Mommy PillowPet

Superhero Sheep (Photo credit: elisharene)

During the day, I appear to be an every-day, average mom of three. But at night, I am magically transformed into something else. I am more than a super hero. I am better than a mere mom. I am a human pillow.

Yes, you read correctly. I am a squishy, cozy, heat-producing pillow, on which every member of my household must lie.

I am not knocking myself in the weight category; that is not even part of the equation, regardless of the fact that my extra-ness does actually make me more pillow-like.

I am referring to the fact that once I become still (having finished dinner, homework, chores, etc.), I evidentially send out some kind if homing signal to every person and animal within our humble abode.

Within mere minutes, I have little humans, big humans, and animals sitting around me, beside me, and, quite literally, on me.

The good news is that enjoy all the cuddly, sweet, love-y time.

The bad news? It gets HOT! My family produces enough body heat to contribute significantly to the global warming problem- and they are all on me! After the initial "awww" moment of having all whom I love and adore within inches of my person has passed, I begin sweating like I'm wearing a fur coat over a wet suit in a sauna.

So, every once in a while I call a "time out" so I can get up and breathe, before resuming the position.

Then I snuggle in, squeeze those precious people (and animals), take in their sweet, sweet scent, and count my blessings. :)

Hello!

It has been a long time since I've posted. Partly because I have been so very, very busy (and I like to sleep-- so something had to give.)

But partly also because my three muses have banded together and prohibited me from writing. Well- writing about them. And it's kind of hard to write posts about parenting and children when the children beg you not to write about them.

When something would happen in my house that was post-worthy, my kids would immediately cry, "Mom, please don't put this on Facebook!"

First, I wanted to reply, "It's not on Facebook, it's my blog..." But that's splitting hairs...

(The up side of their reluctance to share is that telling my kids I will post something is a fabulous deterrent for bad behavior!)

But when I was left with having to dig to have subject matter, (and the animal stories were tired) it seemed a great time to take a break.

Recently, however, my fingers have begun itching again whenever I get near a keyboard.

And, I found I was talking to myself- composing endless posts (that seemed quite entertaining in my head).

So, here I am: posting again. We'll see where this blog goes. After all, even if I don't post directly about my kids, I may "mention" them. And besides that, I am still MommyBarbie! ;-)

Happy New Year!

So how did 2011 treat you?
I found that my year was chalk-full of just about everything:
I started school
We are planning the kids' first trip to Disney
We have enriched and developed our relationships with old friends
And we have begun to get to know new friends
Some things that have become crystal-clear to me this past year are:
I am ever-changing. This is both good and bad; exciting and frightening
Family is THE most important thing to me- and that is not limited to family related only by blood
It is Ok to have a different opinion than someone els so long as-
-the other person doesn't require you to change
-you don't lose yourself in the other person's opinion
I'm not always right
Sometimes it is better to say nothing at all
I don't have to always be the one who
-lays it all out on the table
-tries to make it right
-tries to make everyone else happy
I am not great- or even very good- at resolutions.But I am going o try to commit to the following (not just for the year, but on-going):
-I will try to better honor boundaries: money, food, time, commitments
-I will will try to be more gracious and more graceful; I will try to keep negative thoughts and opinions to myself
-I will try to always look for the positive
-I will stand behind those I love and stand up for what I believe
-I will talk to God about everything first- and quit trying to handle it all on my own!
Blessings to you all in 2012. May your year be full of love, happiness, and joy!

Parents: Just Playing It "Cool"

Image via Wikipedia"Your mom is so cool," I heard the child whisper. "I wish my mom was more like her."

My head grew about 50 times bigger. She was talking about me. I was the "cool mom" of whom she was speaking.

And then I immediately became suspicious: Had I allowed something that most moms wouldn't? Had I unwittingly contributed to the delinquency of a minor?

I reviewed the evening's events and, having found no glaring error, dipped my head back down to eavesdrop some more.

"My mom would never dance around the living room to Selena Gomez songs with me," she gushed.

I beamed, feeling much more secure in my "cool" status once again.

Then I peeked cautiously around the corner to see if my child was doing any eye-rolling to protest her friend's proclamation. Seeing none, I chuckled to myself, "I'm cool."

Being a parent gives us many opportunities to be the "bad guy," to be the one who has to say "no" because we want our child safe, to be the one who has to be the voice of reason, which is hardly ever "cool."

However, the truth is, even as parents, we want to be liked. We want to be the envy of every other parent on the block. We want our kids' friends to want to hang out at our house.

And I'm not going to lie, it felt really nice to think I was in the lead of the non-official parental popularity contest. Maybe, just maybe I was doing something right?

I wanted to pull my child aside and say, "See, I told you I was cool. I mean, I know you thought I was completely barbaric for not allowing your friend to come over until your chores were done. But look- it didn't turn out too badly, did it? After all, they think I'm cool."

But, I knew better. As all we "cool" parents know, part of the "cool" factor is pretending not to care whether we are indeed "cool" or not. And, I'm here to tell you, I've had my share of practice in that department.

For example, when I took the cell phone away from my child because she talked to me in "that" tone of voice, she made it all too clear to me that I was decidedly "uncool." And when I made the mistake of acknowledging that I knew her in a public place, she completely shrugged off my question of going with me to the grocery store by glaring at me, and through gritted teeth saying, "NOT COOL, Mom." I managed to walk away with my head held high, repeating to myself, "You are the parent. You are not the friend. You will not always be cool."

And yet, miracle of miracles, today I have been dubbed "cool" by her peer, her friend, her confidant. I feel victorious, and, dare I say it, "cool."

Of course, I realize parenting is not a popularity contest. And sometimes something "cool" from a kid's perspective is "bad" from a parent's. But who in the world doesn't like to be liked and recognized every once in a while? I'd be lying if I said I didn't.

For now, I will hold on to this whispered revelation with both hands. I'm sure that in a very short while, my "cool" title will be stripped from me, and I will be back to the Queen of "uncool."

But as I dance around to the Selena Gomez song, laughing with my daughter and her friend, I realize something else: I am having fun. Cool, uncool, or otherwise. And really, that's the most "cool" part of all...

Thank You... I Think...

Image by woodleywonderworks via FlickrIn my lifetime I have received compliments. And, of course, I enjoy receiving them.

However, there are some that I could have done without. Thus, I have a list of my top "un-compliment" compliments. And, as luck would have it, I will now share them with you:

1. This one started out fairly nicely:
                 Them:"You've lost weight."
                     Me: "Thank you."
                  Them: "How did you do it?"
                     Me: "Well, I'm pregnant. And I've been very, very sick the first trimester."
                   Them: "Oh. Well..." (And here's where it goes bad.) "That's too bad that you're
                               pregnant... You really look good having lost weight."
      Too stunned, to speak, I merely smiled and walked away...

2.  The ultimate back-handed compliment:
                 Them: "You look great."
                      Me: "Thanks."
                  Them: "I mean, you lost A LOOOOOOTTTTT of weight."
                      Me:  "Um... Thanks?????"

3.  Them: "You have great teeth. They are so white."
             (Sounds okay on the surface, right?
              But what you should know is that he meant that as a romantic gesture.)

4. Weirdest ever:
     Them: "You are an excellent cook. How do you get your chicken so white?"
       Me: "Um... I boil it???"
      Them: "Huh..."

5.  Them: "You aren't THAT fat..."  (Need I say more?)

6.  Them: "You're hair is awesome."
       Me:  "Thank you.
     Them: "Is it really that thin, or do you have it specially cut that way?"
       Me:  "Oh, no, Um..."

As you can see, I've had lots of opportunity to feel good about myself in a bad way. I will keep the list updated as I receive more...

Hopefully it will be a while...