Mommy of Many®

After nearly 22 yrs of dragging babies and toddlers around on errands, I finally have a practical tip to share.

How many times have you loaded up the car/mini van/van with your lil kiddos to run a zillion errands and after only a couple you realize you have a vehicle full of sleeping kiddos that you REALLY don’t want to wake up. It’s too early to quit your errands, too soon to go pick up the other kids from school and going home would be a waste because the sleepers would, surely, just wake up. After years of this frustration I’ve come upon a practical solution for still getting some work done, but allowing your lil ones to get their rest.

Find a local Starbucks. A drive-thru is ideal. Go through the drive-thru, order your drink and then park in their parking lot. Pull out your laptop. You’ll be able to get their Wi-Fi and use that time to get some work done! No drive-thru? Then it’s for you to make a judgement call on whether or not it’s ethical to sit in the parking lot and log in. But Starbucks isn’t the ONLY retailer that offers free Wi-Fi! Many McDonald’s are actually offering it and ALL of them have drive-thru’s. I’m not much of an advocate for eating McDonald’s food, but drinking their unsweetened iced tea with a little added lemon isn’t going to hurt anyone! There’s a shopping complex near my girls’ high school that has both a McDonald’s and a Starbucks and I’m able to log in depending on how close I am to either shop.

There you have it! Now, go get some work done!

Doing the Dance of the Children With a Little Help from Free Wi-Fi~

I’m writing this because I know there are plenty of parents out there that will read it, nod there heads and think, “Yep! Been there”. But mostly I’m gonna write it to release it from me and to feel better.

I hate having to punish my kids. I HATE IT! Why is it so necessary?! Why can’t I simply say, “you need to be quiet because Mommy’s in traffic and I need to concentrate on not getting in an accident. So just listen to the music and talk later.” and actually have them DO it?! Instead I have to make threats, turn around 15x, let them know that I can see them in my rear view mirror and I KNOW they are causing their siblings to scream.

Ugh!

This afternoon I made a dinner that I could easily pack up and take along so that the 3 youngest and I could head out to a swim meet for 1 of my girls and they could eat at a reasonable time and it wouldn’t cost me a bunch of $ eating out. After we were all back in the van, I gave each of the little ones their bowls with pasta, veggies and ground beef. This is when the naughtiness started (I’m ignoring the 1/2 hour of naughtiness before this). My 4yr old handed me his bowl and started telling me how much he hated the food. He went on and on about how he wanted something else and how terrible it was that I served him a “meal” that only had 3 ingredients. I let him know that not only did he not have to eat anymore of it, he wouldn’t be eating ANYTHING else for the rest of the night.

Then the fit started. He started throwing his shoes and socks and picked up papers and through them on the floor. I let him know that if it didn’t stop he would have a punishment when we got home. It subsided, a little.

We had to stop on the way home to pick up one of my kiddos that was at a playdate. I left the 3 little ones in the van with my 14yr old and went in to gather their brother. Next thing I know, I’ve got a call from the 14yr old letting me know that my 4yr old and 6yr old have gotten out of the van and are running up the street after neighborhood kids. To the van I went. I buckled them back in and told them that when we got home they would be putting on their pjs and heading to their rooms for 1/2 hr time outs.

This is where my 4yr old kicked it into high gear-He says to me, “that’s ok. I like being naughty. I’m not gonna stop being naughty and you’re the worst mom ever!”. And THAT’S where I let him know that he would be going to bed for the rest of the night.

So, we got home, I got him into his pjs, gave him the warning that he would either take his punishment and go to sleep or he would be facing bigger consequences. After about 30 minutes of kicking the wall and getting out of his room, I let him know that he would not be going to the birthday party he was looking forward to tomorrow.

This is where he started crying-Heartfelt sobs of, “If I don’t go then I won’t know what cake they have”.

I had to crack a smile over that one.

So that’s it-My journey through this afternoon/evening full of naughtiness. Guess what…I feel better! I had a feeling that if I wrote it all down and sipped a glass of wine while doing it, that by the end I would, surely, feel better!

Let’s see, it’s 7:30 pm. Can I go to bed once this glass of wine is finished? Parenting can be exhausting!

Doing the Dance of the Children~

Last night I was able to get a few rounds of Uno in with my younger kiddos. They sure cracked me up!

My first 3 games were played with Gabi. She brought the deck to me and asked if we could play. When I said “yes” she said, “Great! But I warn you-I’m VERY good!” And dang if she wasn’t! She won 2 of the 3 games we played!

Then the boys wanted to get in on the fun. Max and Lex came over and I had a game with the 2 of them. I was really surprised at how well Lex (4yrs) played. He was holding one of the cards where you lay it down and then pick the color for the next player to lay down. Max was to go after him. So he turns to Max and says, “What color to you want, Max?” Max answered, “Blue”. Lex lays down the card and says, “yellow!”. I was so impressed with his ability to understand the strategy of the game. Max and I both started laughing and Max says (in true Max form), “Clever!”.

Game night-Good Stuff!

Doing the Dance of the Children and Having a Little Fun~

Last night I went to my daughters’ water polo banquet. I was so happy to see that the usual pasta and salad weren’t being served. Instead there was a fabulous spread from Phil’s BBQ. There were ribs, pork ribs, chicken, corn on the cob, potato salad, macaroni salad and onion rings. YUM! We were happy to dig in! After the great meal all I could think of was how in the world to get all that delicious food out of my teeth! I headed to the bathroom to dig through my purse for something, ANYTHING, to get all that was stuck, removed. I think I spent about 20 minutes in the bathroom. Once I realized that I didn’t have a hidden toothpick, Colgate Wisp, or dental floss, I started trying random objects-the edge of my key tag, my fingernail, a piece of paper. No luck! Finally I thought about my french wire earrings. That’s right! And let me tell you, I was more than happy they were there!

With clean teeth, a washed off earring and some freshened lipstick I went back to the banquet and had a bottle of water.

You can bet I’ve tucked some dental items into my purse, but I’ll never worry too much, as long as I know I’m wearing jewelry

Hey Phil’s, the food’s awesome and the handy wipes were great, but how ’bout including some toothpicks in future to-go orders?!

Sometimes my kids really surprise me!

I have an older child that has been refusing to learn how to do laundry for the last few years. About a month ago that child came to me and asked me to please show them how to do the laundry. I uttered a prayer of thanks and proceeded to show them how. Ever since then, they’ve been knocking it out! But that’s not all!…

A few days ago that same kiddos told their 11 yr old sibling that it was time they learned to do the dishes and that they should come to the kitchen for a tutorial. The 11 yr old looked at me in disbelief and I let them know that it was INDEED time for this lesson and that it’s a vital life skill because they aren’t always going to live at home where Mom picks up the slack and dishes get pretty stinky after a few days. So the older sibling led the younger one in their 1st round of dish-doing.

How great is that?! There are so many times that I look around the house and wonder if anyone sees anything or if they just take for granted when things are picked up, put together and organized. It’s a great thing to get a little affirmation that these skills are, indeed, being learned. And it’s a really great thing when those skills and lessons get passed on unexpectedly from one sibling to another.

Good Stuff!

Doing the Dance of the Children and Feeling Proud of My Kiddos~