Life | Page 27 | Minivans Are Hot

Puttin’ on our big girl pants

February 18, 2010 by Kelli

I have a confession to make…sometimes the blogging thing gets to me. I love blogging, I really do. I love the record that I’m keeping for my kids. I love knowing that despite the craziness of life, there’s always something I can write about that makes me smile (and hopefully you all as well). I love the connection that blogging gives people, particularly mothers. I love a lot of things about blogging.

There are times, however, where blogging gets a little cumbersome and even annoying. I have to fight the longing and hope for lots of comments (it sounds so petty to say, because deep down I don’t need comments, but sometimes, when you pour a lot of energy into something, it can feel discouraging when there is little feedback). I’m working on that nasty little aspect of my blogging personality.

And then there is the pressure of trying to come up with something interesting to say. Again, I am working on not trying to please and just writing for the pure love of the written word. But the fact of the matter is that I do feel the pressure to be engaging and to write in a way that encourages others, makes people smile and honors my family. And sometimes I just want to walk away – scrap the whole blogging thing and give up the internet altogether.

But the idea of facing the withdrawals is so terrifying that I continue to indulge, if not for myself but for my kids and for family members who enjoying keeping up on our lives.

And because I’m addicted.

There – I said it. I feel better already.

There are other aspects of blogging that I find to be terribly discouraging as well. One of them is the viciousness that the online world can bring out in others, particularly women. It’s terribly sad and thankfully the hatred and gossip is not directed at me, but I am always aware that it only takes one person who disagrees with you to suddenly make the blogging experience a negative one.

You see, the beauty of blogging is that it gives anyone and everyone a platform. The blogsphere is inundated with soap boxes, and that is precisely what it was designed to be. And I’m all for people expressing their opinions – but sometimes, if one soap box crowds another – well, it can get ugly. Here’s the deal – if I enjoy reading a particular blogger’s opinions, I will usually do so (even if I don’t necessarily agree with them), but if I don’t enjoy them or the way that they write, then generally I choose to stop reading. It’s as easy as that. I don’t leave nasty comments, I don’t start hateful blogs in retribution and I don’t vent my hatred for everyone else to read.

In short, I try not to cyber fight. Because there’s no point. Life is too short to get your panties in a bundle over someone who shares a different viewpoint than you.

So recently, when I saw some pretty vicious attacks against a fellow blogger and a fellow mother, I was pretty sickened by it all. So much so that I wanted to shut my blog down and walk away from this little hobby of mine. It may seem silly, but part of me doesn’t want to be identified with the pettiness that can ben associated with blogging (particularly mom blogging) Of course, I’m not going to shut down my blog. The viciousness isn’t directed at me and I don’t even know the person they are attacking personally, but seeing how terribly hurtful mothers could be toward one another caused me to feel so discouraged. I just don’t get it.

If you don’t agree with someone? That’s fine! You’re entitled to your opinion. I’m sure there are some of you who read my blog who don’t agree with everything I say or do. I welcome dissent (respectfully, of course) and I hope that people feel the freedom to share disagreement with me. What I don’t agree with or understand, however, is hateful speculation and false claims without any basis to back up said claims. You don’t like the way a woman writes about her everyday life? Again, that’s fine. But don’t accuse her of being abusive or neglectful of her children or worse, using her child as a cash cow. Those are serious allegations and they are coming from other mothers! I thought we women grew out of this type of behavior in junior high, but sadly that’s not necessarily the case…

Here’s my opinion – if you don’t like what someone says or how she acts, then you should privately go to her, make her aware of it, then walk away and leave it at that. But to start an anonymous blog just so that you and others can make accusations and waste precious time digging up dirt on a fellow mother is just so disheartening and sad, not only for the blogger under attack, but for those who are so desperate to attack her.

There is danger in this online world to somehow separate ourselves from the reality that is life. We can be whoever we want to be, say whatever we want to say and attack whomever we want to attack without repercussion because we are doing so under the umbrella of “free speech” and “keepin’ it real.” I say, let’s live honest lives, not take ourselves too seriously, and get over ourselves.

Life is so short. And I certainly don’t want to waste the precious few moments I have to make an impact in this world harboring jealousy and hatred toward someone I will probably never meet. I would encourage everyone else to do the same. Blogging should be fun. It has the potential to be a special glimpse into those moments in life that pass too quickly. I am working on enjoying this thing called life and living in reality, not in the 15.6 inches of computer screen that sit before me right now.

With that in mind, I will continue to blog, not for the benefit of having my ego stroked in the comments section, but rather for the benefit of knowing that someday, hopefully, I will be able to look back and see a life well lived.

And now, I shall pack up my soap box and move on.

A few asides – one that pertains directly what what’s written above and two that have nothing to do with it at all…

Though many of you are probably already aware of the website to which I am referring and the nastiness that is being directed toward other bloggers, I would appreciate not discussing any of them by name in the comments. I’m not writing this to get into a cyber fight – as I said above, life is too short to engage in such nonsense. I purposely avoided naming names for that very reason. 🙂

For any of you reading this who are interested in learning more information on book publication, I recently led a Lunch and Learn that very topic and wrote up a couple of posts on the St. Louis Bloggers’ Guild site. Check it out if you’re interested.

Next week, I will be leading a break-out session on blogging at the Ladies Nite Out event at my church. If you’re interested in hearing me yammer on about blogging for a bit, then check out this website for information on how to sign up. If you want to come and have no interest in listening to me yammer (and I don’t blame you) but would like to check out some of the other fabulous topics, then go ahead and sign up! It will be a fun event.

Filed Under: Blogging, Life, Motherhood

So we’ve got this snow

February 16, 2010 by Kelli

While I have not hidden my dislike for the season called winter, I have to admit that snow, when it’s just snow, is good fun. And we’ve had good snow this year. Usually St. Louis, being the armpit of the US, gets the nasty leftovers of everyone else’s weather. Which means that we get ice instead of snow, or we get a dusting of permafrost while North and South of us is pummeled with powder.

But this year, like much of the rest of the country, we’ve seen much more snow than usual and it’s actually good snow. And, while I’m more than ready for spring to, you know, spring into town (*groan*), I have enjoyed seeing the kids romp and slide down snow covered hills, munch on the frozen ground covering and make endless angels from one end of the yard to the other.

Because it was a holiday yesterday, we braved the frigid temps to join our neighbors and sled one more time before all of this lovely snow beings to melt. This means that yesterday got away from me so there are now piles of laundry laying all over the house, dried shoes prints on all the floors, dishes piled in the sink and a wicked smell coming from the fridge due to chives that were left unwrapped. And all that needs to be dealt with today. So I’m going to leave you all with a few shots and get to work putting my house back together.

I hope you all are enjoying the cold weather and snow as much as we are! But, the question begs to be asked – are you as ready for Spring as we are?

Filed Under: Family, Kids, Life

The Winter Blues

February 11, 2010 by Kelli

It’s that time of year. The time of year when Lee and I both being ramping up our desire to move to Florida. The time of year when I drool over beachside properties. The time of year when I just struggle.

It’s the time of year when I look at pictures like this one, which I took last June in South Caicos, and get a lump in my throat as I long for heat, shorts and the smell of salt in the air:

I’ve never thought of myself as a bluesy person, but I’m really feeling bluesy this winter. Part of it is hormonal, I know that. I’m still trying to get things in order after the third born and my body is still not working the way it’s supposed to be working. But a lot of it is just this feeling of blah that comes with being cooped up a lot.

I’m tired of school schedules. I’m tired of the day in/ day out routine. I’m tired of everyone being on top of each other, fighting and bickering. I’m tired of trying to keep the house clean and fighting things like dripping snow boots and layers of clothing. I’m tired of laundry and I’m tired of the TV. I want to send my kids outside and know that they will stay there for a solid hour, expanding their imaginations and exercising their little bodies. Even they are feeling sluggish and blah.

We’re all just tired.

When I was growing up, our family moved to Wisconsin for six years. Wisconsin – the land of the never ending winter. I remember my mom getting very tired of the cold weather and snow and thinking she was loco. Snow was fun! The sledding, the snowmen, the igloos we built in six foot drifts. It was a blast!

Um, I get it now. Winter is not fun as a grown up. Sure, I might enjoy it if I got to sit inside in my jammies all day long reading a book in front of a roaring fire. But I don’t get to do that.

The monotony of winter is what really kills me. We can’t run out to the park to get out the afternoon squiggles; we can’t go to the Zoo to satisfy the itch for exploration; even running minor errands becomes a chore as we have to pile on jackets and sweatshirts – and then there’s the 6 year old, who hates, nay – loathes – wearing pants. It’s a day to day struggle to get him to dress appropriately in the cold weather.

I’ve given up, by the way. I’ve decided to pick my battles and when we are home, if he wants to wear shorts and a T-shirt, he’s welcome to do that. He knows to put on a sweatshirt if he gets cold.

So, I’ll quit complaining and get on to my question. What do you guys do to break up the monotony of winter? How do you fight the winter time blues with your kids? What are some fun activities you do with your kids to keep the TV off and keep them from killing each other?

Suggestions are not only welcome, they’re imperative to my sanity.

Filed Under: Family, Kids, Life, Motherhood, Random Tagged With: Winter blues

The Minivan Mom Runs – Part 2

February 9, 2010 by Kelli

It was 1994 and we were in Spanish Wells, Bahamas for a family reunion. I know, awesome place for a reunion right? There are some definate perks to having missionary grandparents.

This was the summer that it became apparent I would no longer be able to compete in the high jump at school because of back issues so I was trying my hand at running. Spanish Wells is 2.5 miles long and a half mile wide so I mentioned that it would be fun to run around the whole island.

“I’ll go with you,” my cousin Sean piped up.

“Great!” I said, glad for the company. And especially glad that it was Sean as in my eyes he was the bees knees – he still is. I have a lot of admiration for him.

“I’d like to come too, if that’s alright,” my Uncle Cletis said from across the room. He’d recently begun running himself (or maybe he’d been running for awhile, I forget).

“Fun!” I exclaimed. “We’ll go early in the morning before it gets too hot.”

Except, there was just one thing. It was the hottest summer EVAH down there. Which meant that by 7:30 am, which is when we rolled out of the house, it was already in the ’90’s.

About a half mile into the run, I realized I’d made a grave, grave error. Graaaaave error. My first clue came when I looked down at Sean’s calves as he kept pace in front of me. They were thin and muscle-ly.

“Do you run a lot?” I heaved, sweat dripping into my mouth.

“I have been,” Sean replied. “Actually, I’ve been biking a lot. I’ve been doing 70-80 mile bike rides along with my runs.”

“Oh,” I said, swallowing hard. I think Uncle Cletis chuckled.

A mile into our trip, I thought I was going to die. The only saving grace was the fact that the scenery was spectacular. Then we came to a place in the road that was blocked.

“Let’s just run this stretch on the beach,” Sean said all perky like. Honest to God, I don’t even think he was breathing hard. Not one to give up and be left behind I agreed with as much enthusiasm as I could muster and we headed onto the white sandy shore.

Running in and of itself is hard. Running when it’s 10,000 degrees out is harder. Running in 10,000 degrees on sand is torture. As we jogged next to the crystal blue waters and I stared at Sean’s legs, I realized that I’d bitten off way more than I could chew. But I would not give up. I told you – competition killed the cat.

The last half mile did not find me hitting any kind of stride. While the guys picked up the pace (just slightly…they were being nice to me), I huffed and puffed and no longer tried to pretend I was having fun. I’ll never forget the sight of that house as it came into view. I won’t foget it because there were angels flying above singing “Hallelujah” as white doves flitted in and out of the windows.

It was glorious.

And I didn’t run with the guys again that week.

I am two weeks into my new committment of running. I’m doing ten minutes miles now. I’m waiting for it to get easier so I can up my time a little. I didn’t have a lot of time to run last week due to kiddos having colds and being unable to go to the gym, but I’m back in it this week. I will up my distance to a mile and a half next week.

I still don’t like running. But, I have to say, I’d much rather be doing it on a Carribbean island, staring at my cousin’s legs than at the gym staring at the backside of the guy in front of me.

Just sayin’…

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FYI – I wanted to make you all aware of a couple of things coming up. This Saturday I will be leading a Lunch and Learn session for the St. Louis Bloggers Guild on publishing for the Popular Market. The official title of the seminar is “So You Wrote a Novel – Now What?” It will be from 11:00-12:00 at the Stone Spiral Cafe in Mapelwood, Missouri.

Also, on Friday, Feburary 26, our church is hosting a Ladies Night Out from 6:30-10:00. There are 13 different breakout sessions to choose from, one of them being blogging, which I am leading. I will be discussing the ins and outs of blogging, some do’s and don’ts and how to monetize your blog. Beginners and advanced bloggers are all welcome. You can find out more information on how to register here.

Happy snow day to you all!

Filed Under: Exercise, Life, Running Tagged With: The Minivan Mom Runs

Brain dump

January 14, 2010 by Kelli

With the temperatures warming up to a balmy 42 degrees, I am snapping out of my rebellion against all things weather. We took the kids sledding at the local park again the other night. I’d love to share pictures or video to document, but I brought the digital camera without the media card inside it and the video camera had roughly 45 seconds of battery power. Awesome. Go mom!

But I can paint a word picture. I’m better at that anyway. I have to say that snow is a huge perk to cold weather because sledding is good fun. And finally, Praise be to God, Tia realized what fun it could be. Within about 15 minutes she was sledding down the hill by herself laughing the whole way. It’s a pretty steep hill so the sled gets to moving which means her laugh was a combination of terror and delight.

Sloan brought a neighbor friend with him and they were practicing boy law by competing for who could be the loudest and could say “That was awesome!” the most. I think they tied.

Then there was Landon. I wasn’t sure about how he would do. He’s a little guy…a little guy who loves sledding! He would plop himself down face first on the sled, curl up in a little ball and bark, “Push!” And Lee and I, like Pavlov’s dogs, would comply. We’d run beside the sled about half way down the hill to keep it from picking up too much speed, then we just let him bounce the rest of the way by himself.

He came up with a grin every time.

In the words of my six year old, “It was tooooootally aaaaawesome!”

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With colds and fevers circulating around our house, we’ve had a couple of rough nights sleep. There is nothing worse than having to get up in the middle of the night when it’s freezing cold and stumble out to the kitchen to get water and medicine for a crying child. So last night, I decided we were going to be prepared.

Before bed, I rubbed down everyone’s feet with Vaporub. It works wonders. I don’t know how, but it does. I plugged in mentholated vaporizers in their rooms and they were all asleep by 7:30. And I went to bed knowing that I was prepared thereby ensuring that I would maximize my own sleepage (should be a word).

And nobody woke up. They all slept through the night.

It’s amazing what being prepared will do!

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My heart hurts for Haiti. Pictures like this one bring bitter tears to my eyes. (The picture is graphic and it involves children- I just want you to be prepared.) Lee and I talked with the kids today about the earthquake and how we can help them as a family. Sloan remembers the small earthquake we had here a couple of years ago so he kind of gets what happened.

We told them that we were going to be sending some money in to help with the clean up and rebuilding and suggested that they think about what they could give from their wallets. We decided to give them the freedomt o give as much or as little as they feel they need to give.

I’m interested to see what they decide to do.

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Today is my nephew Eli’s 7th birthday. We love that little boy – particularly Sloan. He and Sloan are two peas in a pod. I wish we lived closer just so those two could spend more time together.

Happy Birthday, Eli!

___________________________________________________________________________

I’ve run out of things to say. Shocking – I know.

Filed Under: Family, Kids, Life Tagged With: Haiti Relief

Battoning Down the Hatches…or something like that.

January 7, 2010 by Kelli

Well we didn’t get the eight inches of snow they were predicting yesterday (it looks more like 3-4 inches to me) but it’s still flurrying a bit out there so we’ll see what happens. The kids are enjoying their first ever snow day and right now are all piled up on the couch in their soggy pull ups and diapers watching Micky Mouse Clubhouse.

The weatherman says that the snowstorm is finished (but what does he know?) but our temperatures will be falling throughout the day. Falling from 17 with a windchill of 1. They’re saying by midday we should have wind chills hovering somewhere around -15 to -20. I told you the other day about my extreme hatred for cold weather. It makes me all flustered and cantakerous.

To compound things, Lee is currently at the airport waiting on a flight to take him to Phoenix for a work meeting. Phoenix…where it’s warm. (mutter, mutter, grumble, grumble)

So, like Ma Ingalls, the children and I shall power on. We will survive our manless estate during these record low temperatures. I will brave the weather so my kids can sled down the small hill in our front yard. I will throw salt on the driveway and shovel away some of the snow. I will churn the butter and bake corn bread from scratch…

Okay, I’ll probably just rip open a box of Mac and Cheese. I’m more of a modern day Ma.

And we will likely spend most of our day inside where I pray the children do not eat each other alive. If you try to call later and I don’t answer it’s because I’ve locked myself in my bedroom and curled up in the fetal position.

Hopefully all our together time looks like this:

Happy and Gettin’ Along:

We’ll drink hot cocoa and eat the oatmeal cookies that Landon and I made yesterday:

Yes, we will enjoy this snowy morning and we will gather before a roaring fire when the wind chills dip to dangerously low levels. We will read books and eat cookies and watch movies.

It may not be so bad after all.

Filed Under: Family, Kids, Life Tagged With: Winter snow storm

I’m married and dating a younger man!

January 5, 2010 by Kelli

Did you ever fear when you got married that you would miss dating? That you might long for the excitement of going out with someone new and different – the butterflies, the joy of a shared moment, smiles exchanged, hands held?

I will confess – I did worry about it. It wasn’t a worry that kept me up at night or made me question whether or not I should marry Lee, but I did think about it some in the months leading up to our marriage. I was barely 22 when we got married. I was very young and I knew that by marrying so young I was giving up a bit of “life.” In fact, when Lee proposed to me I was only eighteen months out of my teens.

In short, I was a baby.

Of course, I didn’t think that at the time. I felt more than grown up and I was mature enough to step into marriage. But looking back at it now, 22 seems so very young.

So yes – a couple of times during our engagement, I wondered if I would miss dating. I worried that maybe the thrill of the chase would be over and I would never get to experience that excitement again.

Now that I’m so old (eyeroll), though, I have a little perspective. First of all, I’m happy to say that I still get excited to go out on a date with my husband. How naive I was to think that marriage would squeeze an ever tightening noose around the neck of excitement. If anything, I get more excited to be alone with my husband now than I did back in those early days when I took for granted the endless alone time we had. My husband can still make me giggle and he still gives me goosebumps when he comes out all dressed to the nines and dapper. That didn’t die when we said “I do.”

But, I also now have the opportunity to date someone else. And going out with this young man gives me a new and different kind of excitement. When he smiles at me, my stomach flutters and my heart skips a beat when he holds my hand in public. And he’s only six years old. I never imagined it could be so fun to date my child. Seeing his eyes light up at the prospect of having alone time with me is better than any new romance I ever experienced in college.

I also get to date my daughter. Tonight she and I went swimming at the gym. Just the two of us. We giggled and laughed. We talked directly to one another without interruption. We played and splashed and hugged and kissed. And I had the time of my life. And soon Landon will be old enough to date – although I have to say that the alone moments he and I get when the older two are at school are priceless and precious.

So gone are the feelings and fears that life will somehow be monotonous with the same person day in and day out. I experience a lot of feelings on a day to day basis and I can guarantee you, monotony is not one of them. I am dating more now than I ever did before and while Lee and I don’t do the best job of carving out alone time with one another, the fact is we don’t really have to. I’m perfectly content sitting right here with him as he plays LEGO Star Wars on the Wii and I type away on Lucy. I don’t need the fancy dates that I needed back when I was but a whipper snapper.

I just need my husband by my side and my children close by and all is well.

Although a glass of wine would be nice too…

Excuse me.

Filed Under: Family, Life, Marriage, Sloan, Tia Tagged With: Dating after marriage

In which I ramble on about nothing

January 5, 2010 by Kelli

It’s cold outside. Not brrrrrrrrrrrrr chilly. It’s freeze your face off cold. It’s single digits with wind chills below zero cold.

My husband is checking out real estate in Florida and in the Bahamas. He typically starts this process every October and it tapers off around mid-March. It’s like clock work.

I loathe cold weather. I despise it. I’m not a cussing kinda gal, but if I were this weather would lead me to make sailors blush.

Just to remind you – it wasn’t that long ago that I was here:

I know – that picture makes you want to cry doesn’t it? So ya know – I’m allowed to gripe about the weather. Gripe, gripe, gripe…

Coffee gives me a stomach ache. But I’ve stayed up way too late the last two nights so coffee has been a necessity. It’s either a stomach ache or mommy the zombie.

I drink coffee so rarely that I don’t even know how to make a pot of it. I think I’ve made all of three or four pots of coffee in my life. Good thing Lee got this coffee maker for his birthday. It’s going to make addicts of us yet. And grown ups. Because there’s nothing that makes me feel more like a grown up than a cup of coffee in the morning.

Seriously, I tried to clean Lee’s windshield while driving the other day and the water froze as it sprayed out leaving streaks of ice up and down his windshield. That’s how cold it is. I almost cussed. But I’m not a cussing kinda gal. See above.

It’s Day 5 of the new year and I’ve already slacked on one of my resolutions. My goal is to be more productive with my time. One of the ways I’m hoping to do that is by getting up earlier in the morning and getting my writing done before the kids get up. I’d also like to be dressed before they wake up so that the mornings run more smoothly. I did great yesterday and I was super productive.

But Lee and I stayed up too late the last two nights. Did I mention that already? We’re busy watching Season 5 of The Office. We got it for Christmas. We only planned on watching one episode, but the show is so doggone funny that we couldn’t stop.

In order to accomplish the aforementioned resolution, I think I need to add to it that I get in bed at a decent hour.

My hands are cold right now as I type this. I got new gloves at Target the other day. They have no fingers so I can wear them while I type. They look kind of like this – only not as cute…

And I’m wearing them right now. My hands are warm…but my fingers are still cold. Not totally sure what the purpose is, but I’m going to wear them anyway.

My husband is a bit of a nerd. He keeps yammering on about Facebook and how ridiculous he thinks it is. He’s leaving nonsensical status updates. Right now I do believe he is claiming to be a Greek god on his Facebook page. As nerdy as it is, it’s making me laugh.

I think that means I’m also a nerd.

Okay, I think it’s time for me to close this out. I need to make a second cup of coffee. And I need to put on another shirt because I’m freezing my arse off. It’s not cussing if you write it with a Scottish accent is it?

I also need to start the car. If I let it run for the next 20 minutes it should be warm when we have to leave to take Tia to school. Did I mention it was cold outside? If any of you hear of a job opening in the medical device field in Florida or the Bahamas, let us know…

Okay, seriously – I need to go. This not a productive use of my time. I’m failing abismally at my new year goal.

Stay warm everyone!

Filed Under: Holidays, Life, New Years, Random

2009 – A “Wordy” Review

January 3, 2010 by Kelli

I got this idea from C-Jane’s blog. I’m not quite as spunky a writer as she is, but I liked looking through my 2009 posts and remembering the fun and crazy words that composed and marked the past year.

January:

– The Inauguration: Thoughts From a Conservative: This was one of my few ventures into politics on my blog. I don’t do it often, but sometimes the urge to comment on the political temperature of our country gets the best of me. Political posts always lead to interesting comments. I also ended up on the news during this particular event.

– Boredom Leads to Strange Things: An Epic Battle: In which Sloan and I developed an entire story using his Star Wars figurines and a doll house.

Feburary:

Hoops and Tears: This was one of my more poignant and introspective posts of the year. I don’t often venture into the recesses of my heart on my blog, but this was a decisive moment in my year and it’s a prayer that my heart still whispers for my child.

The Master Cleanse: A Reflection: Perhaps one of the funnier moments of our year. This was the description of mine and Lee’s abismal attempt at the Master Cleanse diet.

March:

Minivans are HOT!: I got my new site up and running with this post.

Memo to My Husband: My kind (and fecicious) way of asking my husband not to screw the lids of the kids’ sippy cups on so tight.

April:

Sick and Twisted or Just Plain Funny?: If my children ever end up needing professional counseling, this post may contain some explanation as to why.

Easter Blunder: My husband made a man blunder on Easter Sunday of all days. It made for a great memory…and gave me a reason to laugh at him – good naturedly of course.

May:

Can I Just Go Back To Bed?: The Infamous haircut heard ’round the world. It was Sloan’s lone foray into hair maintenance – he was fired, effective immediately and lasting for all of eternity.

The Art of Taking Tea: A friend and I threw a kick-butt tea party.

June:

The Lotus in a Field of Mud: I love yoga – I just don’t understand it…

Why I’m in Turks and Caicos: I got to take the trip of a lifetime with my mom as we travelled to her childhood home in South Caicos. It was amazing.

July: This was a big posting month for me…

Six Years: My baby turned six. *sob*

Then and Now: I took these comparitive shots of Landon on our favorite stretch of beach.

Heavy and Light: In which I go all introspective again.

I’m sorry but it’s all I’ve got today…: My pitiful, yet painfully honest, admition that I would gladly allow Zac Efron to make a Cougar out of me (though since I’ve written this post I’ve been informed that a woman in her thirties is actually referred to as a Puma).

August:

On Immunizations: I ventured into another hot topic and posted our decision to alter and withhold some immunizations for our children.

Missions Week: I hosted my first Missions Week in which I featured missions organizations and missionaries that are near and dear to my heart. You can read all of the posts by clicking on the link at the top of my page.

September:

The President’s Address to Our Children: I got political again and in doing so stepped in a big pile of *&%! This particular post ended in me getting an email from Fox and Friends to be interviewed on their morning program. Unfortunately I was out of town when they needed me and was unable to do the interview.

A Party in the Heavenlies: My son asked Jesus to be his Savior. A momentous day for sure.

October:

Don’t let the door hit you in the –: The one where I admit that sometimes my mothering skills are reduced to clapping my hands.

Pumpkins and Funnel Cakes – A Lovely Combo: I worked on taking and posting better photographs with this post.

November:

I Blame it all on Them: This post found me lamenting my dying brain cells – a phenomena I blame entirely on the children.

Mature Woman my BLEEP: My dermatologist had a severe case of verbal diarrhea.

December:

The Three Wise Men, The Construction Worker and the Lady Down the Street: This one is pretty self-explanatory.

The One Where My Mom Claws Come Out: I almost had to take a girl out at the mall. Don’t make mama bear angry!

Whew – It’s been a fun ride, this blogging thing. I’m so glad I have these stories documented and I’m so grateful to have you guys journey with us. I know I’m not the most talented writer out there and I don’t always spin the most fascinating stories, but this blog has been a fun release for me and I enjoy your company!

I’m hoping to improve my writing skills in this coming year, while also providing a fun and witty journal for my children to look back at one day. This is the literary road map of their childhoods. I just pray that I do them justice.

Happy 2010.

Which, can you believe it’s 2010? I really thought we’d have flying cars by now…and Hoverboards.

Blast those Hollywood movie makers…

Filed Under: blast from the past, Blogging, Family, funny stuff that happens, Kids, Kids do the darndest things, Life, Missions Weeks, Random

The One Where My Mom Claws Come Out

December 30, 2009 by Kelli

*update* I returned to the mall today to file a formal complaint and noticed that there was a phone number on the sign in front of the trampolines (where the same girl was working again today, I might add). I called the number and spoke with the man who owns the trampolines. He was very kind and extremely apologetic for her behavior. He told me that this was the second complaint in two weeks he’d gotten on this girl…and she only works two days/week. Yikes. Anyway, he apologized profusely and told me he would be calling me in the next couple of days to set up a time for me to bring the kids in and let them bounce for free. So I just wanted to put that out there – it was the employee, not the establishment and I’m very pleased with the outcome. Happy New Year everyone!

Tonight I had the privilege of taking Sloan on a date to the movies. We are not movie folk. Lee and I don’t love going to the movies (it’s more that we don’t love paying for the movies) and so we rarely go, which means I can count on one hand the number of times we’ve taken Sloan to the theater.

Needless to say, going to see a movie is a HUGE treat. So huge, in fact, that as we walked through the mall, Sloan grabbed my hand and put it on his cheek and said, “Thanks for taking me to the movie mom. This is the bestest night of my whole life…AND of my whole year!”

Glad I could finish out 2009 with a bang for you little man.

We saw Alvin and the Chipmunks. Sloan thought is was HI-LAR-I-OUS. He slapped his knee, he bent over and gripped his sides, he cackled and I think I even heard a guffaw. Even I thought it was a funny movie, though I had considerably more fun watching him clutch his sides in hysterics than I did watching the screen. (The two scenes that had him laughing until I thought he might have an accident? When Alvin gave the football jocks a wedgie and when Theodore got trapped beneath the sheets after Toby passed gas. Ugh – is he all boy or what?)

After the movie, Sloan wanted to walk around the mall for a bit and since it was date night, I decided to give in and let him pick one more special thing to do. He chose to jump on the inflated trampolines in the center of the mall. Lucky for me, I still had Tia’s wallet in my purse from a trip to the store the other day and I was able to borrow the cash needed from her to allow him to do that.

Remind me to replace that before she starts looking for her wallet!

We approached the gates of the trampoline area and Sloan asked if he could jump. The girl in charge looked up from her soup in a bread bowl long enough to roll her eyes then slid off her chair and stomped over to us and flung the gate open.

“Take off your shoes,” she barked at Sloan.

“What?”

*eyeroll* “Take. off. your. shoes,” she said all slow and snotty like. At this point my blood reached a simmering point. I took a deep breath and told myself that maybe, just maybe, she had low blood sugar and our interuppting her dinner was causing an adverse reaction in her body. Benefit of the doubt. I was working hard on it.

Once Sloan had his shoes and jacket off, he climbed up on the trampoline all giggly and smily – oblivious to the snotty girl yanking the belt around his waist. She jerked the straps up then gave him a little shove backwards to the center of the tramp. And my blood reached boiling point. I literally had to grip the sides of the gate to keep myself from lunging over.

At this point, another family walked up and their daughter headed in to the other trampoline, receiving the same rude and rough treatment. The other mom and I made eye contact. I could see that her blood was at the same temperature mine was. Her knuckles were white too.

Our kids commensed to jumping. Sloan wooped and hollered and had the time of his life. I tried to enjoy his glee, but I was too busy watching the girl, making sure that she was doing her job and keeping an eye on the jumpers. She wasn’t. She was busy pouring her soup into her bread bowl and taking a bite.

After a few minutes, she lowered the kids down and without a word motioned for Sloan to step forward so she could remove his harness. He wasn’t looking at her so he didn’t see her. She motioned again. He still didn’t see. So she kicked at the tramp with her knee to get his attention and when he looked at her she motioned vigorously and rudely for him to step forward…still not talking and asking him politely. Then she yanked – and I mean literally yanked – his harness off and stomped over to the other tramp.

When she came to me for the money, I was taking very deep breaths. My face was so hot I feared it might spontaneously combust into a flaming inferno. I leaned way forward and put my nose about an inch from her and began speaking through clenched teeth.

I said, “I understand that it’s late and you’ve probably had a long day, and I see that you are trying to eat some dinner so I’m assuming you’re hungry, but the way that you just treated my son is unacceptable. You’ve been nothing but a snot from the moment we stepped up here and I want you to know that I was watching you and I don’t appreciate it.”

At this point, she rolled her eyes at me. She ROLLED HER EYES AT ME. Perhaps I misjudged her earlier. She didn’t have low blood suger, she had a freaking death wish.

To my credit, I kept my cool and never raised my voice, although my hands began shaking with fury.

“Nobody pushes my kid around, do you understand? That’s my kid right there and he deserves your respect and you will respect him. I don’t care if you like your job or not – you have no right to push my kid around and think you can get away with it.”

I then handed her the money and said, “I will pay you this money, but I want you to know that I am going to the Information desk where I will be filling out a complaint and recommending that you be removed from a job that requires you working with children since you clearly don’t want to be around them. And I sincerely hope that you shape up your attitude and treat the children standing in line behind me better than you’ve treated my son.”

She stared at me and did not respond. Not even a nod. Oh my Lord, you guys, it is by the grace of God I was able to step away I was so furious.

I grabbed Sloan’s hand and as calmly as I could walked away. As I stopped to put his shoes on him, the dad of the other little girl that was jumping with Sloan walked by and gave me two thumbs up. I also noticed a mom who had been standing in line behind me leave the line.

Good.

When I got to the Information desk, they told me they were out of complaint forms (!) but I could come back tomorrow and fill one out in the main mall office. And you better believe I’ll be doing that. That girl has no business working that job.

As we left, Sloan asked me why I told that girl to change her attitude – I decided to use it as a teaching moment and explained to him that that girl was rude and disrespectful not only to me, but more so to him.

“We’re a family, kiddo, and if someone isn’t treating your family right, you need to defend your family.”

He nodded and I think he got the message. He’s a perceptive kid and he knew that she wasn’t acting kind. (Kind! She wasn’t acting human…she was a little monster.) For my part, I’m actually pretty proud of how I handled the situation. I have a tendency to, ahem, fly off the handle and when she rolled her eyes at me I had to fight H-A-R-D not to raise my voice and use a few choice words. Seriously – just thinking about it right now I’m biting my lip with such force that I may pierce it.

But I knew little eyes were watching and I kept my cool. And I think she got the message. I don’t think she cared, but she got the message.

Yay me! *deep breath*

Now I’m off to go release on the punching bag in the basement…

Filed Under: Family, Kids, Life, Motherhood, Sloan Tagged With: Alvin and the Chipmunks - The Squeakqual