Just My Opinion

Just my opinion, means just that, the following is just my personal opinion.  I do not intend to offend anyone or criticize anyone's parenting style.

Having said that, let me begin.

After picking Cody up from dayschool today, he and I stopped to buy gas and a couple of fountain drinks (diet cokes to be specific...he is my child you know..lol).

As he climbed back into the car and buckled himself, the thought crossed my mind that I hated to see him grow-up.  I would like to keep him little forever, that he will always be my lil' man.

As this thought crossed my mind, I realized that for me this seemed rather odd. 

I began to think about the fact that I had never wished that the girls would always be little. 

That's when it hit me.  That contrary to popular belief, a child needs both a dominant male and female in their life.

Let me explain a little further.

You see, I have always been of the more liberal belief that as long as a child had at least one loving adult at home, whether it were male or female, that child did not necessarily need both a strong male and female in their life. 

That is until today.....

Somewhere between Cody climbing into the backseat and buckling himself into his carseat it hit me. 

You see as far as the girls are concerned I do not "baby" them.  I aspire to form them into strong, confident young women.  Women that do not need a man, that can hold their own in any situation.  Women that are self-confident because of who they are on the inside not what they have or what they are on the outside.

Chris has often expressed that I am hard on the girls.  That I expect a lot of them.  Where as I often think that he lets them get by with too much, that he "babies" them.

However, it appears that the roles are reversed where Cody is concerned.  I can often be heard taking up for Cody, expressing that he is just a "baby", that he is "little".  Whereas Chris can be overheard saying that Cody is too old to act in a certain manner.  Chris does not give in to Cody as I do. 

You see it takes both the male and female viewpoints and perspectives to rear a child, whether the child be male or female. 

The dominant female figure should be there to make sure the daughters are strong and independent, while the male figure ensures the girls do get to be "princesses" every now and then.

The dominant male figure ensures that the boys grow up to be strong young men while their female counterparts make sure that little boys get to be little boys for just a little bit longer.

Now, as previously stated, this is just my opinion. 

I am well aware that many productive adults are from single parent homes, and that many homes are much happier apart than together.  However, I think it would be safe to say that somewhere, whether it be inside or outside those homes, those children who will one day become productive adults are receiving the guidance they need from both a dominant male and female figure.   

A Blog Break

As I hurried to finish clearing the table, I thought to myself I must take a blog break.

I like these little blog breaks.  However, I must warn you that this break will be more of a rambling than anything important, funny, or serious.

I hesitate to even post.  It seems as though I have posted nothing at all today except the incoherent thougths of a slightly derainged woman.

Instead of completing my "Not a Lot to Do's", we traveled to Texarkana to spend the late morning through afternoon. 

Our little adventure started with a very crowded trip to Chuck E. Cheese.  Yes, we are aware that Saturday is the worst day to visit this "fun" place, but for some reason the father of my children mentioned this place to my children, and of course there was no turning back.  (Gotta love those fun loving daddies. ;) )

We browsed the mall making the usual stops of Children's Place, Bealls, Sears, and Romancing the Stone. (The hermit crabs always ensusre a smile no matter how many meltdowns have previously occurred.)

The return trip home is always a little easier when I make my usual run to Target and the kiddos receive treats from the Sonic's Happy Hour (of course my Diet Coke helps to aleve any mommy frustrations).

After playing outside in the warm evening sun, while I started the first load of dishes and the 3rd load of laundry, the kiddos and Chris have settled into a new Hulk cartoon while I take my blog break.

It has been an uneventful day, but none the less a good day.  :)

And if you have made it to the end of this post, thank you for sticking with me, and hopefully the next post will bring more than just the ramblings of an everyday Saturday.

Not A Lot to do Today

Been awhile since I have blogged, and yes, I knew that would happen.  It's okay though, not a biggie.  :)

Just a bit for me to do today, nothing major really.

Wash the dishes (at least three dishwasher loads will be done by the end of the day if we stay home).  Teaching little people to be "green" often produces many dirty dishes.

Wash many, many loads of clothes.  (I do not know where all of the these dirty clothes come from.  I really do think our neighbors sneak their dirty clothes into our laundry.)

Graduate work.  (We will leave that statement as is, for it will go long into the night. Long story short, multiple pages of assessing and classifying TEKS along with over 100 pages of reading in a very dry assesment textbook...ugghhhh.)

And of course, there is the food.:  breakfast, lunch, supper and ALL of Cody's snacks.  I swear that boy eats more than his father some days!

Of course, I may not do any of this.  Maybe we will just travel to Texarkana for a family outting and have a little fun.  :)

As Chris always says, "Those things will wait for you."  Unfortunately, they will.

Why am I telling you all of this?  No reason.  I really just wanted to blog and there wasn't much else to discuss at 8:15 am in the morning.  (This is a benefit to the children getting older.  Less happens before the hour of 9:00 am.  :) )

Hope everyone has a great Saturday!  :)

It will probably be a double blog day.

Be Careful What You Wish For

Many years ago, well over 11 years ago at least, after visiting friends who had recently built a home, I told Chris that if we ever got married I did not want the "picture perfect" house. 

He looked at me rather strangely, so I went on to explain.

I don't want a "home interior" house.  The kind where everything is in its place, as if no-one lives there.  I want our house to look lived in......to feel lived in.

It seems that God was listening that day, and as he looks down upon my little lived house, I'm sure He smiles as He thinks of the day that "I want a lived in house." passed from my lips.

For some reason last night, this mother of four and teacher of 120 needed sleep, so the dishes from supper are helping me create the "lived in look."

And as we rush out at 7am in the morning, the mess of making lunches and fixing the breakfast just seem to have to wait until later.

And of course the laundry is always helpful in creating "MY" picture perfect home.  :)

So as the above photos continue to call out my name, it seems as I have approached the moral of our story,

"Be careful what you wish for!"

(And yes I am aware one should not end a sentence with a preposition...LOL!)  :)  (Sorry, still a little teacher left in me this early in the evening.)

Always in Motion

As we sat together as a family watching American Idol, I began to ponder what I would blog about tonight. Writing has never been a forte of mine, and honestly it is a little intimidating to think that I am attempting to blog every night.

I just kept thinking, "What will I blog about? Nothing cute or funny or sad has happened. Maybe I'll just skip out on tonight's writing. I'll use my grad work and papers that need grading as an excuse."

As these thoughts crossed my mind another thought continued to occur, "I really wish Cody would get still. Can he not just be still???"

As his little toes kept poking into my legs and his feet kept kicking me over and over again, tonights blog became quite evident......Cody...lol...

I swear I don't think that boy is ever still.

On the few occasions when I have allowed him to crawl into bed with us, I have actually laid awake and tried to count the number of seconds that he can go without moving. In the attempts to count, I don't believe he has ever made it past 20 seconds.

Even as he sleeps he moves.

Never still......always moving.........

I should not be surprised by his inability to remain still. He has always been this way, even before birth....constantly moving.....always in motion.

So instead of telling him to get still, I invited him to snuggle, because I know it won't be long and he will no longer desire to poke me with his toes or press his feet into my legs.

Missing the Lil' Folk

I chose to post a pic of the kiddos today, because I have missed them.

You see Monday's are very hectic for me.......

Our day starts as usual around 6:00 am. All lil' folk are dropped off at their respective schools by 7:30 am.

My day at school begins at 8:00 am and continues until around 7:00 pm when grad school is complete.

I then make the 30 minute trek home.

It is a long day and by the time my weary soul reaches its resting place, my little people are about ready to hit the hay and start all over again.

Yes, I have missed the hustle and bustle of homework, feedings, and baths, which is nice to take a break from every now and then, but unfortunately I have also missed the laughter, romping, and playing.

So tonight I simply smile at their beautiful faces as they sleep peacefully in their beds, and know that tomorrow will be a new day. :)

Proud Math Mommy Moment

Blogging More

I have decided to give blogging an honest shot. There have been many times that I dove into blogging full force. Changing the layout, adding widgets and what not have all graced my blog. But honestlly, that was much more of a layout/control issue. How good could I make this look and what could I add to it....part of my technological addiction that I seem to have acquired since I no longer have very small children (infants and young toddlers). You see instead of strolling down the baby aisle at Target or Wal-Mart, you can now find me in the electronics department crooning over the latest iPod or its accessories. In the past year, the words of, "I need to go to Best Buy." have even crossed my lips. Something you would have never heard even 2 - 3yrs ago.

My point is the fact that even though I claimed to blog I never really became a true blogger. You see a real blogger does not simply change layouts and add widgets. They post blogs...imagine that...LOL! So I am going to try and update my blog much more often. And even though the next statement pains me, I am going to try and wean myself from Facebook. Ahhhhh....that hurt a little. Today I have done well. I have actually blogged twice. Made it sort of a rolling blog...not sure if that term is correct.

To tell you the truth, the reason I want to blog more is so that I have a record of the "little things" that my children do. You see sometimes I get so caught up in surviving life that I forget to enjoy it and even more sadly I forget to enjoy the little people and little things that they do. So hopefully by blogging just a little everyday, I will be able to look back and cherish the little moments in life that I sometimes take for granted. :)

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Proud Math Mommy Moment

Yesterday after annoucing that everyone had to wear long sleeve shirts, Cody stared at me and said, "Mommy, you are not wearing a long sleeve shirt."

"Yes, I am see?", I replied.

"No, Mommy, you are not. It does not go all the way down." Cody insisted.

"Well....It is what we call a three-quarters sleeve. It does not go all the way down." I tried to explain.

He paused for a moment staring at my sleeve and then at his.

"Well, if yours is a three-quarters sleeve then mine must be a four-quarters sleeve because it does go all the way down." he stated so matter of factly.

He then smiled and ran off to continue terrorizing his sisters as I sat there in awe.

Now yes, I am well aware that he had no idea what he had said, nor would he actually ever respond with the same reply in the same situation again........but for that brief moment, this math mommy was quite consumed with joy and pride at the thought that her four year old had just understood the concept of fractions. :)

Artic Blast

Now, I must admit that I am not one for the cold. I dislike it VERY much. Personally, I would like to live where it never drops below 72 degrees. I do believe that this artic blast just might do me in. In the approximate six years that we have lived on the lake, I do not believe I have ever seen the lake behind our house freeze. We awoke this morning to find a thin sheet of ice covering our lake. Upon first thought, I truly believed that it was because Cody had gotten me up way too early, but at 9:30am the thin sheet of ice is still hanging on. Burrrrrrr.......it is waaaaay too cold for me!!!!!!!!!!! So after venturing out to catch such a phenomenon on film (even though my camera does not use film..lol) we will obviously be staying in for the remainder of the day. Hope everyone stays warm!!