I want to start off with a quick thanks to Steph for being trusting enough to allow me (Leah from Laughing Leah Loves Lilies) to guest blog for her while she’s away. Hopefully I don’t scare off all her loyal viewers, and with any luck, maybe I’ll gain a few loyal viewers of my own in the process!
Now on with the show…
Was there anything from your childhood that you just couldn’t stand, and you swore when you were an adult and could make your own decisions, you’d do that particular thing VERY differently? Or was there something you did around your friends you wouldn’t have done at home? When I was a kid, we weren’t allowed to use words such as butt, fart, or pee. It was bottom, stinker, and potty. When I was REALLY little, it wasn’t a big deal, but when I got into elementary school, it became a bit of an embarrassment, and then it became a battle between remembering to use bottom, stinker, and potty at home, while using butt, fart, and pee at school around my friends. I swore when I grew up, my kids weren’t going to have to use bottom, stinker, and potty. WELL, GUESS WHAT? The first time my then two-year-old daughter said the word “butt”, I cringed, because apparently it was burned into my brain that little kids shouldn’t say those words and it sounded awful to my ears. So now “bottom”, “toot”, and “potty” are all used at our house, with an occasional slip up of “fart” and “pee” from my six-year-old, who has attended one year of elementary school…LOL
I also recently got an email from my Auntie, who was remembering from her childhood how much she hated to have to remake her bed with clean sheets. I have to include a portion of the email as she typed it, because it cracked me up: “I slept in, so got up around 9:30...Felt good, and the sheets were clean and there is nothing more glorious than clean sheets. I have been a rebel against them since childhood as Mother made us change them every Saturday. I used to scream and kick and throw myself on to my bare mattress (after she'd tear the sheets off on Sat AM while I was trying to watch cartoons) and cry, and SWEAR, if I ever grew up I'd never change my bed. SO, I grew up, and said NOT! She also made me vacuum under my bed every Sat. AM. To THIS DAY, I refuse to vacuum under my bed. There is a giant spider (I AM SURE) under there scoffing at me every Saturday morning...BUT. I. DON'T. CARE.”
(don’t worry, she really does clean her sheets, and I’m totally with her about vacuuming under the bed!)
I’d love to hear what you swore you’d do differently as an adult, and whether or not you stuck with your plan!!
Showing posts with label Guest blog post. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Guest blog post. Show all posts
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Guest Blog from Manic Mommy
Stephanie Elliot
Aka Manic Mommy http://www.manicmommy.blogspot.com/
School starts in two weeks. 14 days. I am teeter-tottering on both ends of the spectrum. Anxiously awaiting the start of school, but also not really ready for summer to be over. This is my first year that all three of my kids will FINALLY be in school for full days. Yes, my youngest, my Tukey, will start first grade. I remember when I was in the throes of the diaper warfare, down in the trenches, with interrupted sleep every single night, with teethers and babies waking to feed, and toddlers having night terrors.
I remember thinking, “OK, the year they are all in school together full time, I am going to take THAT year off. Completely off, and just SLEEP. For the whole year because I figured it was going to take a full year of sleeping every single day while they were at school for me to catch up on the missed sleep from those first five years of parenthood.
Do I feel this way now? Maybe. I long for afternoon naps on the couch under my favorite blankie, while the sun streams through our skylight window. I long to turn off the phones, rest my eyes, to lay there uninterrupted for even just a fraction of an hour. To close my eyes and think, “OK, what do I want to do now? What can I do for myself today?”
But I’m not going to do this. I’m not going to go into this self-induced hibernation like I thought I wanted to. Even though I do still kind of want to. Because there’s still so much to do. There’s the grocery shopping, and the laundry, and oh God, do I ever-so-much loathe the laundry! And there’s trips to Target and back-to-school shopping, which I never do till late September, because, hey, come on, I’m frugal, and I’ll do that when all the cool stuff is gone and there’s just crappy stuff left that I can get for really cheap. Because my kids are still pretty young, and maybe they won’t realize that I’ve just bought them the leftover back-to-school crappy stuff?
And well, while I kind of would like to take a year-long hiatus and catch up on the sleeping, I also kind of want to … okay, I can say it here… I kind of want to work. Don’t shoot me. It’s the kind of work I love. This. Writing about how I feel and sharing the thoughts with those who understand what it’s like, or maybe those who have not yet been there, and need to know that there is a light at the end of that really dark and smelly “I-will-die-if-I-have-to-change-another-blowout-diaper-at-four-a.m.” tunnel.
There really is a light.
Because they do stop waking in the middle of the night. And they do stop needing that night-time feeding. And they do stop wearing diapers. And they do grow in all of their teeth and stop teething. And they will start using the toilet and wiping their own butts. And they will start using utensils and napkins and regular cups, and then they’ll start asking for play dates, and they’ll go off to the neighbor’s house and you won’t hear from them for hours and you’ll sit at home and wonder, “Where the heck have my babies gone, and don’t they need me anymore?”They will. And that’s why maybe I don’t need a year off to nap.
Aka Manic Mommy http://www.manicmommy.blogspot.com/
School starts in two weeks. 14 days. I am teeter-tottering on both ends of the spectrum. Anxiously awaiting the start of school, but also not really ready for summer to be over. This is my first year that all three of my kids will FINALLY be in school for full days. Yes, my youngest, my Tukey, will start first grade. I remember when I was in the throes of the diaper warfare, down in the trenches, with interrupted sleep every single night, with teethers and babies waking to feed, and toddlers having night terrors.
I remember thinking, “OK, the year they are all in school together full time, I am going to take THAT year off. Completely off, and just SLEEP. For the whole year because I figured it was going to take a full year of sleeping every single day while they were at school for me to catch up on the missed sleep from those first five years of parenthood.
Do I feel this way now? Maybe. I long for afternoon naps on the couch under my favorite blankie, while the sun streams through our skylight window. I long to turn off the phones, rest my eyes, to lay there uninterrupted for even just a fraction of an hour. To close my eyes and think, “OK, what do I want to do now? What can I do for myself today?”
But I’m not going to do this. I’m not going to go into this self-induced hibernation like I thought I wanted to. Even though I do still kind of want to. Because there’s still so much to do. There’s the grocery shopping, and the laundry, and oh God, do I ever-so-much loathe the laundry! And there’s trips to Target and back-to-school shopping, which I never do till late September, because, hey, come on, I’m frugal, and I’ll do that when all the cool stuff is gone and there’s just crappy stuff left that I can get for really cheap. Because my kids are still pretty young, and maybe they won’t realize that I’ve just bought them the leftover back-to-school crappy stuff?
And well, while I kind of would like to take a year-long hiatus and catch up on the sleeping, I also kind of want to … okay, I can say it here… I kind of want to work. Don’t shoot me. It’s the kind of work I love. This. Writing about how I feel and sharing the thoughts with those who understand what it’s like, or maybe those who have not yet been there, and need to know that there is a light at the end of that really dark and smelly “I-will-die-if-I-have-to-change-another-blowout-diaper-at-four-a.m.” tunnel.
There really is a light.
Because they do stop waking in the middle of the night. And they do stop needing that night-time feeding. And they do stop wearing diapers. And they do grow in all of their teeth and stop teething. And they will start using the toilet and wiping their own butts. And they will start using utensils and napkins and regular cups, and then they’ll start asking for play dates, and they’ll go off to the neighbor’s house and you won’t hear from them for hours and you’ll sit at home and wonder, “Where the heck have my babies gone, and don’t they need me anymore?”They will. And that’s why maybe I don’t need a year off to nap.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Am I Raising a Target-a-holic?
Steph is away for the week and has asked me Elaine from The Miss Elaine-ous Life to step in for the day !!!
I am pretty sure that most of us “mommy bloggers” take a liking to Target (a.k.a Tar-jay, Tar-zhay, etc.). Perhaps it’s because whenever anyone in our facet of blogging mentions giving away a gift card from there I tend to picture an episode of Oprah’s favorite things where everyone in the audience is screaming and crying (from joy of course). And due to the amount of comments on any post I’ve seen in which free money to the bull’s eye is up for grabs, I just assume we all likey. I have to admit my heart starts to palpitate a little faster whenever I come across such a generous giveaway. At the beginning of the year I was lucky enough to win such a giveaway and be the recipient of a decent denomination of free cash to my favorite store and you would’ve thought that Miss Winfrey herself had shown up at my door I was so excited. Just proves it doesn’t take much…
Of course free money or not, I am a frequent customer and my four-year old seems to be following suit on his preference for the place. Whenever we go there he wants to head straight for the toys, of course and he also likes to check out the food section (yes, this IS definitely my kid) and the dollar spot. I’m afraid that’s my fault . I super puffy heart love the dollar spot. And of course who doesn’t need more junk in their lives, right? (oh me, I SO don’t but it doesn’t matter…) Before I even really get into the store my cart is already full of “to do” notepads, ice trays shaped like shamrocks and cheap water color paints. Because who doesn’t like a cool drink with frozen shamrocks in March while writing their to-do list and watching their child paint, right? Certainly nobody I know…
But back to the four-year old. Yeah he likes the store but he also LOVES the catalogs we get in the mail. At the beginning of summer they sent one out with all the summer-ish toys and he practically slept with the dang thing and at this point it’s a little tattered. He pointed out 5 or 10 things he wanted in there and continued to do so over and over for about two weeks. Well, guess what came in the mail the other day? The back to school goodies catalog from Tar-jay. And guess who has already found his most favoritist things in there and wants to constantly call my attention to them? Yep, you’re right.
So since I know you are so interested let me just go ahead and share with you too the items that his little heart desires. And if you have your Back to School catalog handy, please feel free to follow along. On pg 9 he would like the kid’s meal that has mac n’ cheese, even though he’s not really a fan. Next, on pg 19 he wants the recorder at the top left. He doesn’t even know what a recorder is, but it’s mostly green (favorite color) so he’s in for that too. Oh and I almost forgot, he would like the play kitchen on pg 16 because he wants a kitchen really bad. And he doesn’t really care what color it is (pink is JUUUST fine). See we’re not into gender roles around here. Really were not. He would also like the entire bedroom set-up on page 20 even though he has a perfectly fine room already. And if you would be so kind as to flip to page 30, he wants the polka dotted tea set that you see there. Because my boy, quite a fan of the tea (not). Lastly, he’s in for all of page 34 because he loves ANY.THING. Thomas and the Geoair plane thing is just a bonus.
If you do not already have your fall catalog I am sorry for my rant but feel free to return to this post for future reference once you’ve received it. And be sure to pocket the $5 coupon on the back for a $50 purchase or more (not hard for us to do) as I did. So, no, I am not giving away free moolah to Tar-jay, but they are ! : ) And don’t worry, I won’t go there about how elated I was to see that coupon. Thank me later.
So, here’s your Tip of the Day: Make sure to hide said catalog from your kids when it comes in the mail. That’s what I plan to do from now on…
Thanks to Steph for letting me “take the reins” at her place for a day – what an honor! I love reading her blog and keeping up with her life. You can usually find me at The Miss Elaine-ous Life on the daily.
I am pretty sure that most of us “mommy bloggers” take a liking to Target (a.k.a Tar-jay, Tar-zhay, etc.). Perhaps it’s because whenever anyone in our facet of blogging mentions giving away a gift card from there I tend to picture an episode of Oprah’s favorite things where everyone in the audience is screaming and crying (from joy of course). And due to the amount of comments on any post I’ve seen in which free money to the bull’s eye is up for grabs, I just assume we all likey. I have to admit my heart starts to palpitate a little faster whenever I come across such a generous giveaway. At the beginning of the year I was lucky enough to win such a giveaway and be the recipient of a decent denomination of free cash to my favorite store and you would’ve thought that Miss Winfrey herself had shown up at my door I was so excited. Just proves it doesn’t take much…
Of course free money or not, I am a frequent customer and my four-year old seems to be following suit on his preference for the place. Whenever we go there he wants to head straight for the toys, of course and he also likes to check out the food section (yes, this IS definitely my kid) and the dollar spot. I’m afraid that’s my fault . I super puffy heart love the dollar spot. And of course who doesn’t need more junk in their lives, right? (oh me, I SO don’t but it doesn’t matter…) Before I even really get into the store my cart is already full of “to do” notepads, ice trays shaped like shamrocks and cheap water color paints. Because who doesn’t like a cool drink with frozen shamrocks in March while writing their to-do list and watching their child paint, right? Certainly nobody I know…
But back to the four-year old. Yeah he likes the store but he also LOVES the catalogs we get in the mail. At the beginning of summer they sent one out with all the summer-ish toys and he practically slept with the dang thing and at this point it’s a little tattered. He pointed out 5 or 10 things he wanted in there and continued to do so over and over for about two weeks. Well, guess what came in the mail the other day? The back to school goodies catalog from Tar-jay. And guess who has already found his most favoritist things in there and wants to constantly call my attention to them? Yep, you’re right.
So since I know you are so interested let me just go ahead and share with you too the items that his little heart desires. And if you have your Back to School catalog handy, please feel free to follow along. On pg 9 he would like the kid’s meal that has mac n’ cheese, even though he’s not really a fan. Next, on pg 19 he wants the recorder at the top left. He doesn’t even know what a recorder is, but it’s mostly green (favorite color) so he’s in for that too. Oh and I almost forgot, he would like the play kitchen on pg 16 because he wants a kitchen really bad. And he doesn’t really care what color it is (pink is JUUUST fine). See we’re not into gender roles around here. Really were not. He would also like the entire bedroom set-up on page 20 even though he has a perfectly fine room already. And if you would be so kind as to flip to page 30, he wants the polka dotted tea set that you see there. Because my boy, quite a fan of the tea (not). Lastly, he’s in for all of page 34 because he loves ANY.THING. Thomas and the Geoair plane thing is just a bonus.
If you do not already have your fall catalog I am sorry for my rant but feel free to return to this post for future reference once you’ve received it. And be sure to pocket the $5 coupon on the back for a $50 purchase or more (not hard for us to do) as I did. So, no, I am not giving away free moolah to Tar-jay, but they are ! : ) And don’t worry, I won’t go there about how elated I was to see that coupon. Thank me later.
So, here’s your Tip of the Day: Make sure to hide said catalog from your kids when it comes in the mail. That’s what I plan to do from now on…
Thanks to Steph for letting me “take the reins” at her place for a day – what an honor! I love reading her blog and keeping up with her life. You can usually find me at The Miss Elaine-ous Life on the daily.
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