Happy Easter!

Wordless weeks....

Pathetic, I know - - - that it has been over a month since I have updated this blog.... and to think this is a pet peeve of mine... SO, here's a 'teaser' of pics.... I'll try to post a real entry later today! But really, I have come to learn that the pics are what gets the attention!!! (not my ramblings) So here ya go....

)

Wordless Wednesday...Because life is to busy for words..

Wordless Wednesday - Snow Day Play!!

Tuesday Ten List

Here's my 10 list for the week . . .and you all get to see the whiny side of me. . . or the pet peeved side of me, or just the "I can't think of a 10 list" side of me. . .

Ten things people randomly ask / say that I just really don't know how to respond to:

1. How do you stay up so late? well, I just don't go to bed. . .
2. How did "I turn out ok" compared to my sibling? Really, what's the right answer here. . .
3. Are my twins identical? really, are you asking me that - one has boy parts, one has girls....
4. How can you watch that? Well, again - eyes open - just watch it. . .
5. This is nasty, do you want to taste? Hummm, such a good question - why don't you use it on a billboard!
6. Did you want twins? Well, what if I didn't. . . couldn't really decide which one to send back... Did you plan to have twins? Well, yeah, we sent in our order and it was processed properly.
7. Do you and David like the same things? Well, really, do you and your husband always like the same things....
8. Do you work? Yes, don't you.. . .
9. Do you like your car? your ? your school? your shirt? what if I didn't like it - thanks for reminding me....
10. Do you enjoy scrapbooking? Well, have you looked in my office....nah, really, I just like to buy the stuff to leave out on my desk, and clutter up my shelves....
11. Are you busy? well, I have 3 kids, a husband, a lot of ministry work I am involved in. . . and . . . . nah, I have all the time in the world. . .

But this list does not compare to this collection of stupid questions to think about. . .

Why don't moms have time?

I read this on another blog today and just HAD to share it with all my other 'mom' friends!! The article appeared in an Arizona newspapers' 'advice' column....

Tell Me About It by Carolyn Hax : Friend really doesn't get the kid thing
Tucson, Arizona Published: 06.05.2007●

Dear Carolyn:

My best friend has a child. Her: Exhausted, busy, no time for self, no time for me, etc. Me (no kids): Wow. Sorry. What'd you do today? Her: Park, play group . . . OK. I've done Internet searches; I've talked to parents. I don't get it. What do stay-at-home moms do all day? Please, no lists of library, grocery store, dry cleaners. . . . I do all those things, too, and I don't do them every day. I guess what I'm asking is: What is a typical day, and why don't moms have time for a call or e-mail?
I work and am away from home nine hours a day (plus a few late work events), and I manage to get it all done. I'm feeling like the kid is an excuse to relax and enjoy — not a bad thing at all — but if so, why won't my friend tell me the truth?
Is this a contest ("My life is so much harder than yours")? What's the deal? I've got friends with and without kids, and all us child-free folks get the same story and have the same questions.
— Tacoma, Wash.


Dear Tacoma:
Relax and enjoy. You're funny.
Or you're lying about having friends with kids.
Or you're taking them at their word that they actually have kids, because you haven't personally been in the same room with them.

I keep wavering between giving you a straight answer and giving my forehead some keyboard. To claim you want to understand — while in the same breath implying that the only logical conclusions are that your mom friends are either lying or competing with you — is disingenuous indeed.
So, since it's validation you seem to want, the real answer is what you get. In list form. When you have young kids, your typical day is: constant attention, from getting them out of bed, fed, clean, dressed; to keeping them out of harm's way; to answering their coos, cries and questions; to having two arms and carrying one kid, one set of car keys and supplies for even the quickest trips, including the latest-to-be-declared-essential piece of molded plastic gear; to keeping them from unshelving books at the library; to enforcing rest times; to staying one step ahead of them lest they get too hungry, tired or bored, any one of which produces the kind of checkout-line screaming that gets the checkout line shaking its head.

It's needing 45 minutes to do what takes others 15.

It's constant vigilance, constant touch, constant use of your voice, constant relegation of your needs to the second tier.

It's constant scrutiny and second-guessing from family members and friends, well-meaning and otherwise. It's resisting the constant temptation to seek short-term relief at everyone's long-term expense.

It's doing all this while concurrently teaching virtually everything — language, manners, safety, resourcefulness, discipline, curiosity, creativity, empathy. Everything.

It's also a choice, yes. And a joy. But if you spent all day, every day, with this brand of joy — and then when you got your first 10 minutes to yourself, you wanted to be alone with your thoughts instead of calling a good friend — a good friend wouldn't judge you, complain about you to mutual friends or marvel at how much more productively she uses her time.

Either make a sincere effort to understand, or keep your snit to yourself.


~reprinted without permission

WordLESS Wednesday