Tales from the Motherhood: Biggest Meltdown in History, Caught on Film

Tales from the Motherhood: Biggest Meltdown in History, Caught on Film

...and I am not alone!! Guess what, the dirty little secret - they all do this!

We're going to the park, Damn it!

School is out.  This is my first year of "summer vacation" since I was in school over 15 years ago.  I forgot what it felt like.  The anticipation of no schedule.  The luxury of not having to be out the door by 8:30 am.  What I didn't realize with small kids though, is with summer vacation brings hours of unscheduled time.  For those of you moms out there ... yes, you know, that means chaos.

I decided that we would fill our summer with many park trips, play dates and a few day trips.  Tuesday was day one.  A simple trip to Walnut Creek City Park.  It is a really cool park, a lot of grass and trees as well as a fun playground complete with water / sand area.  Now, this seems like it should be no big deal.  For nine months now, we have been out the door and on time to school by 9 am.  Some days have their drama, but not too bad.  SO why today, when we are going to the park for FUN do I get this???

Coco behind the couch thrashing and screaming

she didn't want shoes on ...

Even Audrey was throwing a fit before we left!!

I did it though ... I got out the door, calm, cool and collected.  Inside I was dying to scream out, "Will you SHUT UP??  We are going to the park, DAMN IT!!!"  I know, however that will do little good.  It really only makes things worse.  So into the car we went ... and off to the park.

Once we got there all was right with the world.  The girls hit the swings.  A must for the Magu girls.  The playground wasn't of interest to them though.  They kind of walked around the structures.  Vivienne went down a slide a few times.  Then they spotted it.  A mud puddle.  

The girls had so much fun running through it, how could I say no??  I don't think the other moms appreciated it.  There were several other kids who wanted to join in but weren't allowed.  I even got a great shot of Colette!  My little miss "just try and take my picture".

So just a reminder to all of you moms out there .... just when you think the world is full of fits, screams, and tantrums ... go to the park, damn it.

Vintage fun

http://alamedapointantiquesfaire.com/blog/


Saturday night, Paul & I both worked late.  By late I mean he worked until 11 & I worked until 1AM.  When I got home at 2, I reminded him that the Alameda Point Antiques Fair was tomorrow (well, today) and asked if he wanted to go.  "Yes, let's do it" he said.  Now, mind you it is 2 AM and we learned the hard way that if you want to get the best cool stuff you have to be at the faire when it opens ... 6 AM.

The first time we went, I was 40 weeks pregnant with Audrey.  We got there at 7:00, thinking that one hour would not make a difference.  That was until we saw the 6 Louis XVI chair frames for $250 that had just sold 15 minutes before.

So, up we were at 5 AM, coffee in hand off to Alameda.  It is so peacefull that time of the morning.  I love just being with Paul, strolling the isles looking at treasures (and junk) that could soon possibly become a part of our home.

These theatre chairs caught our eye.  The thing I love about this market is you just never know what you are going to find!  I mean really, we didn't go saying gosh, I hope we find old theatre chairs ... but here they are in our entry way!

Another fun find was this old school desk.  At $20 how could we say no??  Vivienne put it to use within 10 minutes of it coming in the house.  I would love to read comments from anyone else who has found treasures!!  Please share!!

Making food fun

Today was the last day of preschool for my oldest.  My husband is French & we found an amazing french immersion preschool in Lafayette, CA called French For Fun.  There are so many positive reasons for young children learning a second language early ... but that is not what this blog entry is about!  It is about FOOD.  Part of the last day festivities was a picnic at the park.  All parents were asked to bring some food for a snack / lunch.  I got the idea for "sandwich sushi" from my best friend in kindergarten, who thanks to facebook I am still friends with.  She is a very creative person & inspires me with many of her posts.  Her "sushi" was much more creative I think ... even using Swedish fish.  I did my own "preschool" versions.  Peanut butter and jelly and cucumber and butter on wonder white bread.  Now, the picture above was all that I got from one whole loaf of bread, so if you decide to do this buy a lot of bread!

Peanut Butter and Jelly "sushi"

On a side note .. just had to break away from this blog to put the oldest in time out, which turned into me being spit at so I had to take her to the toilet to spit 5 times, since she likes spitting so much, and back to the corner to start her time out ...

Sandwich Sushi

1 loaf of wonder white bread

fillings of your liking, but spread VERY thin

Cut the crusts off of the bread

Take two pieces and overlap the ends by about 1/4 inch

Roll with a rolling pin so they are "flat" 

spread filling over bread, leaving the last inch of long end of the rectangle bare

roll from the other long end

add a little butter, or something "wet" to the dry end, if needed so the bread will stick

cut into desired widths with a serrated knife so it doesn't squish.

Butter & Cucumber "sushi"

Oh Happy Day!!

Now that I have started blogging, I am reading other blogs.  I feel like I really missed the boat on this world of blogs and am frantically trying to catch up!  There are so many fun, interesting and just really great ideas out there.  The party planner / decorator / DIY-er is going nuts.  My poor husband.  I think I have a lifetime full of projects in my head.

I came accross this blog   http://ohhappyday.com/2011/06/goes-to-paris today.  It is written by a woman who seems to be living my dream life.  San Francisco party planner, blogger and oh yes, just moved to Paris for a year with her family.  

I hope you enjoy it as much as I am!

Favorite stroller

Here it is.  My stroller.  When we were living in SF with just one baby I had a very light, one child, easy to collapse stroller.  It was great for city living, especially since I lived on the 4th floor of a walk-up (which means no elevator).  I put hundreds of miles, literally, on that stroller.

When I got pregnant with #2, I knew I would have to get another stroller.  These Phil & Teds were everywhere in the city.  I started asking everyone who had one what they thought.  No one ever had anything negative to say.   We moved out to the burbs and my little stroller just couldn't cut it.  For one thing, it had very small wheels.  The city I live in doesn't have sidewalks everywhere & these wheels were not made for gravel or dirt.  I quickly ordered my Phil & Ted's stroller, with double seat and was on my way.

I have now had it for over two years.  I still love it.  I have used it in every version that they brag about.  No, the back seat kid doesn't feel "slighted" sitting staring at the back of a stroller, a comment I hear once in a while.  My girls even fight over the back!

One of the big pluses of this stroller is that you can really maneuver it.  It is narrow which works especially well when you think of going into a store.  You just can't with the side by side strollers.

So, if you are thinking, should I put out the big bucks for this guy, I would say if you can yes.  They are worth it.  They hold up really well also so the used market is a great place to look, then when you are done you can resell it as well.

My name is Fred.

I have decided I am no longer responding to mom.  I will only respond to Fred.   This person "mom" who is being asked for 1000 times a day no longer lives in my home.

My middle daughter has just really gotten into her terrible two's.  My oldest will be 4 in August, and it sure didn't take me long to forget what the terrible twos were all about.  I think it is kind of like giving birth.  After the fact, you don't think it was as painful as it was ... until you go through it again.

For some reason, I was thinking this sweet little girl would just skip the fussy, whiny, and temper tantrum stage and keep being the cutie pie she is (or was).  Nope.  For the last week I have had a new child.  You know the one.  At breakfast she wants toast with peanut butter.  It is placed in front of her & she cries because she really wanted toast with just butter.  But wait, she wants MY toast with butter, not a new piece for her.  On our 45 minute commute for her sister's school, nothing is right.  She is crying because ... WHY??? ... for reasons only she knows.  "Momma, momma, momma, mom, mom, mom, mommy, mommy NO MOMMY NO!!!" .... Then, five minutes later, her world is a wonderful place.  She has just seen a school bus & yells "BUS!!!!" and forgets that she was upset.  So is the life of a two year old.

The great toy trade

I am just like so many of my friends who has a house that has exploded with toys.  When I was pregnant with my first child I was living in a 700 sq ft apartment in San Francisco and swore the baby's things would NOT take over my house.  Now, 3 1/2 years later I am in a much larger house and my kids toys HAVE taken over most of it.  The thing is, they only play with very little of them.  Most of the toys have been put in bins.  Once in a while, the girls with dig through the bins to find a long forgotten toy and then play with it for hours.  Otherwise, many of the toys sit, thrown in the bin ... waiting.  

I found a tip in a book, The Household Manager Takes Charge that I love.  Well, the whole book is full of tips that I love.   One of them is to rotate toys.  Take half of the kids toys, put them in a box and then in storage.  About a week, month or whenever later, swap those toys with the toys you had out.  Now, when I did this I didn't do HALF, but about one diaper box full of toys.  Last night I did the swap.  Even I had forgotten about a few of the toys I put up.  I set a few things out on the coffee table and went to bed.

The girls have been up for over two hours.  When they came downstairs you would have thought it was Christmas!!  They ran to the toys and the oldest was shouting I forgot about this toy!  Mommy you found my toy!  They didn't notice anything was missing either.  They are still playing with (and fighting over) their new found toys.  

I have heard that when kids see too many things the toys are just "lost".  Think of looking at a ice cream menu of 30+ flavors ... it is overwhelming!  How do you choose?  Same with kids and toys.  Just too many choices.  

This was also a great opportunity for me to purge.  I spent about an hour and a half going through the toys in our "family / play room" I threw out the doll that was a broken hand-me-down that had these freakish eyes that creeped me out, coloring books that had been colored on every page,  and 

random "junk".  

So many things accomplished during this 90 minutes after the kids went to bed.  Room cleaned, toys purged, organized and stashed.  I even made my kids' day by giving them "new" toys.  Give it a try.  I would love to hear how it works for your family!

week "wasted"

In one of my last posts I talked about all that I needed to get done this week.  Well, here it is, Friday and the number of things checked off of my list?  ZERO.  I got some other things done, but all in all had an unproductive week.  I wasn't doing nothing.  With three kids I can't do nothing.  It is the "extra" stuff that gets pushed to the side.  I did work at my "paying" job, have a fun night with some girl-friends, spent all day in SF for an appointment, and even moved the lawn!

It is weeks like this I really wonder if I have what it takes to run my own business.  On an exciting note, the grapic design part is done.  Files are in my computer ready to be uploaded to ETSY and sent to a printer ... that was fun, but also shadowed by the fact that I am tired (which I have learned is just a fact of life in your late 30s) and behind on other things.

Here's to cutting myself some slack, and just taking one small step at a time moving forward.  As long as I am moving forward ... I will get to my goal.  That is one thing we can all remember.   No matter how small of a step you take, you are closer to your goal than you were before you took that step.  Remember the movie, What about Bob? ... it is all about baby steps.  So, here is to a week that was full of baby steps and to a week starting Tuesday of a few goals being reached!