Think People Think

I don't understand restaurants. A local restaurant, and a favorite in our family, includes a bite sized rice crispie treat with the children's dinner. It is nice to have a dessert included with your meal, but why in the world would you bring it out on the plate along side the kid's meal.

The extra touch is enjoyable - not a huge dessert, not an overload of sugar - but it annoys the beejeebees out of me! While six and eight year olds are capable of understanding the dessert-is-last concept, two and a half year olds aren't as mentally equipped. They know what is inside the metallic blue wrapper. True, mom can grab them off the plates, but sometimes mom's arms aren't fast enough especially when reaching for two. It seems eighteen month olds also whine for the packages that crinkle. Only good stuff comes in packages that crinkle.

Dessert on the meal plate is a recipe for tantrums. Next time I have to remember to ask the waitress to skip the treats. Funniest part? They also have suckers in a fishbowl at the front door. One treat is sufficient in my book.

-Sara

La La La Laundry

It only took me four years of living with Ryan to come up with an efficient method of doing laundry. We are very excited!

I am not one to be good about remembering when to switch the loads. Anytime I get started I wind up getting sidetracked.

I can't stand it when Ryan does the laundry. He simply grabs whatever he finds and throws it in all together. I freak out!

I do enjoy folding and hanging up clothes, but I LOATHE putting it away. It winds up sitting on my formal dining room table until a baby or four show up and yank it onto the floor.

Not anymore!! We figured it out. I sort. Ryan runs and cycles it in the machines. I fold and hang. Kids and Ryan are in charge of hanging up and putting away in drawers. Ahhhhh. It sounds simple and obvious enough, but I was too much of a control freak to ever split up the chore.

Now that I am finally on top of the laundry, I can focus on switching out the clothes to match the season and start consigning!

-Sara

Good Morning Sunshine

I am finally awakening from my blog slumber. It wasn't a fun few weeks. I thought I was doing pretty well by blogging through the four weeks of nearly full time training, but the end of the whole process threw me for a loop.

It all started with a few incidents between my children and the MomBFFs children. It sparked a . . . I wouldn't call it a fight, because we didn't yell or argue . . . I would say it was a few discussions that ended by having to agree to disagree. Feelings were hurt.

The end result was a decision to take a week off from each other until we could figure out the next step. I didn't realize how that would affect me. I am assuming most friends taking a break wouldn't be a major ordeal, but we are extremely close families. Many people think we are polygamists we are together so often. For us, a break meant no school carpool, no twins over on Monday and Tuesday, no trips to the gym, no thrift shopping, no sewing, no crafting, and no hanging out to watch our Wednesday shows. I was truly heartbroken even though it was I who suggested the break.

I felt like a failure as a mother and a friend. Thank the Lord the break was just what we needed. The following Sunday MomBFF said, "Can my kids come back tomorrow or should I find actual daycare." I immediately told her to bring them over. I was elated. I missed them terribly. Crazy right? Missing Twin B - or Elle as she is called after the fabulous movie Legally Blonde - was understandable. Who wouldn't miss a prissy toddler who puts her toys away and looks oh so adorable doing so with her pink purse slung over her shoulder? Missing Twin A - or Jack as we call him . . . after a donkey - was the surprising part. He is a mischievous monkey who starts all the trouble. Okay, not all, but he is a handful. I missed him the most! He is so sweet and lovable you forget all his antics.

After getting the other half of my family back, I went into a slight depression of other sorts. I wasn't feeling like a woman. I was so engrossed in motherhood, stepping it up as a babysitter, and repairing a wounded friendship I began to feel like I was letting myself go again.

A night at work changed my perception. If you have never heard of the five love languages, go check it out. If you are a personality quiz junkie, this one is a good one. Anyhow, my top love language is words of affirmation. I need to hear how amazing people think I am. I know, big shocker. Two customers I dealt with last weekend were able to pull me out of my depression with a few phrases.

The first customer was a big flirt. We played the game well, including an exchange of such phrases as "If you weren't married I would totally hit on you" and "If I wasn't married I would totally take you up on it." He validated me as a woman!

The second customer was an older gentleman. I love old guys, especially ones that carry themselves with pride. He asked me, "Are you new here?" When I told him it was my third day he said, "Your knowledge and accuracy is spot on." I went home on cloud nine.

They were both being polite customers, but I doubt they know the full extent of what they did. They pulled a middle aged woman out of a sluggish mood. Here is a shout out to John and Patrick. You made my night :)

-Sara

New results

Poll Results!

When is bed time for the little ones?

18% - before 7:30
45% - 8:00
18% - 8:30
18% - 9:00

I have to admit, I was surprised no one picked the "It varies" choice. My oldest daughter was a night owl who woke up at the crack of dawn no matter how late she went down. It took me three years of school to finally get her down before 9:00 on a consistant basis!

-Sara

Little Eavesdropping Moment

So I was at Taco Bell today, having lunch with a co-worker when I heard the most amazing thing come out of the mouth of a little boy that was having lunch with his mom a couple of tables away. Now, I don't make it a habit to listen in to every one's conversations, but since becoming a mother, I seem to have this knack of being able to hear and understand the words of children more now than I used to...at least I seem to catch myself noticing kids more in public than I used to. Anyway, as I was taking a bite of my soft taco (delicious...btw) I hear this boy of approximately 6 years of age say to his mom, "Mom, this is the best day of my life!" He said it with such gusto and excitement. It really got my attention. The mom asked him what made this day so great, and he replied with yet another attention grabbing statement that I think would grab the heart of any mother. "Because you made it the best day, mom." I'm not kidding. That's what he said. I then caught the two of them sharing a quick peck. It's those little moments that make parenting worth all the work. How many of us get the pleasure of hearing our children tell us that their day is the best just because we're in it with them? My warm fuzzy "mom" moment was shattered when I realized that she probably didn't have many more years left where simply taking her son to Taco Bell for lunch would qualify as one of the "best days of his life". How soon is he going to want to stop kissing her in public, yet alone talk to her when there are other people around. Kids, they grow so fast. I hope all of us can have a special "Taco Bell" moment before our kids find something or someone else to give them the "best day of their lives".

-Marie

February Fall Outs

Sorry I haven't blogged in awhile. Karma has been kicking my pants. I am hoping with the arrival of March things will turn around again. I really never thought I would come across a February as horrible as the last year, but this year came damn close.

The job stuff is going great, just busy. Everyone is relatively fine. Just stuff. Will have to get back to everyone when I have more time to let the thoughts dribble out.

-Sara