Teach Me How to Mommy

I found out I was pregnant on a Sunday afternoon in May.  Instead of screaming from the rooftops that I was carrying my third child I kept it to myself.  It took two weeks to even tell my husband,  here's why: 1. Having your first is so exciting, having your second is expected - the third?  Who has three kids these days? 2.  Is it ever the right time?  I was nervous my husband wouldn't think so... 3.  I didn't want to overshadow other pregnancies (specifically my brother and sister in-law who will be having their FIRST baby two weeks before us - wooo-hooo)! 4.  I had a co-worker tell me (while I was pregnant, but he didn't know) that the world was not set up for families of five (cars, restaurants, vacations, college tuition).  He has a point, woops! 5.  By saying it out loud I often admit (through nervous laughter, strange sentences and awkward eye movement) that I am so, so nervous about this one. Yet, I know by putting it here...

The first few days of summer are in the books.... The kids have been so happy with our summer adventures that they are currently on a 7 day no-nap streak.  So even though I've enjoyed it all along with them, there are some things I have learned by spending 7am-730pm with my beautiful, busy children: 1.  Fighting screen time is a worthwhile battle, but an uphill one. 2.  Speaking of rules, many have to be broken in the summer.  I know I'll pay later, but it feels good to just let go. 3.  Working full-time affords more breaks - I've been missing my 45 minute lunch (time to go to the bathroom, eat and chat, a luxury). 4.  Things go pretty smoothly until 4pm, at that point I better have a plan or be prepared to guard the kitchen cabinets for raiders.  It's nice to have tissues to catch the many, many fake tears that are headed my way. 5.  How can I be expected to watch  Orange is the New Black  if I can't start until 10pm?  ...

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...

Our friendship spans over two decades, but it's this photo that really marks the start of this blog.  Three kids just months apart hanging at their grandmothers' beach.  They organized themselves from tallest to shortest and most to least hair - just kidding, this was the best we could get.  They knew how to walk, but not that great yet and whether they knew it or not their futures as "beach babies" had already been determined. We may joke, bitch or even exaggerate (what Amy and I..how dare you!), but always in our hearts and in our every thought are these three blondies.  We live for the summers which makes January especially painful.  But we will make it there again and take this same photo - as we will be doing until our walkers don't push on the sand. Happy Flashback Friday all - let's hope for an early summer.

The first weekend of December is officially in the books.  My kids were in bed at 7:15 and Jerry and I are too exhausted to do much, well, much of anything. Over this weekend my kids met Santa twice and will see him twice more this week.  Before you judge me and think that the season has gotten just that much out of control, hear me out... It's a lot of work to organize some of these things (Polar Express and Fire Truck Santa), but some just fall into our laps.  We went to a pasta dinner at my school this week where Santa showed up.  Score.  This upcoming weekend my mother in-law actually has a Santa come down a chimney for her grandkids (and nieces and nephews).  Pure magic. Yes, it's likely that my kids won't remember this particular year of Santa activities, but I am sure you can agree that passing on them is silly. And so although it is unlikely I'll survive this holiday season completely unscathed, I am choosing to move forward.  I wil...

Determined to make this week still feel like summer, I tried extra hard to make my afternoons with the kids really fun.  Whether it was going swimming or going to a welcome back to school bash, every afternoon I had something planned to help ease the pain of our new schedule.  I exhausted myself (and them too) but I think they caught on to the sentiment - mommy isn't going to be here every hour, but she will be here when it counts.  Well, at least I hope that's how they feel. So, what happens when you plan an evening adventure to an outdoor eating venue and it's closed (until April)? You end up watching your son pour out a salt shaker while you order Wendy's for them on a random Tuesday night.  I don't do fast-food so this was a big deal, but the kids were hungry and it was getting late.  Surprise, surprise they ate well.   Also, not that I should have one but the frosty I had was out-of-this-world! I wrote last week about how going...

Kelly is our most featured guest-poster.  In other amazing news she came back to CT!  She's written about being a new mom , mom instincts and going back to work .  Now she's, "home" and starting a new chapter by "staying home" and moving forward with a few of her passions.  I say a few because unlike many people (ok, me) she's good at so many things.  Read on for more... So I have decided that I am too old to sleep in a sleeping bag on the hardwood floor, even just for one night. Let me back up… … We decided to make the move from RI to CT to be closer to family. Our house sold in 2 weeks (thank goodness, it was hard to keep picking up all of the toys for showings). We would close after the school year, pack up a truck, move in with my parents’ in CT, and put our stuff in a storage unit. It makes me laugh to think about our whole little house packed into one tiny (ok large) room, I wonder what all of our stuff is doing in there? The Mayor of...

Just a quick note.  Amy and I planned one last mombloggers night before we start back to work.  Well, maybe we can fit one more in...but this one will be hard to beat. We started the evening by grabbing a quick drink at J. Tims.  I parked about a mile away from the door, yet we still found seats.  The quick stop was made even sweeter by meeting up with Bobby (our friend's husband).  He was such good company.  We had quite a #sess on our Olympics obsession.  Who knew you could spend an entire happy hour on how amazing the women's gymnastics team is? Their skills, their smiles, their make-up, their voices, THEIR BODIES! My God those bodies! No, this is no exaggeration this is exactly where our seats were.  Ouch! Anyways, even though we were 15 minutes early the only seats left were the ones in the front row.  We considered another movie (What the F is Sausage Fest?).  We also considered going back to the bar.  But the purp...

This morning the kids and I went to breakfast and then went to a local store that has fruits, veggies, some farm animals and cute little Melissa and Doug things.  We go often - it's one of those regular joints you can always add to a morning or afternoon to "stretch it out a bit." The store connects to a warehouse in the back where they keep flowers and materials.  The doors were left wide open to this area.  John saw it first and noticed three (THREE) little toddler tractors and battery-operated cars.  They were John Deere and Mickey Mouse and were obviously for a little boy just John's age.  It obvious to me that they were for the worker's kids.  You know, they weren't put there for my kids - although in my kids' eyes I hadn't taken them to a little market, I had taken them to Disney World. I am the adult so I could tell customers probably weren't allowed back there, but to my kids the doors were open and there were toys.  It's a pl...

Amy wrote a really raw, honest post about her choice (emotionally, financially, contractually) to send Colin to daycare twice a week over the summer.  I bet it was a hard one to write, because she opened herself up to judgement from the moms of the world who judge anyone for anything, but especially judge based on daycare situations. I don't judge Amy (because she's my best friend), and also over the years I have felt very competitive with people and their daycare situations.  It doesn't feel good. Ultimately, no one wins. Everyone has a different situation and I feel like as a whole we are all just trying to do what's best for our kids and the family as an entire unit. Jerry and I chose a daycare that does not require parents to keep their kids in daycare over the summer (or vacations) if they are a teacher or have a unique work circumstances.  I know a kid in John's class whose father is a golfer, so in the winter he is home and so is his kid.  This is hard to...