Thursday, February 21, 2013

"Our Perfect Life"....And Other Blogger Lies

Life is just peaches and cream, isn't it? We wake up in the morning to the sun shining and birds singing, our perfectly perfect children asking oh-so-politely for a wholesome breakfast. We jump out of bed, our feet barely hitting the floor and we fawn over our children and whip them up a breakfast fit for princes and princesses. Our children never say anything rude or mean, they never fight, they never makes messes or throw fits. They are always clean and their clothes are never rumpled. Our house is basically a show house, no sign of lives being lived or memories being made, but by-golly it is ready for the photographers from Home Beautiful to stop by for a photo shoot at any time! We never have money problems, acne, aches or pains, issues with family, or fights with our husbands (or wives). Our husbands are perfect and only care that our every happiness is fulfilled. We do not have to try to keep up with the Joneses because, well, we ARE the Joneses.

This is what SO.MANY Mom blogs lead us to believe.

Please, someone gag me with a fork.

Let's talk reality.

Our kids faces are a mess, their rooms remind us of a natural disaster zone, our sink is occupied by dirty dishes we have no desire to take care of, we have baskets of both dirty clothes ready to wash and clean clothes already washed sitting on the floor....and we are not sure which is which, and we are always worried about something.

Life can be peaches and cream, but that is not how it is all of the time. Life is hard. Having children is hard. Just. Be. Honest.

It kills me when people blog about how much they love their children and how pseudo-perfect they are at parenting and showing patience....and then they turn around and whine on Facebook about their situations. Kids are work, or did you not get the memo? But you know what? Cherish it! Some days it is damned hard to cherish it, we all know that. Take the time to cherish your life and your children and make the most of it every day. And hold off on the perfect life blog posts please. Being gagged with a fork hurts!

And right now I am going to sit on the floor in the kitchen and put together a HUGE puzzle with the two little Tasmanian devils we call our sons, all the while leaving at least one heaping basket full of clothes to fold and a sink full of dirty dishes to be put into the dishwasher. Because that is how we roll.

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Random Information About Yours Truly

If I could, I would sleep until 11:00 every single morning simply because I am a night owl and I seem to get my most restful sleep after 8 am.

My life is so different today than I would have ever pictured it 5 or 10 years ago. And I am humbly grateful for that.

I would really like to move out of the country, if only for a little while. Australia...maybe South America.

Having our first child scared me to death.

Having our second child scared me to death.

Having our third child is currently scaring me to death.

Being a Mom scares the holy living shit out of me. It is so much responsibility on so many levels.

I prepare an Arby's Roast Beef sandwich the same way I always have. I dissect it, put half the meat back on the sandwich, add ketchup and horsey sauce, put the rest of the meat on it, add more ketchup and horsey sauce, then put the top bun back on. That is the only way I will eat it.

The older I get the less I give a crap about what people think. Or maybe it has more to do with getting busier.

The older I get the more selective I have become in choosing friends. I am blessed with friends that have been by my side for...oh, 20 years. Those friends are simply family. I have friends I have met more recently that I would not know what to do without. If I am friends with someone it is because I genuinely want to spend time with them, not just because they are someone who lives close-by and the friendship is convenient.

If I could go work with the guys from Antique Archaeology every day I would probably be in heaven. That kind of stuff is in my blood and it is genetic for sure. Our boys will sit and watch "the junk show" (their term, not mine) all day long.

Even though it is not fancy and flashy I would not trade my engagement and wedding band for something more extravagant if you paid me.


I would, however, wear something awesome on my right hand!

I have a 'thing' for argyle.

I have a 'thing' for cookie dough.

I have a 'thing' for mushrooms sauteed in butter.

I genuinely love to cook, when I have the time.

I am sure I will think of more, but now it is time for bed!

Monday, February 18, 2013

Pseudo-homeschooling

Homeschooling. It is a topic that has laid on my heart for a long time. If I am entirely honest with myself, it is a concept that I have felt drawn to since before we even started a family. For some reason, a reason that is not entirely known to me as of yet, it is something that simply feels...right for our family.

Kyle is so much like me it is just silly. He has an extreme love for learning, is passionate about the information he is given, and wants to gain knowledge simply for the sake of knowing things. He is so much like me it is scary. There is rarely enough information to satisfy his curiosity and he has a wonderful ability to understand concepts on a very deep level very quickly.

Kaleb has a different way of going about things a lot of the time, but he is just as hungry for knowledge and passionate about learning as his big brother is. He sometimes prefers to learn by watching and processing what he is hearing rather than going the '50 questions in 60 seconds' route, but he retains information like Larabee does. I swear my husband's brain is a safe; he retains knowledge and information much more efficiently than I do.

I am a Mom just like any other Mom; I want my children to have the very best education they can. I want them to be well-rounded and knowledgeable on many subjects. I want them to be able to have intelligent conversation about those topics rather than rattling off a series of memorized facts. I want their education to have meaning above and beyond what the Government of the United States and/or the State Government deem fitting. I want their education to have purpose beyond a simple cookie-cutter education.

Perhaps homeschooling is the solution we are looking for. Perhaps it is not. One this is certain amidst all of the fretting; it will be a scary and exciting ride no matter what we choose!

I would love to hear your thoughts, opinions, and advice on the matter! Leave a message below if you would like; I generally do not bite!