It's been a while

So, I've been a little lax on the blogging thing as of late. It was so much easier to keep up before I got myself a little J-O-B. It's only 5 hours a week, but still. That's 5 hours of my precious Becca Time. You know, that time that you can almost forget that you're a mom, even though there are dishes in the sink, and a load of laundry that's been wrinkling itself in the dryer for a couple of days already.

Parker started his second year in preschool and just celebrated birthday number 4. Dillon started preschool last week - I think he's a natural. Swim lessons for Parker start next week too. See what happens to all that precious Becca Time! I've become a chauffer. Awesome. Too bad I don't own a Hummer limo and a black suit.

I was going to promise to blog more often, but I'll just promise to try harder. I really miss this little outlet.

Mommy needs a beer

Not very PC, but whatever. I sure could use a beer right about now. I’m not sure what happened to my patience. Maybe because it’s the second day in a row of rain. Maybe because I’m getting old and grouchy. Maybe because Parker has picked up this great habit of making the most obnoxious noises known to man. I’m not sure, but my kids are driving me nuts.

I think they call it selective hearing. My kids have a severe case. If there was an institution for selective hearing, my boys would be locked up. Throw away the key.

“No, Parker. Don’t do that.”
“Get that out of your mouth, Dillon.”
“How about another round of ‘The Quiet Game’?”

Stop by and have a drink. Like right now. Please.

What's for dinner, Mom?

Mealtime, oh how I love to hate you. Why can’t we have the classic Leave it to Beaver dinners? Two well mannered children pulling up their chairs and having a lovely conversation about their day. Admittedly, a two year-old and three year-old aren’t the greatest conversationalists, but I’m game for discussing what happened on Caillou this morning or a round of “Row, Row, Row Your Boat.”

The worst part is making the meal. Will they eat Mac N Cheese today? They really liked these cheeseburgers last week. I never know what will happen. Today for lunch, I made “cheeseburgers” (that would be a bun and cheese, no meat), Cheetos and strawberries. All favorites, or at least they were last week.

Now that I’m done cleaning the kitchen floor for the second time today and sent the kids down to the basement, I can have a little Mommy time. DSW online here I come.

The Formula

The amount of time you spend making dinner is inversely related to the probability your kids will eat said food. I posted this on Facebook last night and couldn’t believe the responses from my FB friends. It seems I’m not the only one who’s observed the phenomenon.

EZ Mac takes three and a half minutes in microwave, but I’m almost guaranteed the boys will eat it. On the other hand, I spent 30 minutes making homemade mashed potatoes yesterday and they wouldn’t even taste them.

So why bother? Can kids subsist on Mac N Cheese, chicken nuggets and PB&J? Probably, but can I?

My parents tell me that I ate everything as a kid. I even remember one night at a restaurant when my dad paid me $1 to eat some nasty custard thing. My sisters, who were always pickier eaters, got $5 each. Let’s hope they grow out of this.

My new year’s resolution was – Don’t eat what the kids are eating. I’m tired of turning chicken nugget meals into Chinese chicken salad already.

I’m just sayin’

Does taking your kids to a restaurant (I’m using this term loosely) with a play area give you permission to completely ignore them? It seems that every time I take the boys to Chick-Fil-A the play area is filled with the most obnoxious kids.

The play area is separate from the rest of the place. It’s in a separate room with a big window, which I assume people use to “watch” their kids. Today, as usual, I’m the only parent in there and overhear some kids talking about playing a game where they will kick other kids down the slide. One of my pet peeves is when kids go up a blind slide, and Parker will even “remind” them to go the right way, but kicking kids down the slide? Seriously?

I calmly told them that they needed to be a bit more careful when the little guys were playing and that I didn’t think their “game” was a good idea. It’s not my job to parent these kids and I’m sure some parents would be mad at me for doing it, but I don’t want to be the one carrying Parker out of there crying because he got hurt.

I don’t want to be a “helicopter mom” or put my kids in a bubble. Is it too much to ask for a little common decency?

It seems these kids took my “advice” to heart because after lunch, they invited Parker to play (albeit as the “bad guy”).

Happy Mother’s Day (Well belated anyway)

What a great surprise to have my wonderful mom come visit on Mother’s Day. My hubby got me everything I wanted. And my boys thought it was Mother’s Day for about five days in a row. I love being spoiled!

The boys are a little sleep deprived, but loved seeing their Mams. This morning, after being up for about two and a half minutes, Parker asked me if he could go wake her up. Later he asked if she was leaving today. I told him she needs to go keep Pops company, but he thought he should be able to “keep himself company by himself.”

Mom left a few things behind, which only means she has to come back soon. Right? At that Parker got all excited and said Mams and Pops could come get her hair clip in Pops’ truck.

I’m taking the boys out to Kentucky in June. How great is it that my parents can be such a big part of my kids’ lives?

Don’t call us, we’ll call you…

Well, I was hoping to be getting a make-up make-over today with Colorado Parent Magazine. Why did they tell me they would get back to me either way? How hard is it to send a generic e-mail? Copy, paste, send, copy, paste, send, repeat.

While I’m at it, I’ve been unemployed for over a year now and I have yet to hear anything about ANY job I’ve applied for. No, “Thanks for the resume, but…” No, “I’m sorry, but we decided to go another way.” What’s up with that? Admittedly, I haven’t applied for that many jobs, but what happened to common decency?