March 28, 2010

Passover / Spring Cleaning

Passover is in just a few days.  I feel like I have been cleaning and buying food for this holiday for the last month!  I have been so busy trying to get ready that I have not been on lately.  I am sorry, I will be back to posting regularly around April 12th!

For those who celebrate Passover - Happy Kosher Passover to you!

For those who celebrate Easter - I hope you have a wonderful holiday and don't eat too many chocolate bunnies!   =)

March 18, 2010

Do Mothers Get Sick Days?

For the last two weeks I have been feeling horrible! I had a sinus infection and now I have a stomach bug. UGH!

Where are my sick days? When mothers are sick, we still have to do it all. When what we really want to do is crawl under the covers and not come out until we feel better. Unfortunately for me, my one year old and 4 year old have other plans. Oh well...

I will have plenty of time to rest up one day.... the year 2030 is not that far away!

March 14, 2010

She Huffed and She Puffed!

The other day my oldest daughter (the preteen) wanted to go to a weekend sleepover with one of her after school groups. The head of the program was going to take the girls where he lived and they were going to sleep over at various host houses of people who live near him, that are friends of his. They would all eat meals together, etc. but I guess his place wasn't large enough for them to all sleep over. Then Sunday morning they were all going to get in a bus and drive to Sea World.

My answer to my daughter was "NO!" I told her, "you cannot sleep over someone house that I have never met before." She replied with "but the head of the program knows them." I told her "if you let me go with you to chaperone the sleepover you can go." I offered to bring her to the bus location Sunday morning to go to Sea World with them. She said "No, I will look like a baby." I then had to go into my explanation that there are all kinds of crazy people in this world and you never know. Then the following happened...

SHE HAD THE BIGGEST FIT OF HER LIFE!!

She ran into her room and starting screaming that she hates us and she hates this family! She started huffing and puffing and blowing her room apart - throwing blankets, pillows, chairs, etc. This went on for about 2 hours, until she finally fell asleep.

The next day I told her that I feel really bad that she is so upset and that it hurts me more than it hurts her to see her sad! (Whoa - that was a sounding like my own parents moment) She looked at me and said "So does that mean I can go?" I told her "no you cannot go and you’re grounded from any play dates, the phone, etc. for a week for that fit in your room!"

She ran off to her room, huffed and puffed but thank G-D this time she didn't blow her room down.

I have a feeling this is only the beginning of a lot of answers she doesn't want to hear. Thankfully our house is not made out of straw or sticks, it's made of LOVE! 

March 10, 2010

Everyone needs their Mom!

My Mom just flew back home today after visting us for a week. 

When I dropped her off at the airport, I cried.  My five kids looked at me and said "why are you crying?", I said "because I am going to miss Grammy!"  They all looked at each other and said "you are crying for your Mommy, like we cry for you, when you go somewhere!"

This got me thinking ... there are some things that never change:
  • No matter how old you are, you still need your Mom.
  • When you are sick (or in labor), no one can take care of you like your Mom. 
  • When you feel down and troubled (to quote James Taylor), you've got a friend - in your Mom.
Each time I see my Mom, I can't stop thinking that one day she will be gone.  I know that is a horrible thing to think about but my Aunt passed away from cancer a year ago at 61 years young and a few months later one of her dear friends had a heart attack. 

My mother is special in so many ways.  She took me in and adopted me has a baby, when her other children were already 12 & 13 years old.  Now that I am a mother, I realize what that meant.  It meant that she had to do diapers again, I was very sick, with asthma, so it meant endless doctor and hospital visits, 6 a.m. trips to the pool for practice, sitting outside all day to watch my 2 minute performance in the holiday parade, teacher conferences, homework, etc.  She had to start all over again.

They say that a parent shouldn't try to be their child's friend, they should just be the parent.  I think that is true when your kids are little but when you become an adult, I think there is no better friend than your Mother.

March 3, 2010

Every Now and Then.

I am the mother of a tween.

She is not a girl, not yet a woman and sometimes I feel like…she is not the daughter that I knew.

The daughter that I knew use to hug me tight, tell me that I was the best mommy ever and that I was the prettiest person she ever saw. I couldn't walk out the door without her running behind me to give me one more hug and kissy. When each of her sisters and brothers wanted to play with her she was excited to play and teach them something new - she was the leader of the pack.

The tween that now lives in our house loves to disagree with me. From the clothes she wants, to her bedtime, to the food she will eat, to the cell phone - we won't let her have yet, etc. You name it, we disagree. She also thinks her little sisters and brother are annoying and are ALWAYS bothering her.

But every now and then, the daughter I knew shows up again.

She gets in the van during carpool excited to see me, she helps make dinner, she says that she needs my advice, she asks if she can use my phone to text her friends, etc. When her sisters ask her to read to them, they all climb into my bed and gather around her engrossed in her story. They think she is the coolest thing ever and you know what? Every now and then, I do too!

I think instead of looking for the daughter I use to know, its time to get excited about the one who is emerging. While I haven't wanted to admit it, she is becoming a teenager. My daughter is: moody, cranky, confused, tired, argumentative, etc. But every now and then ...

March 1, 2010

To share or not to share? That is the question.

I am wondering, if I should tell my friends and family that I have started a blog?

The problem, I am facing, is one I am sure many other bloggers out there have dealt with.  If everyone I know and love, checks out my blog, will I be able to keep my writing unfiltered?  The answer is, probably not.  But then again, if I don't tell them about it, who will read this blog???

I am excited about having a place that's mine, all mine.  Being a mother of five (and a wife for that matter), I feel like there is very little left that's just for me.  Someone always wants a piece and that's fine - I love my DH and kids.  I wouldn't change my life with them for anything... 

But sometimes a person just needs something to belong to just them, so for now...
I think that I will keep this blog all to myself.

Also, I am wondering what other bloggers out there think of posting pics of the kids?  I think showing everyone what my family and I look like will make it more personal but then again, I watch Nancy Grace!  Tell me your thoughts - thanks!    =)