Waiting for Superman

I like the way....

...my husband sings songs when he thinks no one is listening.... and then gives me a shy dimpled smile when I he finds out I am.
....my oldest sticks her tongue in her cheek in slight smile when she strikes someone out. Pleased with herself and trying not to show it.
....my middle skips everywhere.
...my little says "Taylor Smift"
....my pile of fun keeps growing bigger when I find more things I want to do in this world.
....I accidentally walk into great deals. like a 40 dollar dress for $4.49/ hello christmas gifts.
....my little candle smells.
.....I can eat a whole bag of m and m's and not feel guilty.
....banana chocolate chip pancakes taste
....I find the funniest things to laugh at and don't really care.
....my laundry is done...since my precious husband does it all

"The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings."
Eric Hoffer

Things to remember

"Raising a child who possesses high other-regard simply requires that parents do what our great-grandparents did. They put their marriages first, not their kids. They gave their children all that they truly needed and very little of what they simply wanted. They assigned daily chores from age three on. They expected their children to always do their best, in whatever setting. Their beds were for adults only. They rarely helped their kids with their homework. They did not serve them individualized dinners. Family came first, not after-school activities. And so on. This parenting paradigm is as workable today as it was when I was a child"

John Rosemond

I am such a firm believer in this. I cannot handle entitlement by parents and by kids. Raising a world of brats. You have kids not being potty trained until they are 3 or four because "they're not ready." Well... they're kids. It's not a choice and since when does a kid get to make grown up choices and decide what's good for themselves? Kids who have excuses for not doing homework. PARENTAL given excuses. Kids have excuses for hitting other kids. Really, if your kid is old enough to walk, talk, eat, and play, they are old enough to share and be nice. End of story. So many parents complain about how their kids won't. WHATTTTTT?!?!?!?!

They won't what? THey won't eat dinner? Uh then you starve. There is no "we only have 8 choices because that's all you eat". Sorry Junior, your choice today is TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT. And they won't wear certain things? Well my daughter learned real quick that we wear what's appropriate. So if it's rainy you don't wear a bathing suit. It's not a choice. Just like riding in a car seat is not a choice. Throwing a fit will get you nothing. Wearing shoes to the store is not a choice. Being "good" is expected and not rewarded with piles of toys. In my house you behave or you will find a very sad option to not behaving. There is no toy buying for potty training. Above and beyond achievement is recognized and rewarded, being a good person is expected. My house, my very well behaved children. I may not be the norm when it comes to parenting today, but guess what, my children will not thank me at 25 that I acknowledge their feelings when they were 2 versus who they would be their whole lives long.

Even today, at my daughter's class, a parent went up to the teacher and asked if their daughter could be given more challenging work. Because she is so smart and needs to be challenged. Um.... these guys are FOUR. And they are there for 3 hours, twice a week. How about, as a parent, you buy your kid a big fat book of kindergarten readiness and on the other 5 days of the week, YOU challenge them. We are our kids teachers first. I am responsible for my kids. And what they know. Their manners, their language, their skills. Why is it okay to let your child run amuck and then turn them over to a school and expect the school to instill values and manners and lesson of society that you should have been all along? Because people are entitled to do as they please and that is why our nation will soon be governed by brats.

Off my soapbox.

Gymboree must hate me

If you google Gymboree listens, chances are, somewhere on the first few pages, you'll get me. And my posts on my experiences at Gymboree. And when I wrote my post, from MY point of view, on MY experience, I never would have imagined the outrage from some employees. You would have thought I personally walked into their store, ripped clothing from hangers, chewed on sales tags and toilet papered their car and called their grandma an asshat or something. Truth is, I had one.... (or more) shitty experience there. I can point you to a message board where tons of ladies talk about the crappy customer service they had, if they really want to get it all out. Sorry Gymbo, but the bad customer service I had did not fall on deaf ears. Now on the flip side, the sweetest lady in a Kentucky mall needs some recognition. I did not buy anything, so I can't sing her praises to the proper people, but she was real nice. So there you go.

Which now this reminds me that people will google and then they read, so I have other things to write about. And to the person who googled "fart sniffer" and got me.... that made me giggle.

Across the U.S.

We decided this summer to pack the car and travel for a 2 week period across the country, seeing the United States and visiting family. The husband had tons of vacation time, and the kids were out of school, so we hit the road. People thought we were crazy, spending that much time in the car with kids. The thing is, why wouldn't we do it? Kids are adaptable. Riding in the car is not the most fun thing to do especially for over 5000 miles, but what we see and where we go is. My kids comfort level is not my main concern. Showing them about life is. So we did it.

The kids were mesmerized by the lights of Las Vegas, the sun rising over the Utah mountains. They complained of their ears popping in Colorado's altitude and we enjoyed the sweetest little visit with my grandparents who practically live in the orange and pink rocks of Garden of the Gods. The girls made green chile and ate as many ice cream cones as their tummies could handle, while watching the deer wander the yard behind them. All my childhood memories flooded back to sitting in the same spot, smelling the marigolds.

From there, we experienced the corn, sunflowers and Mother nature even tossed a mini tornado from the sky for us in Kansas. Missouri had the largest bugs, the most traffic and the big arch. The girls wanted nothing to do with going inside it, but sweated like crazy at 8 in the morning as we checked it out. We made a wrong turn in Illinois, where they marveled at little towns. Indiana was just a pass thru and then into Ohio. I wondered what they would remember, and what they thought. Oldielocks remembered the most, even the way to get to Grandma's house. We visited our old house, which didn't feel the least like it was ever ours. Oldielocks visited her old school and we all laughed at the changes and how some things never change. It was hot, and you would have thought it was the end of the world. Nobody goes outside in the summer and nobody goes outside in the winter. My kids didn't mind the heat and we spent many hours in the garden eating tomatoes, walking the streets and just enjoying.

Off to Michigan we went, to a small little town for a visit with the husbands grandfather. We spent time with an old game of lawn jarts, and exploring the run down property next door. We headed to the husbands little hometown and the girls played in the river he once played in too.

Kentucky has the nicest people you will ever meet. So sweet and just plain kind. I want to bottle up some Kentuckians and spread them around the U.S. Tennessee was beautiful and we stopped to see Elvis but it was Elvis week and well, crowded. We spent the night in Mississippi, which put on a heat lightning show just for us.

Louisiana always has so much to explore. We headed down to New Orleans and hung out on St. Charles drinking soda and sweating. But the houses always make me smile and the kids love spotting beads in all the silly little places. It rained a few days while we were there, so when it rains, we go shopping. We spent a day tubing and the kids absolutely loved it.

Texas was long, hot and dusty. San Antonio was intriguing, and we all went to the Alamo. And the Riverwalk. And Coyote Ugly Saloon. I am all about equal opportunity.

New Mexico was the land of my people. We woke up and stopped to grab some green chiles. We visited the adobes with bright blue doors. And even in Wal Mart I saw the faces that warm me, similiar characteristics to my own family.

Arizona was long. And of course hot. We stopped and visited with the cactus while our sandals melted in the asphalt.

The ride was longest back into California. And dirty and I think we were just done. But it was so worth it. We had fun, as our family of five. And they got to see what a big world there is out there, but mostly and most importantly I hope they learned that people matter. I have always strived to make people matter. Sure we could have spent the money on things. We could have made excuses and just said it wasn't important as other things are. But that's just not true. My kids will always learn people first.