Gotta love Wal-Mart

I shouldn't judge. I hate it when I believe people are judging me because really, who do they think they are anyway? Until they've walked several miles in my shoes, until they've been faced with the same horrible, unacceptable choices that I've been faced with, they shouldn't judge. The same goes for me however. I mean, I don't actually know what events and circumstances have led you to make the decisions you're making, and maybe faced with the same factors I would make the same choice.... But sometimes its REALLY hard not to judge. Not about the 'big' things, like parenting styles and lifestyle choices, but about the little things, like what you're wearing in public.

Bless you Wal-Mart people for taking pictures like this and reminding me that I shouldn't make snap judgements about people. I can feel jealous of  the self confidence it takes to wear incredibly shiny clothes or hardly any clothes with your lady lumps hanging out in the back that will draw lots of attention (and a camera) to you. But I shouldn't say things like "WHAT THE H*LL ARE YOU WEARING LADY?" because maybe that's all you could afford to buy. Maybe you decided to sacrifice clothing that the rest of this country would consider socially acceptable in order to feed and clothe your children, or maybe your house burned down and you didn't have any insurance, or maybe... some other factor has contributed to your wardrobe choice. Regardless of why you chose to go out in public like this, I'll try not to judge you, but I'm not sure that I can stop myself from being entertained. So thank you people of Wal-Mart for entertaining the rest of the world and reminding us that we really shouldn't judge.

I need a maid.

I really need an open Saturday without my kid and without my dog and with a good girlfriend to keep me company so that I can clean my house. Now I don't mean I need to vaccuum my floors and clean the toilets. That kind of cleaning gets done regularly. Nope, I'm talking about the pull the refridgerator out and get on my hands and knees to scrub the disgustingness off the floor. And the pull the mini blinds off to scrub the built up dust and grime off of them. I'm talking about CLEANING my house. I really should follow the advice I give other people when they complain about their houses which is to go to the Flylady.net website to follow her cleaning schedule, but I'm impatient and a control freak. I want it done now! All in one day, not 15 minutes at a time. You'd think that by now I would have learned my lesson about letting go, but I haven't. I'm not going to let go and I'm booked on every Saturday between now and what feels like forever, so I'm going to keep being annoyed and cranky and probably continue to do nothing. Maybe someday I'll win the lottery so I can buy a ginormous house and hire a house keeper to clean it for me. Here's to wishful thinking:)

Top 3 Reasons today...

According to Caitlin today I am not the worlds greatest mom for the following reasons:

1. I made her go to YMCA inservice care today. All of our relatives in the area had to work, so rather than take the day off myself, I sent her to the "yucky old school". I figured that since I'm paying for care on these inservice days whether she goes or not, she can just go and I can save my vacation leave for something fun, like actual vacation.

2. When I picked her up at the end of the day I wouldn't let her do the monkey bars because she has open blisters on both hands from doing the monkey bars so many times.

3. When we got home I told her to go find an outfit for school tomorrw. Then when she brought a school inappropriate choice I told her she had to pick something else or at least add more clothes to the choice she'd already made.

To make the day even more horrendous (in Caitlin's opinion) I made her help me take out the trash and take three no thankyou bites of the tortellini with pesto that I made for dinner. Right now she's actually thankful that tomorrow is a school day just so she can get away from me. This all makes me happy. Earlier she told me "I am SO frustrated with you", which is A-Ok because it means that I am being a good mommy, forcing my child to be properly clothed, fed, safe and well mannered. YAY ME!

Hello Again.

I've been a bad blogger lately. I'd like to offer all sorts of wonderfully good excuses, but what it really boils down to is that at the end of the day I'd rather spend a little time with my husband than get on here and actually compose my thoughts. I've had lots of thoughts that I've considered sharing but then I look at the clock and think, I'll do it tomorrow. Sigh.  Well I'm here now so I'll give you an update on my life.  Caitlin and I started taking Tae Kwon Do together a few weeks ago. Since we started we've been the only family to consistently show up for every class and sometimes that's a good thing because it means we're getting more "one on one" attention from Master Lee who is out instructor. Other times though it's annoying because just before our class is a class of kids who are not always picked up on time and so Master Lee has to divide his time between our class and the lobby where he's checking on these kids who's parents clearly don't know how to tell time. When he's out in the lobby and it's just a couple of white belts in the class, there's no one to lead and that is frustrating! I get it that parents have to work and they have other responsibilities to take care of, but frankly my child comes first and if I can't commit to watching her activity then I either won't put her in it or I will at least make sure that I'm there on time to pick her up! Sometimes I wonder if these other parents even think about what kind of message they're sending to their children. "Sorry, son/daughter, I do love you, but I love XYZ more so I forgot to pick you up on time. Tomorrow I'll try to only be 10 mins late instead of 1/2 an hour." Poor kids are gonna grow up with a complex. In other news Caitlin saw her gastroenterologist on Thursday and he's diagnosed her with Irritable Bowel Syndrome. When I scheduled the appointment I told them I think she has IBS. I love being right. The bad news is that there is no "cure" and not any particular foods to avoid. The good news is she's in the 95th percentile for height so it's clearly not harming her ability to absorb nutrients (which I already knew thanks to google). So despite the fact that she already eats tons of fibrous vegetables he's recommended putting her on Benefiber twice a day. He said that the type of fiber offered in Benefiber will hopefully help her colon to absorb more liquid and help slow down the colon contractions so she doesn't always feel like she has to go right now!!! Poor kid. I really shouldn't complain, I mean she was born 10 weeks early she could have had a lot worse problems than a little reflux (which is gone now) and IBS (which she could have had regardless of preterm birth). It's just that I feel bad for her. As she gets older she'll be able to deal with it better, but in kindergarten (and even throughout her school career) it's embarrassing to have to run for the bathroom. What else has been going on you ask? Well we updated out computer software program at work which required our office to be "closed" for two weeks. Fortunately it's done, and despite a few minor annoying glitches that we've been assured are going to get fixed, it works and will ultimately be better overall. Oh! I don't think I posted anything about Easter. Did I? Well I can't remember so I'm going to tell you about it now anyway. The day before Easter my husband risked life and limb and stole my keys leaving me stranded at home contemplating whether or not I could get away with pre-meditated murder. Fortunately Sara saved the day and played Taxi driver. She picked us up and drove to Target where I did my best to make Ryan pay for his mistake by buying two pairs of new shoes and lots of other stuff I didn't really need, only to find out that he wasn't impressed with my spending spree because I don't often spend money on myself. Then it was off to the Goodwill for some inexpensive 100% silk ties to color Easter Eggs with. Sara found a video of Martha Stewart wrapping the raw eggs in silk ties, then covering them with a white cloth and then boiling them. The pattern from the ties transferred to the eggs and when they were boiled they were already done. We had marginal success with this process, but it was fun to watch Sara gleefully tear up the ties. We also boiled lots of eggs for Caitlin and Lauren (Sara's daughter) to decorate traditionally. Then I had Ryan pick us up after he got off of work so we could drive down to see my parents for the actual holiday. Easter morning was pretty cute because Caitie had forgotten/ didn't realize that it was Easter so when she got up it she was extremely surprised to see eggs "hidden" around the house. She came running back into the room to say "Mommy is it Easter today? There are eggs on the stairs!" I responded that it was indeed Easter and could she please be quiet because I was still trying to sleep. That was clearly not a good enough response because it was immediately followed with "DID THE EASTER BUNNY COME?!!!" Ack child! I have NO IDEA if the Easter bunny came, what part of I'm still trying to sleep don't you understand? Go downstairs quietly and check to see if the Easter bunny came! This was particularly fun for me because I LOVE IT when she's so excited for holidays like this and I want her to keep believing in the magic for as long as possible. The Easter bunny did in fact make an appearance gracing Caitlin with a copy of The Princess and the Frog and a big ol' chocolate rabbit. Then Amelia and Gabrielle came over with their Easter baskets and the kids disappeared outside with the dog for a while and then back inside to watch the new movie in the "exercise" room while the adults watched Sherlock Holmes in the living room. I visited with my mom a lot which was good until Ryan forced us to leave. Granted it was getting late and we had a 3 hours drive ahead of us, but that's not the point. I was already annoyed (read:TOTALLY P.O'd) with him from the day before so dragging me away from my mom was not endearing him to me at all.Lucky for him I forgive quickly and did understand that Caitlin had school the next day so I din't give him too hard of a time about leaving. I have also completely forgiven him and because I actually love him and want him to be safe...I bought him a new windshield! Am I an awesome wife or what? Of course I'm not an awesome house keeper and since we started Tae Kwon Do my house has been nearly as neglected as my blog so I really should take advantage of the fact that Caitlin is still asleep more than two hours after I got up and start cleaning.