Fools

Remember every choice has a consequence. You may kid yourself by convincing yourself that a bad choice feels right. The bad choices are the easiest ones to make. It’s the right choices that feels like work.

You can fool some people but there are others who will always know your true intentions. Often, they are the ones that keep quiet.

Don’t fool yourself, you are not fooling them.

It’s Back!

I have not written a blog post in months. Today, I am inspired to write one because September is my favorite month. The number one reason I love this month is because it is my b-day month and the number two reason is because of the Writer Mama’s September Giveaway. The Writer Mama writes a fantastic daily blog and each September has a super fun giveaway. Be sure to stop by and leave a comment.

Good Luck.

Happy September 🙂

THURSDAY THIRTEEN/DAILY GUARANTEES

Thirteen Things about Maribeth With four kids, a husband and two dogs life is guaranteed to get hectic at times. Chaos is what I know. I have had people ask me on many occasions, “How do you do it?” My answer is always the same, “There is a place in my mind that I go when life becomes frantic. I run through a field of flowers with a bandanna wrapped around my head, the sun is shining, birds are chirping and I am singing (okay so I’m singing off-key but no one could hear me so who cares). However, before I could run too far something always happens to jerk me back into reality, like tripping over a sneaker and falling flat onto my face while taking the bowl of cereal that I slapped off the cupboard in mid-fall with me. Sure, there are days I envision jumping off a bridge rather than running through a field of flowers. It’s on those days that I remind myself that one day it will be the chaos I miss. This week I will list thirteen daily guarantees with a family of six. 1…The garbage can seems to always be full 2… The dishwasher fills up very quickly. (Even with a dishwasher, the sink still accumulates dishes) 3… You can do three loads of laundry a day and still have more. 4… There is someone always hungry. (Despite the fact they just ate) 5… There is always someone thirsty (You pour one drink, sit down to do something and then someone else advises that they are now thirsty too.) 6… There is a spill at least once a day (Last night I salvaged the cheez-its my children left out in the rain only to have them fall out of the cupboard onto the freshly vacuumed floor minutes later) 7… Arguments are happening at all times (I was sitting there, I was watching TV first, Mom said it was my turn on the computer. Note to mother’s, it’s usually moments like this that I try to find my field of flowers) 8… There is never enough hot water for everyone to get a bath or shower (showers and baths must be spaced out over a few hours.) 9… There is always a mess somewhere (Trying to keep a tidy house with four kids is like trying to keep an up-do in a wind tunnel) 10… There are always too many lights on. I am constantly switching off lights to try to conserve energy. 11… Something always goes missing (like a homework assignment or a test that needed to be signed.) 12… Hugs and kisses happen constantly (This guarantee I like) 13…Everything will happen all at once as soon as you get the phone call you were waiting all day to receive.

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The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
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THE DISHTOWEL

When you become a mother, you quickly realize that you must start living life at the seat of your pants. Just when you think things are going okay someone accidentally knocks over your steaming cup of coffee onto the newspaper you just sat down to read. There are few constants with motherhood. Life changes day by day and gets more hectic week by week. There is one thing that you can be sure you will always need, a dishtowel.
A dishtowel becomes an important valuable throughout the day. In my house, we can never have enough. The day starts with a quick clean of the kitchen. The dishtowels conveniently wipe down counters, wash stray dishes and dust off tables and chairs. They serve as hot pads when opening the stove because the hot pads never seem to be around. They can act as placemats and napkins in a pinch or tucked into a belt loop in place of an apron. The dishtowel is a handy invention.
There is always at least one episode during the day that a child accidentally knocks the Spaghettios and meatballs off the table and it lays in a giant red heap on the floor. The last paper towel used only seconds prior to the incident. When all else fails, you use a dishtowel.
When the same child that accidentally knocked over their lunch sits looking at you with sauce wrapped around its lip and there is not a napkin in the house, you use a dishtowel.
The dishtowel is a mother’s best friend. Sure, we women would like to think diamonds are our best pals, but, in reality, the only thing we see sparkling are the counters we just wiped up. Thanks to the dishtowel.

A PIECE OF INNOCENCE BROKEN OFF

He burst through the front door holding a melting candy bar in the shape of bat wings.
“I won, I won”, he shouted. He was so excited that he was oblivious to the chocolate dripping through the cracks of his fingers. “We won five-thousand bucks and a trip to New York City.” My heart flipped, I too, became excited.

“Slow down, tell me from the beginning,” I instructed.

My son explained that he opened up his Kit Kat bar and found that it was in the shape of bat wings. All we had to do was take his picture holding the candy bar, send it in and then cash in on our prize. I had no reason not to believe him. Even my older daughter and nephew agreed to what he was saying. After all, he was with my husband when he purchased the candy bar. If it wasn’t true then surely my husband would have told him so. He found the golden ticket and was prepared to celebrate. I could remember being young and thinking that I would win the cereal box give away. Even though my father tried to explain that, the odds were against me I could not help but think I would be the lucky one.
Standing in the living room with my chocolate-coated son, I was hopeful and envisioning him receiving the five-thousand dollars. Then reality came through the front door. “I told you that you did not win, “my husband declared.
“His Kit Kat has wings,” I argued.
“They all do, it’s a promotion for the new Batman movie.” He looked at me with a bit of disbelief. The smile from my son’s face flipped and was now a frown. His head hung low, tears filled his eyes and the thrill from his face faded. I tried to comfort him. His innocence was endearing and my heart melted like the chocolate bar he held in his hand. When you are a child, anything is possible. Dreams are supposed to come true, Batman is real and winning is likely despite the odds. Kit Kat’s slogan is Break me off a piece of that Kit Kat Bar, that day a piece of my son’s innocence was broken off and unfortunately it will not be the last piece.

PICKLES, MUFFINS AND A PHONE CALL

I love packing my children’s lunches. I take my time and put lots of love in preparing a sandwich. Lunches include a snack, such as the ever-popular fruit gushers and maybe even a pickle or two. Finally, I add a juice box and a letter from Mommy and send my kids on their way.
Recently I thought all was well and my kids were happy with their lunches. Until, the one day my son came home screaming. “My lunch bag and my book bag smells like pickles, don’t ever pack me a lunch again!” I assured him that I would Lysol both of the bags and he would no longer smell the pickles. The pickle-packing incident caused me many headaches.
Shortly after the incident, my son decided he never wanted me to pack him a lunch again. This was not okay with me because, I only allow my children to eat in the cafeteria twice a week (because of the sodium packed foods). The morning temper tantrums grew unbearable.
“I don’t want a sandwich, I hate your sandwiches and my lunch bag still smells like pickles.”
Once again, I reached for the Lysol to spray out the inside and assured him there was no dill smell lurking anywhere. By the time they left for school, I looked like a train wreck dangling over a cliff and I felt like it to. Tantrums play a toll on a mother. The son who once ate every morsel of food I packed was now leaving everything untouched until, we discovered his love of blueberry muffins.
One morning, while packing lunches I had an idea, instead of packing a sandwich that he would not eat, I would pack him one of the mammoth muffins instead. I asked him what he thought of having a muffin for lunch and was pleasantly surprised when he answered, “Yes, I would love that for my lunch.”
Yay, I was back in business, packing a lunch my son enjoyed. There would be no more pickle-smell discussions, no more wasted food and no more temper tantrums before school. I skipped through the day, ran some errands and came home to discover a missed call from my children’s school. I quickly called back, hoping nothing serious happened while I was out.
The secretary answered the phone and said slowly “Your son…” My heart was in my throat, I anticipated bad news.
“Yes,” I replied trying to hurry her along.
“He was packed a muffin for lunch.” I waited for more, but there was nothing.
“Yes, that’s correct, as well as a few other things,” I answered.
“We just wanted to make sure that was all he was getting for lunch.” My nervousness turned into annoyance. “Yes, that was plenty,” I assured.
We hung up the phone and I began to stew. How dare they question what I gave my son to eat, especially on the day I finally got him to eat something. I called back the school and informed them I was offended by the initial phone call and would like to know why I was being questioned. The secretary advised she would relay my message to the teacher who was questioning my choice.
Soon after, a phone call came and it was the teacher assuring me that she just wanted to make sure the muffin was his lunch and not a snack. She proceeded to ask why I did not just allow him to eat a hot dog in the cafeteria because certainly all kids love hot dogs. What happened the next day? My son refused to eat a packed lunch. He threw a temper tantrum and begged to eat the school lunch. So much for my great idea, if the teacher only knew.

THURSDAY THIRTEEN-STOMP

Thirteen Things about Maribeth This past weekend I accompanied my daughter to NYC for a brownie trip. We had such a great day that will forever be remembered. It was her fist time there which made it even more exciting. We visited the Museum of Natural History, shopped at street vendors, rode in a cab, had our caricature done and saw the show STOMP. We loved the show, the performers were entertaining and very talented. It amazed me at their ability to create music from random every day things. This week I will list 13 things they used to make music. Have you ever seen the show? 1…. Brooms (they started the show with the whole cast making music by sweeping the stage) 2…Powder or Flour (They sprinkled it onto the stage and kicked it around also creating a funky beat) 3…Sinks (This part was so fun. They actually came out with sinks around their necks filled with water) 4…Plungers 5… Garbage Cans (used mainly as a drum) 6… Garbage Can Lids (Sounded like cymbals) 7… Newspapers (Who would have thought, but some how they pulled it off) 8…An assortment of Bags (Garbage bags, brown paper bags etc) 9… Soda Cup and straw (squeaky but clever) 10… Playing Cards 11…Hands (lots of clapping and awesome audience participation) 12…Barrels 13…Tubes If you haven’t checked out STOMP and you love creativity-it’s a must see.

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Gracefully Clumsy

 

Aah the joys of roller-skating, there is nothing like strapping on a pair of shoes with wheels, balancing yourself, then attempting to glide gracefully across a fake wooden floor.  Children look adorable wobbling back and forth while adults doing the very same thing look ridiculous.

My daughter and son surprised me with their skating abilities. Watching them zip around the rink brought a proud smile to my face. I was visualizing them as Olympic speed skaters preparing to take the gold and then reality set in. On the rink, my daughter was graceful. It was off the rink that her clumsiness resurfaced. One-step onto the dated paisley carpet and she was on her butt faster than I could say boo. She quickly pointed out that it was the kid in front of her that caused her to fall, if he didn’t move so slow she would have been okay. I smiled and nodded.

When she accidentally spilled a small amount of soda, she advised it was her younger sister who bumped her arm. Once again, I smiled and nodded.

The children gathered around the birthday boy to sing Happy Birthday, my daughter decided to stand next to me. Soon after the candles were blown out, she attempted to grab a handful of Doritos’s from the table. As everyone laughed and congratulated the birthday boy, they had no clue that within seconds the entire bowl of snacks and all drinks in front of it would fly off the table into their laps and onto the floor, compliments of my daughter.

The poor thing was embarrassed,what did she do out of nervousness? Lick her fingers. It would not be so bad except for the fact that those same fingers seconds ago slammed onto the germ-filled floor as she braced her fall.

As the guest looked in horror I swiped her hands from her mouth, smiled, nodded and prayed that she wouldn’t contact any disease.

A speed skater? Maybe. A balancing act-Never!

 

That’s my girl

My five year-old nephew loves to antagonize my three year-old daughter. It usually starts with him telling her there is a ghost. It ends with her running towards me, arms wide opened, tears in her eyes, pleading for help.

I have told him many times to stop scaring her, and I assured her that there was no ghost next to her. I instructed her to say “Whatever,” the next time he mentioned a ghost.

 I forgot about the conversation and my nephew stopped the teasing. As I made my bed, my daughter delicately painted her fingernails with some Barbie nail polish. My nephew walked up to her and whispered in her ear, “There is a ghost next to you.”

I heard the whisper and spun my head around, opened my mouth and prepared to scold him for making her upset. I never had to say a word; my daughter came up with the best reply.

She shrugged her shoulders, looked at him and said, “I know, I am painting its nails.”

He hasn’t mentioned seeing a ghost since. That’s my girl.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

REALITY TV IN THE BACKYARD

    

 Sunday, we finally had a whole day out doors. The kids flew out my back door as if they were prisoners released back into the free world. Life was good. I nestled into my comfy Adirondack chair with a hot cup of java and watched them from afar. My nephew called my three children into a huddle. I could hear him telling them to pick a celebrity. My oldest daughter quickly yelled out, “I’m Hannah Montana.” My youngest daughter advised that she would be playing the role of Cinderella. Because my son was taking too long deciding, my nephew informed him that he would be Chris Brown, while my nephew declared himself to be Usher.

     My curiosity piqued, I sat at the edge of my chair straining to hear where they were going with this game. My nephew acted as a director, instructing the actors what their lines would be and informing them of the rules of the game. They all had a mission; they were to catch the bad people. The four of them ran through the yard chasing down imaginary men and taking nosedives into the grass screaming out “I have been hit.”

     “Wait, we have to take a call from our boss,” my nephew said.

     They gathered around the rock garden and looked nervous as they waited for the big guy to call (I must say, they were good little actors).

     “The phone’s ringing, Justin is calling.” My nephew hushed the others, advising them het would take the phone call from Justin Timberlake. They assured Justin that everything was going as planned, hung up the invisible phone and took off throughout the yard again.

     For a moment, I envisioned Usher, Chris Brown, Hannah Montana and Cinderella running through my yard chasing down bad guys while answering to Justin Timberlake and thought-Maybe my kids are on to something. It could be Reality TV with a twist, where real life and fairytales come together fighting for a happily ever after. Hey, they thought up an interesting cast.