Kids Can Be So Cruel

I'm scared my kids will get picked on at school.  It happened to me.  It happened to my husband.  If it's in the genes, they're in trouble!  I'm sure most kids get picked on at one time or another, some worse than others.  But oh it hurts!  And it hurts just as much if not more for the parent to know their child is going through something like that.

Grade six was my year to be picked on.  I remember so vividly one day in the gym change room.  All of the "popular" girls were calling me teacher's pet and being so mean.  I don't remember a lot of the other specifics but it got to the point that it made me sick.  I'm sure it was a mental thing.  One day I wasn't feeling well - I went to my teacher's desk to ask to go to the bathroom.  On my way out of the classroom I remember everything going black and running into someone's desk.  The next thing I knew I was sitting on the classroom floor feeling like I was going to throw up.  One of the nicer girls told me later that it looked like I was just laying on the floor looking at the ceiling for a while so I guess I passed out.  After that day I was "sick" and didn't go to school for six weeks.  My parents had me to doctor's appointments, doing tests, eliminating foods from my diet.  At one appointment the doctor asked me if it bothered me that my mom was at work all day - did I want her at home.  I suppose they were looking for mental reasons that I would be sick.  The big question they should have asked was "how are things at school"?  My parents had no clue what I was going through - for whatever reason I guess I didn't feel like I could tell them. 

That experience affected me so much that well into adulthood I would be wary of people who were my friends.  I would think they were just pretending.  That they didn't really like me.  That they said stuff about me behind my back.  Deep down I knew it wasn't true but subconsciously I felt it.  I still have to fight it off sometimes.

And so I work extra hard at making sure my kids have friends.  That they know how to socialize and compromise and include others and the list goes on.  (And why is it so hard for them to figure these things out!)  Ever since my first child started preschool I've been on top of arranging play dates and getting to know the parents of their friends.  I know there will be heart ache along the way - I just hope it's not too plentiful.

Whatever Pops Into My Head I Will Write About....

I read some people's blogs, people I don't even know IRL, and I think "I want to be like you when I grow up".  Sure they probably don't share their "ick" days.  Their "I want to pull my hair out and run away" days.  But the days they do share?  Love them.  And I think I needs some more of those days in my house.  Days of long walks and lego building and painting and random picture taking and homemade soups and picnics and, and, and......

I'm seriously thinking of taking a screen sabbatical.  Not 100% of the time.  I would still need my computer for work.  And my handful of fall tv shows at night.  But during the day - when the kids are around - no screens for me.  Or them.  Call me crazy!  It's ok, you can, I'm calling myself crazy!  But I figure with no screen time there's plenty of time for all those other things.

We forgot to pick the mail up on Friday.  Husband just got it now (late Saturday night).  We will have two very happy children in the morning.  They each got a magazine in the mail!  Free magazines - Lego and American Girl - and on the same day.  Ya gotta love the little things!


Today I made two dozen chocolate chip muffins.  A double batch of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies and a big pan of granola bars.  The big plan is to package them up separately and put them in the freezer so they can easily be added to lunch boxes.  Boxes.  Plural.  Still having a hard time with that one.  Thankfully the kid is LOVING kindergarten.  I knew he would.  But man, we're really going to have to take advantage of his off-school days.  Do a bunch of fun stuff. 

Just Some Thoughts

I figure it's about time to get back to this old blogging thing.  Of course my mind is a blank.......

I started this nearly five years ago.  Wow, lots has changed since then.  Like another member of the family!  Got to have some sort of record of him on here.  We'll get to that.

My 5 year old starts kindergarten tomorrow.  Ack!  He goes with half his class to ease into it.  Last week one of his best buddies went for his ease in day so I was asking him today what he liked about it.
"The bus!"  My boy agreed that the bus would likely be his favorite part too.  And he says "Isn't it crazy there's no seat belts!  Only the driver has to wear one!".  Of course he would love the fact that he doesn't have to wear one.  His sister, was the exact opposite.  She didn't want to ride the bus due to the lack of them.

I'm still having a hard time imagining him getting onto that bus tomorrow.  He is so ready.  I'm excited for him.  But I'm nervous for me!!  It's going to be a long day waiting to hear about all the fun he had.
But I have big plans to take a nap with the baby.  Now that's exciting stuff!

My Husband Rocks

Tammy is doing a giveaway, a shirt the publicly declares "My Husband Rocks!" . Union28 makes these really cool shirts - check 'em out.

When two people say "I do" I don't think they fully realize what their vows could mean to their life down the road. Last year we were approaching our ninth anniversary and all of a sudden found out he had cancer. Whoa. "In sickness and in health" took on a whole new meaning. I braced myself for what the next year would hold.

To put it in a few words - my husband rocked throughout the whole ordeal. He put me and our children first. Not once, through a very serious surgery and difficult recovery, radiation and two rounds of chemo, did I hear him complain. Not once. There were no pity parties, no woe is mes. He was a hero through and through. He wanted life to stay as normal as possible for his family and the whole situation to be as stress free as possible for his pregnant wife. (Yes we had a baby in the midst of all of it.)

As I was complaining this week when I had the stomach flu about how awful I felt and having him take care of me I realized that I complained more in those 24 hours than he did in the last year. And really, what is the stomach flu in comparison to cancer?!

So really - MY HUSBAND ROCKS!!
(And it's looking like we'll have many more years of HEALTH together.)

Goals

Let's set some goals for 2011. These will be fun type goals for me since I'm on maternity leave for most of the year. Another post will consist of more non-fun type goals.

~ scrapbook Alex's first year
~ scrapbook Isaiah's first year
~ scrapbook our summer 2010
~ make a good stock of cards to have on hand
~ take pictures of my kids regularly
~ get said pictures printed regularly
~ cross-stitch picture for Isaiah
~ sew something - I was going through some baby stuff the other day and found two Halloween costumes I had sewed for Emily for her 1st and 2nd Halloweens. I had a sudden longing to pull out the sewing machine and sew something. I will have to think on what that is going to be.

Hmmm, I think the ol' computer is going to take a backseat if I'm going to accomplish all this!

Things Kids Say

One thing I love about having a blog is it acts like a diary. I can look back through the years and remember things that happened in our lives that I would likely otherwise forget. Alex makes me laugh with a lot of the things he comes up with and I need to start documenting them a bit more.

A: When I grow up I'm going to be a black ninja.
Me: What do black ninjas do?
A: They stay up all night. They fight bad guys and they never sleep. And I'm going to wear black gloves when I'm a ninja. Know why? 'Cause black ninjas wear black gloves. And they have swords. Sharp swords. But I'll be wearing gloves. Or I'll be a soldier.
Me: What do soldiers do?
A: They sleep in the rain and the mud. They fight. They have weapons. But the only weapons they have are their hands. Isn't that funny?

If I have any say in the matter he'll be something a little less dangerous when he grows up!!

Eight

Yesterday my girl turned 8. Crazy.

When it was time for bed she didn't want the day to end. We had had a great day. Went out for lunch. Saw a movie at the theatre. Played games. Ate cake. No wonder she didn't want it to end! I asked her - "what would be the best way to end off your birthday celebrations". Her reply "Put on music and dance!". We gave her a cd player for her birthday and she had gotten a couple of new cds for Christmas so we cranked the tunes and the kids started dancing away. I was taking pictures and then thought why aren't I in there dancing with them? So I let loose and were they ever excited that Mom was being silly and dancing with them.

Sometimes I find myself too focused on what's going to be happening next and not just fully enjoying the moment for what it is. It's so easy to do and one of my goals for this new year is to do just that. Enjoy all the moments along the way.

Wow - this is obviously a reminder that I have needed on a regular basis.