I really love the school district that my boys are enrolled in. They really look out for the kids and are amazing will the personal help they give. That said I just found out the cost this year for my son who is going to be a freshman. Let’s just say free public education isn’t as free as I would like. Just for year book, ASB cards and PE clothes alone is over $200! This isn’t including school pictures, the cost of any dances and other activities that will come up. I know I should feel blessed that my kids are able to have the opportunity to get a great education but WOW it’s expensive. We still have to buy school clothes and supplies too! Maybe I can sell some blood to help pay for it all.

So much for the value of a free public education. Ok I’m done complaining now.

I am in love with the town I live in and for the most part everything about it. But as a mother I have to complain about some of the adults around me and their lack of caring and compassion.

Around 3:50pm I received a frantic call from my 14 year old that no mom wants to hear. “mom, I think I hurt myself” I ask him how bad it is and in a shaky voice he replied “I think I cut open my chin, I fell off my bike and there is blood everywhere”. Luckily he was close to a CVS so I told him to go sit in front of the store and I’ll be right there. I also told him to go into CVS and ask to use the bathroom to wash up if he could.

Since I didn’t have my car and it’s over 100 degrees I set into panic mode. So I dropped my youngest off at a neighbors and ran as fast as I could to my oldest baby. I grabbed a hand full of towels and a clean shirt as I ran out the door. I never knew my fat little legs could ran as fast as they did that day!

It took me 15 minutes get there and my heart dropped seeing my baby sitting all alone on the bench with his arms covered in blood and tears streaming down his face. It took all I had not to cry in front of him but I knew I had to be brave to keep him from panicking. Then I saw it, there he was, his perfect beautiful chin cut wide open and bleeding. I knew instantly stitches would be needed.

I ran into the store and bought some water and clean gauze and began cleaning the wound and washing off his arms and hands. I called my hubby and mil and they both came to pick us up and help. We ended up in the ER. Over 3 hours, a few tears and 3 stitches later we were home.

Once the exciting wore off I began to replay the afternoon in my head and that’s when I became angry and sick to my stomach! My poor baby, my 14 year old little boy spent 20 or so minutes covered in blood, with an open wound on his chin, all alone with out one person asking him if he was ok! NOT ONE PERSON! I saw at least 20 or more people walk in and out of that store in the 20 minutes I waited with him for my hubby to come and no one checked on me. I am an adult and was still in panic mode and could have used help. I can’t imagine being a young man all alone, bleeding and having NO ONE check on me!?

When did it become ok not to care or look out for one another? Why are we so busy that we can’t even check on and help a hurt or injured child? Luckily my son had a phone on him but with out it no one would have helped and he would have had to ride home, along a VERY BUSY STREET, scared, bleeding and hurt! Shame on all us adults who don’t check on someone in need. BE it someone crying who just needs a kind “are you ok, do you need to talk” to seeing a kid fall off their bike and making sure they aren’t hurt and asking “do you need me to call your parents” or “would you like me to wait with you until someone comes?”

Life is too short and too fragile to not care. I just hope others will take the time to stop and help and just care. I know after last night I will never be the same and will always offer myself to anyone I see in need. I just hope I will never have use the “I don’t know” to answer another one of my boys when asked “why didn’t any of the adults around ask if I was ok, didn’t they care?” Because the honest answer is no they didn’t but they should have!

Today I had one the easiest and most relaxing grocery shopping experiences ever! At my local Von’s here in Yorba Linda they now offer parents a way to shop and entertain their tiny tots at the same time. My only questions: why didn’t someone think of this sooner? This amazing new idea is a bright and easy to steer shopping cart, complete with a TV for little ones to watch while you shop. That’s right, you heard correct. A shopping cart with a TV inside the area our little ones sit.

Now I know some moms (and dads) are worried about germs but for me it was a blessing. I didn’t hear any of the usual “can I have that? I want that! Moooom please!!!” and my little guy wasn’t subjected to his usual from me of: “don’t ask again. I said no! Do we need to leave right now! I SAID NOOOOOO!@!!!!!”

The carts I have seen give you an option of three shows: Barney, Bob the Builder and Thomas the Train. You also can control it from your own screen up on top so you don’t have to try to reach inside and keep setting it.

So to Von’s grocery stores I give you 2 mommy thumbs up and and a HUGE Thank you!!

I’ve been seeing a lot of articles recently about Facebook and all the bad things about it. These same authors complain about “notes” and “updates” and how much they really dislike reading about others every day life and how much it is a time waster. Of course there is the anti-super poke groups and the other complainers about how “old folk” having taken over. So I thought I would take the time to add my 2 cents.

I’m the first to admit that I am one of those “old folks” who is addicted to my Facebook. I love everything about it from one too many applications to the minute by minute updates from my friends. I find that I can’t go a day with out checking on my crops on the Farm Town application or looking for the much needed rare item in Scavenger Hunt. More importantly I feel like I’ve gotten to know some of my long lost friends more then I would by just spending a few minutes here and there on the phone. By taking a look into the “secretly life” of others I get a really good understand of who they are. And to be honest I really do take the time to read almost all of my 115 friends updates and any notes they take the time to write on their pages. Through these little moments I find myself comparing myself to everyone and enjoying seeing how much some of us have in common.

Life is so busy and serious as an adult it’s nice to have somewhere I can get away and be silly. Almost like a 15 minute mini vacation a few times a day just to keep sane. So to those that hate the silliness of Facebook, that is fine but for me, I’ll just keep poking my friends and look forward to that next piece of flair they send me. So Happy Poking!

I have a confession to make and I’m ashamed to admit it. OK here goes, whenever I run into old friends/acquaintances and the topic of kids come up I secretly wish that they have nothing but bad news to share about all the problems their children are having. I almost want to gag when I hear stories about how little Johnny is so perfect and is the #1 spelling champ in his class and how little Suzie could read and write a complete paragraph by age 2.  Whenever these super moms begin to brag about how great their children are and all their amazing accomplishments, I just smile and respond with a quick “That’s awesome!” but I’m secretly thinking “I hope you choke on your triple grande frappuccino”.

I’m not an evil person and I truly wouldn’t really wish bad things to happen to anyone. I really would feel horrible if something bad were to happen. I’m just tired of over confident parents bragging nonstop about everything little thing their kids do right, like they are better people because of what their kids are and aren’t doing.

I love my boys more than life itself but am the first to admit they aren’t perfect. I really don’t know if I really would want them to be since they make life so exciting. My boys are fun, sweet, loving and all around good kids. They are the first to help if someone is hurt but are also at time the first to be picked on because they aren’t typical “tough boys”. 

I hear other mothers talking when picking up my kindergartner complaining because Suzie isn’t able to spell on her own, 2 and 3 syllable words while I’m just happy that my 5 year old can write his name and isn’t eating the paste. When other parents are pushing their kids to be the best of the best because nothing else is good enough I’m just hoping my boys will find a passion that will make them happy and have a healthy and productive life. Of course I would love to see them become a doctor or a lawyer someday, what mother wouldn’t? But I would be content with them just growing up to be great men and good husbands just as long as they are happy.

So my boys may not be perfect football players or valedictorians (well they could be who knows) but one thing I know for sure they are super kids who would never hurt anyone, can make me laugh so hard I almost pee my pants and that they enjoy life for all the great things it has to offer.

So the next time one of my “mommy friends” wants to brag about how perfect their kids are I’ll just smile and laugh because I know that I’m blessed to have imperfect children and wouldn’t have it any other way.

Two weeks ago my husband needed to borrow my car and asked if I could walk to pick up my 5 year old from Kindergarten. Of course I said what any good wife would say “why can’t you pick him up?!” After a dirty look and a few choice words I agreed and hesitantly made the long trek out of my comfort zone and to his school.

Now I am ashamed to admit that I have become somewhat of a couch potato.  My day consist of a little cleaning with plenty of computer time topped with a ton of TV.  Because of my dependency on the TV and computer my back side has also unfortunately started to spread and there is a permanent indentation of my body shape made into my over sized chair.  For this reason the thought of an hour long walk, even to pick up my darling son, and was almost unthinkable.

With little bit of resentment towards my husband’s lack of understanding my couch potato-ism disease I slowly began my walk. The first 10 minutes I kept envisioning in my mind what would happen if no one showed up at the school to pick up my baby and how long it would take for someone to find my lifeless body on the side of the horse trail caused by actually walking.

After I got over the initial shock of the blood flow to my brain I started into a good steady pace.  For the first time in months I was breathing fresh air and my body and mind really thrived on it. I had 30 minutes to really think, alone with no kids, no noise, no TV, no computer, just me and my thoughts. I daydreamed about what my life would be like if I won the lottery and what it would be like to live in the mountains away from the world. I enjoyed the warm sun on my hair and the cool breeze on my face.  In just 30 minutes I was feeling refreshed and energized.  When I arrived at the school I wasn’t ready for the walk to be over so soon.

On the walk back I was worried if my 5 year old would be able to make the trip home? Would we both succumb to the elements of the outdoors and lack of exercise? After a few minutes on the trail my son, with his brilliant imagination, turned to me and said “mommy do you see that?” Having no clue I asked “no, what do you see?” He began to point out, in great detail, that we were in the jungle and he could see apes and lions hiding in the bushes. He said we needed to be ninja’s and protect ourselves from bad guys. (Yeah, I know Ninja’s in the jungle? Well, he’s 5 LOL) After scoping out the perfect stick that could be the perfect ninja sword we spent the next 30 minutes alone fighting wild animals. It was an amazing journey and I’m glad to say, with the help of my little ninja, we made it out alive.

It’s been two weeks since my husband first asked if I could walk to pick up our son from school and I’ve been walking ever since. I’ve now even added walking him to school a couple days a week as well.  I now cherish my alone time and look forward to getting off the couch and out of the house. My son also looks forward to exploring the world and looking for new adventures.  It’s our special time that we share together, just the two of us and every day it’s a new journey.

I am now happy to say that I am thankful that my hubby forced me to be a “walking mom” and I wouldn’t trade in my walking shoes for my slippers ever again.

Mom’s are great and being one the most important and special job in the world. But one thing that we do that I never understood is comparing our children and their milestones, you know “Johnny took his first steps!” to hear “my Molly is running in a 3 mile race and she’s only 10 months old”. Well you know what I mean. We always try to make it seem like our children are better then yours and when they aren’t we worry ourselves to death that there is something wrong that our 2 year olds can’t play piano while riding a bike.

So for all us paranoid and annoying moms who try to make ourselves feel better and truly believe our children are prodigies here is proof your child isn’t as smart as you think (I’m not going to say these are all real but if they are………ouch”

So one of the fun things about being a mom in the world today is the amazing knowledge available with just the click of a mouse. Now take this wonderful idea and add in sharing memories and flashbacks from being a kid with your kids and what do you get? A day spent watching old t.v. shows and cartoons with your kids realizing that it was/is almost a miracle your brain can function with all the crazy things we watched and your kids going……”I don’t get it!?” At least my three year old enjoys it.

So just for giggles I thought I would shake up some of those old brain cells and Flashback to a couple of my favorite programs as a child growing up in the 70’s & 80’s.

I loved this show but have to wonder, what kind of drugs were they taking?

My favorite of all time!! The Bugaloos!!

I could have and wanted to post hours of my favorite videos but these are enough for now. But what is really amazing is thinking back to being a kid. It’s cool reliving the childhood year but also thinking about my parents, and my friends parents compared to today’s parents and how I realize how paranoid today’s parents have become.

I remember being 7 or 8 years old and staying home alone from school if I were sick and my parents would call and check on me. I also remember going out to play with my friends and just having to be home by a certain time, not really knowing exactly where I was going or what I was going to do but just doing it. Of course my parents knew all my friends but as a child of the 70’s and 80’s I was free. Free to explore, free to be a kid and free to learn about my world.

Now it seems like my children will never know this freedom until they are old enough to move out. I don’t want to be paranoid but all the other parents around me are and if I don’t give in to the “keeping them safe” mentality then that makes me an uncaring and bad parents. After my little Flashback today I really did a lot of htinking about myself and my kids and lastly my childhood.

First I loved my childhood and all the learning I did by just being out in the world and I want my kids to create their own memories.

Second, there has to be a happy medium of being a safe parents but not a paranoid crazy women society has made todays parents become. Kids need to be kids and this means getting hurt and doing bad things at times. In order to function on their own you have to take chances.

Finally, all the adults when us 30 somethings were kids are crazy. Either that or they were on some serious drugs and if we turned out ok. With such crazy people raising us then maybe we should trust ourselves a little more and how our kids will turn out. This means that maybe we did ok with what we taught them and so we should let them go have fun with out breathing down their necks. And who knows they may be ok, I mean we made it home safe didn’t we?

Ok I am crawling down off my soap box now. Just reliving my past made me realize if I don’t ease up I may just screw up my children’s future and not allow them to create memories of their own.

I’m off to watch some Electric Company with my boys now, man I loved that show!