'bad' Mommy

I had one of 'those' moments tonight.  The kind when in my head I am telling myself "shut up before you say something you might regret" but my mouth has a mind of it's own. 

Early this morning I had placed a picture on my 4 year old son's bed.  I was moving it from one wall to another, but the phone rang, life got busy, and I forgot about it.  Later in the evening, after an incredibly demanding and stressful afternoon (pre-school drop off, homework, preschool pick up, an hour of rowdy boy scouts, fast dinner, football practice, homework, piano practicing - and particularly whiny kids at every turn) I was on my last thread of patience and supposed sanity.  

So when my son called from upstairs that he was 'sorry but he broke the glass in my picture', I kind of snapped.  

I ran up the stairs, ignoring my awareness that the incident was entirely my fault, and got mad at my innocent little boy for breaking the glass in the picture.

Thankfully, tonight, his wisdom was greater than my own.  He looked at me in my frantic 'mom -has-just-snapped' mode and said without batting an eye.

"Maybe you should have put that picture in a place where I couldn't touch it.  Then it would have been just fine."

To which I replied.....well....I had no reply.  He was right.  And we both knew it.

I am grateful tonight for 'Z'.  He has taught me a lesson - which hopefully I will readily recall the next time I am in a maniacal state.  So here is to my renewed efforts to keep my mouth from spewing out emotion that has more to do with my own stresses than anything else that may be happening at the time.

      

Wisdom from my Sisters

From Kristy: When ever anything in life is unmanageable, thusly causing stress, change your hair.  While many things in life are beyond our control - or lack a quick fix, changing your style or color is an instantly gratifying experience.  Additionally, life would be worse if we were to start drinking excessively.

From Heather:  Tactics used in a Special Ed classroom are quite effective when used on my children.  What this says about my children...I don't like to admit.  What this says about Heather is that she can handle a lot of deviant behavior.  Also - when under stress it is perfectly acceptable to cry to a stranger (i.e. the comcast guy) if no one more suitable is around.  

From Becca: Many of us agonize over the fact that most pictures taken of ourselves, are less than beautiful.  When once in a while a good picture turns out, we are glad that our imagined beauty has finally been captured on film.  We need to accept that the opposite is true.  We actually look mediocre much of the time - so mediocre pictures are an accurate representation of our physical reality.  Remember: those few really good pictures of ourselves are not how we actually look.   

From Mom: (who must be included even though the blog title indicates only Sisters) As women, many of us spend much of our lives agonizing over weight and the last 10 pounds (or fill in the number with whatever poundage you choose) that we want to loose.  Many of us also spend much of our lives enjoying snacks and treats.  At some point we need to say "This is what size I am.  I like to eat ice cream (donuts, cookie dough, etc.), and will continue to do so."  Then we need to stop agonizing.  Or stop eating the treats.  Pick one of the two.     

From Me:  (Just because I don't want to feel left out!) Laugh at yourself.  Life is hard/ stressful/disappointing much of the time.  Find the funny and lighten up!  If by chance you are unable to find humor in your own life, watch America's Funniest Home Videos and laugh at someone else.  A heavy set woman falling off of her bike into the mud, a poorly executed trampoline move ending with some guy getting it in the sweet spot, a little old grandma falling from the dock into the lake - these things are all very funny.   

Please note -  when entertaining the idea of taking of Kristy's advice - (hair cut or color) it will only be instantly gratifying if you pay someone whom you trust, who is also qualified to do the task.  This does not include a sister (Becca), trustworthy but untrained in cosmetology, who thinks she knows how to home-job some bleach blonde high-lights on my normally dark brown hair. Don't think of her too badly though, she let me do her hair at the same time so we both looked crappy - but we looked crappy together.

And that is the point of having sisters - togetherness.  Whether we are living in the same state or not. Miss you guys!   

The Disgusting 'Facts' of Life:

So thanks to Jamie Lynn Spears' incredibly publicized teen pregnancy, and the ensuing playground gossip of her tabooed behavior I had to have 'the talk' with N. Ugh. After finishing up with the basics, he had only one question: "So when I'm all big and hairy down there - that's when I have to do it?"

The next night however, after processing the information, he had a few personal insights:

"You said it was a way married people show they love each other. I think it is the way married people show each other how disgusting they are."

"Is that thing disgusting and violent, or just disgusting?"

"If I got shot while I was doing that thing would it be violent then?"

"When Dad was disgusting it's too bad he didn't pick my egg first - then I would be the oldest."

"What house did you and Dad live in when you did that disgusting thing that made me?"

"Do I do it at my party when I get married - oh wait - I better not do it at the party - I don't want people to know that I am disgusting."

I was in physical pain - trying to control the hysterical laughter that threatened to erupt with each comment or question. Needless, to say, my feeling that he was not mature enough to handle the facts of life was dead on. If not for some choice information being shared during recess I could have put it off for a while. D@#% that Jamie Lynn Spears.