Endless Pursuit for Mom of the Year

A memory lasts forever, never does it die.  True friends stay together, never say goodbye. ~unknown -------------------------------------------------------------------------- As I type tonight, I find it hard to believe that my baby is over 18 months old.  I know the time flies but every day I seem reminded how quickly it does pass.   Tomorrow is Malea's final day at the daycare she has attended since she was 10 weeks old.  I will forever be thankful for the Christmas Eve we took a call from a kind woman named Stephanie, who told us a sudden opening had come up at the daycare of our choice.  With one quick visit on that cold day, we knew this was the right place for our baby.  And, we had no idea how lucky we really would be as only 3 days after she started daycare, the original place we had booked her suddenly closed.  It truly was fate.   I remember how hard it was to leave Malea that first day.  It's alw...

Lives of great men remind us we can make our lives sublime.  And, departing, leave behind us footprints in the sand of time. ~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow ------------------------------------------------------------ Being a working mom, I often wonder how my children are throughout the day and what they might be doing.  Recently, I've been wondering if I birthed Malea or a Baywatch baby.  Every day when Malea arrives home, aside from screaming for a snack and juice (because she wants service NOW), we find mounds of sand in her shoes.  Madison was exactly the same and I know as new parents, it took us some time to learn where to take off her shoes after many times of dumping sand on our living room floor.  However, you forget things from one child to the next.  Just like I forgot that Maddie's favorite phrase was, "Oh me gosh!"  (That's right...me...NOT my.)  It didn't take me long to remember after dumping sand either on myself or a clean kitc...

The secret of happiness is the determination to be happy always, rather than wait for outer circumstances to make one happy.  ~ J. Donald Walters ------------------------------------------------------------ Madison had a sleepover this weekend.  I knew about the sleepover a week ago but didn't tell her right away because I knew we'd be counting down the days until she could go.  She was so excited that she put her backpack on and waited at the door for them to arrive to pick her up.  That was anticipation at its best!  It was her first sleepover at someone's house.  I'm not worried a bit as her friend, Samantha, has slept over at our house.  They met in daycare and have been great friends ever since, even though they don't go to the same school.  What should be a memorable parent moment; a milestone in my daughter's life, I find myself thinking about what this will be like when she is a teenager.  Let's just say those thoughts ...

There's nothing that can help you understand your beliefs more than trying to explain them to an inquisitive child.  ~ Frank A. Clark -------------------------------------------------------- We've all learned by now, to describe Maddie as inquisitive would be right on.  However, I'm never quite sure where this inquisitiveness will take me.  We used the family restroom at Malea's daycare today.  I didn't notice Maddie staring until the questions came.   "Hey, mom," she said with what I may have mistaken as a look of horror on her face.  "I don't want to go to the bathroom in there."  "Oh Maddie," I replied like I wouldn't have to explain my next statement, "that's a urinal where boys pee."  Ah, here we go.   She didn't say anything at first, but I could tell she was wondering how exactly someone goes to the bathroom in this contraption.  She got close to it and looked inside.  She looked herself up and ...

This one goes out to my mom, who in my mind, reached mom of the year status! -------------------------------------------------------------- As mother's day approaches, I feel it only fitting that I blog about my own mom.  After all, everything I needed to know in life, I learned from my mother.  Here's just a few of them.  I love you mom! 1.  Always look your best.  Throughout my life, I can't ever remember my mother looking less than her best.  Whether going to a golf outing, volunteering, or baking a cake in our kitchen, she always looked good.  Honestly, I'll never understand it myself, but even if she was a wreck on the inside, you never saw it on the outside.  2.  When the going gets tough, the tough threaten with "wait 'til your father gets home."  Oh man, as kids we knew we were in for it when these words came from our mother's mouth.  I remember all those years listening to the police scanner right before dinner and li...

"A bird in hand can make an awful mess." ~unknown ---------------------------------------------------------- There are days that the realization I am certainly not the only mother competing for mom of the year humbles me. Today was such a day. First, I simply had a case of waking up on the wrong side of the bed today. I'm not sure why, it just happened. I had a wonderful conversation with another mom about some of our shared frustrations (I'll spare you the details). I was also handed several reminders of how sometimes this whole motherhood thing is not always my forte. I do my best but I think we'd all agree at this point, I am far from perfect! However (come on, you knew it was coming) I also got a reminder that I could be worse. Plus, it was a good laugh too, so definitely worthy of sharing. While I do not know this person, I got the pleasure of crossing paths with her while walking my daily path to mom of the year. "Honey, you gotta wash the shit...