Wednesday, June 19, 2013

what i know for sure: things i am loving right now

Well would you look at that.

2 days in a row.

I'm a rockstar.

Here's what I''m loving these days:
 
 
Ice cream dinners.
 
 Ellie's outfits.
They are beautiful disasters.

My husband.
He somehow looks better now than he ever ever has.
He is HOT.
 
Cool breezes through the bedroom window at night.
 
The fact that Downton Abbey season 3 is now on Amazon Prime.
Hello!
 
No less than 12 books on my nightstand.
 
SYTYCD
Love the pixie haired blond girl.
And I love that I have to save it to watch with E.
Girl is obsessed.
 
Sunny afternoons and flip flop tan lines.
 
Planning a patio.
 
Grilled food.
 
Fresh Fork.
This is our local CSA and so far I am VERY impressed.
 
Robin egg blue nail polish.
And the fact that Ellie can paint them for me.
 
Fantastic babysitters.
 
 
 
 
 


Tuesday, June 18, 2013

what i know for sure: things that drive me nuts


It's time for another rousing edition of "What I Know for Sure."
This time it is about the current things that drive me bonkers.

Ok, let's get started, shall we?


Patio guys that don't show up when they say they are going to.

Treeless backyards.

Mollescum.

Being in a group of people and everyone is buried in their phones.
I really hate that.

Weeds.

Unloading the dishwasher.

Hard popcorn kernels that you bite on wrong.

Sore joints.
(Seriously.  It's like I'm 80.)

Dirty kitchen floors.

Dirty bathroom floors.

Dirty everywhere floors.

Having to work in the summer.

Sunburned noggins.

Dogs that poop in my yard.

Having to get gas.
(I try really hard to time it for when Chris is in my car.)

Paying a small fortune for said gas.

Bedhead and a tenderheaded girl.
It's not a good combo.

Softball practice or games every night of the week.

So on and so forth.
Wow.  I sound crudmudginy.


Maybe tomorrow I will hop on here and do what I am loving right now.
Cause there's a whole lot of that right now too.

Can you imagine?
A post, 2 days in a row!


Wednesday, June 12, 2013

homesick

We had grand plans,
Chris and I.
A whole week without a kid.
In our own house!
We were going to golf and watch movies.
Go out to breakfast and relax.

Ellie was staying at Linda and Wayne's.
She was so excited!
Like, rambled about it for months, excited.
She was going to go to Bible School and swim and see her cousins and eat ice cream and take scooter rides.

Then we left.
And the proverbial excrement hit the fan.

The first night she started texting me at 10:30.
"I woke up with a bad dream."
"I'm sad."
"I miss my home."
Then she face timed me at 12:15 with crocodile tears.
"I need you, Mommy."

(Knife to chest, twist, repeat.)
(Note to self, no ipod touch allowed in bed.)

We decided that night to see how the next day went and we would re-evaluate.
I didn't sleep well.
 
The day went great!
She loved Bible School and spent time with her cousins.
I got smiley face texts and all was well.
But then it was bedtime again.

Cue the crocodile tears.


 For the first time in her life, I was MAD at her.
Mad that she wasn't willing to stick it out.
Mad, cause I knew she could have SO MUCH fun if she would just let herself.
Mad that Linda had to deal with this irrational kid.
And if I am being perfectly honest, I was mad that I didn't get my week.
Cause I can be a baby about stuff like that.

So I had a choice.
Do I teach the "stick it out, you will be so proud you did" lesson,
or the
"I am your mama and I will always be there when you need me" lesson.

I chose the latter.

 Because she is 7.
And she was sad.
And for whatever reason, founded or not, she wanted to come home.

We left at 9 in the pm to meet Wayne half way, 2.5 hours.
At 2 in the am she was all snuggled in her own bed.
Happy as a lark. 
 
Wayne is our new hero.
Thank you Wayne.  We love you.

I vividly remember being homesick as a kid.
A lot.
I think what made it worse was knowing how utterly sad she felt.
Even though it was nuts.
Knowing she felt all alone in the world.
Even though there were no less than 25 people in a mile radius that love her to pieces.
Homesickness is for the birds.
The ugly, rotten, stinky birds.

She and Chris were talking yesterday and Chris was explaining what homesick meant.
She replied:
"I didn't even know you could get that.  It is awful!"

And when she talks to people about it, I realized she thinks she got sick.
She doesn't say "I was homesick."
She says "I had homesick."
Hee.
There are so few of these little kid mistakes anymore, I hate to correct this one.
 

So now she is home.
And we have hit the summer routine.
And I think she has only occasionally wished she stuck it out.
But overall, I think we made the right decision.

So thank you Indiana family for trying REALLY hard to show her a good time.
We really appreciate it!
She just had a moment.  
A "cry for your parents til you drive me 5 hours in the middle of the night" moment.

Parenting is hard.