So This Stay-At-Home-Mom Isn't Perfect...

As a married mother of three kids that stays home as a "Homemaker" (honestly, I never got a Contractor's License so I cannot build homes, but oh well) I am in charge of overseeing all the operations of the home. I'm also a waitress at mealtimes.

I'm a cook (though not a very good one). I'm a maid (also not the best in the world, but I do try, seeing as I DO have THREE kids). I'm an accountant (though I suck at math). I'm a Secretary (who has to jot down names, numbers, and pay the bills and fight with the bank now and then).

I'm the dish washer and the seamstress (that doesn't sew, but can do a mean job of throwing laundry in the washer/dryer and fold it...but not big on putting it away). I'm an Assistant Teacher who helps their kids (the best I can) with their homework (having Advanced/Gifted Student children DOES NOT help).

In between all of that, I am also a wife, a lover, a best friend, a companion to my husband.

Also, I volunteer at the school as much as I can. But also with the Winter setting in, and being that I don't drive, that five-minute walk in severe cold (basically anything under 45 degrees for me) can be costly )financially and health-wise), that soon will take a back seat for a while.

And also, I am to be the Schedule Keeper. I make the appointments, see that we go to the appointments and try my best to juggle appointment times around everyone else's (hubby's work and kids' school) schedules. Last night, I failed. Ooopsies!!

It honestly slipped my mind about Bryce's appointment with his Psychiatrist. He sees him basically monthly for a medicine check and to see how school and family/social life are going, and see what modifications need changing or added.

Thankfully Bryce said that I needed to get Daddy up because he has to see Dr. K (only providing initial for privacy issues) at 5:00. As I looked at the clock, it was 4:23. I sprang in to action and started yelling "SOCKS AND SHOES...NOW!". And I had to scare Scott awake by almost pouncing on him like one of my cats to tell him to get up NOOOOOW.

Just think, it was a smooth-running Monday morning (for once, which is rare) for getting ready for school. Then this old Mom went and wrecked the rest of the afternoon (hence not making home-made tacos) thanks to her brain having a short.

Let this post make you see that while I know (yes, by experience) that being a Working Mom is no cake walk in the park, I can honestly say, being a Stay-At-Home Mom isn't all it's cracked up to be either.

Messages. The CORRECT way to pass them along. Teacher Edition.

So far, Bryce is having a rough start in school. At least where homework is concerned. And I told him, as well as myself, I refused to go through this again.

Last year, it was Hayley, and then it spilled over in to Bryce as well. They would do their work, but not turn it in. Or they "forgot" to do certain assignments, and not turn them in.

Almost daily, from around the middle of last school year, until almost the very end, I was getting notes home in Hayley's agenda saying she didn't turn this or that in.

Now, I am already battling this problem, the second week of school. And I said that I will not tolerate this, nor do I wish to do this again.

This past week, Hayley has come home, only to tell me that Mrs. So-and-So said for HER to tell me that Bryce did not have this for class, or didn't turn this in for class.

See something wrong with this picture? I certainly do!

What business do these teachers have of telling Bryce's older sister (who is one grade higher, and has been through these teachers last year) to relay messages to me? She is NOT their student any longer. They are no longer HER teachers. And she is NOT his mother. I AM!!

So, this morning, they ALL will see the note that I addressed to all of the Fourth Grade ladies, requesting (in no uncertain terms) that they no longer give his older sister messages that are meant for me concerning her little brother...Seeing as these things do not concern her. And for them to WRITE A NOTE to send home with her OR with Bryce that is concerning him.

Why..? Why put a ten-year-old child in the middle of a "grown-up" matter that does not even concern her? That's just ludicrous.

Let's hope my little note side rails any more message passing. And that his seeing it in his agenda will deter him from wanting to miss anymore assignments. Seeing as he is now four days without computer time and TV time as punishment.

Perfection Perception... Fail.

Ya know what? I wasn't planning on writing on here at all today. I was going to jot some stuff tomorrow. But now, I HAVE TO SAY IT! You all know me well enough by now, that if I have it on my mind, I have to type it out.

Well, technically, I already did. Over at Momster.com. But I felt that I needed to bring it here too. It's a smallishly tweaked version of what I said over at the Fan Page for Momster.com over at Facebook. I tweaked it so that it has an overall umbrella addressing ALL parents, not just moms. Because, I have seen and heard fathers say the exact same thing.

So, without further ado...


I'm sorry but some parents are INSANE when it comes to grades..."Expects NOTHING less than an A"??? WOW! Talk about pressure. That is expecting WAAAY too much.

All three of my kids are advanced and I know that they have wonderful potential. But I REFUSE to say "you cannot earn LESS than an A". Your kids can't fill the void that (maybe) you lacked when it came to school grades.

And while they are smart, they CANNOT be perfect at EVERY single subject. It's unrealistic to think that.

I'm perfectly fine with a C or better. D is cause for concern and a talk. An F constitutes concern, the talk, and privileges taken until grades improve.

Parent's expectations HAVE TO BE within reason. Saying you only expects A's and nothing less is being in an imaginary world.

How would you all like it if (even though you have the potential) your parents told you that if you don't get all A's, all the time, that you would be in trouble. And think of the CONSTANT pressure and fear. Do you REALLY want that for your children?

What a Week it Was!! Vacation, redecorating and partying...Oh My!!

It was nice. It was not-so-nice. It was everything in between. It was my husband's first of three week's worth of vacation time for this year.

We had fun spending time alone. For the most part. He did A LOT of work both inside, as well as outside the house. Mainly painting the living room, the dining area and the bathroom. As well as placing border up in all three of said rooms as well. We did a "Rustic Country" theme in the living room area. Then, a "Country Modern" type theme in the dining area. We then went "all out" in the bathroom with the Lighthouses theme. It was started months ago with a bath mat and outside shower curtain....Now we got the rest of it done.

How? By spending more money than we REALLY wanted too! The cost of the three rolls of border and the coordinating paint came to a whopping $162.00 freaking bucks!! The paint was only like 40. But the border did us in, being we had to go to a Specialty shop.

Then, we went and bought some flowers for the back yard, as well as noticed that some of our Perennial flowers have sprung alive again (like the one by my basement foyer area).

Sure there were some arguments and spats. What else would you think would happen to a couple stuck together 24/7 for a whole week. Add in a kid's birthday party and it can be so stressful that the Devil himself would stay away. Especially being that I have been PMSing and just HAD TO "start" the day of my son's party.

Plus toss in getting his gift that we had to hunt down, getting the last minute stuff for it, setting it up, seeing that basically almost no one showed that was invited from both family and friends from school that were invited to attend (note to self...only invite the ONE and only kid from school that showed up out of 12 invited next year and any other CLOSE buddies of his).

Yep, it was a wild ride to say the least.

Here are a few pics from the past week....Party and home.

I refuse to "save" my children from every little thing that life throws at them!

Just a while ago, my oldest daughter, Hayley had called me from school. As soon as I see the school's number pop up, I think Bryce is having a bad day or someone is sick.

Turns out that Hayley had "forgotten to bring her homework back to school". Social Studies to be exact. I then looked all over the house for the work she claimed she didn't have as she stayed on the phone with me.

All the while I let her know that she needs to be more responsible for HER work. Not just in doing it, but of also making sure that it is where it belongs after completion so she can take it back to school and properly turn it in.

This is going to sound harsh, maybe even a bit mean, but I do NOT "save" my children when it comes to school work that they have forgotten.

If I do, it's only ONE TIME during the whole school year. And the older two know of this. They know that I flat out refuse to help them when they are old enough to be responsible individuals for their own school things. Be it homework, pencils that should be in their case and in their bags and their text books.

What would happen if I ran down to the school and handed them their forgotten homework every time that they misplaced it, and not having it to hand to their teacher?

What lessons would come from this? Nothing but that mom will always be there to get them out of a jam.

WRONG! My children WILL learn self-reliance, responsibility for their actions and their belongings, and gain better self-esteem.

The only way to do that is to let life it's self teach them. And that means suffering consequences for their actions. Including forgetting their homework.

I'm not a "helicopter mom" type. Never have been, and never plan to be. I'm not one to stand over them every second, take them to the doctor for every little sniffle, or make them eat every scrap of food on their plate.

Sure, I will make sure that their education is up to par, that they eat MOST of their food, and take them to the doctor when all other remedies have failed to cure whatever they have.

But they also need to learn things that I obviously cannot teach them myself. They will have to learn certain things on their own as life for them goes on. What better teacher do we have then ourselves?

Science Project....At the mall?! PI Mom is on the case!

Hmmm....I love how in motherhood, you have all these different rolls. Especially if you happen to be one that stays in the home to raise the family and be a Homemaker. Such as I am.

Who knew that one day, you would have to add another 'hat' to your already long list of "jobs that go with the territory of being a parent"?

As of today, I have put on a new hat. One I was hoping wouldn't be placed upon my head for at least oh... another maybe couple of years. Instead, it got slammed on my noggin this morning.

Now, we all know that girls love to go to the Mall. Even if they can't purchase a thing. Just being there is like a fly being mesmerised and drawn to that bug lamp light. It's inevitable. They will go to it, no matter the cost.

Well, I get this sudden "notice by word of mouth" that Hayley has to go to the mall TONIGHT to meet up with her little friends and do a Science Project.

***SCREEEEEECH!!*** Hit the brakes there!....

A SCIENCE project meeting....At the mall......With no PRIOR notice of said project or meeting via the teacher, or calls from the parent(s) who set it all up?

Hmmm.... Suddenly, I donned my 'Investigation Private Eye Mom' hat on top of my skull.

Then I drill her for information. Like where are they meeting within the mall, who is SUPPOSED to be there (as in her friends), what the Science Project is revolving. All the fun questions.

As I need and want answers to all of my "what the hell are you talking about?" questions, Hayley stammers, looks away in to thin air I'm thinking in the hopes that the answer will just appear before her eyes, and then stammers even more with each word she explains with.

All in all, I said I wanted names, parent's names, phone numbers and an explanation about this so-called Science Project that I didn't even know existed until now.

Begrudgingly, Hayley answered me and said she will be getting the phone numbers today. Personally, I think my daughter just wants to go to the mall. Not for a meeting about a Science Project either. She is only ten, people! I didn't see this coming for at least another couple of years.

Figures, her brain is catching up to the rest of her!! She is already big for her age, advanced in many school subjects, and mentally mature by about three years of her peers. Now, she is trying to outsmart me like a teenager!!

Dearest Household Family...

After giving this much thought, I have decided that it is once again time to tell you....

KISS MY ASS!

I'm (once again) tired of consistantly cleaning up after each and every one of you. All of you in this household are now old enough to clean up after yourselves.

Yes, including the five-year-old 'Princess Skyler'. What kind of crap are you teaching our "baby" when you all decide to leave dishes and glasses laying around, trashing rooms and not bothering to lift a finger to pick up after YOURSELF, not flushing the toilet after taking a mondo-sized dump that would put Shrek to shame....And the list goes on. Need I keep going?

Good! I'm glad that you have the general idea of my predicament.

Over the last (now five) weeks, I have been a bad little girl when it comes to following my Doctor's orders. That included bending at the waist, and lifting. 

Primarily because I have had to follow you all around like the Merry Maid you apparently think that I am and place your crap back where it goes.

Hubby, I am sorry. But you have been the worst out of all of them. You are too supposed to lead by example. As of late, it isn't happening.

Although, I do and must give you credit. You do on occasion do the dishes and the laundry. That in its self is a big help. But you do leave your dirty clothes in the most oddest of places, not in the laundry room, in a hamper, or in the designated bathroom area. Nor have you been too helpful in the 'put the glass in the sink after carrying back up the stairs/being finished with it' department either.

Anyways, I figured I would just let you all know how I felt. There are no ill feelings per se toward any of you personally. I'm just tired of doing everyone else's job (around the house)...No matter how small it is

What are YOU thankful for this holiday season?

This morning, I sat here and it suddenly dawned on me, that in one week, it will be Thanksgiving Day. And it will also mean my kids will have an extra two days off from school to drive me completely and utterly insane.

Of course, this is the holiday where people are thankful. For what they have, who they have in their lives, and so forth.

You know, the usuals. We are all thankful for our jobs (for those that are employed, especially in these very hard economic times), our families (even those pesky inlaws), for our homes and other neccessities in life. And even for the not-so-needed materialistic things that we have.

While I'm extremely grateful for all of the above myself, there is one special thing in particular that I am more grateful and thankful for this holiday season. One thing more than anything else in the above list. Yes, I think honestly even more than my children....

My eyesight.

In a flash (literally) it was gone from my left eye. I could barely see any light through it.

After a failed "gluing" procedure done on my Perforated Cornea, that was "blown out" by a skin infection that went to my eye, and my own clumsiness, I required an emergency Corneal Transplant surgery. Even though my eye was still heavily infected. 

Really, it was a gamble. Either do it, and chance possible failure (rejection) and lose my whole eye. Or just take the eye and get it over with.

There is only one way to retrieve a cornea from another person's eye. That is to remove the cornea from a deceased donor who was gracious enough, and had a kind enough heart to donate their organs and/or their tissues after death.

Within not even a week after surgery, I had my first huge break through. For the first time in about two weeks, I was able to read the first big letter, and a second set of letters on the eye chart. I could see a hand waving their fingers from about two or three feet back. And I was able to discern light from dark. 

Now, I'm able to get the first maybe two or three lines of an eye chart. Believe me, my Periphrial vision and judgement on clearing things on my left side are still problematic. But I deal with it. It's especially hard if I have to wear my protective eye patch. But it's all worth it.

Because, thanks to a fellow human being's final act of love and kindness, I am able to watch with both eyes wide open, my children grow, be happy, and one day have their own children.

God had truly blessed me and my life. He has given me and my family something special this year. And it's a gift that I hope to have until He calls me home to be with Him. He sent me an angel that day. That angel is my Cornea Donor and their family. May the Lord bless them as He has blessed me.                                        

Wacky Wednesday!

Believe me when I say, this Wednesday has certainly lived up to it's name thus far. And it's just the beginning!

Bryce decided he would run and "speed walk" through my upstairs from the time he got up, until the time he went outside to the bus stop. Gotta love the "hyper" in ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder)!

But at least this has been now three days with having a GOOD school morning. Praise God for that. Most days, it's fussing, fighting and like pulling teeth to get Bryce to get ready for school.

Plus Hayley is in so much trouble, it's not even funny. Yes, today is her birthday, but it does NOT mean she gets a repreave from punishment.

She is for the most part, great at doing and turning in her homework. Not for the last two weeks though, apparently. And I shockingly found that out yesterday as I was working the school's Book Fair yesterday.

No Math assignments have been completed, nor turned in, or studying been done for two whole weeks. Her Math teacher and I both got on her yesterday and have come up with a plan to ensure that the homework is being done.

Plus, until further notice, no after school TV, no computer time (at all) and she must complete her assignments in the dining room only, where I can see her.

This evening, Bryce has a Psychiatrist appointment. After that, I need to go get Hayley's birthday present. Then it's dinner at six o'clock at the Golden Corral Buffet Restaurant for her birthday party.

Now, can you see why I am thinking of doing a Wacky Wednesday post? It seems that that is the one day where I completely lose my ever-flippin' mind!