Mama Monday #12.1

Theme: View

I know I've written here before about my being a very middle-of-the-road type person. That is, I've never been one to choose sides in an argument. I honestly understand each person's viewpoint.

My dad is like this too. At least that's been my primary impression of him until recently.

But, you know what? Dad's actually a pretty opinionated man. And, more and more, I'm finding that I'm rather opinionated as well.

In my case, I attribute my more solid views of the world to parenthood.

Being a parent thrusts a person, willingly or not, into a world of decision making. The kind of decision making of the utmost importance: making choices and forming opinions of people, products and ideas that may very well ultimately affect the well being and developmental milestones of a child - your own child.

You get a little more comfortable making decisions and forming opinions to mold your child, and you, in turn, get a little more comfortable making decisions and establishing firm viewpoints for yourself - in both big and small ways.

Huh - funny how that works. A little backwards, but whatever.

For me, I recognize my ability to see my unique viewpoint in small, silly examples. Like who I'm rooting for on American Idol (I don't care what anyone says - Jason Castro is awesome!). And what I think of our book club choices.

Heck - I think I actually take pleasure in disagreeing with book club members! If nothing else, having a different view of a book makes for a much more interesting discussion of it.

Playing the Devil's Advocate can be fun.

However, perhaps the most important development in my increasing ability to form and share my own views on a thing is simply based on time on this earth and comfort in myself.

Fitting in with others and not causing a stir? Yeah - not so much a priority to me anymore. Discussing options and understanding why others feel so strongly about a thing, whether or not I agree with them, is much more interesting these days.

Blogging gives me that too, of course. I'm free to write whatever I like, however I like. And my readers are free to comment or not, either in agreement with me or expressing their separate views.

It's all good. It's all fun. It's all part of learning, accepting and growing.

Yep - the view from where I stand right now, happy in my own skin and mindset, is pretty darn cool.

Sweetie Saturday #97 - Short & Sweet Edition

Upon pulling up and parking our car at Pizza Hut (an establishment I think Sweetie's been to maybe twice in her life - and never to this particular location).

Sweetie: Why are we stopping at Pizza Hut?

Me: Because we're going to have dinner here.

Sweetie: We are?! Wow! It's like a dream come true!

(Hubby was out of the car during all this, walking around to Sweetie's side to help her out. So when he asked me why I was laughing so much, before I could answer, Sweetie said: Because I said something funny. Yeah - Mama always laughs when I say funny things).

Sustain Hope

Yesterday I sent the following email to several close friends and family members of mine. And now I'd like to share it (in part) with you:

Hi All -

I just discovered a new website that I'm so excited about! I wanted to share it all with you ASAP. It's called Hope Revolution and you can find it here.

The premise of this site it to get people to spread hope in their communities. The current "challenge" - to be completed by April 1st - is to anonymously distribute "hope notes" throughout your communities. You can read more about the details here:

Hope Revolution was started by Krystyn, one of the founding Mamas of the site Mama Says Om. MSO, unfortunately, is now defunct, yet it still inspires me every week to write a Mama Monday theme post right here.

Like I said, I'm so excited by this new site and already have a very long list of "hope notes" text for me to create. I'd absolutely LOVE it if you'd all consider joining me in this inspirational excercise.

The notes can be as simple (sticky Post-It notes) or as elaborate as you like (check out some of the photos of notes at the site: Beautiful!). You can do as many or as few as you choose. It's not the QUANTITY or the LOOK that's so important here. It's the MESSAGE(s) that matter most.

So please - check out Hope Revolution, see what it's all about, keep visiting the site for updates and new challenges, and get to spreading the hope.

This email is being sent to wonderful, inspiring people - my friends and family alike -throughout the entire world. People who inspire and encourage me in big and little ways everyday. Please do what you can to spread your wise words even further.

Let's help start a Hope Revolution! Are you with me?! Good!

Love,

Amy

Mama Monday #11.1

Theme: Sign

(A.K.A: The Lamest Blog Post In History)

Ahem....

Ya know? It's a pretty bad sign when you can't figure out what to write about a theme word you came up with on your own.

Oh well - I hope others are inspired to take it and run. Have fun! And please link back if you do write a "Sign" post.

Sweetie Saturday #96

Hubby and I were playing WordSearch last weekend. Sweetie was happy enough to play with our discarded letters, not paying us much attention at all or even asking how to play the game in the first place (you place the letter tiles randomly, then move available letters from all over the board to form words).

I was having a particularly difficult time coming up with a word at one point. After a long time, and completely out of the blue, Sweetie said,

Mama, why don’t you just do “king” in that line?

And you know what? She was right! Yay, Sweetie! Thanks so much for your help!

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Sweetie: The only hot drink is coffee.

Me: What about tea?

Sweetie: The only hot drinks are coffee and tea.

Me: And hot chocolate?

Sweetie: The only hot drinks are coffee, tea and hot chocolate. Aaannnddd!… Sweet Juice!... (a warm mixture of water and brown sugar - something we give Sweetie when she's sick in the belly. Works along the same lines of having flat soda when your stomach is upset). Hey Mama – the next day that is a sick day when I’m spitting stuff in a bowl (throwing up)… can I have sweet juice again?

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Valentine's Day morning, Hubby and I presented Sweetie with a card just for her. She loved it, but did comment:

Maybe next Valentine's Day you can get a card that's pink and green.

This is! The envelope is pink and the card has green, pink - and purple.

Oh - I mean the envelope.

Well, envelopes are usually just one color.

Well, maybe next time you can go to the two colored envelope store to get an
envelope that's pink and green.

Yeah. Maybe.

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For Valentine's Day dinner, we three went to Sweetie's favorite restaurant - the Peanuts on the Floor Store (Texas Roadhouse).

Sweetie knew we'd be going here, but that morning I asked her if she remembered what our dinner plans were. I gave her the hint:

Are we going to the Almonds on the Ceiling Store?

Ahhhh! She remembered - and played along.

Nooooo.... Are we going to the Banana Nuts on the Roof Store?

Banana nuts?

Yeah! You know - those nuts that look like teeny tiny bananas?

Cashews?

Yeah! Cashews! The Cashews on the Roof store!

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Yesterday Sweetie stayed home with Daddy instead of going to Nana's house. Sweetie was so excited, as she was going to work with Daddy in his basement shop, helping to finish up a project for her bedroom.

As I was leaving in the morning, Sweetie was getting herself ready for the day - looking for her working underwear.

Then, Hubby said she was surprised to find out that her regular old purple sweatshirt was her working shirt.

Well - today it is! Hubby explained.

Good enough.

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Bonus "Hubby Saturday" addition:

On one of our recent family grocery shopping trips, we stopped to pick up some orange juice. Sweetie saw the different kinds and asked:

What's that word say?

You can read that. Figure it out.

Plulp?

Plulp?! Nooooo. Close, though! It's "pulp".

Anyhoo, this "plulp" word was funny to us and, eventually, it evolved into "plarp". Now - about a month later - we three still talk about "plarp" a lot.

Did you go plarp today?

Are you feeling okay, or are you too plarp?

What do you want for dinner? Chicken? or plarp?

You get the idea.

So - cut to just this week when I got an email from Hubby (who was home), recounting to me how he made himself waffles for breakfast. He went on, saying he opened the fridge to look for some syrup and, not seeing any, he admitted to thinking to himself:

Oh! There's no plarp!

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That's it! Have a plarp day!

A Strange Challenge

My cousin challenged me to post 5 strange things about myself. Hmmmm... okay. Let's go.

Here's what I came up with:

1) Whenever something uncomfortable or embarrassing enters my mind or invades my memory, I block it out by saying the word "potato". Sometimes I even catch myself saying it aloud. I also fiddle with my hair - especially, I've noticed, when worrying about money.

2) Of all the places in the world to visit, I would most love to travel to both Austria and The Isle of Wight. I know practically nothing about either of these places and I have no personal connection to either (that I'm aware of, anyway). But for some reason, they both intrigue me, both for different reasons. Austria seems like a truly beautiful, historically rich destination. And The Isle of Wight seems perfectly relaxing and serene - the perfect quiet weekend away location.

3) I am probably the biggest movie baby you will ever find. That is, I refuse to watch any movie with even the most mild scenes of injury and/or confrontation. I literally sobbed in the theater when Hubby and I went to see Meet Joe Black because Anthony Hopkins' character was so volatile in his angry outbursts. He had me on the edge of my seat. Yeah - I know. Really pitiful. BUT - take me to see a movie with chaotic, world-wide catastrophe and mayhem, and I'm just fine. I loved Armageddon. I haven't seen, but would like to see The Day After Tomorrow. I guess the thing is, I don't mind seeing a ton of people killed, mamed and otherwise harmed. But one-on-one showdowns are too much for me to comfortably handle.

4) I have loved literature since high school when I decided I would major in English in college. As an English major, I read a ton of wonderful pieces of literature. Yet somehow, such classics as Moby Dick, Catcher in the Rye, The Hunchback of Notre Dame (to name a few) have not crossed my path. And I only read To Kill a Mockingbird because Hubby bought it for me for Christmas one year.

5) I have an irrational fear of large-scale statues/carvings. Ironically, I also have a strong fascination with them. I first noticed this phenomenon as a child after visiting The Old Man of the Mountain (RIP). The night following that visit, I had a nightmare about the Old Man. Well - I don't know how nightmarish it was, because what I remember of the dream is the Old Man wearing huge googly-eyed glasses (you know, the kind with eyeballs dangling from Slinkies) that bounced up and down the mountain. That's it. Ooooohhhh..... scary! Anyway, I would love to visit the Statue of Liberty - but at the same time, she scares me. I freak out looking at close up photos of her face. Also? For years I've said that I'd love to travel west to visit the in-progress carving of The Crazy Horse Monument. But at the same time? Googling the link and seeing the pictures literally make my heart race with a mix of panic, disgust and fear. Really.

Yep - no two ways about it - I'm strange. And I didn't even tell you about how I think I'm Louisa May Alcott reincarnated. Or.... well. Actually. You can read 5 more strange things about me here. Because obviously, one blog is not quite enough space to record all my oddities.

Just try to keep the laughing to a minimum, okay? Please?

Potato.

Mama Monday #10.1

Theme: Curiosity

Of all the personality traits that make up Sweetie, I think perhaps my favorite is her curiosity.

Funny, too, because she's never been the type of toddler/kid to pester us with the nonstop "why's", "how's" and "what's" that most kids typically ask.

Instead, Sweetie is quietly, determinedly curious. She has her questions, yes. But she's a smarty. She figures things out for herself. She comes up with her own reasonings - right or wrong as they may be.

I'm astounded by how many times she's right. Profoundly, philosophically right.

Sure, her curiosity may come back to bite me in the butt in a few years. But right now it is at its greatest, purest form. And it's wonderful.

Right here, right now, I'm loving her ability to turn the whole world upside down.

Sweetie Saturday #95

This past Monday I told Sweetie we should go to her room and change her magnetic calendar for the month of February.

She was very happy to do so, challenging me on our way upstairs:

Race ya like a bowling alley!

(???? I have no idea.)

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A couple nights ago, we three had a simple dinner - pasta with butter and cheese. Actually, it was organic alphabet pasta. We'd never had this particular kind before. But Sweetie sure loved it!

This is the best dinner I've ever had!

We don't always have a dessert after dinner, but on that night I happened to remember some special ice cream treats we had in the freezer (meant for a party Hubby and I were going to have, but it fizzled out).

Sweetie loved that too.

This is the best dessert I've ever had!

As you can imagine, for the rest of that evening, similar proclamations were often heard.

You're the best Mama I've ever had!

You're the best Daddy I've ever had!

Etc.

(BTW - I guess Sweetie really did love those noodles, as they qualified for a mention - including a description of the packaging - to Nana the next day).

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Today being Saturday, Sweetie knew she wasn't to come wake me up before 7am. However, around 6:30am I heard her up and about, running from her room, to the bathroom, to her playroom. Whatever - as long as she let me rest until 7am.

Nope. Within 10 minutes she was running to our room, sadly telling me:

Moooomm! My hair isn't curly!

I told her she'd be taking a bath when I got up (including a hair washing), so it would be curly again after that. Fine. She wordlessly left me be again.

Until 7am, when I heard her leap from some surface (???? I don't even want to know) and come bounding at high speed back to our room.

Good morning, Mama! It's 7:00! Time for my tubby!

Oy - how can she possibly wake up with so much energy?

Now, as I write this, Sweetie's watching Sesame Street and her hair is nearly dry - and beautifully curled.

Thank Goodness - it may just be a great day after all!