Monday morning met us with a vengeance this week.  It took what seemed like seventeen hours for the kids to find their shoes (which I left out and lined up for them and put them on their feet. Somehow still, one boy walked out wearing two right shoes and the other walked out wearing two left. Sharing at its finest, I say. For some ridiculous reason, I agreed to buying them light up sneakers. Light up shoes are a terrible idea. I feel like I’m having a seizure half the day. It has been dark and dreary lately. In addition to trying to drown the lights in the puddles, the boys constantly kick their feet against their car seat, the wall, etc. They’ve invented some kind of high five of the feet game, just to see the lights in the dark. Even when they don’t have the damn shoes on, they carry them around slapping them against things (and occasionally each other) just to see that neon glow. Do those lights ever run out? Is there a secret way to disable them? I’m asking for a friend, of course…

Anyway, somehow someone managed to dump my coffee onto the front seats of my car. Nothing a few baby wipes couldn’t fix, but I did have to do pre-school drop off, caffeine-less, with wet marks on my buns. Fantastic. When we got home, I went to start some laundry and the boys scampered off to fight crime, or whatever they do on Monday mornings. As my head was down in the washer, I hear “Mommy! Mommy! Come quick!” Expecting the worst, I ran out and saw these two dapper young men sitting at the table. They invited me to sit with them and said “We made coffee for you! This coffee won’t spill!” It was the best cup(s) of coffee I’ve ever had.

Speaking of coffee, Taylor noticed a police officer behind us at the drive thru this afternoon. She asked, quite adorably, if the police man was there because there were bad guys at the coffee shop. I told her no and that he probably just needed a coffee break because he was working. We talked about the long list of things police officers do, and then decided that we could do something kind for him. When we got to the window, we paid for his order, and asked the person at the window to just thank the officer for his service for us. We drove away, and Taylor was so happy that she did something to make someone else happy. Her kind heart almost makes up for the fact that when I told her to pick up her dirty laundry, she looked at me and said “Sorry Mom. Simon didn’t say!”

I am the first to admit that I had nerd-like tendencies growing up (and probably still do, today). I love reading and writing. I mostly enjoyed school and loved learning. I would always throw myself into a research project, completing it days or weeks before it was due. I don’t expect my children to fully follow in my footsteps, but I do want them to have a love for learning.

This weekend, Taylor was given her first “Research Paper” and I was pretty darn excited. Not surprisingly, so was she! Taylor’s pre-k class is learning all about the rain forest. Every day, she comes home with new facts and she’s so excited to tell us all about what they are learning. Each student in the class was assigned one of the animals that resides in the rain forest, and they had to learn about their specific animal and fill in the prompt about it. They will be sharing their information with the class. Taylor was assigned the cockatoo and after I convinced her that we shouldn’t call it the “cock-bird,” we absorbed as much information about it as possible. She chose which pieces of information she wrote, and she sounded out all of the words herself. She did her own cutting and gluing too. It’s so amazing to see her do things like this, as if they are effortless. She’s really growing up!

Taylor’s teachers are really big on letting the kids sound out their own words and write accordingly. I love this about them. They really give the kids a chance to learn and build confidence through their independent work. I followed suit at home and let her write her words the way she sounded them out. I am so proud of her, although her spelling of the word “insects”(see the pictures below) really gave us a good laugh. It’s so innocently cute, that it’s hilarious. This one might catch her teachers off guard come Monday morning, but at least they will know that my girl did her own work!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! The kids absolutely love when I do silly little things to incorporate the “minor holidays.” Just before midnight last night, I thought to myself Oh crap. I forgot to do something for them. Last year, we did footprints in the bathroom and they loved it. I tried to switch it up this year, and the results were less than stellar. I had the brilliant idea of trying to make leprechaun footprints out of some packing tape and parsley since I scoured the kitchen and it’s the only thing I had that was green. I envisioned how cute it would be and got to work. I very quickly realized that not only would it not be cute, but it would be a disaster of epic proportions. Todd walked in on me trying to align parsley in a footprint pattern on the tape and just about lost it with laughter. We had a hard time catching our breath and had tears streaming down our faces. It was that comical. We realized that the parsley looked like another herb instead, and we were worried that people would judge our leprechaun’s life choices. Knowing the kids would love it anyway, I decided to leave the abomination on the kitchen cabinet. I added more green foot prints made of paper, some leftover Christmas chocolates, some Mardi Gras beads, and some crumpled up dollar bills. Winning. I was so exhausted and could barely see straight at that point through the tears of laughter and the sleepiness.

It may not have looked pretty, at all, but the kids loved it. They were so impressed and scoured the house looking for the leprechaun’s point of entry. They were on their toes this morning to see if the leprechaun would play any tricks on them. They discussed it amongst themselves the whole way to school and are already planning on pooling their dollars and “saving them in one spot” so they could buy a new toy together. I may not have made pretty decorations, but I made my kids happy, and that is what counts.

Also, since I’m winning so much in the life department, I realized yesterday that we didn’t have anything green for T to wear to school. I rummaged through the back of her closet and found the dress I bought her for St. Patrick’s Day last year.  It’s a little short on her, but I stuffed the rest of her in it, told her not to bend over too far, and called it a day. She loves it, feels pretty, and is super excited. I do have to say, she looks adorable, too.

I think I legally have to make my coffee Irish today. Can you even imagine me bringing these kids into a liquor store? Yikes. Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Have a fun, safe weekend!

The boys have been doing a decent job with using the bathroom on their own. I say decent, because honestly, they are stubborn as hell and sometimes they just don’t want to. Even with prodding them / encouraging them / bribing them, one refused to poop on the toilet, and the other will poop in his pull-up just for fun.

This morning, I asked both little men if they needed to use the bathroom. When they said no, I made them try anyway. Following through is half the battle, right? I ran upstairs to scrub the bath tub and toilet (because my life is glamorous like that) and as the cleaning spray was permeating my nostrils, so was the smell of poop. Both boys squatted behind their sofa chairs and crapped their pants. For fun. Since they apparently think it’s a game; I decided to play along. Joseph is now wearing a leftover Hello Kitty pull-up and not one of his beloved Thomas the Train ones. He’s clearly not pleased with me, but I’m okay with that.

Happy International Women’s Day! I am not on strike today, as many women around the world are. It’s pretty much impossible for me to strike, as a stay at home Mom, because my kids would dismantle the house; no joke.
I did give myself an extra five minutes in bed and ignored my alarm clock this morning, which made Taylor come into my room to try to get me up. I told her I wouldn’t get up unless there was coffee made. I overheard her saying “Daddy, Mommy won’t get up unless she gets some coffee, and I’m not making it!” At least she made me laugh. I’ve had lots of coffee since then.

A lot of women are wearing red today in support of this day. While I was explaining what this day meant, I asked Taylor if she wanted to choose an outfit with red in it. She said “No thank you. I want to wear my puffy pink shirt from Auntie because it makes me feel beautiful!” Now, I wouldn’t have had a problem if she chose to wear tie dye colors or leopard print, but the fact that she chose her own color for today because of how it made her feel, made me feel so proud as a mother. For me, that is what today is about. I am glad that she is empowered. I am glad that she knows what she feels the most beautiful in and that she has her own voice to express her opinions and feelings. I am so proud of the little girl Taylor is now, and can already see glimpses of the extraordinary woman she will be one day. I try to lead by example for her. She knows that girls can do anything boys can do. She knows how smart she is. She knows that not only is it okay to tell someone ‘no’ if they are bothering her and making her feel uncomfortable, but she also knows that if someone tries to touch her inappropriately, she can knock them out, with absolutely zero repercussions from us. I don’t teach violence, but I do teach safety, self-respect, and protecting yourself and am proud that she is learning these things.

I was lucky enough to be raised with incredible female role-models. Both my mother and my grandmother were always (and still are) instilling in me the notion that I could be anything and do anything I put my mind to. They lead by example by running their own very successful business for nearly two decades. My mom taught me that not only is it okay to be a strong, successful woman with a voice, but you need to make sure your voice is heard – – something she is very good at!

Taylor not only has me, my mother, and grandmother (how lucky are we that she is still around) to set good examples for her, but she has other strong female role models to look up to as well. My closest friends play an important role in her life. Taylor knows that Auntie loves her more than anything. She knows that Auntie is a teacher and helps kids at school. She knows that she can be a teacher like Auntie and G or she can be a doctor or nurse (like the many female medical professionals we have in our life). She knows she can be a paramedic, as she has seen Ann working on the ambulance, numerous times. She loves her teachers (female) and looks up to them with adoration and respect. She sees these women doing whatever it is they choose to do in life, and she knows that she has choices too. She can be anything and I can hardly wait to see what she decides to tackle in her lifetime. I’m certain that she will be great with whatever she chooses.

I know there is a bigger picture here, and that is what today is about, but I don’t personally feel the need to strike within my setting, although I fully support all who do! I know that women are important, and not all women are recognized and respected the way we all should be. It is a very sad fact and it needs to be changed. However, Todd respects and cherishes me to no end, and for that, I will always be thankful. He knows how hard I work, he appreciates me, and he always sets a loving example for the kids to see. Each one of our children know that Mommy and Daddy are partners in life. We are a team and we work together, always. They will however tell you “Mommy is the boss” if asked.

Tell the women and girls in your life how much you appreciate them. Show it in your actions each day and remember that we are all better together.