Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Mixed Messages Via Nyquil

For better or worse, I am a very light sleeper. The only thing that can truly knock me out for a full night of uninterrupted sleep is a dose of Nyquil. With this said, I only use this sleep aid if the stars are aligned or I am sick and Todd is home.

So here I was with a terrible head cold, a husband out of town and two small children. I didn’t want to use the Nyquil because I wanted to make sure I could hear the kids if they needed me in the middle of the night. So I relied on my box of tissues, three stacked pillows and Sudafed, which I had to sign for at CVS. My efforts, while notable, did not result in restful sleep on Tuesday or Wednesday night.

On Thursday evening I was watching TV when my iPhone beeped, alerting me to a magical text. Todd had boarded the airplane for home and would land around 10:30 pm. Hip, hip hooray! I could finally take a nice long swig of Nyquil and pass out, knowing daddy would be home if the kids needed him or Tobi needed to go out during the night. I turned off the living room lights, blew out the candle on the kitchen counter, headed upstairs (I already had my PJs on) and set my alarm. I did leave the foyer light on for Todd, because I am thoughtful like that, but somehow forgot to blow out the second candle I had lit on the desk.

The first thing Todd saw when he opened the front door after a long day of travel was the candle. He immediately thought I was welcoming him home with romance. He left his suitcase by the door and came upstairs to find…..

His wife passed out with a bottle of Nyquil beside her. Sorry, honey, I have a head cold!

True confession of the day: The Nyquil gets me every time.

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

20 Questions

My kids are really good at asking questions. Some of their questions are funny, some are insightful and some are easier to answer than others. Here are 20 of their most memorable ones, in no specific order. How would you answer some of these?

Can I go back in your belly?

When you married Daddy, did you have any other choices?

If Tobi doesn’t have hands, how does she clap when she’s happy and she knows it?

If soda is not good for you, why do you drink it all the time?

What happens if I wake up when the Tooth Fairy is in my room?

Why do girls have two private parts on their bodies and boys only have one?

Mommy, what is half your name?

Did Jesus climb a ladder to get to heaven?

If we leave cookies for Santa and a carrot for the Easter Bunny, what do we leave for the Tooth Fairy?

Are you making me go to bed just because the Yankees are playing and you don’t like them?

Where can we get more babies?

Do we have to eat at home again tonight?

Why can’t you get rid of the commercials? You know they make me crazy.

Mommy, when will you be 2 ½ like me?

If I poop on the potty, will you take me to Target again?

I poop on the potty every day, why can’t I get a prize at Target like her?

Do you have to take me to school today?

How does the moon stay in the sky?

Do I smell like Daddy?

Why do the angels like to bowl so much?

True confession of the day: I really don't have all of the answers.

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Picking out the Right Names

Picking out the right names for my two children was very important to me and my husband, but not easy. We were picking names based on what we thought their personalities would be. We also had to keep in mind that their names had to fit them as a baby, as a child, as a teenager and as an adult. We also had to consider the following questions: Will the kindergarten teacher be able to pronounce it correctly? Would it roll off the tongue of the announcer at the high school baseball and soccer games? Will it fit in the heart drawn by their first girlfriend / boyfriend? Would it look right on their college diploma? Will it sound right between the words “I … take you to be my wife / husband? Needless to say we felt some pressure in naming our children.

I am still enamored with the names we chose and am grateful that they fit their unique personalities. Tyler Michael is thoughtful, focused, strong, funny, smart and insightful. Molly Nicole is spirited, independent, energetic, funny, smart and determined.

The names also go well in the following combinations, which I failed to consider when picking them.
“Tyler Michael it’s time to get up.”

“Molly Nicole please pick-up the toys.”

“Tyler, Molly, it's time for dinner. Please come to the table.”

“Yes, Molly Nicole, you can pee in the potty.”

“Tyler Michael, you can’t avoid vegetables forever.”

Then of course there are nicknames for each child, which also seemingly fit their personalities. I don’t know where some came from or why they are necessary, each child answers to them.
Tyler is also known as Ty Ty, Tee Ty, Ty, Buddy, Buddies, Boo, Boudreaux and Pal. Molly is also known as Moll, Moll Moll, Molls, Baby Girl, Girlfriend, Baby Girlfriend.

However, when all is said and done, I still prefer to call them my son and my daughter. That rolls off my tongue pretty well!

True Confession of the day: I did like the name Camir Comeon Howe, but I was overruled (thank goodness).

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Making the Lyrics Her Own

I have become a big fan of The Voice on NBC. The talent this season has been amazing and the interaction between the judges is always amusing. What I like most about the show is how the artists are encouraged to make the songs, “their own.”

Maybe Molly will end up on The Voice someday, because at 2 ½ years old, she is already putting her own touches on some very popular children’s songs.
Here is a sampling:

“Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stairs.”

“The wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round, round and round. The wheels on the bus go round and round, all through our kitchen.”

“Ring around the rosies, pocket fulll of posies, Ashley, Ashley, we all fall down.”

“A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, two, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, N, Z.”

 
True confession of the day: I had a stomach ache from laughing!

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Countdown to 40 Begins Now


In just a short 365 days, I will turn 40. In honor of the upcoming milestone, I have put a bucket list together. Some of the items are fun, some are a little intense and some are truly necessary. I invite you to read the list, comment on items, join me in doing some of these things and most importantly help keep me accountable and motivated.
In no particular order:  

·         Learn how to drive standard shift to cruise around in the Mustang

·         Lose the weight and get healthy

·         Run a 5K

·         Spend a long weekend in Vegas

·         Have a family portrait taken

·         Complete 40 acts of kindness

·         Learn how to make my Mom’s Danish Puff

·         Watch ET all the way through without interruptions, while eating Reese’s Pieces

·         Finish my kids scrapbooks

·         Take a Zumba class

·         Eat authentic Indian Cuisine

·         Raise at least $1,000 for the Alzheimer’s Association

·         Get off of my blood pressure medication

·         Eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (I have truly never had one)

·         Blog, blog, blog

·         Learn how to make fudge using my grandmother’s recipe

·         Thank 40 people who have influenced me

·         Buy a pair of black knee high boots

·         Make peace with the past

 
True confession of the day: I think this list is doable.


Monday, November 5, 2012

A House Divided: Change vs. Hope

It is the day before the 2012 Presidential Election and I am living in a politically divided house. The amusing part is that it is not Todd and I that are divided. In fact we took advantage of early voting in North Carolina and cast our identical ballots (at least when it came to the Presidential and Gubernatorial races) last Thursday. It is our children, Tyler and Molly that are divided.

The other day, while eating his breakfast, Tyler announced that he was voting for Mitt Romney. I asked him why? He thought about it for a minute and said very seriously, “Barack Obama just hasn’t done enough to keep me safe from thunderstorms.” At that moment I saw a glimpse of what was important to my six-year-old son. His sense of innocence and reasoning impressed me. However, I did tell him that it isn’t the Presidents job, any president’s job, to keep him safe from thunderstorms. This time he didn’t have to think hard before he spoke, “Well it should be.” Then he went back to eating his bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios.


Yesterday the TV was on in the living room while the kids were playing. Molly happened to look up as a clip of President Obama speaking at a rally came on the screen. My two-year-old turned her body around and dropped the doll in her arms. “It’s Barack Obama. Mommy, its Barack Obama,” she said, clapping her hands and jumping up and down.

Fast forward to this morning when Tyler reminded me that there was only one day left until the election. I told him it was going to be a close call, but I was confident that when he got up Wednesday morning, we would know who was President. His response, “President Romney sounds pretty good.”

True confession of the day: I am glad that my children are excited about the election, but only one of them is voting the way I did.


 

Friday, November 2, 2012

Misinterpreting Homework

I have to admit that Tyler’s homework assignment this week seemed a little complex. Using toothpicks or Q-Tips and glue, he had to make a square, a triangle, a rectangle and a diamond. We tried the toothpicks first, but for some reason the glue was not sticking to them very well. In an attempt to avoid frustration (mine and his), I got the Q-Tips from the bathroom closet. However, once again, the glue wasn’t sticking well – Q-Tip to Q-Tip. There was plenty of glue on the table and on our placemats.

I told Tyler not to worry, because I had another idea. Why not reinforce our four shapes with scotch tape? This idea made Tyler smile once again until he asked his next question: “How am I going to get these four shape structures to school tomorrow? Feeling rather confident, I again told him not to worry, as I pulled a baggie out of the drawer. We attached the baggie to his homework journal, which went into his book bag and we headed upstairs to get him ready for bed.
Fast forward to this afternoon, when I told my colleagues about how much trouble Tyler and I had getting the glue to stick. My work friends couldn’t believe that the glue didn’t stick to the paper. My response was quite simple, “what paper?” It had never crossed my mind to have Tyler glue the Q-Tips to the paper in his homework journal. They laughed even harder when I said I used scotch tape to reinforce our structures before placing them in a baggie. Okay, so if my friends were laughing at me, Mrs. Anderson (Tyler’s kindergarten teacher) must really be laughing.

So I sent Mrs. Anderson a quick question via email: “How were you expecting the kids to display their shapes?” Her response was priceless: “Ha, ha, ha! I was thinking you would glue the Q-Tips to the paper. But what you did was great!”
How would you have interpreted the assignment?

True confession of the day: I think it is time to let daddy help with homework for a while.