Contently flawed

As the mother of two young girls, I am very conscious of the words I choose and how I speak about myself.  It's no secret to the world that I am not the size of a magazine model yet it's important for my girls to know I love myself and that daddy loves me and that my size does not define me nor does it dictate my life.  I'm as beautiful as those women.  It is my responsibility to live my life with confidence and instill in them a quiet confidence as well.  I saw this video clip and loved it.  I think it's worth the 5 minutes to watch.  As one of the clips in the video says, I am contently flawed.  I hope my girls will always feel the same about themselves as they grow up.

WWJD? Not the same as WWWD.

See this cute boy here?  He's mine.  I claim him with great pride.

Even when I pick him up from school and his teacher tells me that during the after school program he pulled down his pants and showed his bum to a few kids as they sat reading a bible story.

Anyone who wonders what he may need for his brithday I would suggest this:

Then printed on the back it should say, "He wouldn't show his friends his bum during bible time."  I'm pretty sure, anyway.

Pefect? No.

I don't try and be the perfect mom to my kids.  I'm unlike every one of my mom friends in that I DO NOT feel badly when they cry in their cribs as babies (assuming I know they are fed, warm, dry, etc.).  I nurture and care for in a very deep way but I also expect a lot from my kids, even at a young age.  I have no idea how this method of parenting will turn out but it's all I know how to do.  So far, so good.  I'm also very fortunate that my only responsibilites in life are my husband, my kids, my house.  Aside from being a crappy cook I think I do a pretty good job at my job.  However, this week I've fumbled quite a bit.  Chris has been gone on a much deserved trip and while gone all 4 of us had fevers, coughs, sore throats, ear infections, and nightmares.  It's been a hoot of a week.  On top of that, we've had construction going on in our hallway and kitchen area.  I haven't felt stressed at all, in fact I've had a great time with the kids every day.  I have, however, forgotten very basic things.  Just one (of the many) examples is that today I dropped the kids off at school and not only did I forget Drew's homework at home but WE DIDN'T EVEN DO IT.  I also forgot William's teddybear - today they were having a picnic with their teddybears.  On top of that we were 5 minutes late which to me is the equivalent of being an hour late.  I know these are all small things but this is my only job in life.  The school director said to me, "That's ok.  It's life.  All the important things are taken care of."  I said, "Yeah, you're right.  They are dressed and fed.  Their teeth are brushed.  And I kissed them both as I left their classrooms."  I'm not beating myself up about it 'cause, yeah, life happens.  And this made me feel better.

   

What will yours say?

What would you like for your epitaph to say?  It may seem a grim topic and I don't intend for it to be, but have you thought about it?  If you could sum things up in one single sentence what would you like for it to say?

Every summer I go back to Massachusetts with my mom.  The Homeland.  Now that my grandparents are gone we spend the majority of our time on Cape Cod as opposed to Sudbury, where they lived.  We still go back and visit their grave, plant flowers, see the house, and visit friends.  That usually consists of a day or two at most.  A couple summers ago we took a day trip to the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Concord, MA.  We also visited the bridge where the Shot Heard Around the World was fired (c'mon people, the beginning of the Revolutionary War?  Yeah, I knew you knew what I was talking about) and a few other historical landmarks.  I loved the cemetery.  Normally all that stuff freaks me out but this was so interesting.  Like most of the other cemeteries in the area, there are tombstones that date back to the 1700's.  I found it interesting how all the women had their husband's name on their tombstones.  Like mine would say, "Mrs. Christopher Peters".  Many well known locals are buried there.  We took rubbings of Nathanial Hawthorne's grave, Louisa May Alcott's grave, and Ralph Waldo Emerson's grave.  What struck me the most was the grave of a woman who died during the Revolutionary War.  Her epitaph is what I hope mine will say some day.

"She made home a happy place."

Thanks to my old school chum Ralph for bringing up the topic.

Tubes it is!

Drew has had an ear infection every 6 weeks since the late summer.  As a swimmer, my ears and throat hurt more often than they didn't as a kid and I'm not quite sure why I didn't realize that with Drew this was becoming a pattern.  I lived it and can spot the very early signs, long before Drew even knows what is happening.  I wish we'd seen an ENT months ago for her.  Oh, well.  In the past.  TODAY we saw the ENT and her ear infection that was just in her right ear a few days ago is now in her left ear despite the strong antibiotic she's on.  One of the reasons I'm insisting on tubes is because everytime we go through this (yes, we), she needs a stronger antibiotic.  By the time she's 10 she'll be immune to all modern medicine has to offer, not to mention her poor little 4 year old self that is ingesting all this strong stuff just to kill these damn ear infections.  The ENT gave me the pros and cons of getting tubes and I honestly didn't really listen.  I read lots before our appointment and I didn't want the "potential hearing loss from a scar made to the ear drum" to scare me out of it.  My decision was made.  He agreed she's a good candidate (um, ya think?) and I'm just waiting for his assistant to call me with the date.  It's a simple in-and-out procedure.  She'll be put under for a very short amount of time but we're already a pro when it comes to dealing with that.

Thank you, WebMD, for providing elementary illustrations for those of us who need them to know what the hell is going on with our kids.

This is to have succeeded

As of the last week my life consists of fevers, snot, no laundry due to construction, and kids who are snuggly and loving and saving my sanity.  Since none of that is all that interesting I figured I'd just post something from a great blog I've found.  I'll call these my 'fillers'.  On days (or weeks) when my life and brain become totally non-blog worthy, I'll pull one of these lovelies out of my back pocket and post it.

Enjoy your day.

And for anyone who may care, this quote has never been proven to be stated or written by Ralph Waldo Emerson although he's always been given credit for it.  If you're a geek like I am and like things to be absolutely accurate, you can click here to read more.

 

How others live

Do you ever wonder what other people's houses are like?  Like the people you correspond with via email or on facebook or something?  Or the blogs you read?  I totally do.  I'm one of those who LOVES when other people have their blinds open when I'm driving by.  I'm by no means a peeping Tom but I love to glance and see how others live.  I have always been envious of Chris that he gets to enter other people's homes as part of his job.  He assures me that in the ghetto of Oakland I'm not missing much.  Sooo, in case you were wondering what it looks like as I sit here and write my blogs I thought I'd quench YOUR thirst and include a picture.  Here's me on a typical night in our bedroom on my laptop blogging.

Alright, alright.  That's not really me.  But truly the biggest difference is that I don't have a Mac.

Courtesy of Everything Fabulous