Jesus...for Mayor?

Feb 2009
My kids for some reason have been very interested in who the Mayor is. They are still separating out Civics and Church. I had a very funny conversation with them the last week or so. AnnaLisa had asked me who our Mayor was. I told her "Mayor Berman". He was at a neighborhood activity that we went to recently and gave the kids a ride in his electric car. They have seen all the signs up for the Mayoral and town council race. I commented that while he was a nice guy, I did not think he was honest and that I was going to vote for someone else. JJ piped up, "Vote for Jesus". I had to smile because it was just so sincere. I told him Jesus was not running for mayor, but if he was, I'd vote for him.
March 2009
Well, they are having a "run-off" between the top placers for Mayor. We will be having another election in May. Jesus was not listed on there. I'd still vote for him. I think the two candidates for office are both good options, but I will need to work on it a bit more before then.

Finally a good couple of days...?

Well, yesterday is the first day in over a month that I have felt "good". It seems the last month that someone is always sick and sometimes it is even me. And if I am not sick, then I am up half the night with someone who is. Friday morning I woke up feeling energized with ideas of what I wanted to accomplish (not just nearly survive) for the day. I did not do as much as I would have liked as in the back of my head came the warning "take it easy lady, don't wear yourself out just quite yet".

I guess that is one of the down side of having more than one or two kids, you can literally be on a merry-go-round of sick kids for a month or two and it will be a different kid each week.

Last night Jeff and I went out on our weekly date (which by the way is one of the best things we have done for our marriage). We went out to watch my nieces basketball game - they both play Varsity for their school. The JV is coached by my sister. The games were good. Basketball is about the only sport that I enjoy watching. I prefer girls because they seem more into it, less flashy, more real about the game.

Then this morning I again woke up feeling pretty fantastic. Jeff went off to school this morning (he has a handful of Saturday classes for his Master's program) and I decided that we were going to CLEAN to surprise daddy. Reality is that most of the cleaning I did, because I had a standard of what I wanted done. AnnaLisa and Andrew both had homework and did that while mom cleaned. It is impressive what you can do in a few hours.

This evening I ran to the store to get some random things (construction paper to make a job chart for the kids, bread pans to start making homemade bread for us, etc). Got home an hour later to Jeff, who was suppose to be doing homework, cleaning up JJ who threw up in bed (poor Police Car) and it is not looking so good for tonight. I guess I will be lucky to get a few more good days next week.

What is in a name....? the sequel

Today I was helping JJ learn to make his bed. We were working together up there on the top bunk, when we started talking about his dog's name. I asked him what it was, just trying to see if he would be consistent to several weeks ago when he told me "Ambulance". Yep, he still calls his dog Ambulance, but then he said something that I thought was so sweet. He told me that it was named Ambulance "because he helps people". Oh-how cute!

Well, JJ had not named his lion or tiger and I suppose I should have just let it go, but then I asked him, "should we call this one Firetruck and that one Police Car? Yep! He thought it was great. So now all "the boys" have their own names representative of the Emergency System vehicles.

I am going to post a picture of these guys, but JJ is having a tough time sleeping and one of them is in the wash right now.

So yummy!

Ok, I am not a junk food (or fast food) kind of person, but this morning I stopped off at Wendy's to get JJ some lunch. We had just left a horrible dentist appointment, had to pick up the baby and JJ's school bus comes in half an hour. I knew we did not have any "quick and easy" food for JJ at home, so I chose the less stressful path today. While getting JJ's order, I decided to get myself a sandwich. I know I have been sick and worn out this last week especially (we have been on a merry-go-round the last few weeks with sick kids). Well, this was the best tasting sandwich ever! I just hit the right spot. I am not sure why I am so happy about it, other than it was the first time in the last two weeks that I felt like I got a warm, yummy something to eat. But it brought that "happy with life" smile to my face and I knew that it was what I needed. Wendy's - who would have thought that?

Perfect Parents?

Where do we get the idea that parents are suppose to be perfect? A friend of mine emailed talking about how her daughter berated her for her many parenting mistakes and blamed her drug problem on her parents. My friend was asking for advice, but I am wondering how being human is a mistake as far as parenting goes?

I know for me I try to do my best and be a great example for my kids, but I know I am not perfect. I try not to let my kids make the mistakes they see me make (like when I lost my cool the other day and yelled, my daughter told me she did not like it, I admitted I was wrong and that I need to work on it a bit, and I asked if she would help me). But where did this delusion that parents are perfect, or even that we are somehow schooled in what we are doing? I mean I know more about being a kid than I do a parent - I've been a kid for twenty some odd years and a parent for only seven (unless you talk collectively then I get 17 years of credit).

So if any of you know where this idea of perfect parents comes in, let me know.

Toy or tool?

From a child's perspective, all things are toys. Everything around them is something to be explored and played with. Mom's wallet, an electrical outlet, telephone, or an Elmo doll - they are all very interesting. Some when played with will send mom into hysterics as she jumps over tricycles and laundry baskets to foil her child's plans at unscrewing an electrical socket. Hence the mantra that is often heard floating out of my mouth, "It is a tool, not a toy". At first I had a hard time trying to get my kids to understand what toys were and were not. Then finally I stumbled on to this one day. It was an actual tool (a screwdriver I think) when I told them, "It is not a toy, it is a tool", We got into a discussion about what tools are. Then it occurred to me that basically all things fall into one of these two categories. It has been about 5 months since I started using this question with my children. Wonderfully it has helped them to understand that once they have been told it is a tool, they don't play with it anymore. Wish I would have figured this one out 7 years ago!
-Mommy

Grandpa's are great!

Recently we've had a few comments about Grandpa's at our home. Thought I would record one of them here.

AnnaLisa was sick at the Williams family reunion (back in July). Of course we got a priesthood blessing for her. Shortly after that everyone was scheduled to go swimming. AnnaLisa was crushed that she could not go. She stayed behind with Grandma and Grandpa and others. She was a sad little girl. Grandpa (probably looking for an excuse anyway) offered to take her down and get a milkshake. She had a sore throat so I am sure it felt great, but more than that she remembers the time that Grandpa spent with her.

-mommy

Break a Momma's heart

Today I got home right before Andrew and AnnaLisa got home from school (JJ was sick so Daddy stayed home). AnnaLisa came through the door and was in tears within seconds. All we could tell was that it had something to do with a particular girl at school. This girl is often a root of disorder and unfairness (from my biased opinion). Daddy did the right thing by scooping up our big girl in his arms and sitting together on the couch to figure out what could be so terrible. Mommy had to jump in too. AnnaLisa doesn't normally get this upset over things.

AnnaLisa was telling us that this girl was insisting that AnnaLisa pick her for lunch (the clarity is ringing through to Mommy because there is only one thing that you pick one friend for to eat lunch with - "Star of the Week"). I managed to ask the right questions and indeed mom was right AnnaLisa was picked today to be the "Star of the Week" next week. Which as part of the "rights" given to the "Star of the Week" you get to eat lunch with a friend and the teacher. So on a day that AnnaLisa should have been enjoying her soon to be fame (they get to do all sorts of special things from reading a story to the whole class, having a "Star" paperweight on their desk, pencil with stars on it, having a picture collage, etc.) Well it turns out that there were some girls that were demanding (and we found out not just this one) that AnnaLisa pick them. I am not trying to be too harsh as I am sure they have no intention of hurting or stressing out AnnaLisa, but she was nearly devastated over this. Finally we resolved that she could wait until Wednesday to decide (which means I will now need to cancel her dentist appointment as it now conflicts with "Star of the week") who she will pick. Then we were able to have her focus on the positive and fun things that she would get to do. She was still having a tough time with "cheering up" so we asked her if she would like to go to a restaurant for dinner to celebrate her getting chosen as "Star of the Week". She was thrilled with the idea and immediately suggested "Old McDonalds" because it has a playground. Jeff and I had actually already started discussing the idea (an unusual luxury for us) before she came home with the dilemma. We managed a compromise - Village Inn (mommy and Daddy do not do McDonalds unless on vacation, or summer-time play dates). Well, we were able to get through the rest of the night ok and tomorrow we will be making a poster filled with pictures of AnnaLisa.

One of the reason's why I wanted to post about this is that tonight I realize that what hurts my kids hurts me so much more than what hurts me. I can handle life ok - it is when I see my sweet daughter who really wants to have friends, feeling like she is caught in a Piraña-fest because the other girls want to be picked. She should have come home today bouncing off the walls because she was finally picked (19 of her other classmates have gone before her) instead of being reduced to a puddle of tears. That is when the "mama-bear" wants to come out and thrash everyone until they understand how their actions hurt her. But when I sit and reflect on it a few hours after she has gone to bed, I realize that there is not mal-intent, just a desire to share in something fun. This is one of the things that married people (with kids) would often tell me that as a single person I could not understand. I think to some degree that is true, as a single person I could understand the need for compassion, the pain that you feel when a loved one has been hurt, but I never understood how much it can tear you up as a parent.

When did my kids get so big?

Yesterday we were in church and I went to check up on the kids in Primary (children's Sunday School classes). Primary is divided up into classes by age and then they also combine the younger kids, Junior Primary, for a singing time and the older kids, Senior Primary, do singing time after the younger kids turn (they "flip-flop" the kids in classes with the singing time). Anyway, I had to change the baby's diaper so I thought I would peek in to see how the kids were doing in their new classes (they change classes at the beginning of the year). When I looked in, I could only see the boys. AnnaLisa was not around. I went back to class (because I trust the Primary teachers, and the fact that AnnaLisa's whole class and teacher were not there). I leaned over to my friend Becky and asked when the kids "transitioned" to Senior Primary. She said it was the year that they turned 8. AnnaLisa is turning 8 this November. So I said to Becky, "Wow, I guess my little girl is growing up". She said, "Wait until she graduates from Primary (at age 12) and goes to Young Womens.

I know I am told by so many that "your kids grow up fast" and "enjoy them while they are young" but it floors me that AnnaLisa is already this big. She talks about getting baptized (in our church children must be 8 years old before they can be baptized) all the time. She is reading scriptures, praying about it, and trying to make good choices. From a Mom's perspective, she is about as wonderful as a kid can get. But I guess it is experiences like this that throw it in your face about how she will not be my little girl forever.

And I guess one other painful truth is that my "baby" is 17 months old and will be going into Nursery (toddler's play class) in a month. What will it be like to not have a baby anymore?