Tired Mama.com

Just be nice...

I think I either need to re-create or go out and buy this sign.

 

And I'm not sure it needs the '-Thank you' on the end either.

Grrrr.

How's your weekend going? 

600 Reasons why Moms Drink - Reason #423

Reason # 423

Mom just spent an hour at the grocery store and $200. She comes home, lugs in all the groceries, cleans out the cupboards and fridge of empty packages, wipes down all the shelves and puts all the fresh healthy groceries away.

Ten minutes later....

Sigh.

Twelve things my son needs to know....

There are all sorts of lists on the internet that document the things we should teach our children.

These lists tell us to teach our kids to believe in themselves, to dream, to dance, to sing, to be polite and to do all sorts of other good things. However, there are other things my teenage son needs to know too. 

So, today I thought I would share that list:

1. Be kind to little children, one day that gawky little girl next door will grow up to be gorgeous and she’ll tell all her beautiful friends how sweet you are. Women remember everything.
2. When a girl gets her period at school? You notice nothing, you say nothing, you offer no help, you just quickly and quietly walk away. Trust.
3. Don’t fart in small enclosed spaces. This should need no further explanation but, when you get a minute, could you explain it to your father for me? Thanks.
4. Nothing good ever happens after 2 am.
5. Don’t pick your nose in public. Ever. That includes when you’re alone in a car.
6. Never ask anyone else about their salary or their grades. Feel free to share this one with your friends.
7. If it's already on fire, put away the lighter fluid. And I'm not just talking about BBQ's or campfires here.
8. Pull up your jeans! No one really needs to see the brand name of your underwear and years from now you're going to be mortified by the pictures.
9. If you wouldn’t say it to EVERYONE in person, don’t post it on a blog, on Facebook, tweet it or put it anywhere near cyber space. One day you will need a job.
10. Never take incriminating pictures of yourself or anyone else on your cell phone. One day you will be drunk.
11. None of this hard work counts, if you don't graduate.
12. And always remember, even though I don’t always like everything you do, I will always love you. Yes, always.

Your,
Tired Mama

TGIF

My teenagers think they have me all figured out. 

You know what I think?

I think horrible teen attitudes have nothing to do with hormones.

I think teens just figure that if they are rotten enough to us that we'll let them stay out late at night just so we can have some peace and quiet.

What they've forgotten however is that they still need us to pick them up from where ever they are hanging out.

And teens? I need my sleep more then I need peace.  

So, pester away, cause the curfew?

It's still there.

 

Yeah, it's like that...

On Sunday afternoon, my husband came downstairs from his office where he'd been all morning working on income tax stuff. 

'I need a break,' he told me while rubbing his neck.

'Okay,' I acknowledged from behind my laptop.

Moments later he reappeared in front of me.

'I want to check the score on the football game,' he announced.

I waited.

'Youngest daughter and her friends are watching a movie in the family room and our son and his friends are playing a video game downstairs,' he said.

I looked up at him and tried to be helpful.

'Costco was clearing out TVs when I was there yesterday.' I said.

He just huffed away.

It's hard to be the king when the kids take control of the remotes - and just about everything else.

Sigh.

 

Sometimes I yell the stupidest things...

This past weekend we were puppy sitting. 

It all went well, our ten month old puppy, Sadie got along very well with my niece's six month old puppy. They played, they ran, they ate, and they did all sorts of puppy things together.

Now Dex, my niece's dog is still young and so about 3 am this morning he was crying in his crate that he needed to go outside.

So, I stumbled out of bed and took both puppies outside for a pee.

But while they were both outside, doing their uh, business, Dex started to bark at the light snow that was falling.

In my tired state, I decided it would be a good idea to yell at him to pipe down before he woke up the neighbours.

Except, my tongue got tied, and I started to yell out my dog's name by habit and then, being somewhat awake, I realized half way through that I was calling the wrong dog and changed the name.

So yes, at 3 am on Sunday morning, I was out, in my PJ's, in the snow, standing on my back deck yelling, so all the neighbours could hear...

The S from Sadie and the EX from Dex.

I yelled it several times too.

Lovely.

I wonder what they thought I was doing - celebrating it or searching for some?

Sigh.

Been there, done that.

I drive a mini-van. Actually, I'm on my THIRD mini-van over the past seventeen years.

I know it's not cool, but with three kids, a cat, a dog and the hut-in-the-woods we visit regularly, it's been a great family vehicle.

My only problem with it is that it's just rather ah, Momish. 

Now that my current van is getting long in the tooth, my hubby and I have started talking and budgeting for what we should be buying next.

Personally? I'd like something small, something like a CAR.

My hubby however likes having the van around as the mini-van does haul everyone and everything where we need to go, it gets great mileage and it's kind to the environment - or as kind as a car that carries eight around can be.

I get it but I still would like a CAR. I'm feeling like I've done enough Mommy-mobile years. I think it's time for me to be 'cooler' or maybe just slightly less Momish.

So, hubby? How about I get a new car and if you still think we need a van, you can trade in your truck and drive the mommy van around for the next seven years?

Fair is fair....

Tired Mama's Organizing Tips

The night before my entire extended family came over to my house to celebrate Christmas I took a large cardboard box and filled it with all the clutter in my office.

I then lugged that big box to the basement and shoved it into the back of a closet and closed the door on it.

What can I say? I was out of time and my office is at the front of the house, people were going to see it and I needed a fast way to tidy it up.

It might not have been the best office organizing idea but it sure made that space look a heck of a lot better.

Now, about a week later, I am still enjoying a less cluttered office and I've just realized that I have not yet missed a single thing that I shoved into that box.

A minute ago, when I remembered this box, I contemplated going and digging it out and rummaging through it to see what I actually threw in there.

But I have now decided that I should probably just put the whole box out for trash pick-up or donate it to a charity shop. If I haven't missed it yet then I probably don't need the stuff in it, right? 

And I'm also contemplating doing it with every other room in my house. I wonder if anyone in my family would even notice?

The sad part? I honestly don't think they would.

Sigh.

 

 

Tired. I'm just tired.

I am tired.

Every part of me just wants to be left alone so I can turn into jelly.

Yep, jelly.

I have no desire to do anything.

Breathing right now seems energetic.

Going up the stairs to take a nap seems like too much effort.

I have no idea why.

Well, actually I do.

It's called Christmas.

It's because of the decorating, card writing, wrapping, giving, toasting, visiting, cooking, roasting, baking, shopping, returning, welcoming and uh, the hundred more holiday things I did.

It was all very nice, but it just exhausted me.

Now, I'm tired and I just want to be quiet and left alone to recharge for a bit.

But with all three kids and the hubby off for the next week? That's probably just not going to happen.

Sigh.

Christmas Shopping

I took my youngest daughter out to the local HUGE mall today and we did some Christmas shopping.

It was nice. We talked, we walked, we browsed and then we stood in line to pay for things.

She was so happy to get out to this particular mall that she talked a mile a minute all the way there and then she practically danced through the parking lot in her excitement to get inside.

We got a few things stroked off our lists and we had a nice dinner together too.

But really the best part for me was seeing her so happy.

She was happy to be out and she was happy to be spending time with me.

And at eleven years old, I am probably counting on two fingers the number of years I have left of her being happy to go Christmas shopping with boring old Mom.

But then again, she will still need me to pay for her things for a few years yet so maybe I can drag out this Christmas shopping together thing for at least a couple more years.

Here's hoping....

 

Let's rethink this. Okay?

In 1928 all kids wanted for Christmas was a Duncan Yo-yo.

In 1983, Cabbage Patch Kid dolls caused a stampede at my local department store.

In 1996, everyone was rushing around looking for a Tickle Me Elmo and in 2007, everyone was gifting the iPod Touch.

This year? This year my youngest asked for a Fijit Friend for Christmas.

A green one.

And yeah, I've been driving all over trying to locate one. 

And yes, I've stood in line at Toys R Us to get a rain check for one on a Friday night at 11 pm.

And yes, I've even considered driving for an hour to do some cross border shopping to get one.

I'm doing this because she didn't really ask for much else this year.

And I'm doing this because they're not really that expensive so, at first, it didn't seem like that big a deal.

And I'm doing this because she asked SANTA for one.

And honestly?

I'm doing this because I'm slightly crazy.

Sigh.

I'm making a list...

Well, I've done it.

I've started my Christmas lists.

I've opened up my word processor, typed in everyone's name on a blank page and saved it with the title, Christmas 2012.

And yes, it's password protected.

Actually I've started making my Christmas list later then usual this year. I have no idea why, I've just been busy and then, boom, I realized yesterday that it was just a month until Christmas.

I've asked my kids what they want for Christmas this year and they haven't told me very much.

Actually they've told me a lot it's just that their lists don't contain a lot of things that I am actually going to buy for them.

So, here I am, with an empty page.

Sigh.

It's going to be a long four weeks.

Words to Live by...

I bought this sign last week and hung in my kitchen.

Yeah, I like cookies...

 

I'm losing my marbles....

I have a problem.

Okay, I have several problems, but the one that's bothering me right now is that I keep calling the kids and the animals in my house the wrong names.

I actually keep calling them each other's names. For some reason I can't seem to get the right name attached to the right person or pet.

I know it's only because I'm tired and trying to do too much but, really?

It's getting embarrassing.

For example, just a minute ago, the puppy was whining and I yelled out for her to hush, but I used my daughter's name instead of the puppy's name when I yelled.

My daughter then responded by turning down the volume on the TV which distracted the dog and actually did stop the whining.

Okay, so maybe that one worked out well, but it's still not right.

I'm NOT that old. I should be able to use the names of my family members correctly. I mean I did NAME most of them.

Hmmm.

Maybe my mistake was that I didn't give them all the same name. That would've solved the whole problem.

Bob would work, or maybe Charlie. 

I might just be on to something here...

What'd ya think?

Grrr. It's Halloween!

It's almost Halloween.

Although I'm not a big fan of this particular holiday, I still put up a few decorations.

My only issue is that my kids want to put up scary things. They want blood and gore but I tend to buy cute and smiley decorations.

It annoys them, but it works for me.

But last night as I was putting out the Halloween things I suddenly heard a strange noise. 

'What's that?' I asked.

'It's Sadie,' my youngest daughter replied.  

'What's she doing?' I asked.

'I thinks she's growling,' she replied.

I didn't recognize the sound because Sadie, who is only six months old, has never growled before. 

But here she was tonight, all seven pounds of her, tail tucked between her legs, head down grumbling out deep woofs and growls. 

At this,

 

I know, terrifying right? It's about two feet tall and made of wood.

So, kids? My decorations are scary.

Mama wins.

No rest for the weary

We just had a weekend. At least I think we did.

My weekend was so action packed that I can't even remember what I did. All I know is that every time I came home from doing something it was time to turn around and go and do something else.

Now it's Monday and I missed my weekend. I didn't get any down time.

I didn't get enough sleep.

My hubby keeps telling me I can sleep when I'm dead.

You know what I think though?

I think all this running around is rushing me to an early grave.

We can't both be right, can we?

Poor Puppy. Stupid Man.

Dear Tired Papa,

Feeding a six pound puppy an ENTIRE cheeseburger is a bad idea.

Unless of course you like cleaning up dog puke.

The paper towels are on the kitchen counter.

Sigh.

Love, 
Tired Mama

Kids don't really need dinner, do they?

I've been forced this week to get in back to school/fall mode.

This means I've not only had to sort out the kid's school schedules, but I've also had to start thinking about how the heck I'm going to feed the five of us and still get each kid to their after school activities.

It's um, challenging. 

Tomorrow night for example, my daughter has piano lessons until 5:15 and I have a new parent's school orientation to attend from 6:00 until 7:30. 

So, assuming my youngest leaves her lesson on time, and I can get home in fifteen minutes, I then have a full twenty minutes to prepare, serve and eat dinner in order to give myself ten minutes to get over to the school.

Yeah, it's a pizza night tomorrow.

Tonight I had a similar schedule so it was a crock pot night.

When I was grocery shopping earlier today I picked up a copy of American Test Kitchen's 30-Minute Supper magazine because I thought that might help.

And then I realized, most nights this fall?

I don't even have thirty minutes.

Sigh.

Sigh (times three)

It is the end of August.

That means in a few days my kids will all go back to school.

Have I mentioned that this fall my kids are all in different schools?

No?

Well, they are.

This means I have three different school schedules to figure out, three different parent volunteer groups to figure out, three different gym clothing sets to figure out, three different lunch programs to figure out and three different, well just about everything to figure out.

And right now? That seems overwhelming.

Sigh.

Actually make that,

Sigh, Sigh, Sigh.

How tired am I? Let me tell ya.

My hubby's family came up to our lake place this weekend.

All 21 of them.

They range in age from 1 to 64.

We had a great time.

I just didn't sleep. The twenty and thirty somethings stayed up until 4 am.

The 1 year olds got up at 6:30 am.

I am so tired, I can't even type.

When I get really tired my fingers get tired too.

Who knew?

Sigh.

Night all.

 

Double Whammy

Wham!

That’s the sound that woke me up this morning at about 3 am.

I was alone, up here in the woods, with just the cat and the dog for company so I couldn’t just roll over and nudge hubby. I had to investigate myself.

So, I dragged myself from bed.

The dog was sound asleep. So much for being my guard dog – she obviously heard nothing.

The cat couldn’t be found – another helpful animal.

So, after a quick walk about and after sleepily finding nothing really out of place I decided my silver feline must have knocked something off a shelf and was now in hiding so I took my groggy self back to bed.

This morning I went to open the sliding glass patio doors and one pane looked like this:

Yes, it's beautiful but it’s also going to fall all over my walkway and so it's now something I've added to the ‘needs to be fixed list’.

Yeah, that list.

That long long looooong list.

Sigh.

Now, if only she'd pee outside ALL the time.

She arrived three weeks ago. She was three pounds of soft fluff that trembled when you held her and tried to hide when she met a new person. She didn't bark, she squeaked. 

She was adorable and she stole our hearts.

And now.

She's crazy and bouncy and she can DEFINITELY bark. She climbs all over new people and can't wait to be let outside. She's got a great smile and she still has our hearts.

She's fitting right in.

Welcome to the family, Sadie.

Really?

Quote of the day,

"Gee Mom, the kitchen really looks a lot cleaner if we just take all the dirty dishes off the counter and put them in the dishwasher."

Really? Ya think so, hon?

My children are truly brilliant.

Sigh.

It's Spring!

The sun is out.

The spring weather is finally starting to feel warm and I need to uh, finish some work and go grocery shopping today.

But today, the writing is just not going well and I don't feel like going into a grocery store - it's cold and dark in there.

So, instead, I've opened windows, I've played with the cat, I've emptied half the dishwasher and I've texted and e-mailed several friends.

I've been on Facebook for a while and I've thrown out some mail today too. I’ve made my bed and I've wandered around my house and thought about the fact that I don't feel like sitting down and doing my work.

In other words, I've accomplished nothing today.

And I've decided to blame the warm weather.

Because I don't want to be working and doing chores, I want to be outside playing in my garden or just reading a book in the sun.

But I won't go and let myself just do those things because I'm supposed to be working and getting groceries.

So, instead of just getting the work done and letting myself get out there I am sulking and accomplishing nothing.

Today?

I have become one of my children.

Sigh.

 

Where have you been?

Yes, I know I haven't been around much. I've been here (p. 96) and uh, here too.

And when I haven't been writing I've been trying to stay on top of all the other stuff that comes with parenting three active kids.

So, things have been busy and the more I've been writing the more I'm finding that things at the house have been falling a little off the tracks.

Yes, the place is a mess. 

So, today in the interest of getting things back on track I made a list of what I need to get done.

My list is long.

I am now sorta tired and a little depressed too.

But the sun is out so I have decided to ignore my list and go outside and dig in my garden for a while.

And just to make this whole digging thing legit I'm going to put gardening on the list.

And while I'm at it, I think I'm going to put, 'sit in the sun and drink some wine' on my list too.

Good thinking, right?

Clink. :)

Milk is a start, right?

Things have been a little chaotic lately.

My youngest is involved in a music festival that has been taking up all my time, my hubby has been travelling, I've taken on more work, and all three kids have school, numerous activities and their friends.

It's just been busy and because of that the household stuff has been left to slide a little.

Okay, things are sliding a lot.

I finally had a few hours free this afternoon so I started picking up around here, going through mail, doing dishes, throwing in laundry and I stopped on the way home and got a few groceries too.

Then, I got back to the house and started to put things away.

But when I opened the fridge I discovered that we had milk.

Now I know yesterday we were almost out of milk, but today?

There is milk in my fridge.

There is milk in my fridge that I didn't buy or ask anyone to buy.

That never happens.

I questioned my oldest daughter and discovered that she and her father had stopped on the way home from swimming last night and bought milk because they noticed we were out.

'It was no big deal, Mom', she informed me.

Well yes, it actually is.

You see, I've been the 'part-time-stay-at-home-Mom-trying-to-do-everything' around here for so long that I wasn't really sure what my family actually knew to do for themselves.

But now I am thinking maybe we really will survive if I go back to work full time. Maybe my family really will notice when things are running out or things need to get done around here. Maybe my family really can take the initiative for completing household chores. 

Maybe it won't be as chaotic as I fear around here.

Or maybe, we'll just have lots of milk.

Sigh. 

Go back to school, please.

My kids are back at school.

Thank goodness.

My children had an exceptionally long spring break this year and because we didn't go anywhere they were home for uh, far too long.

We had some fun and for the most part they got along.

But the mess. I can't believe the mess my kids make!

My kids are slobs.

Everything is everywhere when they are home and nothing EVER gets cleaned or put away.

I yell. I remind. I throw things out.

Nothing changes.

My husband says they are just being kids. That's easy for him to say, he goes to a nice tidy office all day that gets professionally cleaned each night.

Frequently, during spring break, I found myself daydreaming about my kids moving out and my house staying tidy for longer then ten minutes.

I'm told I'll miss these messy days when my kids are grown and gone.

Yeah, well - try me.

Sigh.

Up and up and up.

My oldest daughter is two years and ten months older than her brother and my youngest daughter is two years and six months younger than her brother.

As my three children have grown there has always been roughly about a head difference in height between them.

I must admit I always thought it was cute that when they stood in birth order there was a step pattern by age in terms of height. I have literally thousands of pictures, taken through the years, of them lined up from oldest to youngest - girl, boy, girl - tallest to shortest.

Until now.

I was looking at them yesterday from a distance, as they did something with their father, and I realized my thirteen year old son is now much taller than his ten year old sister. In fact, my son is quickly catching up in height to his sixteen year old sister.

And you know what? It made me sad.

That height spacing is now gone - forever. It won't be long until my son is as tall and then taller then his older sister. That step pattern might come back at some point but it will no longer be by birth order because soon my middle child will be the tallest of my children.

They're growing up and up and up.

And I know it's a good thing and it's something that has to happen, but honestly? Tonight it's just making me sad.

Pass the wine.

Sigh.

One-on-one time

My kids are off of school this week for their spring break.

Yes, all three are home together and we have nothing planned. This is the first time EVER that we've had a spring break and not gone somewhere.

Weird.

Surprisingly enough there's been no real fights or problems. They must be getting old. Older. Old enough? Old something.

Anyway, tomorrow we're going to drag them all out TOGETHER for some family time but over the last few days I've managed to carve out some one-on-one time with each child - just each one and me.

It's been nice, we've talked, we've shopped, and we've fixed some stuff. I've had multiple uninterrupted hours with just one child at a time. I've managed to do it with all three.

Points for Mom/Me!

Then tonight? Hubby was home and I suggested we take in a late movie. Since I had time with the kids I thought he and I should share some one-on-one time too.

He agreed, but later when I suggested we get going to the show, he informed me he wanted to watch the end of the hockey game instead.

Hockey.

Sigh.

So, I sat down with him and watched the game too. Just me, him, our son and uh, forty guys on the TV with helmets and sticks.

Romantic? Uh, no. One-on-one time with hubby? Uh, not really.

But I'm giving myself points for effort and for knowing that you can't fight a guy when his team is in a playoff run. 

Besides, we still have four days left of spring break....

Blatant Self Promotion...

Blatant Self Promotion?

Yep, that's today's game.....

So, got some free time? Visit me at my other blog gig. Oh, and if you're ever in southern Ontario drop by for a visit too. It's a great place to shop and spend some time.

And...

Congratulations to Modern Mom! Visit her here.  

She won the copy of 'Saving Women's Hearts' that I was giving away last week. Thanks to everyone who stopped by and commented too.

Now, I think that's all the housekeeping I need to do.

Drop by in a few days, I promise I'll be venting again.

Now there's incentive...