The Perfect Mom

Even though we all know it isn't entirely possible, isn't it what we all strive to be? (Those of us that are Moms anyway...)

I've been thinking a lot lately about all of the expectations placed on us as parents to raise our children "the right" way. Whether you do a lot of reading about parenting, have religious expectations, social/moral expectations, or just a lot of ideas, I feel like I am constantly bombarded with expectations about the right way to do things.

Kids need: to watch little to no TV, do arts & crafts every day, read books every day, to eat healthy well-balanced meals every day, to be bathed and washed up everyday, to make sure they can do this & that developmentally, and on and on and on.

It's no wonder we all get overwhelmed from time to time (0r every day). I've come to accept that I am not perfect (obviously) but that I can try my best to give my kids everything that they need. No I don't feed them all organic foods and sometimes they just eat peanut butter sandwiches. Sometimes they wear the same socks 2 days in a row. Sometimes I break my 1 hr. of TV rule and they watch 2. Sometimes they go 3 days without a bath. And I rarely do crafts...that is what ECFE, preschool, and daycare are for. :) But you know what? I try. And even if I let all of these things go every week, they would still love me.

I want to hear from you too: where do you feel pressure? And what do you make sure to focus on/rule do you follow every day?

Side note: The one "rule" I do follow EVERY DAY is reading to them.

Side note 2: I say "me" and "I" a lot... I'm not leaving Ryan out... he does these things too, of course... this is just MY blog. :)

An End to the Saga

Well, if you haven't guessed it by my last 10 days, it's been a little nuts.
Our washer broke again yesterday...that's twice this week. And so this morning we headed to Menards to purchase a new washer. Even though it's hard to spend the money, it's so exciting to get a new appliance!

I'd take a picture of it, but our laundry room is so not picture worthy (and my camera is out of batteries). Maybe in 10 years, when it's remodeled, you can see a picture of our (not so) new washer!

The best part? Watching the kids play in the newly remodeled box house. :) If my camera wasn't out of batteries, I'd totally take a picture of that.

Highs and Lows

My little lovelies came home yesterday!!
Olivia woke up puking this morning.

I received a recognition award at work this morning!!
I felt super guilty being there with my little lady home sick.

Our washing machine is fixed!!
The repair man didn't seem too confident that the switch wouldn't break again.

I cleaned the house yesterday!!
The germs must not have been gone...and now are rampant again.

Aidan grew up so much in the almost-week he was gone!!
My little baby...getting so big.

What are your highs and lows for the week?

Karma Update

So after a great 24 hour flu, I painted my bedroom (yay!)

Followed up by the power going out... for 30 hours. (No cleaning, no laundry, no nothing...)

And today, the washing machine broke.

But! My kids come home tomorrow and if I've done nothing else, I've sure missed them a lot!

Karma?

Wednesday night I had an opportunity present itself. An opportunity that I know many of you mothers out there wouldn't be able to pass up on... one that I didn't pass up on! The opportunity to be alone, at my house, for 3 days. ALL ALONE! My mind soared with the plans I had of cleaning, painting, decorating, organizing, relaxing, and hanging out with friends.

Then I woke up at midnight with the stomach flu.

Conferences

Yesterday morning we had Olivia's first school conferences. I mean, preschool conferences, of course, but I still felt a little old. It was a funny feeling for me to attend conferences and hear feedback about my child. Is that weird for you too? I always feel like I want to defend (and there wasn't even anything remotely negative)... like that she doesn't participate singing songs in group. I, of course, in my anxiety start rambling about how well she does in group settings other places and sings along. I have to remember that she's not saying she isn't able to do it, but that she just hasn't shown it in preschool. Really her teacher doesn't care if she does it somewhere else... :) And now I'm rambling again.

It was so fun to see more of her schoolwork and the portfolio that is being put together for her. Her teacher also put together an individual slide show with pictures of each child! That was SO neat to see. I feel disconnected a lot of times with her at school, so I loved being able to see how much fun she is having when she is there.

4:15

Definition: the time of day my children decided it was time to get up today.

Thank you daylight savings time for ruining my Sunday.

Enjoying the Day to Day

This is something that I have really been working hard on over the past couple of months!! With Olivia's "phase" (lots of crying, crabbies, bossies, drama, not napping etc...), 2 surgeries for 2 kids, the busyness of preschool/work/church/volunteering etc, I have found myself teetering on the edge of falling into THE TRAP. THE TRAP that I tend to fall into when things are crazy of feeling tired, overwhelmed, and crabby. I let the little things bug me and fall behind in everything. I am not happy when I fall into THE TRAP.

So, this year I've made a decision. It isn't going to happen. We've been busy, it's true. But do you know what? I've cleaned more, organized more, cooked more, played with kids more, and ENJOYED more than many other times!! And I'm SOOO much happier! These day to day activities are making me feel so productive and worthwhile.

What do you do when you try to enjoy the day to day?

This could have been so cute...

And of course it is, because the subjects are so cute... but really guys! Just look at the camera!

T & A

Did you know that when you have your tonsils and adenoids removed they shorten the procedure to be called T & A? I had to stifle a giggle everytime one of the nurses said it.

We have had a crazy month! Olivia had her T & A procedure done on Oct. 11th. Overall, it went so well! She did great through the surgery, in recovery, coming back to us, and going home. The first night was a little rough. She woke up around 11:30 screaming hysterically and there was nothing that I could do to console her. What had me most worried was that I was concerned that she would hurt her throat from all of the screaming! After 45 min. I finally called the on-call surgeon (who was, as expected, no help)... and of course as soon as I got back on the phone Olivia "passed out" and slept the rest of the night. We had a few more episodes of scream-filled wake-ups during the night, some of which I think she was experiencing night terrors. This has become much better this week, and she has even slept all the way through the night a few times again. The best part? Her breathing is SOOO much better! She can breathe with her mouth closed and no more sleep apnea!! As she continues to sleep better, I have high hopes that her night waking, bedtime troubles, and daytime drama will subside... at least a little bit!

Then, this past Monday Oct. 25th, Aidan had tubes put in his ears. Seriously easy procedure. :) The worst part was how hard he was crying when he came back from the surgery. My poor little man, it took him nearly 20 minutes to calm down. However, after that point he was totally fine! I have high hopes about his procedure too... I would SO love to not be at the clinic every week this winter!

The short stay surgery staff joked with us on Monday calling us frequent fliers... I sure hope we do not have any more visits to them this month... or in the next few years!!