Ditching for Donuts

Obviously, I'm a working mom. My husband is a working dad. We pay for daycare. Soon we will have a child in "real" school and the other still in daycare. I LOVE my daycare. They teach, they play, they create, they explore, they love. They are absolutely positively awesome. It is one of the best daycare centers on the planet, in my personal opinion. They also do great things like Muffins with Mom on Mother's Day, and Donuts with Dad on Father's Day, and Preschool Graduations for the kids moving on to Kindergarten, and random pancake breakfasts where parents can come spend a little time with the kids. They truly are an awesome organization. Have I complimented them enough to let the "but" loose?

But...Here's my problem: I'm a working mom. And my husband is a working dad. So Donuts with Dad at 9:30am is tough. Take kids to daycare, go to work. Have 3 meetings. Leave work to have a donut. Go back to work for the rest of the day. Of COURSE you have to participate in this, or your kid is in shambles all day that you didn't go. Of COURSE kids are more important than work... the vast majority of the time. But the reason the kids are in daycare is because we have jobs, so I'm just wishing for a little consideration on the part of the daycare - 8:30am is way more reasonable than 9:30 for activities like this.

And I know this is just the beginning - something tells me "real" school doesn't spend a lot of time considering working parents' schedules either, so I guess I'd better buckle up and hold on for the ride!

I'm not ready!

I am a suburban mom of two. That is the reality of it. Next year, my oldest will begin kindergarten and the prospect of carpooling is in our future. Therefore, I need a car that can hold a baby carseat, a booster seat, and potentially two additional booster seats. It will be the car that I will have for the next 7-8 years or so, and I'm certain my children will have friends that need to go places with them.

BUT I DON'T WANT TO BE A MINIVAN DRIVER!!!!!

I am a suburban mom of two. I know I am destined to own a minivan. I should give in. Roll over. Submit.

My minivan-owning friends all say, "You're a suburban mom of two. Get a minivan and get over it. When they go to college, you can get a sports car."

My anti-minivan friends all say, "Get an SUV! Get a Ford Flex! You don't have to get a minivan! Don't give in! Fight it!"

*sigh*

I think I'm about to buy a minivan.

But in my heart, it's an adorable little sports car.

Idiots

On the way to t-ball yesterday, a car was going too slow for my husband's liking so he honked at him and said, "Reilly, I know I'm not supposed to call that guy stupid, but he is an idiot!!"

The 5 year old responded, "You can't say idiot, either, dad."

So my husband inquired, "Then what do you call a type of person who consistently makes bad choices and doesn't pay attention to the people around him?"

Thinking for a moment about the people he knows, Reilly answered, "I call that type of person Josh*."


*(note: the name of the child in question has been changed to protect him :-) )

Back to work

Last week was my first week back to work after 11 weeks of maternity leave. I tried to ease back in, taking 3 half days and working two full days. I think it was a pretty successful endeavor - though work was like drinking from a firehose, instead of the trickle of a water fountain that I was expecting...

My most stressful moment was a 5-6pm conference call. I had to pick up both kids from daycare early to be home in time to take the call (since the call was timed right when I would normally be picking them up). When I got home, the 5 year old wanted to talk, build things, show me what he built, play, etc. The 11 week old was crying because she was hungry. The dogs were whining and growling at each other. And I was having a hard time getting my phone off mute to contribute to the conversation due to the noise going on around me. Most. Stressful. Hour. Of. The. Week.

I *was* successful getting to work by 8:30 or 9 each day, so that was a huge win!

Work stress aside, the baby girl did great in daycare, and the awesome boy was soooooo excited to have his baby sister at his school!

So now it's time to settle in to the life of working parents with two kids. We should be alright... as long there aren't any meetings before 9 or from 5-6...

Bring it.

Supportive communities

After decades of parental advice books, better parenting blogs, and helpful tips on how to balance work and life coming from all sorts of experts, I'm pleased to report that I feel like I'm seeing a ton more supportive publications encouraging us to realize that we are real and do not have to try to be supermom (or superdad) all the time.

Here's a small collection of the posts and books I've seen lately that I feel offer much more supportive advice than the usual ones.

This one is written from the perspective of stay at home moms, but I found it completely relevant for all moms.
What we need when we say we need a break:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/amanda-king/stay-at-home-parent_b_2558642.html

This is a great reminder that you are very, very human, and you should forgive yourself!
To parents of small children: Let me be the one who says it out loud:
http://www.stevewiens.com/2013/03/12/to-parents-of-small-children-let-me-be-the-one-who-says-it-out-loud/

And another along those lines:
How to be a perfect parents in 5 easy steps... or probably never:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/una-lamarche/how-to-be-a-perfect-parent_b_2888253.html

A lot has been said about Sheryl Sandberg's new book Lean In and how it tells women to prioritize work over family. The people who are saying that have NOT read the book. I found the book to be incredibly supportive, real, realistic, and inspiring. I recommend this book if you have chosen to be a mother and also in rat race. If you don't have time to read (a true reality of motherhood...) then just watch her Ted Talk here: it's the same message, and most of the same stories. And its still really good!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18uDutylDa4

And I'll leave you with my favorite description of true life these days:

How the hell did that happen?

At Easter this year, my 5 year old got some silly putty - an Easter tradition in my family because it conveniently already comes in an egg container - and who doesn't like copying Sunday comics and stretching them out of proportion?

About an hour after the basket fun, while I was in the kitchen working on breakfast, I hear, "Sorry mom, I'm so sorry, and I don't know how it happened."

Silly putty in his hair. In his hair! Seriously? I've heard of girls getting bubble gum in their hair because the wind blows and hair gets in their mouth or whatever, but seriously?

So while I was busy googling "how to remove silly putty from hair," my husband cut it out. No worse for the wear, my monster was quite pleased with himself that he had done something so crazy. And I got a great picture of my 5 year old boy being, well, a 5 year old boy. 

Commercials that rock

While on maternity leave, I have subjected myself to live TV. Yes, including commercials. And I've actually found some pretty awesome commercials that I felt like sharing.

Here's one that makes me cry every. single. time. Nice job, J&J. Okay, and now I'm crying again because I had to watch it. :-) I love this commercial.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yotq4zr0dRc

A few that make giggle from the truth.
on breastfeeding: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgmbJso-2-o
on potty training: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Imz6jdTME0w
on potty training: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIIDh2BXumI

And a random AT&T commercial that really cracks me up.
http://youtu.be/yYaSl_VgqbE


Enjoy!