Random Thoughts

I was at the zoo with my girls and there was another mom with her daughter.  Her daughter looked to be about 2 years old or so.  I think the little girls said, “Tired,” to her mom and her mom said, “well, you already had a nap today since you woke up at 4:30 in the morning, didn’t you?”  I thought it was weird that she seemed to be talking to me through her daughter.  I feel like she wanted me to know because she said it loud and looked in my direction.  Although I feel for her as a fellow mom, I don’t give two flying craps about it.  I really don’t like when people talk through their nonverbal children.  It’s like a tick or something.  Do you want me to say, “4:30 oh jeez, that’s early.  Sorry????”  I would have but my daughter was running at full speed away from me and my other was running in the other direction.  We all have our problems chickie.

I took my girls out to a park to celebrate my younger daughter’s 2^nd birthday.  I thought it would be fun.  For once, my 2 year old had a blast but it was my 4 year old who decided to drag her feet a little bit.  I feel like I have had it with the whining and complaining lately.  I mean, it’s the summer.  They have nice toys, lots of pretty clothes, food to eat, and fun things to do.  WHAT IS THERE TO COMPLAIN ABOUT?  Sometimes I feel like I want to strip them blind.  I mean, strip all of these benefits from them and start fresh with a piece of log to sit on, a hole in the ground to pee, and a few pieces of leaves to play with.  Now, complain!  I mean, sitting in the air conditioned house with 100 princess dolls to play with isn’t cutting it.  We need little reminders don’t we?  We have it good.  I really want them to grow up understanding their good fortune.  I have to think about how to accomplish this enormous task..the task of every parent EVER—to teach their children how to appreciate what they have.

The other day I was getting my nails done and there were 4 teenagers sitting together drying their toes.  I mean, the GOSSIP!  It was hilarious.  I was snickering to myself.  They were talking about another “friend” who “liked” a picture and then “unliked” it on facebook.  “Could you believe she unliked it?  I mean, can you even do that?  What is she trying to say?”  At one point, they were all talking loudly AND at the same time.  I really CANNOT remember the time when that was me.  I can’t even fathom it.  I turned away and thought about how I asked my husband numerous times to close the drawers after he opens them.  That was my morning.  “Please close the drawers and cupboards after you open them.  Please!  I don’t go into your work and mess around with your spreadsheets, do I?”  So much for liking and unliking pictures on facebook.  I have bigger fish to fry.  The cupboards and the drawers.  SHEESH!  How fast do we go from THERE to HERE…?

I was at a birthday party and my friend’s husband was talking about his little baby who tends to cry and scream a bit; just like my little feisty 2 year old.  He said and I quote, “He has 100 different emotions and 2 ways to show them.”  BRILLIANT!  I wanted to shout it from the rooftops.  100 different feelings and emotions and only 2 ways to show them, crying and smiling.  Confusion, relief, fear, love, pain, heartache, and humor are just a few examples of the array of emotions that may have and yet they do not know how to express them.  They are stuck with a laugh or a cry.  At that moment I realized, I have to be easier on my 2 year old who has so much to say and no way to say it or show it…poor thing.  Although I wish she would choose “the smile” to express most of these emotions, she doesn’t and I guess I have to try and help her along; help her find her voice. 

 

Speaking of voices, I feel like my second child is trying to find her voice within our family.  She does whine and complain A LOT!  She has a strong mind and is strong willed; something I believe she has become because of her place in the family.  She constantly has to try and protect what she wants to play with because my 4 year old is always running over and snatching it from her.  My 2 year old constantly screams, “NO MINE, MINE!”  It is her mantra at the moment.  She always thinks that the things she has and LOVES will be taken away.  I mean everything.  Last weekend we were driving in the evening out east and the moon was in her window.  “Daddy look, moon,” she said.  “Yes,” we said, “you see the moon? “  “YESH,” she answered strongly and without doubt.  We turned the car and headed in another direction and the moon was on the other side, out of my 4 year old’s window.  “Look mommy, now I see the moon.”  “NO, MOON MINE,” my 2 year old said.  “MINE, MINE, MOON MINE!”  My husband and I LAUGHED HYSTERICALLY.  “It is not your moon sweetie, it is everyone’s moon.”  “NO MINE,” she finished.  Oh, ok.  Take the moon.  God knows you don’t get to keep anything else.

I usually have themes to most of my posts that I try to stick to and then connect it all in the end.  I always try to put a positive spin on parenting and being a mom and in life in general.  What else do we have?  This is it…our life.  Let’s make it count.  All these stories are woven into a tapestry of typical life events.  They are random and mean nothing and everything.  I’m always looking around and thinking and analyzing people, places, and things.  Sometimes I think too much.  Sometimes I outthink myself.  And sometimes, I allow myself to think clearly and share my thoughts with you, hoping you can relate and hoping you might appreciate my candor. 

Hope you have a great week and are enjoying your summer so far!

N