Shouldn't should

I know we should be getting the kids up right at 7:00 am each morning and getting them into their school routine, but we're tired and summer's not quite through.

I know this house should be organized from top to bottom so starting school is way easier, but we should also paint the house trim and have some fun.

I should be sorting through clothes for the kids and getting ready for the fall stuff, but I'm sitting here blogging and having my coffee.

I know I shouldn't be should'n but I do. How about you? What should you be doing and what are you actually doing?

Scribbling

The picture below illustrated just the kind of weekend (and beginning of the week) we've been having:

What you can't see is that my hubbie at some point has written on the sign (when no one was looking) ... two young kids!

It is the end of summer, the kidlets are getting bored, the parents are trying to get things done (such as roof repair) that need to happen before the rainy weather and busy school days get started - not always the best combo.

So I'm off to take the kids to a new library branch (for a change of pace and hopefully a few good books to get us to the first day of school) and then who knows. What are you doing to get ready for school - if you and/or your kids aren't already there (or you aren't in school)?

Last summer days

Summer vacation is just about over. I am both thankful (Summer can be difficult around our place with so much time to fill) and nervous. I actually felt sad at the prospect of the summer season coming to a close yesterday - not sure why.



How are you feeling about the changing of the seasons... happy, nervous, sad, indifferent?




As we head into the weekend, I'm a little nervous about getting organized before school starts, finding the time for freelance writing, how complicated carpooling just might get, why conspiracy theorists are theorizing about Portland, whether I can manage to stop the automatic negative thoughts that bombard my brain, and how my boy will handle his classroom assignment, whatever it is. Wish us luck and share your thoughts at Summer's end and the school season's beginning AND please do check out my blog entry over at gimundo.com ... that way they'll think people are actually reading it and just might keep paying me to write more!

Who is this Negative Mama?

Click on the link and see :-)

PS...just in case you don't already know, the link is the orange title of this post (above)!

Getting in those fruits and veggies

It is blackberry time again. I confess to a love/hate relationships with the long vines that grow over into our yard from our back neighbor's place. On the one hand, I'm sporting definitive "ow-ies" on my legs and arms from the scratches I've managed to receive... but on the other, the kids love going out there to pick them (mostly watch me do so -- due to the prickly bits) and then eat, eat, eat. Free fresh yummy fruit - who could truly dislike that?

In an on-going attempt to eat healthier as a family and especially for our boy who can always use to add a few healthy pounds, I was headed to a local farmers market today when I decided to deal with dragging the boy with me. He came willingly along to pick up some free reusable shopping bags (although he got the idea of candy in his head and it was hard to let it go)... then he groused for much of the rest of the trip.

I figured however, that if he helped me to pick out the fresh fruit and vegetables for eating this week, that maybe, just maybe he'd be more likely to eat them.

So tonight we decided for a change to try a "make your own" burrito night. I must say it was highly successful! We put out tortillas, fresh corn (from the farmers' market), black beans, black olives, lettuce, cheese and cherry tomatoes (right off our plants) and each of us made our own.

The children each repeatedly THANKED both Dada and Mama for making such a yummy meal and the boy (who I wish had never experienced fast food but honestly knows his Wendy's from his McDonald's) said this:

"This is yummier than even Taco Bell!"

Given that said boy is currently on a "it's always better if it is packaged and from a store or restaurant" kick, let me just say we were THRILLED!

We shall see how much he likes parmesan chicken or marinated tofu -- wish us luck.

And I hope to have good news and a website for you to visit soon... stay tuned.

Up & down

Every day has it's ups and downs. Today's high (besides 80 degrees estimated) is absolutely the resignation of Karl Rove. Good news and good riddance. Slimey beyond measure. In my humble opinion, anyone with that much brainpower should use it for good, not the evil he concocted.

But then that pendulum swings... and so we observe police "chatting" with our neighbors for the second time in probably two months... hmmmm. I could worry a lot or take my kid to invention camp and focus on Rove! Woo hooooooo.

Happy Monday.

In this together

Too often parents feel they are going it alone. I know. I've often felt isolated and uncomfortable talking about my frustrations or my kids' issues. However, lately I've tapped into a miraculous group of parents (and friends) who help me no end as we work through this parenting maze together.


In that spirit, I wanted to share some resources I recently found in the back of my "Parenting the Spirited Child" book which look really great.


Check 'em out ... no doubt I will soon.

• Center for Effective Parenting


• Child and Family WebGuide


• Connecting with Kids


• KidSource Online


• Learning Network


• National Parent Information Network


• ParentCenter


• Parent Soup


• Parenting Resources for the 21st Century


• ParentsPlace


• Practical Parenting


• QualKids


• Tigerchild

Along for the ride

Sometimes, whether it is our own adventure, the greater world's or our children's, we just need to get on that ride, strap ourselves in and go. It may be scary, bumpy, exhilarating and/or exciting in alternate measure, but it will be worth it and far better than sitting at home on the couch playing it continually safe.



When I'm scared or worried, I can tend to get myself into a panic. Often, however, after that initial phase, I find myself seeking out information and trying to formulate a plan where I can have at least some semblance of reassurance.



Whether it is my son's 2nd grade year, my husband's future as an engineer, the great turning or my own creative life... sometimes you have to do what you can and then let it go.



Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Hope you are enjoying the ride along with me.



MamaZuzi

Thinking about stinking

"PeeeeeYeeeeuuuuuuu! Somebody change my sister!" said the boy.

Said sister and I laughed so hard we almost fell off the couch. Unfortunately it was true. She did stink (as in the Grinch's STINK, STANK, STUNK) and needed be changed. Potty training is going well but it could be better. We've managed to consistently use the potty (even sometimes waking up in the middle of the night to do so) but just not for the dreaded -- and stinky -- #2. And so we've regressed slightly, but we remain hopeful that we'll move forward eventually someday being a household free of ANY diapers, Pullups, Good Nights or other such thangs.

And speaking of stinking, I've been trying to branch out a bit by seeking some freelance writing work and of course continuing to consider ways to move forward with my photography. How does this relate to stinking? I'm not going to be writing and snapping shots of my compost bin or the local dump it's true. So what am I talking about? It is something I've come to calling "The Imposter Syndrome." Simply put, it is the sense that when the world finally figures out I don't know what I'm doing, it will all come crashing down. Somehow I was never found out to be a fraud -- not as a product manager for a major record label, not as a non-profit marketing person, not as an occasional freelance writer.... hmmmm. Maybe that's saying something but that doesn't stop my brain from playing games with me. But this go round, I'm just gonna play right back. I want my children to believe in themselves and I'm just gonna have to take some more life chances to show them I believe in myself too.

Now back to photography and stinking... For those of you who have recently ordered cards from me, I completely confess to my own stinkiness. This summer has discombobulated me and taken me away from photo taking and card creativity in general. HOWEVER, I do have materials for your orders and I will be completing them and mailing them to you ever so soon - I swear! There's nothing in my Etsy shop for now (SOLD OUT) but I'll let you all know when there's an update there -- maybe some more individual cards or a shirt. Maybe not.

Happy Friday. Is there anything you worry that you stink at? Do share.

Things to come

This is one of my favorite corners of my house (at least when it is clean). Why? Dunno. Just like the look and feel of its style.

Unfortunately lately it has become way too much of a focus in our lives. Our poor boy was born with some genetic issues. One of them appears to be teeth which are extremely prone to decay... and by that I mean EXTREMELY. Currently the boy needs to have basically 2 root canals and 2 crowns on his back molars and already this morning he is complaining about tooth pain on the other side of his mouth.

When I describe our predicament to friends and loved ones, they inevitably start with something like this: "Can't he take some kind of fluoride pills?" Well... the answer to that is "Yes he can and yes he has been for years now!" But it is simply not enough.

Parenthood is hard enough with a picky eater who doesn't get enough vitamins through veggies and such or on the other hand with a child with not-so-great teeth. Lucky us, we get both in one little boy.

And so currently as we face all that comes with back to school, we are also looking forward to a sensory integration assessment, a referral to a nutritionist and the aforementioned dental procedures. We are having to comtemplate bi-monthly fluoride applications, $9.00 toothpaste that contains xylitol, figuring out how in the world to get far less sugar in our boy's mouth (which probably means investigating all types of sugar-free candies and goodies as well as making many of these things at home with xylitol -- as if I have the time) and looking at changing his diet to both accomodate his need for more vitamins and minerals but not ones that come from sources which will rot his teeth. The boy also has to adjust to all this plus most likely brushing his teeth after lunch at school (when probably nobody else does) and so much more... of course to him this is all pretty much his norm.

And so as if all that I've already mentioned wasn't enough as I look at school's start looming just 4 weeks away, I'm looking at my house and feeling my stress rising... MUST... FIGURE... OUT ... WAYS .... to clean and ORGANIZE!!! A little like nesting before a baby comes, I've got to get my nest in order or the Mama taint gonna be a happy one!

And so I'm off to clean, get rid of and O-R-G-A-N-I-Z-E. Any ideas on organizing related to kids and all their school stuff (papers, homework, etc) or preventative dental measures are gladly welcomed here!

Whisper to a scream

I liked this shot simply because of the intensity of the deep stormy blue ... of the zillionth storm coming through when we were at the beach.

And beside the fact that today is actually drizzly and dark, I include this photo along with a confession. I did great for 6 whole days... and then yesterday morning...after a weekend without exercise, quality Mama time or much sleep, I finally lost it! Yup... I couldn't quite keep in the primal scream any longer which said... "I can't take it anymore! (at least for a minute). And I didn't even manage to do the recommended Carol Burnette Tarzan yell which the kids and I have discussed as the appropriate way to let off steam. Darn it all. Oh well... Nobody's perfect. The good news is that I recovered fairly quickly, I didn't really yell AT anyone and I apologized to the kids and promised to keep working on doing better.

It has been a rough week with a double-toothache (the boy) and on-going 4 1/2 year old girl developmental struggles. The good news in the midst of all this... School is coming, I believe I've actually lost 2 pounds somehow and hopefully I'll get more sleep tonight.

As a parent, or a non-parent, what about kids makes you yell (or want to anyway)?

And by the way...

And here is what my daughter had to say this morning when asked to limit her 4,000 zillion questions about each and every thing there is in the universe for just a minute or so:

"And by the way, Mama... I can't keep quiet, because I love you."

Enough said!

Keep breathing

"Mama, when I think of you, I get warm all over," the girl.

"Mama, I want to spend time with you ...just us... every day, 'cause it feels like we're with Dada more than with you," the boy.

And then ...
they started making me c r a z y

... breath, breath, breath and breath some more!

The calm without the storm

and other thoughts on parenthood. I have managed to maintain my cool for several days now. Today, however may be the hardest day yet. I have the kidlets all afternoon and evening to myself and we have no activities planned and nothing necessarily on the horizon. I went to bed late, lost sleep when woken up by the kids around 4:00 a.m., and have drunk more caffeine instead of less, to wake up. Think good thoughts that we'll manage to keep the storm at bay and maintain our household calm (at least Mama's) -- wish me luck.

On another parenting note... I have always found it intriguing to note that as parents we often take comfort in the pain of others. It sounds bad, but truly it isn't mean-spirited (at least in my own experience). However, it is soothing to know as a parent that you are not the only one dealing with behavior issues or your own skills. Recently a friend of mine (with children of similar ages) went back to work at a part-time job for the first time in years. I fully confess to feeling better when she confided in me that she just can't figure out how to continue to exercise while working 20 hours a week! Me neither. And while I feel for her plight, we can struggle to figure this out seperately and together and share the knowledge that frankly, despite our best efforts, we can't do it all and we shouldn't have to. Here's to all of us wonderfully imperfect Mamas! And maybe I should let her in on my exercising in the dark trick or let her borrow my kids yoga video (that of course only one of my kids is interested in doing with me).