My kindergartener got off the bus and said

“school was the best”

This made my heart so happy! I was nervous for her, not near as nervous as when my oldest went to kindergarten but still my nerves were there for her because new things are tough! We all struggle with ‘new’ and going to big girl school with all new kids and all new teachers is hard! I forget how resilient these kids are though, they push through easily!

School was the best

I have so much love, respect, thankfulness and overall appreciation for all of the kind people working at my children’s school. The teachers, assistants, principal, receptionist, lunch workers, janitor’s, etc etc etc... These people are the ones that worked extremely hard today with children that had the best day of their lives and probably even some that had the hardest day!

These people choose to be kind, they choose to open their hearts, and they choose to take care of my children the best that they can for 7 hours a day 5 Days a week! To these people I simply say.... Thank you, from the bottom of my heart Thank you!
I appreciate you!

You are all amazing people! Keep being amazing, keep teaching, keep loving my children because I can promise you that they love you right back! Because of this, I appreciate you! Even when the school year gets tough remember that I appreciate you, my kids love you, and they will never forget your kindness!

😍❤️ School was the best! 😍

The 6 things I miss

The 6 things I miss

            There is nothing better than being a mother to my children. I love them more than life itself and I would never go back and change any part of being their mother. They have shown me the true meaning of life and what pure joy and happiness really is. I made sure to include that for all the ‘perfect mothers’ out there that like to pretend that these are the only thoughts that ever cross their minds throughout life.

However, the truth about being a mother is that life is not easy, perfect, always happy etc etc… Life with toddlers or small children is crazy, insane, disastrous, messy, and will drive you out of your mind…..along with all of that good stuff that I prefaced this with.

There are a few things that you will miss when you become a mother and for everyone this list is a little bit different, but here are the major ones for this ‘truly un-perfect, and not trying to be, mother.

1.    Buying food for just me- I miss food that I can call my own. I miss being able to go to the grocery store and pick out a snack food to divulge into later in the evening in front of my binge-worthy show. Instead of this option, it’s two toddlers watching my every move at the store asking “can I have some of that? Are those cookies for me? When do I get to eat them? I want them NOW! Where are my snacks? I don’t want those chips!” If I am smart enough to grab something when they aren’t with me, they are little scavengers and they hunt it out at home. “When did you buy these mom? I want them!” Instead of this, I have resorted to hiding my stash, and liking snacks that they won’t eat. Cookies with pecans in them or mint chocolate chip ice cream, both are golden and never touched, therefore, they are my favorite snacks now.

2.    Eating food in peace- I know, you must think that I do nothing but eat. If you are not a mother and are laughing at this statement, your time will come. If you are a mother, you will definitely relate to hiding your face in the fridge to scarf down that chocolate bar, or hiding in the pantry closet to finish off the cheese curls while the kids are sitting in front of a TV show you swore they would never watch. You have never seen a parent eat as fast as when they are hiding in the fridge and the kid comes walking around the corner. Also, be sure not to chew, because kids are smarter than that and they will realize you are eating something and they will definitely want some. If your mouth is full, they will have a hundred questions to ask you and then say ‘why aren’t you answering me mommy? Is there something in your mouth? Can I have some?’

3.    TV-I miss movies, TV shows, award shows, trashy reality shows, etc etc etc. The children dominate, period. Since I am parent of the year and all, ha. I make sure that my children do not live in front of the TV, since it rots their brains and all. This means that either they are getting their allotted ’TV time’, or the TV is off and I am forced to play yet another round of ‘dress this doll for me’, or ‘my sister said she isn’t my sister anymore’. Thank god they go to bed early and I get an hour to myself in front of the tv, so I make sure my brain is fully rotting away in a wonderfully relaxing way almost every night. Before children, the TV was on the entire time I was home, just chilling in the background, incase anything exciting ever came on.

4.    Showers-Long, hot, wonderfully blissful, relaxing, singing out loud to my music, showers! Do I get showers now? Of course I shower daily! Are they wonderful and blissful? Um…do you know anyone with small children, because their mothers will just laugh at that statement? Showers are not a relaxing process anymore, they are simply a way to get clean as fast as you can because both children need to pee and one may have already gone in the hallway while you were in there. You only get a few quick minutes and you better be prepared to answer fifty questions while you are in there. Children reason that if you don’t answer their question of ‘can I color on your new hardwood floor?’ that means you definitely don’t mind!

5.    Reading- This one might be a little more personal to me, but I am sure it applies to everyone in some small way. I personally love to read books. I love to fall into a book that sucks me in and makes me feel like I am in a completely different world of peace, love, and happiness. You need silence to gain that feeling, and let me tell you silence is not something that you may ever experience again until your children completely move out. That brings me to number six, which is…

6.    Silence-This is something that you may experience every now and then. Maybe your parents or in-laws decide they want the little buggers for the night, or you get done work early and forget to tell anyone and sneak back to the house to stare at four walls for half an hour just because you can. This silence is pretty much gone, but even when you do catch a few moments of it, it will not be a positive feeling. If the children are home and you realize there is silence, someone is definitely coloring the hardwood floors or holding down their sister because they are a cop and sis is the robber.

This list could go on and on, but these are my top choices. These are the things that I plan to do every night when I get twenty minutes or an hour to myself. Sadly, I often resort to dishes, homework, or planting myself on the couch and then being unable to move. So, if you are not a parent yet, make sure that you get in your fair share of binge-watching, chip-eating, shower-singing, silence-loving happiness!

Posted on Her view from home on 7/15/2017 www.herviewfromhome.com

Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse

The Zombie Apocalypse

Today I have decided that staying home alone during the day with two children, is like surviving the zombie apocalypse. I’m not quite sure what brought me to this conclusion, probably the fact that some days I really do feel like it’s survival of the fittest. Don’t get me wrong, I love my children, but some days I definitely feel as though they won the battle of survival and I should just lay down and surrender. Here are the 7 reasons why being home alone with children is like surviving the zombie apocalypse, or on some days like not surviving it.

·         You are thirsty

o   There are most definitely days that I have gone the entire day without drinking as much as a few sips of my morning java. Usually this is the only thing that gets me through the day without falling asleep drooling on the couch while both kids are coloring the TV screen. When the day starts off with crying, middles with crying and ends with crying, it just never happens. You start by pouring that delicious cup of coffee, sometime around 10 AM you realize that you left that cup in the kitchen and you go to reheat it. Most days I end up finding the cup in the microwave or counter and it’s never been touched or a sip hasn’t even been taken out of it.

·         Your hungry

o   Those women out there that are not yet mothers are laughing at this one. They think….Oh lord how could I possibly get through the day without eating, I’m always hungry and having a kid sounds like I will lose some weight. WRONG the problem here is that you are so hungry, you just can’t find the time to eat…. real food…. ever.  You find yourself sneaking Cheetos from the kitchen cabinet while an episode of Barney is entertaining your children, even though you swore that your children would never be exposed to that horrible purple dinosaur.

·         You haven’t felt safe enough to use the bathroom all day

o   You have felt the urge to pee at least 3 times during the day, but yet some type of tragedy always strikes before you are able to actually get there. Once the tragedy is over, you completely forget about ever needing to go, especially when eating the cheetos. It doesn’t really matter anyway, it’s not like you’ve had anything to drink all day.

·         Everyone is a dirty filthy mess

o   It may be a fact that you actually do have a working bathroom including a shower, but that doesn’t change much during the course of an eight hour day with children. The amazing messes that toddlers create in a very short span of 8 hours would amaze anyone other than a normal everyday mom. I have given multiple baths in a day, especially when I was that crazed first-time mom and thought the world would end if my poor little girl had applesauce on her shirt. Once that second kid comes into the picture, I actually encourage the dog to clean their faces instead of getting disgusted….did I say that?

·         You caught yourself at least once staring and daydreaming of a quieter time, and completely missed your children destroying something in your home.

o   It is a half daydream/half sleeping with your eyes open moment, but boy does it come to a quick halt when that one year old is suddenly ready to superman jump off the fireplace. Possibly the one-year old is getting ready to feed the six-month old the dog food, or found the garbage can and decided to lick the egg carton. No matter what the incident, as long as it didn’t happen!!  …. Almost……. doesn’t count.

·         At least once during the course of the day, you thought surely you wouldn’t make it.

o   Every day there is a time when I sit and find myself completely overwhelmed and wonder why I am a horrible mother. This usually happens when you realize that your children love that purple dinosaur or when you realize that you accidentally told the one-year old that yes she could color her sisters face with the purple marker.

·         When the day is finally over, you are pretty much just happy everyone got out alive….yourself included!

o   The days when dad comes home or the kids are finally asleep in bed, and the mayonnaise is spread on the kitchen floor and the baby has a purple mustache, these are sometimes the good days. If we didn’t end up in the ER and both kids are alive and well, there is room to celebrate. At the end of the day, or the zombie apocalypse, that is really all that ever matters. I always just remember all of the almost’s, because…..Almost doesn’t count!

Article has been previously posted on Her view from home at http://herviewfromhome.com/