Moving

In one of my earlier posts I talked about how I live with my parents. This happened before my oldest was born. My husband and I came on hard times and so we moved into my parents' place.

It has had its ups and downs. My oldest is a big Bumpa's girl so the move is gonna affect her I am sure.

I am finding I hate moving more than I ever did. My girls have acquired a lot of stuff. I keep getting more and more boxes and it just never ends.

Then there is the trying to explain to the girls that the things mommy puts into the boxes needs to stay in them. I feel like a broken record.

The sad thing about this, is that when I get to the house I will need to unpack it all and organize it.

We definitely will not be moving for awhile I am sure. At least if I can help it.

Men, are they really THAT strong?

For the men reading my post, I would like to really know your opinion on this.

I am a mother of two toddler girls, a daycare provider, and a wife. Yes, I added wife because that can be a job as well.

For example, my husband has been coming home now for almost a week whining of being sick. I use whining because it has almost become like a 3 yr old thing. Honey, I am coming home, I still don't feel good. Could you have blah, blah, and blah taken care of for me? I want to reach my hand through the phone and strangle the man. I have 6 kids all day and our 2 to myself at night, because Sir Whines A lot has a cold.

Sorry, I am not big on feeling bad for a man that has a cold. I went through 2 full term with one being overdue while doing daycare. I was sick a lot of the time with my last pregnancy. I have had the coldish flu, the stomach flu, and any other type of combos and never got to lay in bed whining for help. I would call Ralph and move on with my day. So all this, I need chicken soup, orange juice, and peace and quiet really makes me mad.

Guys talk about being strong, yet which gender is constantly going no matter what? I do not have sick days. Moms don't call into a hotline and a new mommy comes out, I am IT 24/7. So men are you really THAT strong or is it a cover up? Because if a cold can take you down, you aren't very strong in my book.

Life Line

This past Saturday was a first for my husband, he had both girls by himself for most of the day.

At 12pm I get ready to leave, mind you, I have left him a 2 page letter, all the food is laid out for the day, and of course clothes. Because we all know guys need help when dressing little girls. Just as I get ready, he wants to go through it all one more time. You would think I am leaving for the weekend. So for the 5th time, I go through the needs of my two divas. As I leave, I yell down to him, You have a life line, just use it.

This life line is of course my cell phone. And it was used after about 4 hours. Oh, forgot to tell you, I had just laid the girls down for a nap before I left. Anyways, the life line was used by my father. We at this time live with my parents, that is until the end of the month, I will share more in later posts.

My father calls me and in a whisper tone is describing the chaos going on in the area my girls are in. I try not to laugh because it is everyday issues for me and the husband is going nuts. So after a few minutes I call my husband and acting like I have no idea, ask how it is going. He starts describing everything in a frantic tone. Again I try to not laugh.

Several hours after I calm my husband and girls down, I arrive home. My welcome looked like a bomb went off. They all come running. Husband hands off the little one, and then sighs deeply. He goes off to the bedroom, and I pull everything back together in a matter of minutes.

After the girls are in bed, he comes to me and says,  "You really are my life line, I have NO clue how you do it all."

Supermom is again validated and yet worries I will never be able to leave the house again by myself.

Silence

Some may view silence as very annoying. I have met a few people that try to fill every moment that you are with them with something.

The absence of sound is quite incredible if a person really embraces it. Many meditate and when they do, I have heard it is quite a freeing experience. To be able to hear yourself breathe, to hear noises you didn't know existed.

For me, silence is so rare. In fact, when I was very young my mom started her daycare in our house. So from a very young age I got accustomed to a lot of noise. This constant exposure to a lot of noise has continued throughout my life. When I was in the years of cramming for exams or writing a paper I would have music or television going on in the background.

Recently though, I have been trying the new habit of taking the time to sit in silence. It has actually been a liberating experience. After a long day of hearing demands from children, not hearing anyone is truly a gift.

And so here I sit in the silence and write. If you ever find yourself in a few minutes of it, don't try to fill it. Allow yourself to just relax. It may be exactly what is needed to get you through the day.

Exercise, is it really needed?

Referring to one of my earlier posts, I stated that my job is not only a stay at home mom, but also a daycare provider.

Today I was talking to one of my friends, yes I do try to speak to adults during the day. If I didn't I don't think anyone would be able to understand me after awhile. Anyways, I had proposed the crazy notion of doing some P90X today. Hahaha All of you in the same field as I, I am sure you are laughing right along with me. Not only do I not have the time to fit that in during the day, but have you ever seen an older person with their grandchildren who are toddlers. All they can do is hope for the child to trip on something so they can maybe catch the runaway child. Well, that would be me after doing an hour segment of P90X.

So if you are concluding after that last paragraph that I do not exercise, I would like you to give me your definition of exercise. I do weight lifting everyday, some of my weights are over 30 pounds. Cardio is definitely accomplished. You ever take a child's clothes off to change him? The child will run like he has rockets attached to his feet. Wanna talk yoga? Ever have children think you are playground equipment? Even though I do not have a specified amount of time for each, I am pretty sure I get the same workout as any woman going to a gym.

For those that wanna try my workout, get yourself 6 toddlers and try to gain control of them for a day.

Fun gadgets

You know how every super hero has a list of great gadgets that they use to make their lives easier. Well I decided that I needed to have some as well.

The first gadget would be sticky wall which would need the corresponding sticky suit. These would be for those times when I can no longer chase a 1 year old and take a 2 year old to the bathroom at the same time. Every child would wear what I call the sticky suit over their clothes. When the situation arises that I need the sticky wall, I just grab a child and place them on it. Whoever says that this is unlawful has not watched toddlers for very long.

Second gadget would be the mom recorder. Every phrase that is repeated over and over would already be on there. Just press the corresponding number as many times as you need to get the point across. This saves the mom's voice and nerves of having to say it countless times.

The last one would be the toy snatcher. I am not talking about taking a toy away from a child. I am referring to all those toys that end up all over the floor and you end up stepping on. This device would come along and grab all the toys that are small and hold them in its bin til they are able to be sorted.

If only I had the time to invent some of these products, but alas I am too busy stepping on a dang lego or telling my child for the 20th time that she may not have candy right before bed.

Secret stash

Most adults go through life tired. Lack of energy is a problem that companies have jumped on to market for. You have the energy bar, coffee, energy drinks, and of course that little bottle of crazy called 5 hour energy. When a company wants to expand their line they go for an energy line. I have a question though, Where do the kids get their energy?

You ever watch a child in the morning? They may have had only 5 hours of sleep that night, yet they wake up ready to run a marathon. They may have had the Kix cereal with no sugar and yet they climb on anything and everything. Where is the secret stash of energy that they go to every night while we are sleeping?

I wonder if it is some secret government set up to keep us buying energy products. They have the stash of energy and keep the kids coming back for more, in hopes that the adults keep buying products to keep up. You can't say it doesn't work, that is if it wasn't a crazy notion, not many of us can say we haven't had something with caffeine or energy additives in it.

Did you know that they have coffee drinks with an energy boost option? So, for those that don't understand, you aren't only getting the caffeine you are getting another form of manufactured energy. I hate to say it, but I have had a few of these. I do get a jolt but unfortunately, nothing that I have been able to find, compares to the energy my toddlers have.

My solution to this problem, find a way to bottle theirs. Boy, I would make the big bucks if I was able to solve the energy problem.

The Kryptonite

Every super hero has their weakness. Many would believe that a supermom's would be the constant screaming from a toddler. Surprisingly this is not the case. I have heard enough screaming through the years of doing daycare that I can drown it out. However, there is something that is much harder to ignore, certain children's cartoons.

You know which ones I am talking about; Barney, Wiggles, Calliou, and many more whiney ones. The purple dinosaur singing the song that ALL parents cannot stand, "I love you, you love me, we're a happy family..." And now you have it stuck in your head. The songs are what is horrible, when that is all you can muster out of your mouth somedays to calm them, you know you are a parent of a toddler. Don't fight it, you know you have been under the spell of those horrible songs.

Those songs and shows wear me down to the point that I cannot talk straight after the kids are in bed. In fact, I will find my ownself hypnotized in the show right along with the kids and forget to change the channel when the kids are in bed.

If I can leave you with one warning: STAY OUT OF THE ROOM OF THE CARTOONS.

Walk in the Park

Many of you know what the phrase "a walk in the park" means, however for those that struggle with these, like my mother, it means that something will be very easy.

Today, I decided that I would use my wonderful supermom powers and take my girls to a park. Let's just say, it was "no walk in the park".

Imagery has always been a strong suit of mine, so let me give you the fly on the wall view.

The park I decided to go to was already a major feat. I chose one of those parks that have a wooden castle playground. Every inch of this playground is like a maze of twists and turns and most of these twist and turns are only 2 foot high. Let me remind you again the ages of my children, a one year old and a three year old.

As we approach the playground my 3 yr. old immediately wants the swings. Great idea most of you would be thinking, however they have sectioned off the baby swings from the adult type swings. So, what shall I do with the one yr. old? Needless to say she is crawling around in the grass behind me eating whatever she can find. What?!, it is extra fiber. Well after the normal attention span of a 3 yr. old, 5 minutes, she wants to run off climbing. So, now I have to grab the squirming 1 yr. old that was having fun, to chase the older one. After another 5 or so minutes, my oldest wants to play in the sand. Yay! Something we can all do together, or so I thought. Remember those tiny twists and turns, well the 1 yr. old finds one of them and proceeds to get herself stuck in a place she doesn't wanna be. No matter how much baby talk you know, you cannot give directions to a one yr. old on how to get out of an awkward place. Here comes the fun part, I get to make myself as short as one of those twists and turns and pull her gently out. Boy, wouldn't you have liked to have a real image of that.

After multiple times swinging, throwing sand in every direction, and seeing how small momma can make herself, the 3 yr old now has decided she needs to take a potty break.

Back story for a moment, my daughter is in the 10th percentile for her height, so one time when she went to use an adult toilet, the automatic flusher went off and she went flying. Well lately she has built up enough courage to try the adult toilets again.

Potty break time, she decides she wants her froggie toilet which I did not bring, upon hearing this the all out temper tantrum starts. Screaming to go home, all the way to the bathroom. After selecting a stall, I reassure her calmly that this one mommy has to flush. Nothing. I try to reassure by holding her. Nothing. At this point I am getting pissed and my one yr. old is trying to spy on the person in the next stall. I finally try an ultimatum that I thought may work, going home and taking a nap if she doesn't pull it together. My strong willed daughter's response, "I wanna go to bed."

Potty break is over, I march back to the van with a squirming, screaming one yr. old and a strong willed 3 yr. old, telling the world, "I wanna go to bed."

As you have now just "seen", a walk in the park, may not have meant with toddlers.

What is a Supermom?

How can one understand my life if you don't understand my title. Yes I know it is a self given title, but I have a few believers. Two of them would be my daughters.
 
Supermom is not a title to be taken lightly. I have found many turn in their capes after the first few months. Not many can put up with the grueling task of night after night waking up at 2:00am to an infant screaming for comfort, and finding it only in an odd position on the half awake yet half asleep mother. And when the two finally get themselves untangled from a restless night, the energy deprived mother finds it is only 5:30am. Yes, those are most of my mornings. And in my situation, I sleep on the couch because my husband has a job that requires him to have a certain level of alertness.

Once the mother has stumbled on a few toys from the previous night, she tries to get her superpowers together. In my case, this will require many of them. You see, I am the mother of two at night and on the weekends but my load increases by 4 more under the age of 4. No, I did not write that wrong, I am a daycare provider of 4 other toddlers during the week.

For those of you that don't understand the mind of the toddler it is quite simple. FIND THE CLOSEST THING TO ME AND EITHER TRY TO DESTROY IT OR EAT IT. And, if either of those two things are interrupted out comes the ultimate weapon SCREAM TIL THE ADULT'S EARS BLEED. It may sound very harsh, but those that have toddlers or have had toddlers you know what I am talking about.

Now back to my explanation of a supermom. Obviously knowing I have 6 toddlers under my care most of the time would mean I  either need to have extreme patience or an astronomical ability to ignore. Let's just say it really depends on my day.

I have just dealt with the extreme ability to take care of 6 toddlers, but I am also a wife. Which of course means the following to most people; cooking, cleaning, and of course the one the husband runs to when he can't find something. Amazingly I can do it all. The house is spotless when the husband arrives home. Food is on the table, well kinda, thanks to some help from some incredible people. And every item of my husband's is always found, helps to know that the children took it and where it ended up.

This has all been a small sampling of my everyday life. Throughout the rest of my blogs you will find how this intense way of living has affected my mind, sorry in advance for all the mess ups.