number of times I'll probably follow through on that threat because I have no choice but to bring them along

3 - the number of dinners I made that my family truly enjoyed

1 - the number of dinners I made that my family truly hated

5 - the number of times I said "tough luck" to the family members who dared to complain out loud about the meal

2 - the number of pounds I've lost since my holiday eating frenzy

165.5 - the number of minutes I get complete peace and quiet while the kids are in school (even though one kid is home sick)

23 - the number of times I laughed at myself for thinking I might actually miss the kids once they were back in school again after winter break

How's your first week of the new year going??

How to talk to your children about the death of a pet...

2012-01-03T10:10:00.000-08:00

Our winter break got off to a fabulous start, with the kids and I super excited about all the fun adventures we were going to experience on our days off together.

Unfortunately, our plans came to a screeching halt with the sudden, unexpected death of our beloved cat, Ivy, on Christmas eve morning.

Granted, she was almost 12 years old but she appeared to be a happy and healthy cat. Due to the extremely cold weather, she had been staying indoors mostly for the last few weeks, enjoying being cuddled by the kids and spending time our family.

The evening before she died, the kids kissed her goodnight, as they always did. And when I went to sleep, she was snoring at the edge of the bed, perfectly content.

I heard her leave the room somewhere around 5:45 am and then I heard a loud hissing sound downstairs, as if maybe she found one of the kittens eating her food.

Shortly after, Tim came into the room and said, "Ivy just died."

He wasn't sure exactly what had happened but when he heard her hissing, he turned on the light just in time to see her fall over on the floor. Startled, he attempted to give her CPR but her death was quick and he was unable to do anything. All we could assume was that she must have had a heart attack.

After placing her body on a blanket and putting her near the garage door, we both went back to bed, though neither of us could sleep. We were heartbroken, having just lost a cherished member of our family. And heartsick, knowing we would have to tell the kids, especially on Christmas eve day of all days.

Neither Tim nor I had a clue how to talk to the kids about Ivy's death so I googled the topic but found nothing helpful.

So we just followed our hearts and prayed for guidance, as we informed our young children about the death of their loving pet, who had been part of our family for their entire lives.

Here's what we found was helpful for our family:

* Be honest but avoid using phrases like "she went to sleep" or "her body was tired". We didn't want the kids to be afraid to go to sleep and we certainly didn't want them to fear they might die when their bodies feel tired.

What we did tell them was that she had lived a long, happy life and it was her time to go. She had the best life that a cat could have, filled with joy and love.

And now, she was at Rainbow Bridge, with our bunnies who had died years ago and with Grandpa's dog, Winston. She wasn't lonely, sad or scared. Just happy and carefree.

* Let them express their emotions, however they see fit. They may burst into tears immediately, like Cole did, or they may look to one another to see how they should react, which is what the little twins did since they were unsure of how to react.

They may cry off and on over the next few days or they may not. The important thing is to allow them to express their emotions freely and comfort them.

Don't tell them to "get over it already" or to stop being a cry-baby. The only way to get over a loss is to go through the natural grieving process and everyone's way of handling their grief is different.

Respect your child's way of handling his/her grief.

* Give them the choice of seeing the pet one last time (if circumstances allow, of course). We couldn't decide if it would be more harmful for them to see Ivy to say goodbye or if they were better off just remembering her the way they saw her last. Ultimately, we decided to give them the option because we thought it would seem more "real and permanent" to them if they made the choice for themselves.

When they decided they did want to see her one last time, we prepared them by saying, "She won't look the way she did last night when you said goodnight to her. She'll be very still and she won't react to your touch. And her body may not feel warm when you touch her."

* Be prepared for them to talk about death and ask a lot of questions. And I mean, endless questions about heaven, God, death...the list goes on.

Be honest with your kids about what you believe happens to us after death. If you honestly don't know what you believe, it's okay to say "Honey, I don't really know." Just don't lie to them or sugarcoat it but do be gentle and explain it in child-friendly terms.

We told our kids that while Ivy's body was still here with us, her spirit left her body immediately and went to Rainbow Bridge. A person's and animal's spirit is what makes them...well, THEM.

* Be prepared for them to ask for another pet, almost immediately. They may or may not ask for a new pet but if your kids are anything like our kids, they may think going out and getting another pet who looks exactly like the lost pet will make them feel better and/or replace the lost pet.

We told our kids that there was no other animal in the world who would be exactly like Ivy, even if we were to find another cat who looked just like her. No one is replaceable.

And while it was true that getting a new pet might make them feel better, it would only be a temporary feeling. The best way for them to recover from their grief is to feel it and work through it.

* Tell friends and family it's okay to talk about the pet in front of the children. Our family members wanted to avoid talking about Ivy because they didn't want the kids to feel sad, especially on Christmas day.

But we told them we were encouraging the kids to talk openly about her...you can't sweep death under the carpet and we didn't want the kids to feel like they couldn't talk about it whenever they wished to.

* Plant a memorial stone or plaque somewhere in your yard so the kids have a special place to go when they feel sad or want to "visit" the pet. We chose to have Ivy cremated and have her ashes scattered in a field by our vet's office but one of her favorite places in the yard was under our peach tree. It was always a sure bet that that's where we'd find her when she was outdoors...under the peach tree, enjoying the shade and the cool dirt. When spring comes around, we plan to put a plaque under the tree with Ivy's picture on it, in her honor.

Our beloved Ivy, rest in peace
January 2000 - December 2011

The highlights of 2011....

2011-12-27T10:47:00.000-08:00

January 2011:

The year got off to a great start when Ivy, one of our cats, "wrote" a guest post on why it sucks to be the family cat.

I shared ten of the things I've learned from my children and recalled why doing a photo shoot with 9 kids is nothing but an agonizing form of torture.

February 2011:

This month came in with a bang as I blasted the people at Disney for the mixed messages some of their movies send to overly inquisitive kids, like my daughter.

When Tim failed to buy me a personalized license plate, I came up with my own Helene'isms. And in another post, I talked about all the...well, interesting things you may hear coming out of our house if you were my neighbor.

I poured my heart out in a gut-wrenching post about betrayal and its ugly aftermath. In another emotional piece titled She is Ready But I am Not, I wrote about the experience of taking my only daughter to get her ears pierced.

March 2011:

March began with the silly realization that my kids would still love me even if I didn't bake them birthday cakes anymore...yeah, right. It was the end of a wanna-be cake artist who desperately wanted to be Supermom.

Another emotionally draining post as I poured my heart out about something that is a daily struggle for me.

Then, of course, there was the confession about the time I laughed at my daughter as she cried watching a Justin Bieber video.

Cole and Bella shared their thoughts about family vacations.

April 2011:

With my birthday at the very beginning of this month, we celebrated by taking the kids on a road trip to Disneyland. Ever wonder what a 7-hour road trip is like with 4 young children? Read this post.

I shared some wisdom in a post titled How To Survive Spring Break With Your Kids and chatted about a very frustrating conversation I had with one of my kids.

And then there was the 28-second video that proves that motherhood is a thankless job.

May 2011:

This month began with a post titled Well, Who Died And Made Them Boss...as my kids waited for me to screw up so they could enlighten me with their wealth of knowledge.

I shared why my engagement ring is my favorite piece of jewelry and the crazy excuses my kids come up with to avoid bedtime.

I also poured my heart out again in a difficult piece about my battle with depression.

And May ended as the kids and I planted our summer garden...and I discussed why I have a love/hate relationship with gardening.

June 2011:

This month zoomed by with hardly any posts but definitely not one to miss, especially if you have a teenager who thinks it'd be super cool to get pregnant with twins, is the one where I show my twin belly pics.

In a post titled This One Time, At Band Camp, I wrote about my very first (awkward) kiss.

July 2011:

I started this month off with why it's never wise to sing "Leaving On A Jet Plane" to a 6-year old child before....uh, leaving on a jet plane.

In this Rockin' the Baby post, I shared my favorite pics of the kids from when they were younger. And in an attempt to make myself feel better about my mothering skills, I discussed the 10 reasons why I'll never be Mother of the Year.

I poured my heart out when I feared my marriage was permanently broken.

August 2011:

Summertime means it's time for our annual "same shit, different location" vacation to Lake Tahoe, where we encountered greedy geese, rabid chipmunks and wild bears.

In honor of mine and Tim's 9th wedding anniversary, I wrote a piece about what I wished someone had told me about marriage...dripping with humor and sarcasm, as always.

September 2011:

As the school year began once again, I wrote a post called They Said What?!, where I shared some of the hysterical things my kids have said.

Not much else exciting going on this month as I struggled to balance everything. Hey, maybe I should've written about that...

October 2011:

Remember back in March when I swore I would never bake another birthday cake for my kids ever again...well, I lied. Read this post to see what creation I came up with for Cole and Bella's birthday.

After melting off 35 pounds, I shared the REAL secret to losing weight. I also poured my heart out about a time where I made an extremely stupid decision which put my safety in serious jeopardy (a good read for those of you who know a teenage girl who will soon be driving).

I wrote about what went down at the pumpkin patch this year, as I struggled to get a semi-decent picture of all 4 kids for our Christmas cards.

And, finally, our kitchen remodel was complete!!

November 2011:

My heart broke as I wrote about how badly words can hurt, after I yelled at one of my kids instead of following my gut and taking a breather.

And then there was the trespassing incident, where I tried to convince my straight-laced daughter to bend the rules a little.

On one of the days where the kids were driving me crazy, I ended up embarrassing my husband...One of the Reasons Why Husbands Should Never Work From Home.

December 2011:

December was more of a serious month for me, as the gray clouds loomed and the depression hit once again.

I reflected on why it's so important for me to create happy childhood memories for my kids, even if it killed me and that exact moment when I feared we had made a huge mistake during one of our IVF cycles due to the desperation of infertility.

Lastly, I wrote a gut-wrenching post about what's hidden behind the smile, where I shared graphic details of the thoughts that go through my brain when I hit rock bottom.

And that, my friends, concludes the highlights from 2011.

It's been a wonderful year...full of humor, good times, and some not-so-good times.

I'm looking forward to what's in store in 2012!

Wishing you all a very happy (and safe) New Year!

Interview with the Experts: The 2011 Christmas Edition

2011-12-23T04:30:00.000-08:00

Let's see what the experts, Cole and Bella, have to say about Christmas, from a kid's point of view.

What does Santa look like?
Cole: He has a white beard, his hat looks like an elf hat but it's red. He has peach-colored skin. And he has big black shoes and a red button shirt and red pants.
Bella: He has peach skin. A jolly nose. His belly is big like a bowl of jello and it jiggles when he says "ho, ho, ho".

Where does Santa live?
Cole: At the North Pole with Mrs. Claus and the elves. He has no kids but maybe the elves are his kids. It's still a mystery.
Bella: Hmmm, at the North Pole. He lives with reindeer, elves and Mrs. Claus and Mr. Claus.

What is Santa doing right this very minute?
Bella: He and his elves are packing up for Christmas because it's 3 or 4 more days away.
Cole: I don't know. But I do care. Why the heck would I NOT care about Santa? That would be mean and hurt his feelings. And I'm not like that.

How does he keep track of what you want for Christmas?
Cole: Santa sends his elves to everyone's house and the elves spy on us. Then they go back and tell Santa.
Bella: He watches us on the motion detector in the corner of your living room. When the light is red, it means an elf has spotted you being bad. Except me. I'm not bad. I wonder if the elves can hear us when we fart?

How does Santa get to every single house in one night?
Cole: That's a good question but I don't know. I think his elves must help him or his sled is really fast so it can get around the world.
Bella: Maybe his elves help him.

Is the Grinch real?
Cole: Um, nooooo.
Bella: Nooooooo
Me: How do you know?
Bella: Because there's no such thing as green skin. So there you go. Plus, I think the Grinch is supposed to be a monster and there's no such thing as monsters. Or vampires.

Do most families have a special dinner on Christmas day?
Bella: That's a good question. Probably they have special dinners.
Cole: That's a good question but I don't know. We'll most likely have pot roast even though I don't know what that is.
Bella: Is it a cockroach?
Me: No, a pot roast.
Cole: It's a roast that roasts stuff. I hope we have mashed potatoes cuz those are the bomb.

Does Santa bring gifts for parents?
Cole: Um, sometimes, if the parents are good.
Bella: It depends on if the parents has been good or bad. Like you said you want peace and quiet. I heard you tell Santa that.
Me: Yeah, do you think Santa will bring me peace and quiet?
Bella: I don't think so. But maybe he'll bring you a necklace.

Is it customary to leave food for Santa on Christmas eve?
Cole: Yes, it's the nice thing to do. Cookies, donuts and other kinds of junk food that you can think of. Oh, carrots for the reindeer.
Bella: Um, cookies and carrots but this year we're leaving real reindeer food.

How does Santa know if you're good or bad?
Bella: I already told you. Through the motion detector. The elves watch us and then they tell Santa. We each have an assigned elf. Mine's a girl who wears pink nail polish.
Cole: The elves watch you but it's not creepy or anything. Well, it's kind of creepy. Sometimes I lay awake at night and feel weird that they're watching me. Don't the elves ever sleep?

Have you ever been on the bad list?
Cole: Yes. Uh, no. Well, once. But I can't remember what it was for. Okay, wait. No, I've never been on the bad list.
Bella: Last year, I was on the good list but just barely. I'm on the good list now because I've been real good. Helpful and stuff. And I'm trying hard to read better.

Why do we celebrate Christmas?
Bella: I forget. Oh yeah, it's Jesus' birthday. We make him a birthday cake every year but he never comes over to eat it with us. Probably because he's dead.
Cole: To hang out with family and you celebrate Jesus being born. I'm glad Jesus was born because if he wasn't then we wouldn't be here. What would the world be like then?
Bella: How did God make the world if no one else was alive?
Me: Go ask Daddy. He went to private Catholic school.
Bella: Okay. Daddy.....

Feel free to ask your kids the same questions and share it on your blog!

Wishing you and your family a very happy holiday season!!

A Christmas Confession, courtesy of Brad from Papa Two Twin Girls

2011-12-21T04:30:00.000-08:00

If there's one thing that there is NOT enough of in the blogosphere, in my opinion, it's Daddy bloggers...or, better said, dads who blog. I love reading about parenting, marriage, and life in general through the eyes of the male gender, especially when he can tell a story like nobody's business, such as the blogger I'm about to introduce you to.

Meet Brad from Papa Two Twin Girls...not only is he the devoted father of beautiful twin girls, but he is also a loving husband (and hopefully very soon, a published author) with a wicked sense of humor and wit. If you haven't discovered his blog yet, you are missing out!

I know you'll enjoy reading his Christmas confession just as much as I did...

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For those of you that have followed Helene for any period of time, you already know if she follows your blog she FOLLOWS your blog.  Her comments and posts always have the same feel - they're real and sincere. She says what she thinks and means what she says - at least that's my interpretation.

A few weeks ago, I ~~bugged the hell out of her~~ asked her how she had so many followers in such a short time frame. She had some great advice, and even offered to let me guest blog if I wanted to.  True to form, she said what she thought, and meant it.

Thanks so much, Helene, for letting me share my own confession with your readers.

I would think it's safe to say that everyone who celebrates Christmas has Christmas memories. Some are good, some are bad, but all are memories. Thanks to This Daddy's Blog post for getting me thinking about the past and remembering what I am about to confess.

The jury is out on this one.

When I was young, I was sneaky. If you've read any of my vacation posts, you've probably realized this is not the confession. I need to build a little anticipation here, so I'll drag it out as long as I can.

Back in the day I was one of those kids that went hunting through the house to find my presents. I thought I knew all the hiding places my parents used. Actually, I did know most of them at one point.

I'm not sure if they got wise to my hunting skills, just started mixing it up on their own, or if they forgot where their hiding spots were, but at some point I stopped finding all of my presents early. This is probably because they started wrapping the gifts as soon as they got them, which leads me to believe they were onto me.

The only exception to this was the big gifts. Those I almost always found, until they started hiding them at other people's houses. Even at a young age I wasn't willing to risk a breaking and entering charge to find my presents, so they were off limits to me.

What is a mischievous kid supposed to do in that instance when all the fun of hunting is taken out of the holiday season?

Here's what I did - I found ways to be alone with the presents.

Sometimes I:

1 - faked an illness so I could stay home from school.
2 - played upstairs by the tree while the rest of the family was downstairs.
3 - came home early from a friend's house when I thought our house would be empty.
4 - grabbed a present and took it to the bathroom.
5 - grabbed a present, hid it in my room, and got up in the middle of the night to check it out.

Sounds like someone had to try to figure out what he was getting before Christmas morning, doesn't it?

I never tried to figure them out.

I simply unwrapped them, saw what I was getting, rewrapped them ever so carefully (being sure the paper that pulled off with the tape went back exactly where it came from), and put them back under the tree.

My work was much better than this. Amateur.

There's the confession. I'm sure my mom and dad are going to love finding this little nugget out like this!

Why would I open presents early? I have no idea.

Maybe I wanted to string out Christmas over the course of a few weeks instead of just one morning. Maybe I just had to know what I was getting so I could plan out my morning in advance. Maybe, just maybe, I did it because I wasn't supposed to.

I'd put all my money on that last choice if I were you.

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Please leave Brad some comment love and then visit his blog Papa Two Twin Girls to show your support for dads who blog! And be sure to follow him...you won't be disappointed!

That moment when...

2011-12-19T19:36:00.000-08:00

1) you laugh hard at something that someone just told you and a little piece of snot comes shooting out of your nose.

2) your husband is on speaker phone with his mom...as you walk into the room, unknowingly, and say, "Good God, your mother can be SO freakin' annoying".

3) you give your kids free reign to choose whatever board game they want you to play with them...and they pick the one that has tons of little pieces and tons of fake money.

4) your cell phone call gets cut off while you're out in public but you don't want to seem like a total loser so you just say, "Okay...well, talk to you later".

5) the elevator doors close and you look at the person next to you and wonder if you could handle being trapped with him/her for even a couple hours in the event of a major elevator fail.

6) you're 6 months pregnant with twins and someone asks you when you're due...and you pretend to be horrified as you answer, "Uh, I'm not pregnant" just because that's your idea of entertainment.

7) while waiting in your car with the windows down in the school's parking lot for a couple of your kids to get out, your other kids are arguing in the car when one of them shouts, "Well, you have wrinkly old man balls"....just as the principal happens to stroll by.

8) you're singing a Justin Bieber song in your car and notice the person in the car next to you is staring...and laughing hysterically.

9) you're in the middle of telling some friends what you thought would be an interesting story...only to realize halfway through that, in all actuality, they will probably find the story pretty damn stupid.

10) your daughter is happily swinging herself around a pole at the crowded playground...and then she bellows, proudly, "Mommy, take a video of me dancing on this pole and send it to everyone."

11) you're at the store and a woman walks over, greets you by name and then starts chatting you up...and you can't remember who the hell she is because neither of you have your kids with you, which is pretty much the ONLY way you remember most people these days.

12) you take your kids into a public restroom where they shout, "Eeeeew, someone took a massive dump in here"...right as the guilty person comes out of the bathroom stall.

13) you brag to your kids about how you used to ride your bike with no hands when you were younger...right as you attempt to do it as an adult and swerve into a street light.

14) everyone sits at a 4-way stop waiting for the other person to go and then they all try to go at the same time...only to have to slam on their brakes and do the "no, you go" courtesy wave all over again.

15) there's an awkward silence after you've asked someone how they are and they simply say, "fine" without asking how you are in return.

What's hidden behind the smile...

2011-12-15T09:58:00.000-08:00

* I just want to put it out there now that this post is about an unpleasant topic, in which I share graphic details. I wrote it mostly to process my own thoughts...a purging of emotions, I guess you could say. I know most of my readers come here expecting a good laugh but not this time. If the topic of depression is difficult for you to read about, you might not want to stick around today.

I peer out the window and feel my heart drop as I see nothing but a gloomy, overcast sky for the third day in a row.

My soul cries out for sunshine. It craves the brightness, the happiness, the natural high that the sun's rays provide. I desperately need it to lure me out of this disheartened shell, which holds me captive.

The booming sound of children arguing downstairs makes me cringe. Closing my eyes, I wish it were possible for me to lay in bed all day and do nothing but stare at the ceiling.

I've come so far, only to find myself back at square one again. What was once postpartum depression has now become clinical depression and it still hurts.

"Moooommmmmyyyy....."

With a heavy sigh, I head down the stairs and enter the war zone.

"Just push through the pain," I tell myself. "Be strong. You'll get through this."

But, somehow, I can't be strong today of all days. There is simply no more fight left within me.

My head feels blurry and begs for relief as the phone's shrill ring adds to the chaos. A friend is leaving a message, "Hi, it's me. Haven't heard from you in awhile. Just wanted to say hello."

Lacking the desire it takes to fake the blissful front I put on for the outside world, I choose not to answer it. I need to conserve what little energy I have left for my kids today.

As the hours pass and my endurance fades, I want to throw my hands in the air and give up. There's an itching within me that begs to pack my bags and run away...far, far away where I'm no longer a threat to my children's happiness.

But a good mother wouldn't run away. No, she'd stay and fight the monster....she would fight it so courageously and she would win.

I'm trapped. Trapped between desperately wanting to be that good mother who will fight no matter what it takes and that bad mother who would easily give up her family for just one measly hour of solitude and peace.

Only one thought continues to run through my brain and that is "You are such a fuck up. You have no business being anyone's mother."

I've raised the bar much too high this time, even for myself. My feet are grounded to the floor...there's no desire to jump as high as I can to reach it. Instead, I want to sulk and lay in a dark room where I can contemplate ways to escape.

The pain is unbearable and menacing. It feels hollow and dark...twisted and sick...lonely and ambivalent. It's not easy to understand how one can feel this way in a home full of people...amidst children's joyful laughter, a husband's loving arms, pets who can offer warmth and unconditional love.

There comes a point where it becomes a fight or flight situation. The finality of the darkness can be alluring, especially to someone who feels trapped and weak. It beckons to the deepest part of your aching soul and promises to relieve the pain.

But even then, there is still some little bit of rationality inside me, in which I can see the long-term effects of a permanent absence.

I turn to the only immediate yet temporary form of relief I know of as I hold the blade of a knife against my skin...just piercing it enough to release the pain. As the blood dribbles out slowly where my skin gives way, I can breathe again.

There's an instantaneous euphoria that gives me a sudden burst of liveliness and pulls me forward out of the darkness long enough to evade the thoughts which had haunted me merely a few minutes prior.

However, soon enough, that euphoria gives way to shame, guilt and disappointment...which only feeds into the negative self-talk once again.

I know what I need to do and that is to force myself to reach out for help. Better sooner than later.

So as uncomfortable as it is, I take that first step...and then another and another until I can see light at the end of the tunnel.

Good always conquers evil, so they say. You just have to dig deep within yourself to find that good, sometimes.

There's a reason why I always check my hot chocolate for floaters...

2011-12-12T10:48:00.001-08:00

The year was 1979 and my sister, Erica, and I had been invited to eat breakfast with our grandparents at a hotel in Miami, Florida.

We weren't especially close with them but she and I took advantage of the opportunity, as it was immediate relief away from our parents.

While we waited for our breakfast to be served, our grandparents engaged us in small talk, where my sister and I complained about how mean our parents were because they never let us drink hot chocolate.

Finally, breakfast arrived at our table. My mouth was drooling as I stared at the plate before me...a decent sized stack of pancakes, smothered in gooey syrup and fluffy whipped cream. The waitress set a steaming mug of hot chocolate next to my plate, as I watched 5 mini marshmallows bob happily at the top.

My sister brought her mug up to her lips and immediately yelped, "Ow, this is hot!", as if she somehow hadn't seen the mist of hot steam rising from the mug.

"Why don't you start on your pancakes while your hot chocolate cools off," our grandmother suggested.

We began digging into our stacks of pancakes and shoveling fork after fork of syrupy goodness into our eager mouths.

Erica began to dip her finger into her hot chocolate but our grandmother warned, "You need to wait just a few more minutes. I still see steam rising from your mug".

The small talk continued...what were we learning in school, who were our best friends...the usual crap that grandparents want to know.

In between bites of my breakfast, I stirred my hot chocolate, as the marshmallows melted into a creamy white swirl along the top.

My sister continued to eye hers with avid anticipation, just waiting for that moment for the little cloud of steam to dissipate.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity to young children such as ourselves, our grandmother announced, "It's probably fine to drink your hot chocolate now."

Our grandfather had just shoveled a forkful of scrambled eggs into his mouth, as he said, "Go on...your grandmother said you can drink it now."

And that's when it happened.

My sister frowned as she peered into her mug.

There, floating at the top of her hot chocolate, was a tiny smidgen of scrambled egg, which had flown out of our grandfather's mouth as he spoke to us.

I kicked her under the table, teasing her, "Well, aren't you going to drink it?!"

She kicked me back...hard. "Uh, no...I'm kind of full from the pancakes," she answered.

"You've been anxious to drink that hot chocolate since the minute the waitress served it. Go on, drink it," our grandfather commanded, spitting another piece of scrambled egg onto the table.

Our grandmother said, "Well, at least take a few sips. After all, we are paying for it."

My sister clutched her belly and complained, "My stomach is really full."

"Is there something wrong with your drink?" our grandfather asked, a piece of crusted scrambled egg barely balancing on the outer corner of his mouth.

"Uh, no. It's fine. I'm just full, really," Erica insisted.

After a few minutes, we left the restaurant and as we walked ahead of our grandparents to their car, my sister remarked, "Man, that sucked. I really wanted that hot chocolate, too. Did you see that big hunk of egg he spit into my mug?"

"Yeah," I answered. "Totally gross, huh?"

And that is why, even to this day, I can't drink a mug of hot chocolate without thinking of that incident.

Also, probably the reason why I drink it AFTER a meal. Because you never know when someone's going to spit in your hot chocolate.

How to survive making a gingerbread house with your kids...

2011-12-09T10:36:00.000-08:00

Well, you came to the right place. Oh sure, there are tons of tutorials out there, explaining how to make an adorable gingerbread house with your kids.

But none of them explain how to SURVIVE making an adorable gingerbread house with your kids. Because, really…what’s the point of doing a craft like this if you’re not going to live long enough to enjoy the outcome?

Here's where I come in...to save you some peace of mind. It's what I would've wanted someone to do for me so let's just say this is me, paying it forward.

And I'm joining in with Charlene at Adventures-in-Mommy-Land for this awesome festival linky, where you can find a ton of other super fun Christmas crafts:

So, first thing...you know all those cardboard boxes that Santa's elves keep bringing by your house and you have no clue what to do with them once they're empty? You can use them as the foundation for your house. Just cut out a square, rectangle, circle...whatever shape you fancy.

This is a great job for the kids and it'll keep them busy for quite awhile. That's a good thing, as Martha would say.

In the meantime, while they're busily cutting the cardboard (and preferably not cutting each other's fingers off), you can begin to cut the graham crackers into the house shape you like.

I found this amazing tutorial on Pinterest, which gives really good details on how to carve the shapes. The key is a finely serrated knife and lots of patience. Lots and lots of patience. This blogger also shows how to assemble the house.

Try not to bang your head against a wall when you realize how many graham cracker scraps you'll have in the end...because you know there's no way your kids will accept a broken piece of cracker as a snack.

Just make a pie crust with it...in all your spare time. Come on, you know you have a total June Cleaver complex, just like I do.

Okay, now that you have your cardboard foundation and your graham cracker pieces (and your sanity, I'm assuming), cover the foundation pieces in foil.

Empty all your candy, crackers, pretzels, whatever you're using to decorate with into bowls or plates. This makes it much easier for those little hands to grab whatever they need.

One year, we used those little square pretzel pieces for fences and long wafer cookies for the roof. We also used marshmallows to make snowmen, upside down ice cream cones to make Christmas trees. The ideas are endless...most importantly, just have fun!

In the tutorial that I mentioned above, the blogger advises using melted white chocolate to mold your houses and to decorate with because it dries more quickly than royal icing.

While this is accurate, if you're working with young children, I suggest using the chocolate to mold the houses BUT use royal icing to decorate, especially if you like having a full head of hair (because, trust me, you WILL want to rip every single piece out of your head each time you hear your kids complain, "Mommy, the chocolate is too hard")

I use the little white chocolate discs made by Wilton, which you can find at your local craft store or online. They're super easy to melt in the microwave and then I pour it into disposable pastry bags...but you can also just leave it in the bowl and use a small knife to spread it on your crackers when assembling your house.

Whatever works best (and doesn't drive you to drink an entire bottle of wine before 3:00 pm) is my motto.

While the houses are hardening (I said "hardening"...heh, heh), go ahead and get started on making the royal icing since it takes about 10-12 minutes. If you have a kitchen aid mixer, take advantage of it!! If not, a hand mixer works well...in fact, if you're feeling risky, let the kids hold the mixer to give your hands a break. Make it even more intriguing for them by saying, "Whoever walks away from this project with all 10 fingers intact gets a prize!"

I use this royal icing recipe, which is totally no-fail and only requires 3 ingredients. The meringue powder can be found at Joann's, Michael's and any other craft type store which sells baking supplies. Oh and I never bother to sift my powdered sugar so don't feel like you need to either.

The royal icing will harden (I said "harden" again...am I frisky today or what?) quickly if it's left out uncovered so you should spoon some into a bowl and then cover up what's left in your mixing bowl with a damp towel. And then go back and fill up your bowl as you need more.

This is what your house should look like once it's assembled, minus the beautiful, bubbly child peering into the camera (though she could be yours if the price is right)....

This might also be a good time to warn your kids that if they ever repeat any of the "colorful" language that Mommy used while helping them assemble the houses, there's a good chance they'll end up on Santa's naughty list.

I set the houses towards the back of the cardboard so the kids can have some space to build a walkway, a marshmallow snowman, a mother desperately running away from her children or whatever they want...

Okay, people...here comes the fun, stressful part (fun for the kids, stressful for the parent). The decorating!

Put on some holiday music and get wild, have fun, be creative, drink some shots. Oh wait, maybe not. Unless of course it's just you and your girlfriends, then shots would be totally cool.

Once the decorating is underway, feel free to excuse yourself as often as necessary to go to your room and scream into a pillow. Get the frustration out in a healthy manner. No need for the kids to know you'd rather be pulling out your eyelashes one by one than listening to them fight over who gets the last green gum drop or why someone else has more pretzels than they do.

Good memories, people. You're trying to create good memories for your children to look back on and cherish. You want them to remember you smiling your way through this activity and not recalling, "Hey, remember that time we made gingerbread houses and we caught Mommy about to stab herself in the eyeballs with a fork?"

Aren't the finished products adorable??

Once they're done and the kids have gorged on candy as one of their main meals, you can display the houses anywhere for others to enjoy. Believe it or not, they'll keep for an extremely long time (as evidenced by my MIL, who still has a gingerbread house I made her over 8 years ago).

Don't forget to pat yourself on the back for partaking in a wonderful holiday ritual with your children, even if they appear to be ungrateful.

And never fail to recognize how good it feels to step outside your comfort zone and do something wild and crazy...and live to tell about it.

"Men are supposed to be made out of steel or something"...

2011-12-08T09:29:00.000-08:00

Steel Magnolias.

This movie does it for me every single time.

photo courtesy of IMDb

From the beginning to the end, I cry and I laugh...and then I cry some more. It's safe to say it's one of my all-time favorite movies.

For those of you who have never seen it, it's the story about a group of close-knit women who experience the highs and lows of life together. It's filled with humor, sarcasm, wit and, unfortunately, sadness.

One of the scenes, which causes me to cry a river is the funeral scene where M'Lynn (Sally Field's character) is trying to make sense of her daughter, Shelby's, death.

At first, she begins to explain calmly, "I find it amusing. Men are supposed to be made out of steel or something. I just sat there. I just held Shelby's hand. There was no noise, no tremble, just peace. Oh god. I realize as a woman how lucky I am. I was there when that wonderful creature drifted into my life and I was there when she drifted out. It was the most precious moment of my life."

And then, she becomes angry when one of her friends ask if she's okay.

"I'm fine! I can jog all the way to Texas and back, but my daughter can't! She never could! Oh God, I am so mad, I don't know what to do! I want to know why! I want to know why Shelby's life is over! I want to know how that baby will ever know how wonderful his mother was! Will he ever know what she went through for him! Oh God, I want to know why? Why? Lord, I wish I could understand!"

Now that I'm a mother myself, watching this scene is absolutely gut-wrenching simply because, through M'Lynn's words and actions, I can imagine how painful and deep this type of heartbreak and sadness must feel.

You just want to make sense of such a tragic loss but you know deep down it'll always be something you fail to understand. You're forced to go through the natural steps of the grieving process, although I would imagine I'd get stuck somewhere between denial and anger for quite awhile.

Towards the end of the movie, there's a scene where Shelby's toddler son becomes frightened and runs through a crowd of people until he runs safely into the arms of his grandmother, M'Lynn. It's such a sweet, heartfelt moment...and that's the part where I always breathe a sigh of relief, knowing that everyone will be okay, even though they're still reeling from the grief of losing a loved one.

This movie makes you FEEL...it takes you to places in your mind and your heart that you don't really want to ever go.

I don't think any one person can watch this movie and not be affected by it somehow.

* For this workshop, I chose the prompt, "What is it about that movie that makes you cry every. time?"

Pouring my heart out....The Desperation of Infertility

2011-12-07T10:29:00.000-08:00

I can still recall the exact moment where I thought, "Oh shit, what did we just do?!"

Tim and I were driving back to our hotel room after the embryo transfer for our 3rd IVF and my RE's words were still ringing in my ears, "I would strongly advise you against transferring this many embryos."

However, like many infertile couples, Tim and I were desperate. This cycle HAD to work because we were financially, emotionally and physically exhausted.

When we decided to move forward with what we hoped would be our last IVF, I cried to Tim, "We have to go for broke this time and do everything in our power to make sure this cycle is successful. I honestly don't think I can go through this even just one more time."

"Everything in my power" meant subjecting myself to acupuncture, following a Traditional Chinese Medicine diet which meant drinking lots of horrid black tea and other warm foods in order to heal my spleen xi deficiency or some shit like that, trying my best to focus on a positive mind-body-spirit connection even when I wanted to scream at God, and going through a painful oreo withdrawal because a friend had warned me that there was something in the creamy center that could cause a miscarriage....and so forth and so on.

Conquering infertility was a full-time job.

I spent hours online researching all the possibilities of why an IVF cycle might fail and then I would shoot off an e-mail to my RE asking all kinds of crazy crap like, "If I drive over a pothole after my transfer, is it possible for the embryos to detach from my uterine wall?"

His nurse would often e-mail me back, "Helene, my sweets...while you are very funny, you are not that powerful. Not even the wildest roller coaster ride could cause an embryo to detach. Relax, everything will be fine."

Relax? I don't think so. Not when we had so much riding on this cycle. It had to work.

So when the discussion came up over dinner a couple nights before our transfer, I told Tim, "I really think we should transfer as many embryos as we can. I'd love to transfer four. What do you think?"

He had nodded his head in agreement. "I think we have to be aggressive this time, just like you do. But aren't you scared. We can't have quadruplets. Or even triplets. I don't think we could handle it."

"Sure, we could. People do it all the time. Yeah it would suck for a little while in the beginning but we'd find our groove. We can do this," I assured him.

"Well, let's wait and see what Dr. Sher thinks," he advised.

"Uh-uh, no way. I already know he's going to recommend putting only 1 or 2 embryos back in. The nurses all told me he's very conservative because of the fear of high-order multiples. But dude isn't the desperate infertile one...WE are."

After a phone call with one of the nurses and hearing her out as she explained that all the embryos were such excellent quality, that we were going to have an extremely difficult time convincing Dr. Sher to agree to transfer 4 embryos, Tim and I ultimately decided on 3.

The day that we had waited for finally arrived. The day where we would put all our eggs (pun intended) in one basket and deal with the aftermath later.

After listening to Dr. Sher's explanation on why he felt strongly that transferring only 2 embryos was the wisest, most sane decision, I begged him to let us transfer 3 instead.

With tears in my eyes, I pleaded, "I know you think our decision is reckless. And I realize it can have a severe impact on my health but you have to understand where we're coming from. We are tired, we are drained, we don't have it in us like other infertile couples to keep repeating IVF after IVF. Not only do we not have the money, we don't have what it takes to maintain the drive we have right at this very moment."

He looked at me intently, nodding his head as he listened to my reasoning.

"You know what we went through with our last IVF," I continued. "I'm finally at a place where I'm excited, even joyous. I cannot go back to that dark, ugly place where I was a few months ago. I know I won't survive it, I'm not that strong. We can handle however many babies we are blessed with from this cycle but what we cannot handle, Dr Sher, is another failure."

After a long, thoughtful pause, he responded, "I completely understand where you're coming from but you also have to know that I'm not comfortable with transferring more than 2. So, I'll tell you what...I'll agree to transfer 3 if you'll agree to sign a waiver releasing the clinic from liability."

He repeated again why transferring even 3 embryos made him nervous and mentioned...again...the serious ramifications of a triplet pregnancy both for me and the babies.

Suddenly, I felt my first pang of fear.

"Uh, you keep saying you're nervous which is making me nervous," I admitted.

"Do you need some privacy to discuss this? I'm happy to give you a few minutes if you need it," he suggested.

Tim and I declined to discuss it further but wanted to talk percentages. Dr. Sher broke it down for us, like this: 80% chance of a pregnancy occuring (resulting in a singleton), 70% chance of twins and 20% chance of triplets.

"Oh, only a 20% chance of triplets? That's not a big deal," I exclaimed.

Dr. Sher stared at me as if I had lost my mind. "20% in any IVF cycle IS a big deal," he said.

Ultimately, we signed the medical waiver and he transferred the 3 embryos we wanted.

And then it was on the drive back to our hotel where I had that "oh shit" moment. Tim and I were both quiet the entire time until we got to our room and I said, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" and he silently nodded his head.

Then we spent the rest of the day trying to convince ourselves that God wouldn't give us more than we could handle. Or would he?

We were blessed with twins, much to our relief. Even then, throughout the pregnancy, I found myself wondering about that 3rd embryo and what might have been, knowing that having triplets probably would've been an extreme hardship for Tim and me.

We would've survived it but it wasn't until then that I could see how desperate I had become in my quest to become a mother. When you're infertile, you will walk the ends of the earth to become a mother...making decisions that later you'll realize might have been irresponsible and even dangerous.

It's at times like this when the heart is leading where the mind doesn't want to go.

My kids will have happy childhood memories, even it kills me (which it probably will)…

2011-12-05T04:30:00.000-08:00

"Mommy, how do you know how to bake cookies? Did your mom teach you?" Bella asked me one afternoon, as she and her brothers helped me prepare a batch of sugar cookies.

I smiled at my inquisitive daughter, "Not exactly. I taught myself how to bake."

"Why?" Cole asked. "She didn't like you being in the kitchen with her."

Because she didn't like me being with her period...the gruff words danced on my tongue.

"Uh, well, Nanny didn't really like to bake," I explained in kid-friendly terms.

Landon sat at the counter, his eyes shining brightly while watching the mixer magically whir the ingredients together.

He spoke up. "That's sad you had to teach yourself, Mommy."

"It's okay. I'm not sad about it," I lied. "Baking just wasn't her thing."

Kids weren't her thing either...I kept that to myself, as well.

Cole inquired, "So you taught yourself how to bake so you could bake with us, like we're doing now?"

"Exactly," I confirmed. "This is how I always imagined what it would be like when I had kids. We'd be in the kitchen, baking cookies and listening to holiday music, just having a great time together."

They each beamed at me, their smiles radiant enough to brighten even the darkest of rooms. But certainly not the darkest of hearts.

Why didn't my mother want to create such warm memories with me, I wondered. I had spent a majority of my life convincing myself that it was because we simply didn't have the same interests or because she worked full time and was just too exhausted.

Ultimately, I speculated that she just didn't like...well, me. Plain and simple.

It seemed natural to want my children to have a different upbringing, even if it meant pushing myself to the brink of insanity.

There are times where I feel like I have nothing left to give them. But then they'll come up with an amusing game of Cops and Robbers, begging me to play with them.

My brain screams, "Woman, you better check yourself before you wreck yourself. Tell them you'll play another time."

But my heart cries out, "Don't let this moment pass because you will regret it. You can rest once they're in bed. Drop the dishtowel and go play with them."

My children giggle with such bliss and delight the entire time we play, as I chase them down shouting, "Who stole all my cookies?! I'm going to get you little cookie robbers!!"

Once I grab a hold of the mischievous robbers, we engage in a tickle fight until I'm laughing so hard I practically pee in my pants. And then we're all cackling hysterically at the thought of Mommy peeing in her pants.

Why didn't she ever play with me like this? Did I ever share delightful moments with her that perhaps I just don't remember? Though I highly doubt it, I can't be completely certain.

So as Christmas is thrust upon us, I find myself baking more often with them and enjoying our annual tradition of building gingerbread houses together.

It's not relaxing nor peacefully quiet, like perhaps reading them a book might be. And let's be honest, sometimes even reading books with them isn't exactly like being on a sandy beach all by lonesome, basking in the warm sunshine and taking in all the calming sounds of nature.

Sure, the last of my brain cells are begging for relief from the chaos and disorganization, as this kid wants the green gumdrops just as that kid grabs them from the bowl. Sure, I could be doing a million other things instead of picking out all the red M&M's for one child and helping another child drizzle icicles onto his house.

And, sure, there have been a few moments where I've had to leave the room and shriek into my pillow, absolutely positive that I will never survive the next 30 minutes.

But I'm creating memories with them.

Even though my kitchen looks like a blizzard hit it and I'm itching to get in there and clean it up...

I sit at the table, delighting in sharing this tradition with them once again and finding joy in the sounds of their merriment.

Later, when I ask the kids, "Tell me what the best part of your day was", a question I try to ask them on a daily basis, they each grin and remark, "Making the gingerbread houses and eating candy for lunch!"

In that instant, I feel no more sadness, no more regret, no more bitterness over what I lost out on as a child. I've moved forward.

Now, I feel nothing but happiness and peace, knowing my kids will have happy childhood memories, even if it kills me (which it probably will).

I confess....

2011-12-02T04:30:00.000-08:00

It's been awhile since I've confessed so here goes....

1) I confess that I failed to take a picture of my kids on Thanksgiving, as we sat around the table enjoying a delicious dinner and talking about all the things we were grateful for.

But you can bet your sweet ass I remembered to take a picture of my scrumptious 16-pound turkey, which I cooked to perfection...

2) I confess that I'm envious of those moms who (wisely) have one baby at a time. Yes, the circus freak in me desires to be "normal". Who knew?

3) I confess I watched the series premiere of Kim and Kourtney Take New York. Like, I'm not proud of this admission but it was like a train wreck that I could not tear my eyes away from. Like, you know?

4) I confess that while watching that God-awful reality show I found myself wondering why no one has come up with the "Like, you know" drinking game. Like, you know, every time Kim or Kourtney says the phrase "Like, you know", you have to take a shot.

But then again, you really wouldn't be able to keep track of the word because like, you know, you'd be drunk within the first 6 minutes of the show.

5) I confess that I threatened to use the picture below of Cole on our Christmas card since he refused to give me a decent smile...

However, after he cried for what seemed like an eternity and accused me of forever ruining his life if I dared to follow through on my threat, I couldn't continue with the "evil" act. I chose another picture...a much more friendlier picture of him.

And, yes, he now owes me his first born child.

6) I confess that when my sister told me that my 14-year old nephew said, "Helene's so funny on Facebook. Where does she come up with this stuff? Why aren't you like that?", I actually felt superior to her for once.

My first thought was, "Hahahaha, your kid thinks I'm cool. I actually have this whole 'cool parent' thing in the bag!"

Don't worry. I was hit square in the face with the realization that no matter how cool other kids might think I am, my own kids will probably be mortified by my every action.

6) I confess that as witty and sarcastic as I can be at times, I was at a total loss when Garrett came home from preschool recently and announced that one of his little friends told him that Santa Claus was not real.

I freaked the hell out and immediately put out an S.O.S. on Facebook for suggestions on what to do. Most everyone recommended the "you don't believe, you don't receive" method of handling such an extreme situation, which I did.

He had already told his siblings the bit of juicy information that his friend had shared with him so I sat down with all of them and gave them the speech. They fell for it...hook, line and sinker.

Until the other day, when Bella told me they're plotting to capture Santa Claus when he enters our home on Christmas eve. And if there's one thing I know about my children, they will not rest until they have him in their clutches.

These kids are going to drive me to an early grave. Lord help me.

Want to cleanse your soul? Join the rest of us at Housewife Eclectic and link up to the Friday Confessional.

Pouring My Heart Out...Was It My Fault?

2011-11-30T10:03:00.000-08:00

"I think I've fallen in love with you," he confessed to me one day at lunch. "I can't imagine what my life will be like without you in it."

He was my employer, a married man with 3 young boys and a wife I was fond of...and I was a naive 27-year old.

I sat across from him in disbelief, though I don't know why the acknowledgment of his feelings took me by surprise. Deep down, I suspected he had felt this way for awhile and was just waiting for the right moment to tell me.

I babysat his children on occasion, he and his wife had strongly encouraged me to go to graduate school, he let me cry on his shoulder when I found out my first husband was cheating on me, he held my hand and told me I was strong enough to leave my marriage because I deserved someone who cherished me, he witnessed my reckless behavior during my divorce and called me on it.

He was my friend. He also happened to be the rabbi of a large congregation. In their eyes, he was a trusted teacher, a family man...above all, a religious leader.

I'm not sure exactly when his feelings for me developed or what exactly he expected me to do with this information once he shared it.

"Why are you telling me this?" I demanded. "I have a boyfriend...my God, I'm young enough to be your daughter. I adore your boys, your wife is amazing. You're moving to Canada in a couple months...why are you doing this?"

He didn't answer for a few minutes, perhaps stunned by my reaction. The silence between us was almost deafening. I kept my eyes focused downward on my half-eaten salad, which I was now pushing around my plate with my fork.

I considered grabbing my purse and leaving the restaurant but then quickly remembered we had driven together in his car.

As my mind contemplated what to say next, he finally answered, "I don't know what I expected. I guess I just wanted you to know. If you feel the same way, I won't move. I'll stay. Or you can come to Canada. All I know is that I can't imagine my life without you in it."

I leaned in closer to him, not so much to be in closer proximity to him but more out of a desperate need to keep the conversation between us as much as possible. He was well known in the community and the thought of running into someone from the temple who might overhear our discussion made me want to vomit.

"What?! Are you kidding me? What about your wife? Your boys? Don't they matter? Why would you risk everything? What would you even tell them?" I asked.

Before he could answer, I continued, "I don't feel the same way. You have to know that. You are a friend to me. Nothing more. Someone I thought I could trust, someone I enjoy spending time with but that's it. And all this time, you were falling in love with me?"

I couldn't help but wonder if I had led him on during our friendship.

At the office, we were nothing but professional, although there were times he would lean in a little too close for my liking as we went over things he needed me to do or I would catch him watching me but I never said anything.

Outside the office, we would sometimes enjoy lunch together or chat at his house upon his return after babysitting his children.

Had I ever said anything which would lead him to believe I felt more for him? Did he think every time I smiled at him from across the room that there was more to it than just a friendly gesture? If I had kept things on a professional level and never entered into a friendship with him, would we even be having this discussion?

"I didn't expect this to happen," he explained. "It just did. I'm saddened that you don't feel the same way but I understand."

I gazed into his face and the sadness was evident in his eyes. I imagined his wife giving him that same look as he disclosed to her that he was in love with someone else.

"And just so you know, even if I did feel the same way, there's no way in hell I would ever enter into a relationship with a married man. For God's sake, my marriage ended because my husband cheated on me! You know that! How could you even think this was okay?"

I partially wondered if I was chastising him to make him feel guilty or for the sake of convincing myself that he was the bad guy here, not me. I hadn't done anything wrong...or had I?

It was then that I realized that while I knew whole-heartedly that I was not in love with him, I did get excited when I would drive into the parking lot each morning and see his car already there. I would often greet him with, "I'm so happy you're here today." When he would tell me how pretty I looked on a particular day, I'd smile politely and blush.

It brought me back to that age-old question...can people of the opposite sex be just friends or will it inevitably lead to one or both people having stronger feelings? Will someone end up hurt or misconstruing the friendship for more than what it really is?

Things were never really the same between us after that. I tried to avoid him as much as possible, while he acted like the conversation had never occurred.

He decided to leave the congregation after all and follow through on his move to Canada with his family. I received a letter from him a few weeks later.

"I know you would love it here. The city is so beautiful and I while I walk around here taking it all in, I can't help but think of you and miss you," he had written.

I never wrote back. He never tried to contact me again and I was relieved.

While it did occur to me that this could be a case of sexual harassment, I never reported it to the board at the temple. However, I did spend a great amount of time wondering if I should have told someone. But then would I be dragged through the mud...with no one believing me, especially now that he was gone? Even if I showed them the letter as proof, would they think it was my fault somehow?

It continued to bother me for months afterward. Within time, I was able to let it go.

Did I truly believe it was my fault? In my heart of hearts, I knew I did nothing wrong. I wanted nothing more than friendship but, then again, I wasn't exactly clear on my expectations...didn't think I needed to be.

And perhaps I should've never entered into a friendship with him based on the fact that he was my employer. That, alone, was obviously something I was guilty of.

Suffice it to say that this was yet another life lesson for me. Certainly not the first lesson and definitely not the last one...not by a long shot.

One of the reasons why husbands should never work from home...

2011-11-28T10:00:00.000-08:00

It was only 3:00 in the afternoon but, already, my nerves were shot.

Struggling with Cole and Bella to finish their homework, trying to convince Garrett and Landon to take turns on who would be Sonic on their Wii game...all the while doing my best to keep them quiet so Tim could work.

Why my husband still continues to work from home I'll never understand. Tim tries desperately to tuck himself away inside his little office upstairs...away from the whining (the kids), the yelling (me) and the crying (the kids...and me).

I've asked him...no, wait...I've begged him to go elsewhere to work. Panera Bread, the library, his dad's office...anywhere where there's capable Wi-Fi and comfortable seating. Perhaps not the quietest of places but certainly better than attempting to work from home, where the range of noise and chaos can be enough to make me want to puncture my eardrums with an ice pick.

It's stressful enough struggling to get everything done that needs to be done and keep the kids happy at the same time. But, add on top of that, constantly reminding the kids that Daddy is working and they need to keep the noise to a minimum is enough to send me over the edge.

By 4:00 pm on this particular day, I was close to the edge of that cliff, dangling off the side of it as if I was Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible...well, except he looked pretty damn cool hanging off the side of that cliff and I looked more like a frazzled, exhausted, desperate housewife.

Suddenly, I heard a voice calling to me, "Drink me. You know you want to."

I looked around but all I saw were kids. Kids arguing over whose pencil was whose, kids who were finally getting along while playing a video game but, at any minute, knowing full well that a fight could erupt.

I heard it again. "Psssst, over here. In the fridge."

The wine? Was the wine talking to me? *

Walking over to where it beckoned from, I opened up the fridge and it smiled seductively at me, "Hey, baby...I thought you'd never get here. Pop my cork and let's get reacquainted."

This invitation was too good to pass up. I rationalized in my head why it would be a good idea to have just a small glass of wine.

It would help calm my nerves.
Tim was home, even if he was working, so it wasn't like the kids were unsupervised.
It would help calm my nerves.

However, as much as I tried, I could not get the talking bottle of wine to open. Talk about a cork-tease.

I yanked, I pulled...I forgot about the damn corkscrew.

Finally, after trying to rip the cork out with an unsuccessful death grip, I barged into Tim's office in a frenzy of irritation, "I'm self-medicating and I can't open this fuckin' bottle of wine!"

And...sure enough, he just happened to be on a conference call. A video conference call, no less.

"Uh, sweetie, I'm on a video call right now," he mumbled ever-so-slightly under his breath.

"Oh crap...I'm so sorry," I said, retreating from his office with the still unopened bottle of wine.

As the noise from downstairs quickly creeped into his office, he moved away from his computer, reached for the bottle and whispered, "Go get me the corkscrew."

Reason #976 why I love this man.

So there he sat on his video call, discussing software problems with a colleague while prying open a bottle of wine for his agitated wife.

Okay, make that #977 reasons why I love this man.

A short while later, as I happily stirred a pot of spaghetti for my hungry family, Tim came downstairs.

"Sorry about earlier. The kids, the noise...I was trying to keep them quiet. Epic fail, I know," I apologized.

He just smiled. "It's okay. I understand."

Reason #978.

"Can you just please, from now on..." I began to say.

"Yeah, I'll try to work away from home more often," he finished.

And, that my friends, is one of the reasons why husbands should never work from home.

* Let me assure you that I clearly understand that bottles of wine do not talk. And, while I did drink wine on this one occasion while my kids were around, I do not engage in this type of behavior on a regular basis. I'm only feeling the need to add this because I know there are some people out there who will will not get my humor and may read more into this than there is. So save yourself the harsh, judgmental anonymous comments.

Interview with the Experts: The Thanksgiving Edition

2011-11-22T04:30:00.000-08:00

It's official. I'm cheating, people.

The kids are out of school this week on Thanksgiving break so I'm desperately trying to keep them busy...because I kind of like my sanity.

So I'll leave you with an oldie, but goodie from last Thanksgiving.

Interview with the Experts: The Thanksgiving Edition 2010

It's been awhile since I've done an "Interview with the Experts". Cole and Bella have been quite busy these last few months....you know, 1st grade isn't exactly a piece of cake like kindergarten was.

However, they were generous enough to sit down with me for a few minutes the other evening and do an interview, provided they be allowed to decide on the topic.

So here is the newest Interview with the Experts: The Thanksgiving Edition...courtesy of Cole and Bella.

1) Where did the idea of Thanksgiving come from?

Cole: The pilgrims caught a turkey and roasted it.

Bella: First, the two groups lived on land. And the first two groups were the Pilgrims and the Indians.

2) What did the Pilgrims look like?

Cole: They looked like Indians. I think.

Bella: They look like persons. They didn’t give food to the Indians. And they weren’t respectful. And it's not "Pilgrims", it's "Pilgrahams".

3) What did the Indians look like?

Cole: I don’t know but I do know they liked feathers.

Bella: They had a vest and they had tan skin.

4) What did the Pilgrims do when they saw the Indians?

Cole: They hided their stuff so it wouldn’t get stolen. All the dinosaurs were there before the people.

Bella: Hided the food so the Indians wouldn’t get it and people came out, a lot of people who weren’t alive.

5) Where did the Pilgrims and Indians live?

Cole: In a little city near Star Wars.

Bella: They lived in a trailer in the city somewhere.

6) Why do we eat turkey on Thanksgiving?

Cole: Because it has chicken in it and it’s good.

Bella: Because it’s healthy for you. And it is has a wishbone in the neck that you can break in half for good luck. It doesn't count though if you get the short part because that means someone cheated. COLE!

Cole: I don't cheat. It's not my fault you don't have any luck.

7) Why do families get together on Thanksgiving?

Cole: Because it’s beautiful and you take out a lot of food and forks and spoons and plates, and mashed potatoes.

Bella: Because they want to eat stuffing and chicken. And you get to have peace and quiet when you get together because everyone’s respectful.

8) What should kids be thankful for on Thanksgiving?

Cole: For their aunties and uncles, and moms and their teachers and their dads and grandpa and nannies.

Bella: They should be thankful for their turkey, say thank you to their mom and dad. Mostly to your mom again because your mom invited some people over for Thanksgiving and made a nice dinner.

Cole: Yeah, our dad can't cook. He can make macaroni and cheese from a box but that's it.

Bella: We would starve if our mom didn't cook dinner on Thanksgiving. And then it wouldn't be a fun holiday.

9) What are YOU most thankful for?

Cole: My mom and dad and for dessert. Oh and my brothers. And Domo and Mario.

Bella: The Thankful tree, my cake that my mom made and my turkey and my stuffing, my family and the city.

10) Describe what a traditional Thanksgiving table looks like.

Cole: Well, first of all, it has to be brown, like our dining room table. It’s decorated with plates, forks, spoons and beer and juice and chocolate milk. There has to be decorations, too. Like stuff your kids make at school. Don't throw that stuff away because we worked hard on it.

Bella: You have to have placemats so everyone knows where to sit but cats aren’t allowed because they aren’t decorations.

Cole: Huh? Cats can't come to the table.

Bella: I know. I just said that! HELLO!

11) What should people do the day after Thanksgiving?

Cole: Put their Christmas tree up and decorate it and try not to break any of the ornaments. And make decorations. We usually watch our dad take all the decorations out of the garage. It's a big mess in there so it usually takes him awhile.

Bella: They should shop for Christmas presents for their kids because it’s almost Christmas. Santa usually gets the presents but he lets parents buy presents too because we deserve it. God is always watching you and so are the elves.

Forever stuck in survival mode?

2011-11-18T04:30:00.000-08:00

"This is survival mode at its best. It's temporary. You will get through this," I repeated anxiously to myself, while rocking two extremely overtired, cranky 10 week old babies.

That was over 4 years ago with the little twins and I'm still repeating that same damn phrase to myself when life gets challenging.

Will I ever graduate out of survival mode? Right now, it's truly hard to imagine.

Today, I found myself locked in the bathroom upstairs, sitting on the floor with my knees pressed to my chest, muttering, "Good Lord, please give me strength to deal with all this noise!"

Yes, I was on noise overload. But that's nothing new around here. With 4 children who have booming voices, constantly trying to yell above one another, I was quickly crumbling.

Every 2 seconds, it was...

"Moooommmmyyyyy, he won't let me have the Wii controller"
"Moooommmmyyyyy, I need a snack"
"Moooommmmyyyyy, I want a different pair of socks"
"Moooommmmyyyyy, I need you to wipe my butt"

I found myself running around as if I was their personal servant.

"What can I get you, Master? Shall I shine your shoes with my clean shirt? Wipe your ass with my bare hands? My life means nothing if I can't satisfy your every need."

Please. What bullshit.

Since when did the responsibility of Mommy mean I had to be at their beck and call every minute of the day? If I had realized 7 years ago that I would basically be signing my life away as I knew it, would I still have tried so desperately to become a mother?

I know, shame on me for not actually deleting that last sentence. But it's true. And if I'm anything on this blog, it's raw and honest.

Rest assured that I realize when my kids are older, they may stumble upon this blog post. And my reaction will be, "When you have kids, you'll understand. It doesn't mean I don't love you. It doesn't mean I didn't enjoy being your mother. It just means I wasn't very good at balancing motherhood with...well, ME".

I've completely lost myself in this whole motherhood gig. Even when I should be sitting down force feeding myself a healthy meal, I'm standing up...anticipating yet another interruption because the kids might need something. Why bother sitting down?

Oh I know...I'm the pot calling the kettle black. I'm the first one to preach, "You need to take care of yourself because if you crumble, the entire family crumbles."

Yet, when it comes to myself and my family, I tend to forget that phrase. I just yell, cry and hide. A total wimp in Mother's clothing, trying to pull off the grand charade on a daily basis and failing miserably, I might add.

I allow my kids to suck the life out of me. I use the word "allow" because I know there's an ability within me to throw my hands in the air and say, "You guys fend for yourself...being more self-sufficient will be good for you."

But I don't do it. I haven't figured out why as of yet.

Oh, wait...I'm pretty sure it stems back to unresolved childhood issues but I don't want to dive into that heavy shit right now.

I've poured my heart and soul into being a mother to these 4 little gifts which God has bestowed upon me. Yes, they are blessings. Yes, I am grateful.

But. they. are. completely. sucking. the. life. out. of. me.

Crap, I already said that, didn't I? Well, then, I'll just leave it in here for emphasis.

You want to hear my real fear?

I fear that, for me, survival mode may not be temporary. I fear I may be stuck in this mode until the last of my kids leaves the house to begin their own lives apart from me.

You want me to be even more truthful? To give you my God's honest truth?

I fear I won't ever be able to recover. Will I even recognize myself in the mirror once this home is void of young children? What ever will I do with myself when I don't have 4 children hanging on me, whining at me, arguing over me?

Well, I certainly don't have the answers to those questions. At least not yet. And perhaps I never will.

For now, I'll just continue to survive. To cope with the stress and exhaustion the best I can. To say no more often. To encourage my kids to be more self-reliant when appropriate. To not burden myself with guilt if I can't call a friend back immediately. To just be the best mother, wife and friend I can be and pray that it's enough.

Because, really....what other choice do I have?

What do you fear?