No Post Today Folks!

Spending time with my family, have a happy Thanksgiving everyone!

A new pre-Thanksgiving tradition!

Don't you just love the internet? Millions of morons and geniuses in one place! We stumbled across a brilliant idea that we wish we could take the credit for and started a new pre-Thanksgiving tradition.

A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving theme night! We did it last night, but only because there was a giant rain/wind storm coming in our area today so we were threatened with power outages and all that fun stuff. Anyway, back to the point.

Make the couch or bedroom with TV all comfy with pillows and blankets. Throw the kids in their cozy pajamas and then the magic starts...

Put on the movie "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" and while the kids are watching that, you go into the kitchen. Prepare toast with butter, a bowl of jelly beans, some stove top jiffy pop (it's way more fun!), a bag of pretzels and some ice cream sundaes for afterwards! Everything they eat at Charlie Browns Thanksgiving Feast! We served it up to the kids just as the guests were arriving at Charlie Brown's house. Their eyes lit up and they kept gasping over their plates having the same exact thing! We actually ended up watching the movie several times while we munched on our feast, lots of cuddles, lots of laughs and many great memories. We can't wait to do this each and every year- after all having our friends and family to spend time together is truly what I consider the biggest reason to be thankful! #thankful #thanksgivingtraditions #familytime

Happy Thanksgiving from Mean Mommy Memoirs!

10 Things We Are Thankful For.

In the spirit of Thanksgiving we have decided to prepare our list of 10 things we are thankful for. Enjoy.

10. Netflix, for having kid shows on demand and on repeat for those times when mommy really needs a shower.

9. Electricity, because at the moment almost 5000 people in my area are without it.

8. Lysol, because our children are disgusting little snot monsters this time of year.

7. Diaper wipes, for quick clean ups of almost any mess.

6. Empty threats, because if you don't cut that out I am going to send you to live in the jungle like an animal where you belong!

5. Coffee. Because Caffeine.

4. Wine. Enough Said.

3. Yoga pants and hoodies, because they are really real clothes, so stop judging.

2. Happy and Healthy children, because without them I would have to go out and get a real job, and my life would be not as exciting and my house would be clean. Why would I want that?

1. Family and Friends, who love us and support us not matter what. People that we can talk to and count on to offer good advice, sometimes. And will always do what they can to be helpful. And we can occasionally pawn our little monsters off on them.

The importance of taking breaks...

When your day starts with a mess, fills in with screaming, and ends with a large bottle of whine after bedtime with no hope for a better tomorrow... well, that's just every day. I have no magic cure to end days like that. But I do know that if I didn't harness the power to walk away and close myself in a room to breathe for 4 minutes every now and then that I'd be a full time resident in the local looney bin.

Kids take and take and take some more all day long. They take our energy, our patience, our brains, our muscles... and abuse them. All day long, every day of the week. Those moments when I'm ready to blow a head gasket or I feel like bundling up in the fetal position when I spot the spilled milk all over the floor I just swept and mopped, I like to leave the room. I excuse myself and tell my children to play in another room and not to enter the room with the mess & I will clean it in a few moments after I take a quick break. This isn't like every mess holy crap I can't handle this, but I know you've had a day (or 50 days) worth of insanity in your household from the moment you woke up to the moment your 18 year sentences rest their head on the pillow. They look so sweet and angelic sound asleep, and my love for them just flows. But I remember the look of the devil in their eyes for the last 13 hours so I'm also feeling very thankful that I can finally breathe.

It's okay to take a break. When you're overwhelmed, frustrated, upset, distraught, whatever the emotion--you start to parent out of those feelings versus what the situation actually warrants for discipline. We can take that accident and turn it into a teachable moment if we step in the locked bathroom for a few moments to compose ourselves like rational, understanding, loving beings instead of half mom-half fire breathing-flesh eating demon dragons.
Ever screamed or over reacted over a situation just because you felt so pissed off? Yeah, we all have. We're human. And sometimes it's okay, but sometimes it's time for a quick breather. We have to teach our kids right from wrong, actions and consequences. If they messed up, they need to know.

I don't drink often but I can tell you without a drink, I'd be finding some Xanax or Ativan in the local ER having a nervous break down. Take a moment at the end of the day after your kid is asleep, leave the housework alone (trust me it's not going anywhere, you know nobody else is going to do it! HA!), and go find something you really like to do. A movie or show, a puzzle, a video game, an exercise routine, a book, a nap, a bubble bath.... Breathe easy, forget about all the bullshit in your life for a few minutes and give back to yourself. Without you, there would be nobody to run your house or your life. Everything would fall to shambles and be a chaotic mess. And for goodness sake, go pour yourself a drink.

The joy of raising daughters

As a single mother to two little girls, I get the privledge of playing dress up princesses, brides, mermaids, hair dresser, and every other girly thing you can imagine. My daughters are the extreme of girly. I didn't intentionally do this. I tried to encourage going to get muddy or diving in the sandbox but after age 2 or so I started hearing things like "I can't do that, I'll ruin my beautiful shoes!" or "No thanks, I'll be on the swings pretending to be a fairy!" My youngest can get down and dirty occasionally but the older she gets, the more she phases out of it. My oldest... she's a completely different story. All girl. Not an ounce of boy in her. The moment we walk through the front door she runs to her dress up box, strips her clothes off and puts the frilly dresses on, complete with rings, bracelets, necklaces, and high heels. If that wasn't bad enough she goes over to her pretend beauty set and sits in front of the mirror with her pretend curling iron to girl her hair. She then runs to whatever room I'm in, throws her hands up in the air, pops a hip, flashes a smile while yelling "Taaa Daaaaa! Look how beautiful I am!" This never gets old to her. And every time I laugh and think about how I ended up with a fruit cake girly girl like her for a daughter.

We get to do our nails up all pretty together. Okay it's not always pretty but it's the thought that counts. This is one of my favorite mother daughter activities if the timing and patience is right. We sit still together, talking about silly things or what their favorite part of the day was and everything in between.

They love to bake and cook with me. I'm one of those people that believe your food is fuel and what you put in really matters. I like to make delicious food that is healthy. The girls are all about putting on their mini aprons that match mine, pulling up a couple of chairs, and adding ingredients to make the food. The final product is something they are always eager to eat since they helped make it. It's not always a time efficient way to cook when you start from scratch then add two little helpers to the mix but those little moments add up to a little bit of extra time with Mommy where there are lots of please, thank you, and good jobs going around. That adds up to a yummy meal and very happy children.

Tea parties. Sitting down at a mini table in a tiny chair to sip tea with my little ladies is always fun. I get to teach them about proper table etiquette and manners while at home in a comfortable environment. Whenever we go out to eat at a restaurant they are so well behaved it usually gets commented on my complete strangers. I attribute this to all the tea party time.

While my two princesses can make a tornado in the house faster than I can pee, they are pretty eager to help clean up the messes. We sing cleaning songs, dance around pretending to be snow white, and make a game to see how fast the room can be cleaned up. All of those things combined turn clean up time into something my children don't dread... well most of the time.

Girls aren't afraid to talk about how they're feeling. If they're mad or angry, they let you know. If they're sad or get their feelings hurt, you know about it. Boys don't seem to do this as much, they don't care to talk out problems. My girls will come to me and say whatever happened, that it really hurt their feelings and ask if I can help them or just want to sit with me for a little break to get some Mommy love.

Which leads me to say how awesome it is that girls still love to cuddle their Mom even after they grow out of the baby phase. Most boys turn a certain age and then they're done with it. I love the moments my girls decide to climb on the couch with me to snuggle in and ask me to read a story or just want to talk. Little sporadic reminders that they love and care even though they just trashed the entire second floor before they climbed in your lap.

Girls say the sweetest things. For no apparent reason they remind me that they love me, I'm the best mommy ever, and they never want to leave me. That last part gets me every time, and depending on how the day went it's either a comforting or terrifying thought. I love those moments they glance up and say "I want to be a Mommy just like you when I get big!" You just don't get little thoughtful moments every day like that from a boy, they're too worried about trucks to think about how awesome their mom is.

I'm not saying it's all rainbows and butterflies. Having two girls just over a year apart is stressful, full of high pitch screams of joy or dismay, and is a lot of work. But that's a whole different post :-)

-Single Mommy (SM)

Kids are the best birth control.

Today is a snowy day at our house. The kiddos are excited to go out and play. And they are old enough to take part in a family tradition of a cup of hot chocolate when they come inside with rose cheeks and flushed faces. My son was so excited about the snow that he sang me a song that he made up as I was putting on his coveralls and told me that he loved me to the moom and back. He 3 now, so hes old enough to take part in these fun moments. Hes old enough to do the arts and crafts. He's old enough to sit still long enough to watch a family movie with us. Hes even old enough to wipe his own butt...most of the time. Having a toddler has its challenges but it also has a set of exciting new things that he can do. All this cool shit seems to make hubby a little nostalgic and hes been mentioning the B word to me. Not bitch....worse, baby,

There is not one ounce of me that wants to have another child. I love the one I have, and hes pretty awesome so why would I want to do it all again? Plus I had pretty debilitating PPD after my son was born. My apartment was a messy pile of hell and I could barely get out of bed in the morning. I cried constantly.

 There is not one ounce of me that wants to be pregnant again either. I have a blood disorder and have to take blood thinner shots, not pills, shots! I have to have these shots in my stomach everyday I'm pregnant so I don't get a blood clot and die. I know people say every pregnancy is different but I was so sick for a solid 5 months. I've also finally just lost all the weight I gained after having my son, call me selfish but I don't want to be that weight ever again. No thank you.

Somehow my son has jumped on this I want a sister bandwagon. Which is both infuriating and heartbreaking at the same time. On one hand I'm pissed because I think that the hubby has something to do with this for sure. Using my poor beloved child to try to get his wish of letting him knock me up again. On the other hand, I'm sad because I know that my little one sees that his two playmates are sisters, and the girls that came over this weekend were sisters. He doesn't have a sibling that's his age, he has a half brother who is almost 9, but he doesn't live with us right now. So I'm sure he might feel a little left out at times. But, I don't want to have another baby. I explained to him that if he had a sister, she wouldn't be his age, so he wouldn't get to play with her much. I explained that babies are gross sometimes, and that they poop and spit up everywhere and can't walk and run yet. I also explained to him that if I had another baby I would have to take care of it and then I would have as much time to spend with him. Needless to say he is happy being my one and only again.  He is okay with the idea that we don't need a baby, we have friends and a dog. Now to convince the hubby to get that vasectomy we talked about...

Grandparent Grievances.

Grandparents are frustrating, dealing with them is exhausting. Especially in the case of in laws. My mother in law drives me crazy sometimes. It seems like everytime she comes over she has something new to complain about whether it be money or what other people are doing with their lives. Because she's my mother in law I have to try to be nice to her to keep the peace and to keep my husband happy. The problem with dealing with grandparents is that I feel like because they have raised children before they think they know everything. And it's difficult for them to sit back and allow me and my husband or any parents to learn and make their own mistakes of parents and raise their children the way they want. Example the other day my mother in law came over and she was kind of moody and she started talking to me about how she had seen a member of our family posting a picture on facebook of his little girl with the safety ear plugs on shooting a gun little girl is about three . Well she was complaining about it and how she didn't feel it was right and I informed her that my son shot a gun he's also 3 . Now I'm not making this segment of the post an issue about guns and gun control but I feel that if you are a responsible adult and you wish to teach your children from a young age how to properly handle and the reality as well as the respect for gun I don't have a problem with that . And neither should anyone else . Everyone has different ways of raising children everyone has different beliefs and values and why is that they were brought up and in my opinion as long as you're not doing anything harmful or abusive then it shouldn't be anyone's right to judge. The point of this is just to say that everyone has opinions but sometimes its better to just keep your opinions to yourself because it's not your job to raise my children you already raised yours. There's also the matter of one grandparent do those annoying things that you feel should be common sense not to do but they do them anyway. I understand that all grandparents or most grandparents will spoil their grandkids from time to time. But if you're going to come and complain to me about money issues don't go out and buy my kid a Power Ranger a few weeks before Christmas. Same time grandparents can be a blessing. I know that my little one love to spend time with his Grammy and his Nana and his  bampie. So in that regard it's nice because when mommy really needs a timeout or wants to spend time with Daddy there are multiple people in my sons life who also love spending time with him that he can go and visit, so it's nice to have those little breaks every now and then. The only downside is dealing with the cranky tired mess that comes home to me in the form of my 3 year old. Another thing I love about grandparents especially for holidays and birthdays is that my husband and I can breathe a sigh of relief because we know that our little one will never go without. Times are tough in this economy sometime and we don't always have the money to buy tons of presents and gifts for those special occasions. So knowing that he has grandparents I'll pick up  our slack a little bit is really reassuring. So as much as they drive me crazy and make me wonder whether or not dealing with these crazy people is all worth it I am thankful to have them in my life.