humor, motherhood

Any Day Now

There are two important characteristics to look for in friendship.  The first being pool ownership.  The second, and most critical, is this friend allows you full use of their pool if they have to travel.

Let’s just say, I have some of the best friends in all of Texas.

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The key to surviving any competitive endeavor in this family whether pool related or not, is to make sure Mad Dog is always on your team.  He is a natural-born strategist and the king of trash talk.  However, the boys having learned from the best, are now able to verbally spar on his level.

It’s a whole lot of nonsense if you ask me, but apparently the secret ‘man-formula’ to showing respect is hurling insults at one another at a top-rate speed.  Full Speed especially enjoys targeting me.  If you were a betting kind of person, you might guess it’s because I am the most reactive of our bunch. I can’t speak to this specifically but I am crying right now as I type this.

Pool volleyball is no exception. Mad Dog and I happened to win our first round of games versus the boys.  We had to work for it.  As we sat around poolside dissecting various aspects of the game, T.Puzzle remained surprisingly unfazed by the loss.  Normally, he would brood and mope leaving the whole outing in ruins because he did not win.

“That means you are growing up, when you can lose and still say you are had a fun day at the pool,” Mad Dog said.

At what age does this happen you may wonder?

Well, Mad Dog is turning forty-nine this year…

I’ll keep you posted.

 

 

children, dogs, family, motherhood

Always, Always

fullsizeoutput_ddLittle Guy had a tough adjustment to our move.  We have a special formula we (mainly me) follow each day to keep him comfortable and happy.  In addition to his five sets of eye-drops of three medications, we shower him with affection and praise each night before bedtime.  It does not guarantee he will sleep through the night, but it has been proven effective.  There is nothing that warms my heart more than watching Mad Dog make over Little Guy.  It is the sweetest.

Little Guy gets a lot of leeway during the day.  He is allowed to be cranky.  He is allowed to be snippy.  He is allowed to beg and whine for food at the table.

He can do anything he wants.

Most of the time he chooses to nap.  This makes it easy for everyone.

I am surprised at how unquestioning my devotion is to him.  I do not judge him for his cranky missteps.

He has followed me around enough through the five years we’ve had him to earn this loyalty.

He shows me what love can teach us.

Be true, be loyal and you will always, always be loved.

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Reminding mom to pack her favorite accessory.

 

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Me.
children, gratitude, happiness, kids, mommyhood, motherhood, parenting

Two Brothers

Originally I thought having children close in age would be ideal.  Then the reality of it set in and the long, hard road of raising two rambunctious boys began.

There were days I didn’t think I would make it.

I still have those days.

You can’t know when a child will come into your life or what they will be like.  I imagine life would be pretty boring if all of us could control the gender and type of children we could have.  I’m guessing there would be a lot of us who would choose one mild-tempered girl and one even-keeled boy.

Where’s the fun in that?

I’ll take knock-down, drag ’em out, spunk-tified Full Speed and T.Puzzle any day.

Is it bad that I’d prefer to take them to a sound-proof, padded coliseum (not the Metrodome, I really do care about their safety) and let them run free?

I didn’t think so.  If any of you spent an afternoon in a confined space with them, you would completely understand.

So, by the roll of the dice I happened to have two boys close in age that are giving me a run for my money.

The positive to this (and yes, there actually is a positive) is that after nearly four years of coexisting, they are becoming the best of friends.

Granted, best friends who periodically beat the tar out of each other, but best friends nonetheless.

I know they will always be brothers.

I hope that they will always be friends.

children, humor, kids, mommyhood, motherhood, parenting

Baby Fever

My friend is currently out of town visiting her sister and newborn son.  I saw her boyfriend today and commented that he’d better watch out because I was pretty sure she’d  return with a bad case of baby fever.  She’s mentioned in recent months that she does occasionally consider adding to their family and being around babies really increases this urge.

Of course as I’m attempting to converse with him Full Speed and T.Puzzle are just being themselves.  They are running in circles, shouting and karate-chopping each other’s heads.

These two are the equivalent of approximately 20 low-energy children.

My friend’s boyfriend looks at the boys in all their mayhem and says, “Have her spend some time with your little guys and she’ll be cured for sure.”

Whatever did he mean?

Hey, I’m all on board with this intervention.   I think it’s best if we do a version of psychological flooding which places her in plentiful contact with my boys to squash any inkling of continued procreation.  I’m recommending the she spend every afternoon for several hours (at least until I can get dinner on the table) and all day/night on Saturdays with them (at her house of course).

Anything for a friend, right?

children, gratitude, happiness

My Friend, My Brother

The boys have been sleeping in the same room. When we upgraded little T.Puzzle’s bed from a crib, we purchased a trundle bed with this intent in mind. Usually, T.Puzzle goes to bed in the ‘super secret spy’ pull-out part, and then Full Speed slips in quietly (sort of) a few minutes later to the upper ‘big boy’ portion. They know the rules. If Mom so much as hears a peep out of either one, Full Speed will be immediately relocated to his own room with no warning and no questions asked. So far, I haven’t had to follow through on that threat. They must actually want to be in the same room. After all the smack-downs I have witnessed I find this shocking.

They decided to mix it up over the weekend. They decided to sleep in the same bed for fun.

Little T.Puzzle thought this was remarkable. When I was helping him get dressed the next morning he said, “Mommy! Full Speed slept with me on my Thomas sheeps!”

Looks like the beginning of a beautiful friendship.