"Honey did I make it clear how proud I am of you? Yes Mom but could you make it clear again"?

Mother of the Year

There are times you realize that to be a good Mom you have to acknowledge the less than stellar events that  highlight your motherhood.  This past weekend I realized the low point in my tenure!  These days our lives are so busy every day that I have not gone out socially that much at night....thus my need for a sitter is infrequent.  This past weekend I went out to dinner with family and friends to celebrate my younger brother's birthday.  Before I go any further about my mom skills I must first say that it was a great evening and yes I should go out more often! Anyway, I was using a new sitter but she was the older sister of one of my daughter's friends so I felt very comfortable with her (and so did my daughter).  About an hour into our dinner I got a text from the sitter...."Do you want me to feed Emmy?  She said she hasn't had any dinner?" Since it was 7:30pm it was very clear in my haste to get out the door that a little thing like food for my daughter was neglected.  I would not have thought twice about it but the sitter was a 15 year old that I am sure wondered how a mom could forget dinner for her child.  Oh well - won't be the last Mother of the Year award bestowed on me I am sure.  Tell me the truth now...have you ever forgotten to feed your kids??!

Big Day for the Family

First Holy Communion is a special milestone in a little child's understanding of God and faith.  My daughter told me she felt very proud about receiving her First Communion and said she felt a little more grown up.  We had some good conversations about what it all meant and why it is important.  She did tell me the host was good but the wine was really, really awful.  But most of all for an eight year old second grade girl it was all about the DRESS!

My Own Little Bird

It is not uncommon to hear various sounds from my daughter in the back seat when we are driving around town doing errands.  It could be a song she made up, her trying to make a clicking noise with her tongue, a whistle, clicking her fingers, or even a little Taylor Swift.  Most of the time I just listen unless she comments on the origin of such sounds.  Today I heard birdlike sounds....I don't know if she was trying to be a parrot, a cuckcoo bird, or maybe a crow.  Whatever the bird it actually sounded real and I was impressed.  I asked her where she learned to caw like that and her response..."it's just a talent of mine".  Good to know........

Mom How Do You Get Cancer?

I will achieve my 5 year cancer-free mark this November.  I have silently waited for this day hoping if I don't talk about it I will get there without any problem.  But today my daughter reminded me that you can't be silent about something just because it is difficult.  Out of the blue on the way home from school she asked me, "Mom how do you get cancer"?  I reminded her of our conversation that smoking can cause lung cancer and that sometimes doctors don't know how we get it...we just do.  We talked about the importance of exercising and eating right so we can do our best to stay healthy.  She seemed to be fine with that much information.  Then after a few minutes she said, "Mom they got all of yours out didn't they"?  Yes Emmy they got all of Mom's cancer out and it will be five years without cancer this year.  "So it's not contagious to you anymore?"  That's right Emmy no more cancer......."Mom I think we should have a party"!

"Mom my imagination is really going down...I think I need something to eat".

"I Just Want 2 Seconds to Myself....Please"

Every Mom goes through those years when you have absolutely no time to yourself.   At least one child is  always close behind, following you, asking where you are.  Whether a shower, the bathroom, paying bills, exercising, cooking, or even a nap (ok very unlikely but a girl can dream), never unattended. The other day I ran upstairs to get something and took a quick trip to the bathroom.  I heard my daughter yelling up to me..."Mom what are you doing?".  I responded that I needed 2 seconds....and that I was in the bathroom.  As I sat there for literally 2 seconds....I see this little piece of paper slipped through the bottom of the door.  What did it say you wonder? "Mom when you are done can you come help me?"  I am telling you it was really only 2 seconds!

Money Matters

I remember as a kid getting a weekly allowance as a way to teach me about high finances.  We never received the money for chores done - my Mom and Dad believed that chores around the house were our responsibility as part of the family.  We purely got an allowance so we could learn how to save, donate to a worthy cause now and then, and maybe buy something we wanted that my parents would not buy for us.  Two key things I remember about the process.  One, we would get a nickel increase in our allowance on every birthday and I think I never even got to $1.00!  The second thing I distinctly recall is that my Dad always forgot to give me the allowance on time and I always had to ask him for it.  I do believe that on several occasions I actually did get more than $1.00 at a time because he owed me for so many weeks.

Fast forward to today.  I am using a similar strategy of teaching my daughter about the responsibilities inherent in financial matters.  And I too have been accused of forgetting to pay her......as a matter of fact just yesterday my daughter told me, " Mom, you owe me double twice for my allowance"!  Something tells me that I need to step up my level of responsibility on the teachings of money matters!

It Is Really Difficult to Know How to Help Your Daughter Manage the Social Obstacles of Growing Up Girl

Just read Queen Bees Wannabes - Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends, and the New Realities of Girl World by Rosalind Wiseman.  I recommend to all mothers of girls from second grade to high school to read this book!  It did a great job helping me understand how my daughter thinks and the hierarchy that runs the "girls world".  More importantly, it gave me real life strategies and techniques to use.  The social development of girls is one of the toughest responsibilities of a mom.....I will continue to read anything I can that assists me.

Snow Day Blues

I am not so old that I can't remember the shear joy of waking up on a school day to your Mom telling you school is cancelled due to snow.  Talk about hitting the jackpot of 7 year old bliss.  Fast forward to today and my 7 year old's bliss....we had a snow day earlier this week - we live in the east so it is not hard to get excited about a possible snow day even with 2 inches of snow.  This particular day we had 6 inches so my daughter indeed woke up (or should I say woke me up to..) a snow day.  We did all the appropriate snow day things - stayed in our pjs way too long, drank alot of hot chocolate, and sledded til my (not my daughters) toes almost froze off.  Fast forward to the next day....with 6 inches of snow it is a pretty safe bet that you will not have two days off and probably should not have had the day off you did have either!  When we got up my daughter had the same excited look on her face and clearly had high hopes.  I had to be the one to burst her bubble of hope by explaining and showing her that the roads were completely clear and dry.  She was not be be deterred.  She continued to question my assessment and asked me not once, or twice, or three times...."Mom please check online and make sure we have school".  I kept telling her that she had school but eventually relinquished my position and checked the school website so she could see that those smarter than I had indeed agreed that school was happening this very day.  Once her disgust was clear (and somewhat unrelenting) we ended the conversation with..."I don't know who invented school but I wish they never did!"