Endless Pursuit for Mom of the Year

Dancing with the feet is one thing, but dancing with the heart is another. ~ Unknown --------------------------------------- Daughter of the year #1 has been begging us to take a dance class.  I sit back, proud that she may follow in some of my foot steps.  Dad of the year?  Well, he sits back wondering what this will cost him.  So, we started slow.  We enrolled her in a simple class, not at a dance studio, for Hip Hop.   Why Hip Hop?  Well, we've been down that ballet route.  Grace, extension, and good turnout are not words I would use to describe daughter of the year #1.  I love her with all my being but seriously folks, after one ballet class I knew this was not for her.  Hip Hop is different movement.  It's funky.  It's fun.  It's just like playing Just Dance on the Wii.  Right up her alley!  Her first class was this week.   To say she was excited would be an understatement. ...

You can learn many things from children.  How much patience you have, for instance.  ~ Franklin P. Jones ------------------------------- I am the mother of a two year old.  I've been through "terrible twos" before and I know the worst is yet to come...threes.  As a parent, I think this is possibly the cruelest joke.  You see, we get blessed with this nice, snugly, soft and sweet little infant.  An infant who needs you, emphatically.  They grow.  You smile.  You take photos.  You're blind to the fact that at some point, this human being will begin to talk, have their own thoughts, get defiant, and at times, not like you.  The girls had some money from grandpa that was just burning a hole in their non-existent pockets.  Therefore, we went shopping yesterday for a new toy.  I don't know about you, but when I go to Target, I can't NOT stop at the dollar spot.  So, on our excursion yesterday we found thes...

A family is a unit composed not only of children but of men, women, an occasional animal,  and the common cold.   ~ Ogden Nash ------------------------------------------ I recently had a weekend reunion of sorts with my mother's side of the family.  These were aunts and uncles I had not seen in some time, so it was good to get together with them and catch up.  Daughter of the year #2 had not met any of them, so that made it extra special.  I entered the weekend a bit preoccupied, but it sure didn't take this slew of crazies long to take my mind off things.  That's right, I said crazies.   Now, it's clear to me that many of these family members read my blog and for that I love you just a little bit more.  Come on now, you'd all admit we're a bit crazy.  Although I'm fairly sure this side of the family is where I got my ability to jump from two very vast and strangely different topics in a matter of seconds.  You ...

The problem with children is that you have to put up with their parents.    ~ Charles DeLint   ------------------------------------------------   Earlier this summer, I decided to try a new hairstyle.  Well, it wasn't so much a new hairstyle versus a new hair color.  It all started with Pinterest.  I was browsing through hairstyles and came upon one that was edgy, modern, sleek, sexy and completely not me.  I re-pinned it thinking someday I may have the courage to do this.    On my next visit to hairdresser of the year, I showed her the photo, rather embarrassed like I was some middle school girl showing her the latest movie star's photo, asking for the impossible feat of looking "just like them."  Come on, I was smart enough to know I could NEVER pull off the Rachel so I didn't even ask!  But, I love my hairdresser so much I have followed her to different salons for about 7 years. ...

As a child, my family's menu consisted of two choices:  take it or leave it.   ~Buddy Hackett --------------------------------- Living with a two year old makes life interesting nearly every day.  Living with another child who likes to draw every crucial incident that happens in your household makes it even more interesting.  Yes, I'm a little late in this post is daughter of the year #1 has so kindly posted it directly on the picture (she knows me well).  So, let's begin to recap what this summer has meant for my endless pursuit for mom of the year.   To sum it up in one sentence, daughter of the year #1 no longer likes her sister and has asked many times when she will be "good" again.  While a precise date is not something I can supply, I do share her pain.  At least we're in the terrible twos together.   I could go through what daughter of the year #1 has drawn above, but she captured the moment so precisely, it ...

The silence depressed me.   It wasn't the silence of silence. It was my own silence. ~ Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar ----------------------------------------- Well, hello everyone!  I'm sure many of you are wondering where I've gone.  Has my life gone free of funny stories?  Have my children been so well-behaved I've had no content?  Has dad of the year not screwed up so severely that I just had to write about it?  Well, no, this isn't the case.  However, what did happen to me is completely undramatic.  It just might make you laugh.  You may judge me more than you ever have before.  Yet what happened to me is something that has swept a nation of women - the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy.   Now, come on, I see on Facebook that MANY of you are reading these books too.  I really had no intention of reading it, but I kept seeing people talk about it.  I heard the jokes about a Fifty Shades baby boom.  I...

Children are unpredictable.  You never know what inconsistency they're going to catch you in next.  ~ Franklin P. Jones -------------------------- Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there!  We spent the day relaxing and making sure dad of the year got to do all of his favorite things.  That is, aside from a little shopping trip. Imagine my surprise when daughter of the year #1 sprung on me that she wanted to go shopping for bras.  I mean, I shouldn't be, but I guess that part of me that doesn't want her to grow up wishes she'd slow down just a little.  But I know I can't stop that speeding freight train!  She shares everything with her dad.  Not yet at that age where she is embarrassed by his jokes or how he dresses or how uncool he is because he won't let her go out with her friends to do things we know would only result in trouble.  So, he was fully aware she wanted to go shopping.  Now, I love this man with al...