Spider Webs

     Suppose a family sold their house and moved into a small 2 bedroom house while building a new house.  And suppose this small house didn't have a bathtub in which this family could bathe their toddler...it only had a shower.  This family would, of course, be forced to come up with an alternate bathtub solution (aka...a rubbermaid storage tub)  Of course since this "bathtub" isn't designed to hold water everyday it would eventually develop a leak.  Now let's pretend that the husband of this family fixed the leaky tub with some kind of white gooey stuff designed to stop leaks (not in rubbermaid tubs of course).  He would tell his wife to warn their son not to touch the white stuff while in the bathtub.  But, what if his wife thought it was better not to draw attention to said patch job and tempt her child.  She would decide to distract him with bath toys instead.  And, because the wife happened to have a splinter in her finger she would turn her back on the tub to look for a needle in the drawer.  While she was looking for the needle she would hear her child playing some kind of game where he kept saying "spider webs, spider webs, spider webs."  When the wife turned around to see what this spider web game was she would, I imagine, discover that her child was covered in long stringy white goo from head to toe (or hands to rear end to legs).  I can imagine that the husband would not find it funny at all when the wife called for help after she figured out that these "spider webs" don't wash off with water.  And he would probably find it even less funny when he had to get out a can of WD-40 to help get this mess off of his child.  *Disclaimer:  The child was quickly scrubbed down with soap and water after being sprayed with this concoction!*  Or so I am told....I mean, this story is definitely not about my own family....who would do such a crazy thing?  The wife would just wish there had been time to grab a camera so everyone else could see what a funny sight this was.

My resignation notice

     Wow!  I'm all of about a month into the terrible 2's and I'm ready to give my resignation notice to somebody....anybody!  I feel like a really lousy mom by the end of the day a lot of days.  I know that this is just a phase and that E is testing his boundaries to see how much he can get away with.  But, oh my gosh, this is hard!  Yesterday was such a bad day that I finally called it a day and went home at 1:00.  Thank goodness I am blessed with a job that allows me to run away sometimes!  The final straw was when E wet his pants while sitting in my lap and caused me to look like I also wet my pants.  Fun times!  (I admit, it's kind of funny now but it wasn't after the day I had yesterday).

     So, if anybody out there in blog land actually reads this please pray for me as I parent my 2 year old!  Pray for me to have wisdom to know when and how to discipline.  Pray for me to have patience to remember each day that this really is a phase that will pass and one that has to happen to help E grow up.  Also, please pray that I will remember to be thankful even on bad days.  Thankful that I have this precious little boy to love every day no matter what kind of day we end up having!

A whole bunch of nothing

     I think I am in the middle of a mid-summer slump.  It's too hot to do anything really fun outside unless it involves being in the water.  Work has been very hectic because we are in the middle of vacation season so at least one person has been off every day this month.  E and I are both a little under the weather with some type of summer cold which makes the humidity around here even worse.  So, I guess I will just post a bunch of random thoughts since I can't make my brain work enough to come up with anything clever, or funny, or remotely interesting.

* We will FINALLY begin actual construction on our new house this week if all goes well and the weather cooperates.  I am beyond excited to get this project started!!  I cannot wait!

* Speaking of weather, did I mention that it is HOT?  It has been seriously hot and very very very humid all summer around here.  I honestly think that everyone who lives somewhere other than in the South should come spend a few days down here before they complain about the humidity elsewhere.  I walked outside yesterday morning and I was only outside for about 10 minutes before my whole entire shirt was soaking wet.  And it was even overcast and a little breezy!  So stinkin' humid!  Ugh!

*  My brother & sister-in-law are having twin girls!  Let the shopping begin!  I can't wait to buy adorable outfits for these babies.  The makers of boy's clothes should really step it up in the cute department.  Not every shirt need to reference a rock star, sports, or trouble.  Can you clothing designers out there please come up with some new ideas for boys?!  I tried to find some new stuff for E today and I found nothing I wanted to waste money on.

*  I should really have my child's feet measured more often.  I took him to have his feet measured today and he measured a 9 x-wide.  His current shoes are an 8 x-wide!  Oops!!  Sorry for cramming your feet in those tiny shoes for so long kiddo!  I feel like a terrible mom.  No wonder he told my mom that his "shoes had outgrown his feet" the other day!  Must have been his way of saying wake up Momma, my shoes are too dang small!

*  A sweet college friend of mine is in the hospital awaiting the arrival of her 3rd baby.  Her last baby was born at 30 weeks and she has been on bedrest for the past 4 months with this pregnancy.  (I would lose my mind!!)  She made it to 35 weeks before her water broke this time thanks to strictly following her complete bedrest orders.  Pray for a safe delivery for her and baby Logan and pray that he is healthy!

*  I am itching to take a road trip.  I think as soon as school starts this fall I am going to make Clint go somewhere for a few days.  The beach is pretty close and sounds like the perfect destination to me.  Late August through early October is my absolute favorite time to head to the beach.  It is deserted, the weather is still warm, and the water is about 85 or 90 degrees which is perfect for swimming.  There aren't any lines anywhere.  Yep, that settles it, we are heading to the beach in a few more weeks.

   Ok, I have rambled enough.  Hope everyone enjoys the few remaining hours of the weekend.  I think I may go catch a quick nap while E is napping.

Happy Birthday to You, Happy Birthday to Youuuuuu!

     I would like to say Happy Birthday to my super awesome, really great, wonderful husband!  We celebrated by going to work (it was necessary..other people were already on vacation), eating ice cream cake from DQ (the manager gave me a FREE ice cream cake...seriously, I bought one and he gave me another one!), and then going out for dinner tonight.  It was a nice day.  *Disclaimer...we did not eat 2 whole ice cream cakes by ourselves.  We shared them with all 52 of our school age kiddos and lots of our employees.  Just wanted to clarify that!*  Anyway, Happy Birthday Clint!  I'm so thankful that I'm the one you celebrate all your birthdays with!

So, what's the deal?

     So, there is something that has been bothering me and that I really don't understand.  Well, it's not so much that I don't understand as it is that they just really bug me.  Maybe someone out there can give me some input on this topic.  First thing is this...what is the deal with moms these days being so anti everything that has to do with the way we were raised back in the day?  There are moms who are anti sugar, anti chocolate, anti tv, anti jarred baby food, anti vaccinations, anti spanking...you get the picture.  It really annoys me sometimes that I actually pay a little bit of attention to opinions out there and start over analyzing my parenting style.  Here's the deal, I know that my parents weren't perfect and that all the parents from years ago weren't perfect, but take just a minute to look at the behavior of children today versus the behavior of children years ago.  I can say from first hand experience that children (most children) are not taught to behave these days!  I firmly believe that the reason for this is that there are no consequences for poor behavior now.  I'm NOT saying that you should always spank your child when he/she doesn't behave, but I'm not saying I'm against spanking either.  Let me give you an example of the lack of consequences.  At work, when we finally get to the point that we have to call a parent about their child's behavior, 9 times out of 10 they don't do anything to help!  They usually act more annoyed than anything that we had to call.  Our hands are tied as to what we can do to help children behave.  We are limited to time out...that's it.  So, it is up to parents to help us, which they usually fail to do.  So, back to my original point....why do parents think it is ok for kids to act like this? 
     Now, to my next point (gripe...whatever you want to call it)....why are so many parents so anti everything else?  What is wrong with a little sugar in moderation?  Or a little chocolate in moderation?  Or, television sometimes?  I'm NOT a bad mother if I choose to allow my kid to be a kid and enjoy a popsicle in the summer or watch a pointless cartoon that doesn't teach him anything other than how to laugh!  One of E's very favorite cartoons is Tom & Jerry and I am thrilled!  He doesn't have to count in another language or find hidden shapes or anything else...he can just watch the show.  News flash....it is not someone else's job to teach your child what they should know (that includes cartoons).  If you leave it up to their friends or teachers or friends' parents then your child is going to learn what OTHER people want him to know and it won't necessarily line up with what you believe.  My child is very smart and it's not because we avoid sugar, chocolate, tv, spanking, or jarred baby food when he was little!  It is because we spend time reading, learning, singing, and playing.  Oh, and I hate vaccines also, but I know that the benefits of them outweigh the cons so we had him vaccinated.  We use a great pediatrician and we discussed our concerns with him beforehand and settled on vaccines that we felt comfortable with.  Why would anyone want to risk their child's health? 
     Ok whew!  That was long I know, but I feel much better getting that off my chest!  Thanks for listening...er, I mean reading!

It's so logical

     On the way to work this morning I happened to see 4 puppies that someone had thrown out on the side of the road.  I am a total sucker for stray animals and I somehow spot any stray that is sitting near a road.  I had to use a LOT of restraint this morning to keep from stopping and attempting to load these 4 dogs up in my car.  Anyway, when I saw the puppies I immediately told E about them because he was in the car with me.  This is how our conversation went...

Me:  "Awwww, E!  Somebody threw 4 puppy dogs out on the side of the road!  I wish we could pick them up."
E:  "We CAN pick them up Momma, we have strong muscles!"
Me:  "I know our muscles are strong, but we can't stop and get them right now."
E:  "We stop Momma and we scoop them out of the ditch with our big hands!"
Me:  "I know we could, but maybe a nice person will come by and give them a good home since we can't today."

     He was so sweet and just did not understand why we couldn't stop and get those puppies.  Maybe E  will take after his Momma and Daddy when it comes to being a sucker for strays.  Sweet boy!!