Rule #400: You can’t win ’em all.
I’m keepin’ it real in this one. Feel free to read along and be my surrogate therapist/guidance counselor. This Mama needs haaaaaalp! Don’t worry, there’s fun stuff at the end of the post, too.
As if I needed one more reminder that I’m far from the perfect parent, God decided I needed a couple more slaps back to reality this past month. I know I’m not alone in my “should I have done this?” “did I just scar my child for life?” “what is going to get this kid to do XYZ?” All of those millions of questions we ask ourselves as parents. Those questions have been amplified to the hundredth degree for me lately. I feel like no matter what I do, I’m failing my kids… more specifically Corey. Brooke’s pretty happy as long as Goldfish are involved.
This unbelievably sweet, sensitive, and caring little man is going through a little rough patch. I have no idea how to explain it, but let me try. It’s like he’s got the hormones and delicacy of a 16-year-old girl paired with the maturity of a 4 year old and the rage of a 42-week-pregnant mom of 5. You see where I’m going here? Poor dude is on a constant roller coaster of emotions. One minute, it’s, “I love you, mom!” and hugs that make me melt into a puddle. The next minute, I’ve told him he can’t eat yogurt on the white couch, and you’d think I’d just beaten a puppy in front of him.
He’s so, SO very happy when he’s doing what he loves! He’s a baseball (really any sport) kinda guy. He loves this Daddy right here. He loves playing with his friends and family. Throw a wrench into any of that – and I mean ANY of it – like if it’s not exactly how it’s been planned in his mind, and WATCH OUT WORLD.
Take our recent family pictures for example. We have used our amazing photographers for years now. Corey knows them and loves them (especially for the time he got to eat 5 pounds of blueberries during our photo shoot). This year, home boy was not having it.
I thought for SURE the ride on the super cool “golf cart” would seal the deal. We got to bump along and little man was all smiles before we got to the photo shoot scene. Once we were there, COMPLETE and utter system failure. Wouldn’t even look towards or in the direction of the camera. We tried M&M’s, a fun magical wand, “you can pick where we go to dinner” type deal… everything. No go. Not one single picture where he’s even looking near the camera. And all out of no where!
So I guess here’s my dilemma: at what point do I become major bad cop? Like where’s the balance between good, sweet Mama and “I brought you into this world and I can take you out of it” Mamasaurus Rex? I’m on the struggle bus. I’ve talked to my friends and family about it, and most of us reach the same conclusion. There’s something going on, but how do you get that kind of psychological analysis out of a 4 year old?
Have I mentioned that my sweet boy wouldn’t Trick-or-Treat this year? He only did one house then decided it was too much. I’m not sure if it was my wig, the costumes, the face paint, or if his underwear were too tight. He’d been excited about his costume for months! He even picked who each of us would be. Maybe that’s the point? Maybe there was too much build up? Do you see my issue here? Thank you for being my sounding board. It’s a nice friendship we have here.
The next morning, he woke up devastated that he only had 2 pieces of candy. I tried explaining that if we don’t Trick-or-Treat, we don’t get candy. That didn’t really seem to sink in. Anywho – bottom line is… if you’ve got some parenting tricks up your sleeve, please send them my way! I’m all out of tools from my old Princess Leia tool belt here.
Moving on…
I’m helping out with an adorably and easy fundraiser for the kids’ school. Basically, you pass out tubes of mini M&M’s, the kids eat them, then fill the empty tube with quarters, then return it back to school! Each tube can fit about $14 worth of quarters, so that’s pretty good for an easy little fundraiser.
I’ll attach some of the files I made to make it easier if you’d like to use them! Our theme was “Fill It to Build It!” because we are hoping to make some improvements on the kids’ playground. So… fill it with quarters so we can build it, yo!
For the labels, I used these Avery 6870 Labels.
And here is the graphic/printout we sent home and put on social media for the families:
Now that the kids are in school and other projects are done around this joint, I’m finally getting around to decorating in random places that have been neglected for the last 3 years. Randomly, Jon Boy said, “Our bathroom needs something. It’s so bare.” No need to tell me twice. One trip to Hobby Lobby, and voila!
I am EXTREMELY excited about this little number. My Aunt Joann (really my Great Aunt Joann, my Grandpa’s sister) passed away this year. I asked if I could have this picture that belonged to her. It’s of my Great Grandma Flossie wearing the first dress she bought with her own money. I’m having it reframed to match a guest room. I cannot wait to hang it as proudly as she was to wear that dress!
I can’t stop, won’t stop with Zoe’s Cauliflower Bowl. It’s awesome because you can order ahead of time with the Zoe’s app, pick it up, and scarf it down at home. I usually can’t finish the whole thing – it’s a good sized portion! It keeps me full until dinner, it’s low carb, and it’s friggin’ delish.
Last Saturday, I was in my happy place cookin’ up Jon Boy’s (left) and my (right) favorite meals. His: Chicken & Sausage Gumbo | Hers: Red Beans & Rice
It was my favorite kind of Saturday: my mom came to hang, we sipped champagne, and I got to cook my tail off while we listened to good ole Willie Nelson. Brooke was awfully happy, too!
I’m SUPER excited to be working on a fun post about my highlights and the other witchcraft my girl Nancy at Sheri Marie’s Salon does for me! She always gets me back to my “natural” color, and I’m pumped to share how she does it. Stay tuned, folks!
Last but not least I had to share the absolute craziness that happened yesterday! I was interviewed by Voyage Houston Magazine! It was weird, fun, awkward, and exciting all at the same time. And no surprise that our main picture included Astros’ gear and me with a beer. Classy!
Happy Hump Day, y’all!