Goodbye Summer Fun.
I am usually as happy as the next parent to see September arrive and see the school year begin. This year is very different though. We had so much fun this summer. We took a week long vacation, just the three of us for a full week. This is the first time they have been old enough for me to feel comfortable doing this and it was so worth it. We went to the Upper Penninsula of Michigan and enjoyed the beautiful scenery and ice cold waters. We also enjoyed the very relaxed schedule summer offers. We stayed out late, we slept late and we just thoroughly enjoyed the fact that we weren’t trying to beat a bell everyday.
I feel like these past few months I was truly able to “enjoy” and even “relish” in being a mommy and this is the first time in a long, long time I have been able to say that. Red is 10 now and Hively will be 8 in a couple weeks. I am really enjoying these ages. They are independent enough to be helpful and reliable but not old enough yet to be smart mouthed, rebelious teens. Don’t get me wrong, Red has started some pre-teen behavior, but for the most part, this time with them has been the best so far.
Other reasons, I hate the school year…homework. I am hoing we get blessed with helpful, communicative teachers this year. I am more than willing to do homework with my kids but not hours a night during these elementary years. Also, I am willing to assist as long as detailed instructions are sent home because there is nothing worse than having a child cry that they don’t know how to do an assignment that you have no clue how to do either.
Then the end of summer, signifies the closely approching winter months. Y’all know how hard winter was for me during the 2007 Snowfest we were given here in Michigan. I am so scared by this fact, and what I had to live through, that I am sadder than ever to say goodbye to summer.
So say a prayer for this single mama that the 2008-2009 school year will be kind to us. And in return, I will absolutely do the same for you and your children.
Red goes away…..then comes back
So Red went to Indy for a weekend trip with my sister and her family (2 teen cousins). She had a ball! My Red has always been a Tom-Boy and I worry about her dad/man relationship issues, ALOT! On the way home she shopped with them. She had so much fun and I received a call Saturday evening from my sister. “I am NEVER taking your 10 year old and my 13 year old daughter shopping at the mall again!” My reply, “Oh?!? She had turned into a girl and I didn’t even know it:)” Apparently she wanted to shop, not spend all her money but buy clothes from the same store as her big teenage cousin (ie: American Eagle, Hollister, Aeropostle, Abercrombie, etc.) Look, we shop at Target and Meijer and I frequent TJ Maxx at holidays and such. We aren’t mall shoppers and she was loving the exposure to being an older kid. She came home tired and crabby but she had fun and was good for my sister so all is well. Plus my sister is Bargain Queen of The World so Red has this adorable new outfit for spring and it cost under $30.
While she was gone, I got a glimpse of life with one child. I must say, I enjoyed it alot. Hively and I had fun, we shopped and went to a movie. We built Pirate ships out of Legos and Play Mobile (A huge Rubbermaid container full of them thanks to his BFF who gave them to him. God bless The Hendrens because he is loving this awesome gift.) And he played and played and played with these new toys. There was no fighting and arguing it was just me as the Single Mom of One child and I liked the quiet. I am often grateful that I have 2 because this means through the separation, divorce, remarriage of their dad, new sibling at their dads and visitations in general, they aren’t alone. They have each other to deal with all this with. But God help me there are those days when 2 is too many for just 1 me. I do not want this to be taken wrong. I Love them both so and they are so opposite that I love them both for different reasons, and I am so happy God blessed me with these 2 amazing, wonderful, healthy, people. I just get tired and down and overwhelmed sometimes. So this weekend was nice. Hively and I spend quality one on one time and Red had a fun time being TBFHB (Too Big For Her Britches;) and it is Monday now and that is good too because the weather has broken. Yes y’all it is Sunny and Warmish and Spring has come to Michigan. Things are looking up and I am happy to be again. Happy to just be:)
Are You Kidding Me?
I am trying to get into bed but I am so morose right now, I can not possibly sleep. I have just glanced out my window and what do you know? SNOW! I am not shoveling that crap! I am not wearing boots! I am not tiptoeing so the hem of my pants aren’t soaking wet all day! I AM NOT, I AM NOT, I AM NOT!
Surely God knows how tortured I am by all of this cold, frigid, whiteness that continues to surround me. My spirits need a real lift. I am seriously considering a bank heist to fund myself a long weekend trip to the Bahamas.
I can see it now…sun, warm and soothing on a white sandy beach and me as I just rest and relax and read a novel and don’t fix anyone dinner or try to find matching socks for anyone or argue with anyone regarding their bill or try to decipher any physicians scribbles or poor over surigical reports searching for the accurate codes. Just me and the sun enjoying the quiet, lullaby of the crashing waves.
Soon, soon it will be summer! Soon, I hope. God will send warm sunny days to Michigan and I can once again become a member of the living as opposed to the stir-crazy Jack Nicholson in The Shining type of person. All I know is if I hear Red or Hively say Red Rum to me even once, the bank heist is going to become a reality because I may be crazy but I am definately not too crazy to know that I am.
He Took Them Both Down!
*names have been changed to protect the not so innocentJ
When I arrived at school yesterday afternoon to pick up the kiddos, Hively approached and I immediately saw he had some fresh scratches all over his nose.
I said, “Hey Buddy, What happened to your nose? Allergies acting up today?”
His reply, “No. I got in a fight with Olley Bear and Crabby Patty. But it is okay, I won!”
My son is not aggressive and being raised in a family of all women, I worry constantly about him not being tough enough. So when I heard the whole saga of how his bud Olley Bear tried to take his hat and Hively fought him off but then Crabby Patty came and jumped in. In the end, my little Wrestle Maniac defended himself and even though fighting is bad I am happy he showed them his isn’t a good target and in the process gained some self confidence. I was actually proud of him. Is that bad of me? I asked if he and Olley Bear worked it out and he said, “Yes Mom, everything is okay, I said I won.”
I really imagine this was just a case of boys being boys on the playground and so I am not going to be concerned. But hey, I am a girl so what do I know? I was just happy he didn’t run crying to the lunch lady. He took them both down and was happy with his accomplishment.
Of coarse when Red got wind of this incident she kept saying, “Crabby Patty should’ve minded his own business.” She on the other hand is slightly aggressive when it comes to protecting her little brother, so hopefully she didn’t try to set Oley Bear & Crabby Patty straight today.
See, this is why I worry he won’t be able to stick up for himself. I hope she took his, “I won” as an indication that all was resolved. I’ll be picking them up in about an hour so I’ll get back to you should there be any further mention of this.
Tell me, did I do the right thing by letting him know sticking up for himself was the right thing? Some male opinion would really help on this one.
DOUBLE TIME
So I am still on this hating the winter weather kick!
As I drove through the snow covered streets I made up a little song for the kids…
“I miss the sunshine, and the warm summer days. I miss the sunshine and swimming in the suns rays.”
Yes it went on and on then Red chimed in with “I got Sunshine on a cloudy day.”
Not exactly the same but it was a good 9 year old effort.
It was sunny and warmish (45degrees) here in the big MI all weekend and today we are back to SNOW! Yes the weatherman was right, he told us it was coming and yesterday as the clouds loomed overhead, I was so sad, knowing what was to come.
Today my main issue is not the fact that I will need to shovel this crap when I get home at 6:30pm tonight, my issue is the people who were along side me on the road as I drove to work this morning.
It has been nearly an hour since I sat down at my desk but my shoulders and back are still tense because God help me; it took me double the time to drive here than it does on a non-snowy day. What? You ask if the roads were that bad? NO! They weren’t bad at all! It is the people who were magically dropped into Michigan morning rush hour on this February 26, 2008.
I know they have never driven in snow before as they were automatically teleported here from Florida or Arizona but I hate them, all the same. I hate them for driving 20 mph in a 45 mph zone. Side by side so no one with the good sense to control their own vehicle can get past them! I hate them for not cleaning off their cars. I know, I know, they were automatically covered in snow by the sudden dropping from the atmosphere into this snow covered state. Because surely to God if these idiots did live in Michigan full-time they would own a broom by now that they would use to clean off their cars! Right?!? I mean it can’t possibly be laziness because my 66 year old mother can get out and clean off her car before she goes out every day! So tell me why a 25 year old couldn’t do the same? Other than the obvious, that they don’t live here they just, for today, had the misfortune of being dumped into the middle of this late February snow storm. Never the less, I Hate Them. I hate the older people and wealthy people who work on salary and not by a punch clock or time card and the stay at home mommies and all the others who have no business being out on the road in the middle of rush hour when the rest of us poor working fools are just trying to get to our jobs on time. I HATE THEM ALL!
Well, I can say I am hopeful…hopeful that this will be the last big messy storm for this winter as spring is just around the corner. Also, hopeful that the sun will shine upon me again soon and I will relish the feeling of warmth from its rays!
Let me know how y’all manage the tension and stress of winter driving woes.
