Candid Moms

I think candid moms are hilarious.  I love it when you get together with your friends and there are always the ones that kind of sugar coat things like..."My kids are so great and awesome and I just can't imagine life without them.  They give meaning and purpose to my life...blah, blah blah."  And THEN there are the friends that are like, "I'd rather remove my own uterus with a rusty spoon than have another child." - Julie Bowen, actress.  Now those are the ones I like to visit with.  As a mom it is an unspoken truth that we all love our children dearly and that we'd never change things however a lot of us start our conversations out that way.  "You know I love my children to pieces and I'd never change things for the world but if I could ship them off to grandma's for a week or two don't think I wouldn't."

It's fun girl time to sit and visit about our kids and the crazy things they do.  I was home alone last night with my three year old while my husband and older children were at softball and baseball practice.  I played baseball outside with my son.  He likes to say, "Mom, can we go outside and you can throw balls at my bat?"  That is his way of asking if I can pitch to him!  So we played outside, then we came in to clean his room and then I had the audacity to think I was going to clean the kitchen.  In a matter of a few minutes he had sprayed Windex all over my wood floors, once I took the Windex away he got the Febreze out and after a scolding he went to his room to get some cars to play with in the living room.  I was back and forth between the living room, kitchen, laundry room and bathroom when the phone rang.  Now you know when you answer the phone children immediately know you aren't going to pay that much attention to them and they get naughty.  By the time I had gotten off the phone he had Kool-Aid in his play kitchen dishes, small candy Easter eggs foaming in the Kool-Aid, Kool-Aid on the floor and both of his hands were stained red.

This is my exhausting child!  So of course I think to myself...I love him, I love him, I love him but why did I think I needed three kids!  He's too dang cute to give away though so I guess I'll keep him.  I realize we all have our limits and can handle different things.  I have friends who only ever have one child and I've had friends who have had five AND home schooled them!!  I've had friends who have had three kids in three years and I've had friends you have had two kids in twelve years.  Once we become moms though we have an understanding for each other and for what our own mothers went through.  I know I didn't really appreciate the moms in my life..my mother, aunts, grandmothers, mother-in-law etc. until I became a mom.  These women raised multiple children and didn't give any of them away! They managed to keep all of their children and their sanity..well maybe the sanity part could be up for debate.  Ha!

It's okay to be honest with your friends because even if they don't admit it they secretly think a lot of what you are thinking.  I'll be honest, my days working from home run smoothly, I'm productive and I enjoy what I do and then four o'clock hits and the kids are home from school and all hell breaks loose.  Welcome to the jungle!  Yesterday my three old informed me that there was a mean rabbit that lived near our house and his name was F*cky the rabbit!  Yes, F*cky the rabbit.  I scolded him and told him that that was a bad word and that he should never say that and he started crying and said, "I didn't think rabbit was a bad word."

My most favorite times are when we are doing something as a family and everyone is getting along.  We could be playing outside or sitting around a campfire or playing a board game.  We do try to spend as much time with our kids as possible because even though they are annoying at times they aren't around forever.  However I do have friends who say their most favorite times with their children are when they are all sleeping!

Now I realize why grandparents are such happy people.  They get to enjoy the grand kids when they want and then give them back to their parents when they need a break.  Plus grandparents get to enjoy watching their own children as parents which they already know is the toughest gig on earth!

So if you ever need a candid chat about raising kids come on over to my house.  We can talk about kids and you can meet my friends, Riesling and Merlot.

“We spend the first twelve months of our children's lives teaching them to walk and talk and the next twelve telling them to sit down and shut up" Phyllis Diller.