Flordia summer storms

There are certain moments you realize will be important moments in your children's lives. Not the ones you think are important but the ones they think are important. Building memories is one way a friend of mine puts it (yes i do have friends)

Any way i think most of us as parents are constantly getting caught up in the take care of /provider for portion of being parents. I mean really who could blame us. most of us have to work just to make ends meet. there are dishes to do, bills to pay, baths to give and tons of other stuff that gets in the way of really being parents.

I know when my kids look back i don't what them to think wow mom worked really hard to keep the house clean or man she really knew how to get my whites whiter. I want them to look back and remember little moments that we shared on hot sunny days. i want them to remember how i always took the time to make sure they were nice and tucked in before i closed the bed room door.

Well one of these moments happened a few weeks ago. It was around 8pm and as it usually happens during summer we had just started a bad thunderstorm. Chris and i are sitting there with the dogs (who are trying to crawl up our butts because they are scared of the storm). Chris asked if i thought we should go upstairs and lay with the kids. my first thought was are you kidding we just put them down and i am exhausted. But i thought about it. I remembered nights that i was scared in my room as a little girl. And my mom would come and lay down with me. i would try to stay up as long as i could but i would slowly drift off to sleep and at some point she would get up and go into her room.

So Chris goes in to Jarrod's room. he is all snuggled under the covers. Chris asked if he was scared Jarrod said yes and Chris laid down. Touching right.

Well I open Hannah's room and she is laying on the floor (apparently the best place to sleep). She looked so sweet so i stood there and watched. Keep in mind i am still expecting this heartfelt moment to occur. So Hannah notices me and asks "what you doin" i explain mommy thought you might be scared "what you doin" was the response i got back. Well Hannah i am going to lay down with you. "what you doin'". At this point i really had to stop myself from saying " For the love of God i am trying to have a moment could you just work with me" But i once again explained. Now i am starting to lay down next to her, and she looks at me with her two year old tiny little face and bright blue eyes and says "NO go away".

not really how i thought that was going to work out.

Moral to this story - just because you maybe having a heart felt moment does not mean they will be.

Addiction to Gum

OK as you know i have a five year old son. It is a constant battle to try and raise him right. As a mom you want to protect them while giving them freedom. Make them eat their veggies while letting them know the joy of a triple hot fudge sundae. Make sure they get enough sleep while staying up late to snuggle on the couch. It is all a balancing act. And i am sure years from now my children's therapist will inform them i did a really crappy job but oh well I tried.

So last week we had our first real lay down the law parenting issue. A couple of weeks ago i bought three packs of gum. i took one with me and there were two unopened packs on my dresser. Well we had just put the kids to bed on Sunday night when my husband came down stairs and asked me where the gum was. We looked but could not find it. We KNEW Jarrod had taken it. Chris walks into Jarrod's room and says "where is the gum, don't try and lie i know you have it." this is when the scary stuff started. Jarrod gets up, his eyes were huge. slowly he tells his daddy to open his closet door, Tucked way in the back behind some boxes is the two now empty packs of gum, along with two of the Listerine tongue tab thingys and a box mints. (my first thought is wow is my son prepping for a marathon of 7 minutes in heaven or what). Well my husband is completely devastated. Now starts the you lied to me, you stole from us and i am so disappointed speech. Of course Jarrod is crying and working himself in to a coughing fit.

Chris comes down stairs still really worked up. His first question to me is who taught him how to steal. My respond is umm really don't think kids need to be taught how to steal. At that point in a cool and calm kind of way i take a step back and realize perhaps i had drove my son to commit this awful crime. Let me explain. Jarrod has a 2 year old sister.

Just in case you need more explanation sometimes it is much easier to say no to both then say yes to one who might be of appropriate age for say gum and no to the other who might just choke to death or put it in her hair. Yes in my effort to keep the peace between siblings i might have pushed my son into a life of crime. i mean come on we all know what is next.... grand theft auto of course.

So after this realization i go upstairs to my still sobbing son. i look him in the eye and here are my words of wisdom. "you know that feeling in your tummy, that sick feeling" Yea... " that is because you stole and lied to mommy and daddy. GOD doesn't like it either, stealing is a sin and makes your tummy hurt. now go to sleep"

So now every time my son gets constipated he is going to think he has committed a sin.

Yea like i said parenting is a balancing act. I will help pay for the therapist.