Teach Me How to Mommy

  When one of your best girl scout friends gets married to a cowboy fireman in Texas you go .   You take a personal day, you get on a plane at 4 in the morning, you get a couple layovers and you go. You leave your kids at the very beginning of the school year (not to mention your own beginning of the school year activities) and you go. You take your best friend as your date and leave your husband to take care of said kids and you go. You don’t sleep after the wedding (at all) and get right back on a plane so you can get home to put the kids to bed and get back in the classroom the next day. You do it because it’s worth it.   You do it because you stayed in a place with an infinity pool and armadillos.   You do it because you’ve never been to Texas and it’s good to try new things. You get a convertible instead of a Camry. You even pump and dump, because it’s what’s right and it doesn’t even hurt because you are having a blast. You d...

Ok, well  maybe just don't... Last Thursday I woke up to a snow day (yeaaa) and the stomach bug (booo).  Jerry went off to work and even though I am NEVER like this I was resigned to have a really chill day with the kids.  I let them watch an extra show in the morning and instead of moving from one activity to the next I tried to kind of stay put in one area and have the kids play around me.  Heck I was 39 weeks pregnant, right?  You can't really go outside when the snow is coming in sideways, right?  Everyone deserves a day to just not be "super", right? Well that day was here.  I still made the kids their meals, we ended up doing a fort and we did eventually venture outside and walk to the neighbor's house, but I was working at about a 25% capability level. The only problem is, when it came to 3:30 and my regular one cup of coffee a day ritual, I couldn't stomach it.  I tried three times to sip it and it wouldn't go down.  I knew my ...

It's been awhile since I've written.  I have had lots to write about, but no time.  The holidays often feel like the best marathon I've ever run (I've never run one) you push, push, push until the big day is here.  Then once it's done you need a few days to recover.  Our holiday season was all of that and more.... But last night I took down the Christmas tree.  My parents wanted to take the kids for a sleepover (umm, YES) and instead of going out my husband and I stayed in and did an overhaul of the entire house.  To be fair we did go out on two dates this week, so don't feel bad for us. We had already organized everything, but to be honest every time I started a project this week I would get one step done and then the kids would have created another project (mess) that I'd have to address making me at least ten steps behind my original place. I usually don't take the Christmas stuff down until New Year's (or the day after).  But this year I a...

Being pregnant as I approach my mid-thirties has been an experience .  I am not sure if it's age, the fact that this is the third go around or that I have two very busy and nosey toddlers but six months pregnant feels a lot more like 50 months pregnant. The first time around I was 28 and the excitement of having my first was exactly what it should be.  It was all new - the maternity clothes, the doctor's appointments, the shopping and the showers.  This time around: 1.  A very cute, petite and friendly mom approached me at pre-school pick-up.  After introducing myself, Lucy promptly said, "Some moms are really small, but I think I've seen one other mom who is bigger than you Mom."  Only the one?  Thanks girl. 2.  Last week a student stopped the class to say that I had "pen on my leg".  Nope, those are just the varicose veins that third baby has gifted me.  If only a good shower could wash them away... 3.  When people find ...

This is a quick review in case you ever thought of traveling to the Dinosaur Place in Montville, CT.  Long story short, regardless of the travel, price and heat, this place is still worth it. When Jerry gets home every night the first question he asks is, "Which adventure did Mom take you on today?"  Shortly after, he states that he wishes he could be there.  Even though I Snapchat all our adventures for him he still gets pangs of jealousy.  Understood - I'm exhausted but it's for all the right reasons. So this weekend we took the kids to the movies for the first time ever.  The experience was great, but the movie kind of sucked.  Cars 3?  I guess I should've seen 1 & 2.  There was a lot of talking in it - you know like the cars talk to each other a lot.  I kept waiting for the great music - there was none!  Give me Trolls! So on Sunday we thought we would keep the adventures going.  We received a gift card two years ago (...

This site has a lot to do with mommy-ing, but we are not too proud to mention that we couldn't do it on our own.  It takes a village, sure, but it also often takes a good dad.  So today, on this utmost important day we'd like to recognize how good we have it (most days).   We know what a good Dad is, because we had two. The bar started high - but watch our guys reach it. For instance, even though today was "his day" I disassembled the car seats on a whim.  I saw crumbs I couldn't get to and it was making me crazy.  I meant to start with just taking the covers off, but it lead to taking one seat out and apart, and then naturally the other.   The positives:  My car is really clean and the kids will no longer stand up and have sprinkles and cracker crumbs stuck to their bums. The negatives:  It took my husband over an hour (in the dark) putting them back together.  I heard a lot of aggressive mumbling, but none was ever directly...

Well, we've waited for it all year.  It's finally come!  It's Mother's Day! Even if Mother's Day means that the craft your kid made you at daycare has already broken and the outdoor barbecue you planned for your family will be slightly ruined tainted by pouring rain, it's still "our day." On Friday, I finished up a year long relationship with a student teacher.  The experience was such a positive one that I held back tears when I said, "good-bye" to her.  She helped me with all the taxing things that go on behind the scenes - grading, planning, copying, organizing, cleaning and the ever important report cards.  Beyond that, she became such an energetic and kind presence in my room.  She is a friend now and I will miss her dearly. She left me with a gift, that in her words, "defines who I am." I never received any of these "knit" things in my life.  I've always liked them, but isn't it kind of a lost ar...

It's Good Friday and what a good Friday it has been.  In fact, it's been a really wonderful vacation, the only bad thing being that it's almost over.  Amy talked about the "last stretch" . Fourth quarter is here, summer is around the corner.  She's right, well kind of.  May hasn't begun, and even though it's nice out, I still worry the cold air will come back and the work days will still be long.  Anyways, let's just go with her mindset - summer mode . We did a lot of things this vacation, including hosting a birthday party, a night away at the beach, the Aquarium and more.  Although many people we know went on vacations to Florida, California or further the farthest we went was outside of Boston to the Great Wolf Lodge.  I have to say that it looked really cheesy from all the ads, but it came highly recommended by a few people we know.  We wanted to take the kids somewhere  - some place new, exciting before we tackle a longer, farther vac...

It's been forever since I last dated.  Well, actually to be honest since Jerry and I have been together for nearly 15 years, it feels like forever, it just actually isn't.  But yet here I am again.  Putting secret notes in mailboxes and texting before an in-person meeting. That's right, I'm dating.  Well, play-dating that is.  I am making my first attempts at expanding my friend circle - through my kids. See there's this little girl from school that Lucy always talks about.  I see her when I get Lucy, but never her mom.  That's the thing about going to a daycare center, you don't always get those family bonds that are so natural at home daycares.  Anyways, on a whim I decided to reach out.  In Lucy's valentines I added an extra note in her friend's bag.  It read:  Hi, I'm Lucy's mom and Lucy loves your daughter.  Want to do a playdate? So right, I suppose it's on the verge of creepy, but before I could second guess...

Ok, well that's an exaggeration.  No actually wait, I was pushed, just not with a lot of force. I was out getting a coffee, sans kids. It's been so long that I've been solo that I actually went inside.  What a luxury it was to look at the menu and take my time making my coffee just the way I wanted it.  Anyways, while I was waiting a little girl walked in front of me - on a wet floor - and slipped right on her behind.  She wasn't hurt, but she looked startled and literally couldn't get up.  My mom instincts kicked right in and went down asking her if she was ok.  I used my own arm to help her up.  This took maybe 20 seconds. I didn't notice her mom at first, I guess she was at my side.  In reaction to my assistance the other mother pushed my arm away and said "thank you" in a way that I understood meant "get your hands off my daughter."  It was all so quick I didn't have a reaction, but I left feeling really embarrassed.  I kno...

The view from the glass. Now that my kids are a bit older, I've started to depart from "mommy and me" classes to more send em' in and watch through the window classes.  This is a different phase of motherhood that I enjoy for many reasons - less chasing more stillness, more time to check my phone and sometimes I get to chat with other moms. When I don't have another kid to chase while one is taking a class (which is rare) then those 45 minutes can be golden. Unless you share those 45 minutes with people who don't realize how annoying they are.  While trying to watch Lucy prance, balance and attempt a cartwheel I overheard two moms compete back and forth over whose daughter is better, smarter, sweeter and of course taller.  As I had free time and couldn't really scoff (out loud) I had to record their conversation via my own notes.  Highlights include: 1.  "My cleaning lady"-   I know normal people have them too, but when you mention he...

Seems like it's been a long January, no? It could be the cold (although it's hard to complain this year) or maybe it's just the political climate.  Either way getting through the winter can sometimes be a challenge.  Personally, I've had my fill and I've got my eyes on summer, but I'm also in touch with reality.  So instead of dwelling on things I cannot control, I'd rather talk about things that have made January wonderful. 1.  Strangers - It's not what it seems.  My favorite podcast, Strangers , has been killing it this month.  All the stories are true, but not all are happy.  Yet, somehow putting in my earbuds and listening to them makes grocery shopping at 9pm on Friday just that much less painful.  If you can, listen to "Wouldn't it be Nice" and "Two Men and a Baby".  They both filled me with positivity about the human race. 2. This is Us - Need I say more?  All my students know my favorite kind of movie is the kin...

Having my husband home this week has been useful and exciting in many ways.  Little nit-picky arguments aside, we managed to have a lot of wonderful family time and actually get some stuff done around the house. Rather, I should say we got a lot of different projects started and nothing actually finished.  Like, my husband gutted our upstairs bathroom (you know the only one up there) so that's a start.  Then we arranged the family room for a new couch and went shopping, but came home empty-handed.  We are making progress. More importantly my husband and I both when through our closest and dressers and purged (donated) all our old/ugly/ill-fitting/stained clothes.  We had three black industrialized bags full and it felt so good to drop them at Savers. I am not positive what I'll be wearing over the next couple months, but everything is so much cleaner and lighter.  It's worth having to go naked to the grocery store. While I was playing with the anti-na...