children, humor, kids, motherhood, parenting

Mall Nirvana

securedownloadAs a Mom of two extremely energetic boys, I’ve had to make some adjustments in my day-to-day living.  I’ve learned to avoid certain places, discipline like nobody’s business and at times, pretend I’m not related to them.  It’s only recently that I’ve grown the courage to take my boys to the library on a regular basis.  For a long time I was certain we were on the library ‘watch list’.  I feared as soon as we crossed the threshold, we would be intercepted by library security.

Having successfully conquered my fear of libraries, stores, doctor’s offices, etc., I didn’t give it a second thought when I needed to run an errand in the mall with the boys in tow.  As soon as we walked in, I had serious pause.

They were awestruck.

They were blown away by the sights and sounds.  They begged to ride on the escalator.  Full Speed almost passed out from joy when he was given a pretzel sample.  T.Puzzle stared longingly as the miniature trained chugged past him.  They wanted to go in every store.  They wanted to eat at every restaurant.  Then it dawned on me, it had been years since I had braved the mall with them.

What else have I sheltered them from without even knowing it?  When they go to college, will they know how to act in socially acceptable ways?  On the bright side, they may forego wild parties for a rockin’ time at the nearest Food Court.

children, gratitude, happiness, humor, kids, life in pictures, mommyhood, motherhood, parenting

A Really Good Week

While Full Speed has been honing his basketball skills at camp this week, T.Puzzle and I have spent much quality time together.  T.Puzzle didn’t make the age requirement for camp so I tried to plan some special things for him and me to do.  Here’s the breakdown along with T.Puzzle’s assessment of the each day:

Monday- Chik-fil-a lunch and play time at the indoor playground

T.Puzzle said, “Monday is a very good day!”

Tuesday- Storytime at the library concluded with an art project

T.Puzzle said, “It was probably a little bit good.”  Apparently the quiet sitting and the craftiness were not truly his thing.

Wednesday- Pool time along with pizza from the Tiki Shack

T.Puzzle said, “This is probably a very awesome day!”

Thursday- bike ride to the park and playing hide and seek with Mom

T.Puzzle said, “I’m getting boring (referring to his boredom over the bike ride), when are we gonna be there?”  As for the rest he highly enjoyed himself.  Here’s a video of him ‘sharing’ a goldfish (his favorite snack) with his Dad.

Friday- We had to stick around home as the laundry situation had reached emergency status.  While Mom tackled the laundry problem, there was still time to read some books together.

T.Puzzle said, “Friday was a really good day.”

I completely agree, except for the laundry part of course.

children, humor, kids, mommyhood, motherhood, parenting

Bibliophobia

Steacie Science and Engineering Library at Yor...
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Bibliophobia.

Fear of books and fear of libraries.

Yes, I have it.

Big time.

Don’t get me wrong, on the rare occasion I visit a library by myself, it is a little slice of heaven in my day.  Silence and books are two of my favorite commodites. 

The fear part comes in when I have to take Full Speed and T.Puzzle with me. 

They love the books.

They don’t love the silence.

They do anything in their power to combat silence.

They are quite skilled.

I’m close to conquering my fears.  After nearly two and half years of Florida living I took the plunge and got a library card.

Yes, it took me that long.  Yes, if you met Full Speed and T.Puzzle you totally understand.

Now all I have to do is find a book on ‘How to Teach Two Strong-Willed, Independent Thinking Boys To Comply To Your Every Command’.

It’s a long shot I know.