Mums the Word

I used to run all the time.  Then I had kids....and if you've ever done that you know they can kind of mess up your schedule (and also ruin your body but its fine I'm not bitter).  Anyways, I went on a bit of a hiatus.  So after four kids I started running again.  Everything was going well but I was feeling really tight and sore.  While looking for something to counterbalance my running, I found yoga. Long story short, I tried it, loved it and would like to recommend it to all my mommy friends. If you are anything like this mom, you are gonna need at least three good reasons to add anything new to your schedule, and you will need that list to be concise because you are probably in between getting the kids a snack and picking up the next disaster, so here: 1.  It's a full on work out, wet t-shirt included, especially with a good teacher who kills it.    You can push yourself or pull back to get the kind work out you need.    Lots...

Note to readers:  I will use italics to illustrate sarcasm and ridiculous statements. I just read an outstanding article on why we should all have just one child! Just kidding.  It was crap and I'm not just saying that because I have four kids.   The case for having just one kid was crap because the reasoning was unsubstantial and horribly argued.   This article gives a top 10 reason list on why someone should only have one child which I would love to dispel right here: 1.   It's eco-friendly .  I would like to know how.  Are you raising your child to be more aware of our environment?  Do you recycle/reuse everything?  Do you grow your own produce?  Do you use less gas/petrol?  Do you buy second hand? Doubtful.  Very Doubtful.  I would love to write a separate article on this alone.  Thanks for the inspiration.  If you are raising eco-friendly children and environmentally conscious yourself, the...

When the kids are sick,  You're in lock down. Not enough puke buckets  to go around. No one can get to the toilet in time even if they're standing right next to it, You hate to yell and make to demands,  but you've got to be kidding me with that shit! Every time you hear your name, you jump up to do damage control, minimizing the radius of projectile things, well, lets face it, that is your main goal. With Lysol wipes you get every surface,  going from one room to the next, the only way to communicate with the outside world  is only via text. The books and toys covering the floor,  seem to go on for miles. The laundry, clean or dirty,  only comes in piles. You're so f*&^%$#  tired,  you cannot stand the light, God please don't let them throw up  in the middle of the night.  Because the thought of stripping one more bed  or wiping up one more mess, is giving you a migra...

These shoes used to be great!  I remember buying them for my oldest, who is now almost eight.  They went with everything, looked cute and were easy to get on and off herself (their true winning feature). Then there was a boy who had no use for them.  Next came twin girls who took turns wearing them into this raggedy state.  Now they are too small and as I'm going through a current cull of all our things, I grab these to put in the give away bag and a sudden sadness snares me. I'm not an overly emotional person so this doesn't happen often but  as I sit with these shoes on my lap I bite my lip and will myself to not cry over THIS. I think of how stressful life is with four kids.  I think of how much they need me and how much time I spend longing for a time when I don't have to wipe anyone's butt. I look forward to them being in school just so I can get a freaking break and you know, use the bathroom without someone sitting on my lap. None of these help me ch...

So I'm torn.  My initial hope for this blog was to be a light hearted, funny take on life with four kids because let's face it, if we didn't laugh, we'd cry....or at least loose the will to live.  So, I'm a bit torn on taking on a real subject.  Life can be too real sometimes and much too serious, blah!  However ultimately, we need to be able to dig deep and address the hard stuff.  I still think it's important to find humor where you can but the more I live, the more difficult I find it to brush off the real subjects. For instance:  Am I a good mom?  Don't answer, it's rhetorical and I don't need you to affirm me.  It's this subject that resonates with all of us:  Am I doing a good job? I chose to be a mom and one that stays at home which means this is my full-time, life defining roll.  Am I giving it my all and where am I falling short?  My list of NEEDS IMPROVEMENT seems to follow me everywhere, but what am I doing about it? ...

Every time I fly I think of my dad.  I remember every apect of traveling with him.  The drive with 'classic' music we would sing along to, unloading at the paking spot where my dad would flag down the driver, as if he didn't see us in the designated pick up spot.  Then he would proceed to talk to everyone on the bus giving them our whole life story.  Funny, people would usually tell us there's.  We would then check in and hit security which was always fun because dad would always be pulled aside and hassled.  We joked that he fit some sort of criminal description.  We totally looked suspicious.  After we boarded the plane he would tell some jokes and familiarize himself with everyone within a 10ft radius and become best friends with the flight staff.  As a benefit, I got to see more cockpits than most children.  When we took off and landed my ears would hurt with the air pressure.  Dad would distract me by talking about our trip and...

Dear young people, I used to be you.  I could stay up all night, drink whatever mixture was put in front of me and wake up the next morning like nothing happened. Well, maybe not like nothing happened but minimal suffering with a possible fuzzy feeling.  And nothing bad enough to detour me from doing it all again the next night.  (Although there was one night I did 7 shots of tequila and I had to take a week off.) Oh and did I eat that entire pizza???  When you're young you can party how you please and it's all good in the morning.  If not, go back to bed and sleep it off. Welcome to adulthood, things are different.  For starters I have four kids, so there is no such thing as sleeping in.  'Sleeping in' is making 6:30 without WWIII breaking out.  Once up there is no going back, just counting the hours until bedtime.  Just staying up late, will cause you to wake up feeling like you have a hangover.  Then add an actual hangover and yo...