Monday, May 17, 2010


Two of my favorite people in the world.

Parentzilla

A casual friend on Facebook is threatening to defriend all "parentzillas" because of too many updates complaining about their kids. I quickly glanced back at the past several months of my profile updates to see if I was an offender. I was not, although I was a bit surprised. I admit I do complain about my kids-maybe I save it for my dearest mommy friends or keep those thoughts to myself. And, well, sometimes I think my husband bears the brunt of the complaining.

But more than any posting on Facebook, what I don't want to do is complain with the kids, or yell at them, or get frustrated, or break down and cry with them, but I do- sometimes. So, I vow to yell less, listen more; smile more, frown less; laugh more, cry less. It's been a hard two years with personal, financial and work stress. I don't want these baby years, okay toddler years, to slip by too fast. So, I want to thank my Facebook friend for the wake up call. Of course, being childless, he can very easily say "children are a blessing." He doesn't know the worry, frustration, exhaustion of raising kids, let alone one child with special needs, but he's 100 percent right. My children are the great blessing in my life and I'll say it on Facebook, in blogs and over coffee. If that makes me a different sort of Parentzilla-the kind who brags about her kids-so be it.

Monday, April 26, 2010

Kindergarten coming to an end

Can't believe my oldest will be wrapping up kindergarten in about seven weeks.

My quest to live in the moment means I'm trying to cherish spring to its fullest. April vacation week was good. I took much needed time off from work, played with the boys, went to many parks, and tended to the garden. The boys caught up on their naps even. There were moments of sheer fighting and some yelling. I threatened to "turn the TV on" if the kids didn't stop fighting while I tried to make their dinner. What mom does that?

We've made a decision for Ben for 1st grade. Turns out to be the school I least expected him to go to--St. John's. No fancy prep school, but it seems warm, welcoming, nurturing, structured and calm. Now where to send Colin? Seems Ben always gets the lion share of my worries and energy, but Colin makes his opinions and presence known, believe me.