Callie, age 4 ½, giggling as she handed me a Flavor Ice and I got the scissors to cut off the top: “You always know what to do! You know to put my clothes on, to cut things!”
That’s my job. I may not keep an immaculate home, but I definitely take care of my kids. And if their faces are dirty sometimes or their hair isn’t brushed, who cares? Their souls are clean and their hearts have been brushed. That sounds weird, doesn’t it? But you know what I mean.
I want to know an area where you slack off. You can’t shock me (I saw the Oprah where the woman said she sometimes doesn’t bathe her kids for 3 weeks), and you may end up in the next edition of The Laid Back Mom’s Parenting Guidebook.
And if you want some more good comments about yesterday's post, Friend me on Facebook ... Kerrie McLoughlin. The discussion kept going over there, and I am NOT the crazy one ... this time.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Sunday, August 30, 2009
I Am the Crazy One
Warning: there's a cuss word in this post :-)
So I’m convinced now that I am the overprotective, paranoid parent. Here’s why …
Joel has an 8-year-old girl friend who stays home alone for a couple of hours at a time. This same friend decides to go shopping with a friend when she wants. Apparently they do that all the time. And they go to the local library alone, too. I live in a decent area, but just across a major street is the equivalent of the semi-privileged ghetto (does that even make sense?).
Joel has a 7-year-old girl friend. Her dad lets her stay out a set amount of time doing whatever she wants. He tells her what time to be home, but she doesn’t have a watch. She goes around knocking on doors until somebody lets her in to see a clock.
Another 7-year-old boy in the neighborhood rides around on a mini motorcycle and doesn’t look before he blasts across streets. I told him I hope I don’t accidentally run him over sometime. Don’t you need a license to ride a little motorcycle? The kid says his bike goes 30 mph. We live in a busy area, and most drivers have their heads up their asses while talking on their cell phones.
I’m not letting Joel go to the lake (3 hours away) with neighbors we don’t know THAT well. He doesn’t really want to go anyway, but I told them I’M overprotective. I still say a prayer when Joel and Michael cross the street alone to go ahead to the park before me.
Tresa got frustrated trying to convince the CarMax people that it was NOT okay for her to leave her kids (ages 2 and not-yet-4) in the little waiting area while she went out to look at cars.
NEWSFLASH, People: It’s not the 1950s anymore, like when my dad, as a kid, could ride the bus to Downtown and hang out all day and be safe.
Why am I usually the odd woman out when it comes to giving a shit about my kids living or dying or getting molested? I do know 2 moms who won’t let their kids spend the night anywhere. I respect that. Maybe they think I’M reckless with my kids for letting them stay the night with friends sometimes.
What is it about the magical age of 7 that makes kids think they are completely responsible, and why do so many adults seem to agree with that? And the stories above are just a tiny sampling. I can’t tell you how many times people have dropped their kid off at my house at 2 p.m. and they hadn’t fed their kid lunch yet.
FYI: I’m pregnant with my 5th kid. Just because I’m all capable and crap doesn’t mean that I am to be used. If I watch your kid daily for 3 weeks, then you should damn well say YES when I ask if you can watch my 3 oldest ones for 3 hours. People have no manners.
I’m moving to the country with other people with freaky values. Maybe Tennessee. Or Oklahoma.
Sorry to rant on you. I’ll be all serene after the baby comes. And I’ll be hinting to all these users that I need MEALS … and Pizza Hut delivery is just fine, thank you. They can just call in a double order when they call in their twice-weekly dinner order.
So I’m convinced now that I am the overprotective, paranoid parent. Here’s why …
Joel has an 8-year-old girl friend who stays home alone for a couple of hours at a time. This same friend decides to go shopping with a friend when she wants. Apparently they do that all the time. And they go to the local library alone, too. I live in a decent area, but just across a major street is the equivalent of the semi-privileged ghetto (does that even make sense?).
Joel has a 7-year-old girl friend. Her dad lets her stay out a set amount of time doing whatever she wants. He tells her what time to be home, but she doesn’t have a watch. She goes around knocking on doors until somebody lets her in to see a clock.
Another 7-year-old boy in the neighborhood rides around on a mini motorcycle and doesn’t look before he blasts across streets. I told him I hope I don’t accidentally run him over sometime. Don’t you need a license to ride a little motorcycle? The kid says his bike goes 30 mph. We live in a busy area, and most drivers have their heads up their asses while talking on their cell phones.
I’m not letting Joel go to the lake (3 hours away) with neighbors we don’t know THAT well. He doesn’t really want to go anyway, but I told them I’M overprotective. I still say a prayer when Joel and Michael cross the street alone to go ahead to the park before me.
Tresa got frustrated trying to convince the CarMax people that it was NOT okay for her to leave her kids (ages 2 and not-yet-4) in the little waiting area while she went out to look at cars.
NEWSFLASH, People: It’s not the 1950s anymore, like when my dad, as a kid, could ride the bus to Downtown and hang out all day and be safe.
Why am I usually the odd woman out when it comes to giving a shit about my kids living or dying or getting molested? I do know 2 moms who won’t let their kids spend the night anywhere. I respect that. Maybe they think I’M reckless with my kids for letting them stay the night with friends sometimes.
What is it about the magical age of 7 that makes kids think they are completely responsible, and why do so many adults seem to agree with that? And the stories above are just a tiny sampling. I can’t tell you how many times people have dropped their kid off at my house at 2 p.m. and they hadn’t fed their kid lunch yet.
FYI: I’m pregnant with my 5th kid. Just because I’m all capable and crap doesn’t mean that I am to be used. If I watch your kid daily for 3 weeks, then you should damn well say YES when I ask if you can watch my 3 oldest ones for 3 hours. People have no manners.
I’m moving to the country with other people with freaky values. Maybe Tennessee. Or Oklahoma.
Sorry to rant on you. I’ll be all serene after the baby comes. And I’ll be hinting to all these users that I need MEALS … and Pizza Hut delivery is just fine, thank you. They can just call in a double order when they call in their twice-weekly dinner order.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
My Van's Butt
Guess we're gonna try to cram all 5 kids into the Town and Country (meaning it has only 7 seats total). Yes, Karen has already warned me of the ramifications of having a booster in the front seat or of having a kid only in a lap belt in the back.
Part of me says look at all the crap kids survived in cars way back before seat belts. Part of me is all freaked out. Part of me thinks the kids would be safer in the minivan with NO SEAT BELTS than with me driving a 12-passenger van, but I should have thought of all this BEFORE getting knocked up again, right?
So here's the back of my van now ...
Part of me says look at all the crap kids survived in cars way back before seat belts. Part of me is all freaked out. Part of me thinks the kids would be safer in the minivan with NO SEAT BELTS than with me driving a 12-passenger van, but I should have thought of all this BEFORE getting knocked up again, right?
So here's the back of my van now ...
Friday, August 28, 2009
The Sweetest Dad Ever
What kind of dad paints his daughter’s tiny toenails at his own birthday party? That would be Aron. For the record, he paints mine, too. And has offered to shave my legs since I’m all pregnant and big-bellied right now. But people coming at me with razors freaks me out, so I just try to be as flexible as possible. It’s quite entertaining.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Mrs. Hannigan
Crap, I may have to change my label off to the right from “Tresa worship” to “Fellow Blogger Worship.”
My pal Lisa Russell goes by Mrs. Hannigan on her blog and it hit me last week WHY. She’s the mother of 6 girls. Miss Hannigan ran an orphanage for girls in the movie Annie. I remembered how much I loved the play and the movie Annie. So I put it on hold at the library.
The day it came in I raced to the library, grabbed it, raced home and popped it into the VCR. My kids were entranced by this 23-year-old masterpiece.
I realized that this movie is just another reason why I spoil my kids. You watch a movie about little orphans enough times and you start to feel bad for them. And you worry that your own kids may someday be orphans, so you want them to remember you well.
Another way this movie affected me: I always wanted kids and knew that if I could not deliver them myself or adopt, I would damn well grab all the foster kids and orphans The State would let me have and take good care of them and love the crud out of them. I’m sure The State would frown on homeschooling and cosleeping, but they’re (The State) not doing much better, so I’d give it a shot anyway.
My pal Lisa Russell goes by Mrs. Hannigan on her blog and it hit me last week WHY. She’s the mother of 6 girls. Miss Hannigan ran an orphanage for girls in the movie Annie. I remembered how much I loved the play and the movie Annie. So I put it on hold at the library.
The day it came in I raced to the library, grabbed it, raced home and popped it into the VCR. My kids were entranced by this 23-year-old masterpiece.
I realized that this movie is just another reason why I spoil my kids. You watch a movie about little orphans enough times and you start to feel bad for them. And you worry that your own kids may someday be orphans, so you want them to remember you well.
Another way this movie affected me: I always wanted kids and knew that if I could not deliver them myself or adopt, I would damn well grab all the foster kids and orphans The State would let me have and take good care of them and love the crud out of them. I’m sure The State would frown on homeschooling and cosleeping, but they’re (The State) not doing much better, so I’d give it a shot anyway.
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