Where are all the dads?

Holy cow moment ?: Where are all the men?  By the children of course.  Finally a perk – or a use – for the fact most men are simply big children.  They can think on their level and play with them...is that a little harsh?

My daughter turned one this past week.  A milestone and a sign of success all in one.  She made it the first year without major incident and mom and dad survived.  The phenomena at the party was that all the mothers were in the kitchen hanging out while the dads were the ones with the children.

The real men in our lives are not the ones pictured in novels or the ones in the movies who oose testosterone.  Okay so they obviously oose testosterone, they are men after all.  But you know what I am saying.  The real men, the ones who captured our hearts, the ones who we look for each day and the ones we dream about (I hope) are the men who were sitting on the floor around a tiny Disney Cars ball pit while their children played. The house was filled with tiny screams of joy and lots of male laughter.

The sight that warms my heart and makes it feel so full it might explode is when I see my husband playing with our daughter.  Laughing with her, throwing a ball or two for her – I hate to tell him she isn’t a dog but she likes it. 

These are the real men in our lives.  It doesn’t make them any less a man to have a daughter, or any less a man to play princess dress-up.  It doesn’t make them less a man because they can’t go out to the bar.  In fact in my mind it makes the men I know more attractive to their spouses because it means they are no longer concerned with what the public thinks.  It takes a real man to be a daddy.  As the cliché goes, any man can be a father but it takes  a special man to be a dad. 

 This post is a holy cow I am more in love with my husband today then I was one year ago.  No a baby wont fix a relationship, yes a baby will try yours and bring out little fraying threads but in the end if you already had a good relationship all the small trials and tribulations will help you grow as a couple and show your straights and weaknesses.  No we haven’t had a baby free date as of yet but I don’t mind. I don’t feel like anything is missing, we are closer then ever before – granted that might be because when we have five minutes alone we make the best of it.  There is no more taking either person for granted – we don’t  have the time.  

The art of Communication or the lack there of

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Holy Cow Moment #:  Communication isn’t intuitive; it is learned or unlearned in some cases.

Having a child I realize the importance of communication now more than ever before.  My tiny little one seems so fragile and helpless – don’t worry she reminds me how not helpless she is as she crashed through the house stirring dogs, moving chairs four times her size, displacing other larger furniture.  I guess it is like have a munchkin employed doing your redecorating.  Everything looks good if you are staring up from waist high – and you have zero mind of form fit or function.   No mommy doesn’t like running into a chair in front of the stairs – I know shocking.

But as I watch her learn she is picking up ways to inform me that she is tired, hungry, thirsty but these communications are lost on others.  They seem to only speak to myself or my husband.  I can’t help but feel protective and a little apprehensive to allow her to be watched by anyone else because they indeed miss her subtle signs.  There is a huge amount of freedom that comes with being able to express your thoughts and basic needs.  When my toddler learns to talk life might be a little more freeing although not any more quiet.  This is one of those times where seeing the traits of the more talkative parent are not in your favor.

The skills she is learning I hope to instill in her for life.  I hope she not only learns that by communicating her needs they are met, this will also equate to someday having healthy relationships something I feel most adults don’t embrace.  I am sad to see relationships of those close to me fall apart simply because the two parties can’t figure out how to communicate to one another and then there are those relationships that no matter how much I communicate the other party doesn’t know how to listen and effectively carry on a conversation back.  I swear that in some cases these people used to be able to communicate… they have to on some level or they would never have gotten where they are today.  How does one simply forget, or is it refusal? Sort of like when your child refuses to swallow a piece of chicken and purely on principle will sit for five minutes with their tongue hanging out of their mouth, chicken statically sitting there until you allow them to spit it out.   This is not a desirable trait.

Holy Cow I have my work cut out for me.  I need to make sure my child communicates but also knows how to listen.  How can I create a good balance?  This is one of those times I simply throw my hands up and pray that God  will toss me an instruction manual so I can somehow raise a well adjusted and balance human.  Granted – I am not sure there is such a thing, aren’t we all just a little be off our rocker at times?

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T - 4 days until my little girl is 1!!!!!!

 Someone said to me "These are the time when the days are long but the years are short."  I would agree 100%.

Mothers day

Holy Cow Moment ?: I survived. I made it to mothers day 1!!!! And for the record mothers day isn't about being a mom its celebrating survival. Mostly of the mom...but maybe the child too.

My husband is a wonderful man and will not let me forget I am a mom...as if one could forget while their child is clinging to their leg making it unusable for the foreseeable feature. This past year has been a blessing in more ways then i can count but there have been a million trials.  I feel like i am a better person these days and it is all thanks to my daughter.

Being a mom has meant that I had to get used to being thrown up on, pooped on, cried on, having my body altered to unrecognizable proportions, never sleeping again to name a few.  But being a mom has also meant lots of hugs and kisses, giggles and smiles galore, little tiny hands to stroke my cheek, someone to hold during a thunderstorm and a million little things that make my heart lighter. 

To all those moms out there, be your child canine or human, Happy Mothers Day.  It takes a special woman to be fill the shoes of a mom.  (Also in some cases being an Aunt is just as important.)

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The Top 31 TV Sitcom Mothers Of All Time

Ah, the sitcom. Where would television be without it? Rather, where would we be? If one thing is for certain, the situational comedy played a large role in our development while growing up, and perhaps the reason why can be determined by all the great mothers of comedy that played the role of mom to millions of viewers all over the world. Let's take a look at the best TV mothers of all time. Click the links below to jump to a mother:

Happy Days - Marion Cunningham (Marion Ross) That 70's Show - Kitty Foreman (Debra Jo Rupp) Home Improvement - Jill Taylor (Patricia Richardson) Cosby Show - Clair Huxtable (Phylicia Rashad) Married With Children - Peggy Bundy (Katey Sagal) Leave It To Beaver - June Cleaver (Barbara Billingsley) Simpsons - Marge Simpson (Julie Kavner) Family Guy - Lois Griffin (Alex Borstein) I Love Lucy - Lucy Ricardo (Lucille Ball) Mama's Family - Thelma Crowley Harper (Vicki Lawrence) Everyone Loves Raymond - Debra Barone (Patricia Heaton) Who's the Boss? - Angela Bower (Judith Light) Good Times - Florida Evans (Esther Rolle) Growing Pains - Maggie Malone Seaver (Joanna Kerns) South Park - Sharon Marsh (Eliza Schneider) Full House - Rebecca "Becky" Katsopolis (Lori Loughlin)

The Facts of Life - Edna Garrett (Charlotte Rae) The Jeffersons - Louise Jefferson (Isabel Sanford) The Brady Bunch - Carol Brady (Florence Henderson) Roseanne - Roseanne (Roseanne Barr) All In The Family - Edith Bunker (Jean Stapleton) Fresh Prince Of Bel Air - Vivian Banks ( Janet Hubert-Whitten) Dick Van Dyke Show - Laura Petrie (Mary Tyler Moore) Family Ties - Elyse Keaton (Meredith Baxter) The Addams Family - Morticia Addams (Carolyn Jones) The Partridge Family - Shirley Partridge (Shirley Jones) What's Happening!! Mabel Thomas (Mabel King) Boy Meets World - Amy Matthews (Betsy Randle) Seinfeld - Helen Seinfeld (Liz Sheridan) Seinfeld - Estelle Costanza (Estelle Harris) Alf - Kate Tanner (Anne Schedeen)

From: http://www.mothersdaycentral.com/tv-moms/

A daily dose of fiber

Holy cow moment #?: I'm fishing out paper...out of what is the question. Out of my darlings mouth. Who knew paper, napkins, boxes or anything else in the paper product category could be so yummy?
A knew excuse-my child ate my work. Literally. Think anyone will believe me? I have more note pages with tiny edges and chunks of paper missing. It looks like i had a mouse attack, alas but no , its something much harder to get rid of.

I'm not sure if my daughter is trying to tell me she needs more fiber or something else. Her first birthday is approaching and I wonder if i should advise all guests to wrap gifts in biodegradable paper with natural dyes, or better yet-wrap gifts in fruit rolls ups!! Of course then the dogs would help unwrap/eat her gifts.

Holy cow who knew id be wresting paper from my child like a dog. She bites down and wont let go. The visual is actually really funny, especially when she places the paper in her mouth purely to carry it hands free while pushing her walker around the kitchen.  I do worry the dogs may be rubbing off on her. If she starts to growl maybe I should worry?

Am i a bad mom because my daughter is eating paper?  One more check mark against me I am sure.

When did I get old?

Holy Cow Moment #: I'm sitting in the car with my daughter while my husband buys me ice cream. The child who never sleeps is indeed sleeping, i am taking full advantage. But, as I sit here a new ford mustang pulls into the spot next to me (if this indicates the kind of area I live in); and behind the wheel were two male teens. 12 years ago i would have swooned or whatever it was that teens did; but bot today. No now i curse them and I contemplate rolling down the window and politely asking them to refrain from revving their engine.

Ironic I think, that I used to hang out with boys who had muscle cars, listening as engines roared and loving every second of it. I still hope that my husband-when we win the ever elusive lotto-will be able to have a hot rod again. But apparently I've gotten old since motherhood.

Suddenly I look at tiny tank tops, not with judgement that a girl is slutty but worried she is sending the wrong message to boys- OMG I'm a mom.

I suddenly am conscious of the food i eat...and proceed to eat it because its the only thing I can shovel into my mouth before my child erupts. Good news though, she eats relatively healthy-too bad she is not the one trying to lose weight.

Holy Cow I'm old- mentally anyway. Although somedays physically I wonder if my body is going to withstand a 20lb crazed lunatic I call my daughter. Time is speeding up it seems and even though I feel like I was just eighteen, i wake up the next morning with a new ache to remind me I am indeed not that young anymore-as if the child in my arms lets me forget that. I wouldn't do it any different though.

You say hoarding ... i say saving UPDATE

I had a few people ask what the invites looked like so here you go.  I had to delete the address and emails since who knows who can see my blog. Wouldn't it be nice if everyone could.

Anyone else have a good "saving stories."  I should make a list of items that I have saved for years that have come into use now that I have a baby.

Another item of use were all my candle making accessories.  Started that collection about fifteen years ago.  When money was tight around Christmas, thanks to baby, we had to buy minimal items to compete gifts for our family.  Everyone got hand made, personalize candles.  I'm not sure everyone liked them but the good news was I used more stuff I had been saving.

My husband is happy though, we are cleaning stuff out!  So maybe the baby is helping us declutter... that's maybe a whole other blog.

You say hoarding, I say saving

Is adding color to the posts exciting or not?  Blogger has changed things a bit and i wonder if i should try out some of the new features.  Life is exciting i tell you.
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Holy Cow Moment #?: My husband was speechless as I sat on the couch using embroidery floss to make invitations. He wasn't speechless because of my mad crafting skills or the fact he has now embraced the braid, which, will come in handy when our daughter has hair. He was speechless however when I said, "See who knew that 20 years later I'd finally use this stuff."

I will fully admit that I sometimes have a hard time getting rid of perfectly good items just because they have gone out of style or I'm too busy to use them. I feel validated today as I use the kit that I so carefully assembled at the age of 10 to make friendship bracelets. I may not be giving my BFF a bracelet but it’s come in handy in making invitations for my daughters first birthday. The invites are in fact free since I had everything on hand.

Sure i get rid of things but sometimes you just need to keep certain items. I’m glad my intuition was right in this case.

(take that men - female intuition is not to be argued with.  I feel this is one of those moments where “I told you so” could apply, although I still have to face the fact that it take me years to get to the “I told you so” moment.)

So although I am not sure if I should be embarrassed that I have held onto certain items for years upon years they have come in very handy.  I fully embrace certain trends will never come back – or we hope – parachute pants, fluorescents, really bad plaids and stripes (oh wait they did come back) you get what i mean.  But for those trends like the friendship bracelet, i really think that my daughter will get back into something like that, and if not ... well i will keep using it to make cards. 

Holy how I want to write 6 sigma or 5S teams and tell them to bug off. I just saved $10 or more by using things I already had that take up little to no space at all. Okay so what if it still sat for years, its a craft item and one that I have periodically opened up through the years – mostly to validate saving it but so what.