Snuck Out

I snuck out of town last week to see my Mom, the boys and their girls for a few days.
We didn't do the usual 500 hours of Mickey...and it was actually a nice break.
I mean, obviously we went on a couple of thrill rides and obviously I came home with a large bag of Mickey souveniers, but that's just par for the course when you're in Orlando.
Mostly, we just spent time together and laughed. We laughed, and laughed and LAUGHED!
And then we laughed some more.

Even though I had a hard time making the decision to go "there" without my family, it ended up being a really fun and really adult-like trip for me.

Sometimes you just have to go with the motto: "Work hard, play hard."

Family

I love my girls equally. I love my parents and they love my brothers and I equally. In my adult life, I cannot remember a single hurtful, mean, or cruel word said between my brothers and I. It's a beautiful thing. Growing up I always just seemed to know that there was no competition for love or for things. It's been easy because my parents have never favored one over the other. They never excluded any of us from anything. My brothers and I have never cared if one brother got this, or the sister got that. We've all had our stuff come up over the years...graduations, weddings, children, buying a home, going back to school, moving from here to there, etc. etc.  Our parents have been there for us when they knew we needed it the most. We've always understood that people have different needs at different times. Even growing up, if someone needed a new pair of tennis shoes it didn't necessarily mean everybody got them. Why buy for all if only one is in need? Taking out the jealousy component in a family makes things so easy.
I hope, hope, hope I can continue this with my own girls because I DO love them equally. I would never favor one over the other. I would never just give and give and give to only one child. Creating jealousy in my children would be devastating to their relationships and our family as a whole. I've seen it happen.
Raising a happy and cohesive family is probably the number one goal of mine. Wish me luck.

**Update to post: There is an entire book dedicated to this topic called Siblings Without Rivalry.

Talking About Daycare Again

Sometimes I don't really understand what the role of daycare provider means to people. I guess I always assumed that parents enrolled their children in daycare so that they can go to work.
However, lately I have noticed a trend of more and more parents putting their kids in daycare when they aren't working and just staying at home.
I understand the importance of socializing your child. I enrolled all my girls in preschool so that they could learn how to get along with other kids their age and take instruction from someone other than their parent.
If you are a stay-at-home parent why would you want to send your child to someone else's house all day everyday? Why wouldn't you find fun things to do with your child yourself?
Some of the parents also have their own kids every other weekend. I have heard over and over again from these parents who have their own children for "their" weekend with them complain (as they're dropping their child off at my house for 9 hours) that they didn't get a break from their kid(s) and how hard it is.
Does this make sense? It does not make any sense to me. I take care of my own kids - plus other people's kids - 7 days a week. They do not go to another house during the week or every other weekend. I am the last person who needs to hear that because you spent two days with your own child that you need a break.
Really?!?
Is this just how things are? Is daycare more than what I thought it was?
I feel so bad for these kids and am glad that I am able to provide a home-away-from-home environment for them.

For my girls, my life, my heart, my everything: Cecelia, Delaney, & Laila

"Yellow"

Look at the stars,
Look how they shine for you,
And everything you do,
Yeah, they were all yellow.
I came along,
I wrote a song for you,
And all the things you do,
And it was called "Yellow".
So then I took my turn,
Oh what a thing to have done,
And it was all "Yellow."
Your skin,
Oh yeah your skin and bones,
Turn into something beautiful,
You know, you know I love you so,
You know I love you so.
I swam across,
I jumped across for you,
Oh what a thing to do.
Cos you were all "Yellow",
I drew a line,
I drew a line for you,
Oh what a thing to do,
And it was all "Yellow."
Your skin,
Oh yeah your skin and bones,
Turn into something beautiful,
And you know,
For you I'd bleed myself dry,
For you I'd bleed myself dry.
It's true,
Look how they shine for you,
Look how they shine for you,
Look how they shine for,
Look how they shine for you,
Look how they shine for you,
Look how they shine.
Look at the stars,
Look how they shine for you,
And all the things that you do.

 

~Coldplay

 

Mommy's song for you, my love.



Dad's 58th Birthday

My Dad's birthday was earlier this month and we had a GREAT time celebrating at Gastof's!
Happy Birthday, Dad!!!!!!

Piece of Advice

Do not volunteer to be the "Cookie Manager" for Girl Scouts.
Did you know that you have to go to trainings?
You also have to spend lots and lots and lots of time on their website.
I had no idea how involved this was.

On top of that, I've got parents calling and asking if my kids want to be in the science fair. Um, NO!

Elementary school is so busy and the parents are so involved in everything. It blows my mind.

And while I'm at it...what's up with "playdates?" I mean, to me, a playdate is for Mom friends to get together and pretend it's for the kids. Why all of a sudden it is all about me driving my kids all over town - or having friends come over here for hours at a time?
We don't live in the best neighborhood as far as friends for the kids go, but I'm really over this whole playdate thing.

I know it seems lazy, but I feel that between gymnastics and a busy family life I don't need all this extra stuff.

Right??

Laila's Doc Visit

We finally took Laila in to see the GI specialist yesterday. As I suspected, they believe that she is - how to put this delicately - experiencing prolapse when she uses the bathroom.  We're not sure why this is happening as she seems otherwise totally healthy.  For now (and the next month or so) she will take MiraLAX everyday to see if it helps. If the problem continues on after trying this she will likely have to have a colonoscopy. Needless to say, we REALLY don't want her to have to do that. So, for now we will just hold tight and see what happens.