Thursday, November 6, 2008

Chuck E. Cheese = A Kid's Atlantic City


Where can you find immature people who mindlessly shovel coins into slot machines? Try Chuck E. Cheese's, "where a kid can be a kid" and "a parent can lose a lot of money.


Mommy Mistake #7342: take two kids to the aforementioned venue on a rainy day during Teacher's Convention & actually believe you're the only person who would think of that. I'm such a moron! 45 minutes to get into the place, another 45 to get our pizza (Child #2 was downing crackers I'd stolen from the salad bar like they were the only food she'd had in her whole life), and an array of squeaky animatronic creatures on stage advertising a place we were already at.


Ok, so the pizza is decent & the kids don't take advantage of mom's wallet. That's good. Plus the place did finally empty out.

But there were a few harrowing moments when I sent both kids up into the kid-equivalent of a habitrail (I couldn't send the 3-year old alone) just as a bunch of other kids were going up there. I lost track of my two & tried to put out of my mind the various viruses & germs they were encountering in that closed, hot atmosphere. Child #1 said they were calling my name out but I couldn't hear them. Ah, another topic for eventual therapy.....


Who Am I

I've begun taking a self-theology course at our local Unitarian Church (a great place for interfaith couples). Our first discussion was Who Am I? My first answer was, "I'm a stay-at-home mom." Then I began to really think.

I am:

a caregiver, nurse, waitress, cook, housekeeper, mealplanner, entertainer, party planner, accountant, disciplinarian, laundress, taxi, event planner, shopper, consumer, wife, aunt, neighbor, friend, volunteer, writer, PTA chairperson, artist, scrapbooker, crafter, handyperson, gardener, roofer (yes, I fixed the roof), plumber, electrician, personal assistant, tailor, jewelry maker, teacher, negotiator, judge, jury, pet owner, daughter, niece, daughter-in-law, escort, billpayer, taxpayer, hairdresser, playground supervisor, fashion consultant, censor, director of religious education, advisor, computer consultant, social director, purchasing agent, bouncer, psychologist, police officer, traffic cop, movie director, film maker, photographer, doctor, advocate, salesperson (thanks PTA), coach, teacher, student, busboy, handyperson, researcher, blogger, funeral director (dead pets), ...to be continued...

Saturday, November 1, 2008

You May Quote Me

"Lamaze should not only be used while you're having the baby, but more so, while it's growing up!".....me, LK

The Lesson Not Learned

Once upon a time there was a man. He was good and kind and neat and very wise. He gave to charity. He worked hard. He lived up to his responsibilities. But he was unhappy. Things did not go according to the script he had in his head of the way that things "should be." People did not behave the way he felt they "should" behave. When he looked around, he saw that other people seemed to have the things they wanted & that families behaved the way they "should." He was confused and frustrated. He sweated the small AND the big stuff.

What the man didn't see was what wonders he had around him. He had children who were bright, healthy, happy. Children who were genuinely pleased when he came home. He had a beautiful house, not always the most well-kept, but pretty and homey nonetheless. He had a wife who worked hard to keep the children happy and healthy. She worked hard to keep the house reasonably tidy. And she loved the man...she had been doing so for 20 years. She did not sweat the small stuff. Oh, she had many, many flaws. And she was working on them. But she saw the wonderous lives going on in that house.

The man lost many glorious people in his life. One in particular saw the miracle of life in his final, dying months. One would have hoped that the man would have learned. Let's hope that one day, before it's too late, he does.