Tiger Mom

 

Last week I read the controversial "Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother."

I thought I was going to relate to this woman.  I thought I would understand her motives.  I expect a lot of my children (relatively speaking) and I do believe in strict rules and good solid discipline (at least in my own way). 

I am a plush feather bed of momness compared to the author of this book.

My goodness.  What a book.  What a mom (in the loosest sense of the word).  The stories this lady told of her parenting were appalling.  I was completely shocked by some of the things that she thought were encouraging or motivational. 

However, I did come away from it feeling like I am a total hero as a mother.  So, if you need a parenting pat on the back, go ahead and jump into this story (if you want to borrow the book, just you let me know...although I don't really recommend it).  You will feel better about yourself.  I can almost guarantee it. 

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705365394/Book-Review-Battle-Hymn-of-the-Tiger-Mother.html

Gaga over telephones...

Yesterday PJ had a friend over to play.  About 6:15 I heard PJ and his friend chatting in the next room.  PJ said they should see if this boy could stay for dinner with us.  It wasn't a good night for that (for me...RS visits) so I started to head for that room to nip this idea in the bud for this time.  Instead, I found this six year old boy on his cell phone calling his mother on her cell to see if he could stay.

Yup, that's right, this six year old had his own cell phone. 

I was surprised, to say the least.  I really do understand getting your kids a cell phone, I have no doubt that we will get to that place in life at some point...but we're not there yet.  Starting at age six seems a little extreme for me. 

However, I do have to admit that I am super paranoid as a mom (reference TONS of previous posts for proof of that), so maybe I am just really out of the flow of things. 

This boy's mother is very responsible and super sweet, so I'm not trying to pick on her.  I just can't imagine what goes on in life that a 6-year-old needs to have his own phone. 

Still, I trust that families (in general) make choices that will most bless the lives of their family members.  Most people are good people and want to do good things so there must be a good reason for this and in reality it is none of my business.  It just made me pause and think for a minute.

Hope PJ doesn't start asking for a phone, he will be so disappointed when I laugh to myself and say "No."  My kids are awfully deprived.  Oh well, I'm doing the best I can just like everyone else.

Plant a big wet one on me!!!

This morning I was on the phone with Josh when my 1-year-old daughter wandered up to me and smooshed her face against mine to give me kisses.  I LOVE IT!!!

Even with a mess like this, she is still
extremely kissable if you ask me.

You have to know that Ellie does not easily part with her kisses.  They are a precious commodity around here.  So, when she planted a big wet one on me (complete with mmmmmaaaahh sound effects) Josh was super jealous.

To my delight, Ellie continued to share kiss after kiss with me and Josh got more and more bothered.  He even threatened to hang up on me (spoil sport!).  He got really upset when I told him she was scrunching up her face after each kiss (this is an adorable expression that she normally reserves only for her father).  

These are the moments make me nearly cry with gratitude for the chance to be a mom.  I am always grateful for the blessing Heavenly Father has given me to love and care for some of His precious children.  I may be a little less grateful when I have to scrape oatmeal off the walls, but a little twinge of thankfulness is still in there somewhere.  I really do love being a mom.

Science Fair

This week was the school science fair.  This is my first science fair EVER!  I never had to do this in school so this was all totally new to me. 

Bryce and his friend Quade decided to work together. I had visions of awesome exploding experiments with lab coats and plastic eye protection. They came up with the plan to try out some laundry detergents and see which one cleaned the best, so we went with that (I'm not generally one of those live vicariously through your children mothers). I was proud of them for putting it all together and coming up with an idea with very little help from their parents.

So we plunged into the fun one Saturday afternoon. Here is the low down.

The boys chose the detergents they wanted to try and the stains they wanted to clean (mustard, chocolate syrup, mascara and Root Beer??)

 Our kitchen magically morphed into a laboratory and we scientifically studied the cleaning properties of said detergents.  It was pretty thrilling.

 A couple days later the boys got together again to evaluate their results and put together their poster.  I think they did a great job.  (I tried to give them a little guidance, but they did the work on their own...this really is their project).

I am pretty proud of these guys.  I think they did a great job.

(P.S. The boys found that Gain cleaned the best of the detergents they tried.  I beg to differ.  I have not had the best results with Gain, but it was the clear winner this day.  Maybe it ate its Wheaties that morning.)

Famous

Last week I went to the KSL studios downtown to film a piece for a commercial.  That's right, I'm sorta famous.  Um.  Well, I did meet Shawn Bradley once and he was famous.  Does that count?

Anyway, so I managed to get downtown (thank you Mapquest...sad since I've lived in Utah all of my driving life) and then only had to flip one U-ey to meander myself into the Triad Center parking garage.  After some hesitant predatory circling I did eventually ram my Suburban into an unclaimed parking space...and then the fun began.

Yup, that's right ladies and gentlemen, I couldn't find my way out of the parking garage so I couldn't find my way into the KSL studios right next door.  This is sooooooo like me.

Eventually a sweet parking attendant helped me identify which direction I needed to go (although I could hear her laughing as I left...that's alright, I deserved it and I'm used to it).  Success!!  I made it to my appointment.

But then I needed to get home and it seemed like a good idea to try to take my car with me. 

I attempted to validate my parking which lead me to the bowell's of the building.  Another chuckling lady helped me navigate the labyrinth of hallways (there were really only two but it felt like more) to get to the security office.  That is where I discovered that I left my parking card in the car.

Can't validate a parking card if you left it in the car. 

No problem, I'll go get it and bring it back.  Yeah, right.

The tubby uniformed security officer pointed from his chair to an imaginary path leading to the elevator and (imaginary remember) my car.  I believed him.  I didn't realize he was the devil.

I parked my car somewhere with red stripes on the walls and "Triad 3" on the signs.  I wrote this down.  I do get lost.  I tried every single level that that elevator went to.  One was purple.  One was blue.  One was an LDS bookstore (no cars there).  None was red.  Great.  Now I am not only without my parking card but I have misplaced and entire level of a parking garage. 

Forget the parking validation!  I meticulously backtracked to the security office (avoid the unhelpful, chubby security guy) and up the other elevator until I reached the lobby at KSL.  I headed out the door.  Someone changed the parking attendant while I was gone so I had no help there, but I did still manage to find a red striped level and wandered around until I found the car.  Hooray!  It was a celebration.  No one brought champagne, but that is ok because I don't drink anyway. 

Then I went home.  That I can do.

It was a bigger ordeal than I imagined, but really it was just the parking that was the problem.

And now I am famous.  Ok, I'm not really, but after all that let's pretend.   



Proof that I did actually make it to the studio...and home...alive



Texts in the dark of night...

Last night, just after midnight, my cell phone twittered alerting me to an incoming text.  I hurried to grab the phone because the only people who have that number are family and to be texting after midnight cannot mean anything good.

I pulled up the text and was surprised to find a rather, shall we say, "colorful" invitation to come over to some random guys house for activities that I cannot repeat on my G rated blog.  I burst out laughing and woke Josh up (he swears he wasn't sleeping yet but bologna).  He didn't think it was so funny.  He went into his protective husband mode and wanted to throttle this stranger.

It was obviously a mistake made by what I assume (judging from his creative spelling and grammar) was a very drunk person.  I texted back that he had the wrong number (I don't need to keep getting inappropriate texts from strange men...my self esteem is more stable than that).  He immediately replied that I was still welcome to come over. 

No thanks!

I turned off the phone and went to sleep. 

Interesting evening. 

Frosty and Fries

The other day Josh's parents were here.  They are amazing and I adore them.  They splurged and brought us all lunch from Wendy's.  So, I promptly popped open Ellie's frosty (I did ask her first) and snaked a french fry through its creamy goodness then popped it in my mouth. 

My in laws gaped at me wide-eyed.  They already think I am a bit eccentric (I can face facts) but this was a new level of odd to them.  They had never heard of or considered dipping fries in a frosty before.

I am baffled by that.  My brothers and I have been doing this since Bananarama was fab and jelly shoes were the height of footwear.  I thought everyone did it.  Am I totally delusional?  Don't answer that, what I mean is doesn't everybody do this?  Huh.

Also, on a completely different note, my new favorite is Bruno Mars.  I want to pinch his adorable cheeks (the ones on his face!!).  Love him.  What a cutie, and he can even carry a tune. 

That's all for now.
Word!

(that's me being hip, just in case you were wondering)

Happy New Year...Back to School

There are all kinds of posts all over Facebook today by moms who are agonizing over sending their children back to school and who are missing them terribly now that Christmas break is over.

These posts make me feel guilty.

I adore my children.  I really do.  I love spending time with them.  I love gathering them around me to read a story or play a game.  I love the sound of their laughter and the beauty of their faces.

However, in reality, when all six kidlets are at home there is a LOT more fighting (Mooooom, he touched my...she ate my...he stole my...he's too loud...she's too close to me...etc. etc) and there are a LOT more messes (oh how I hate walking from a room I just cleaned only to find a mess in the next room, only to go back and find the same mess I just cleaned in the first room....aaargh!). 

It usually takes the first couple days of having the kids back on track for me to catch up on all the extra necessary chores that haven't quite been the priority while we aim for family time. 

Thankfully, the kids really love going to school (maybe they are glad to get a break from me too), so I don't have to feel too guilty about happily sending them back.  I guess it is a win-win.  They get to see their friends and eat lunches that don't include peanut butter and honey and have no one telling them to chew with their mouths closed or clean things up before they play a game.  I get a little more quiet and a little time to reclaim my house before the after school rush starts again (no wonder TV execs invented after school specials back in my day). 

I love these little people, I would gladly spend every waking moment with them.  But (don't tell them) I quietly breathe a sigh of relief when they go back on track for school, even though I do miss them just a bit as well.