His Naked Little Feet

Last weekend we visited a local amusement park for the day. We take the kids every year around this time and it is always really fun.

While at the park I encountered a situation over a park rule that really got me all worked up. Just thinking about it now gets me all worked up.

We stood in line for 30+ minutes to get on a kiddy ride. It was one where parents can take the kids on. I decided to take Thomas because he is 10 months old and he shouldn’t have to sit in the stroller all day especially if I can take him on something.

Anyway we get to where we are next to get on the ride and the girl working the ride looks at me and says “do you have shoes or socks for his feet” pointing at Thomas’s feet. I say no, he is a baby and he doesn’t walk. She says to me “it is park policy they must have something on their feet.” “But he is a baby and he doesn’t walk so what is the problem”. She continues…”these are the park rules and this is what distinguishes this side of the park from the water park side of the park”.

OK, I know I am arguing with an 18 or 19 year old girl that obviously doesn’t have a clue about babies but I was mad so I had to argue with her.

Now seriously, am I crazy here because he isn’t walking, he is going to sit on my lap and his feet aren’t going to touch anything?

His hands are bare and more likely to touch things before his little feet will. Does this mean he needs gloves on? I mean come on, it is summer time, hot outside, and he does not walk so why does he need shoes or socks on his feet. Seriously! His feet are not going to touch anything.

She finally let us on the ride but we had to put his feet in my husband’s hat. How stupid is that! Oh, and the minute we pulled away from the ride platform I took his feet out of the hat and made a point to not put them back in when I got off the ride. Sham one me I know but seriously….

Luckily I found a pair of socks in my diaper bag and put them on him after we got off the ride. It saved me the hassle of arguing with more teenagers.

I guess I am a redneck mom because I am one of those moms that doesn’t introduce shoes to my kids until they start walking. I don’t see the point especially when it is hot outside.

All day long I observed baby after baby with bare little feet and kept wondering if they were lectured like I was.

I respect rules and I understand this rule but in this case I would think the rules should not apply until he is walking. Do you think I am in the wrong for getting mad? What would you have done?

Where’s the Romance…

The other day I was watching an old episode of Tori & Dean on Oxygen. This is a new show to me and I just recently got hooked on it, no clue why but I did. Any way, these two are just the cutest couple and so lovey-dovey to each other. He is always calling her mama in this really cute way. Well as I am watching in walks my lack of romance husband. Of course he sees what I am watching hears some of the cute things said on the show and he does one of these “how lame” comments with a not so nice jester. This just ticks me off because he had no clue that I was all warm and tingly from the romance I was seeing on the TV between a couple. He killed that warm and tingly feeling I was having instantly.

The man is clueless when it comes to wooing a lady. He is lucky he is married to me because I put up with it but if I was gone I believe he would remain single forever because he couldn’t woo a woman if he tried. Honestly, I am not sure how he hooked me. Luck, and I was young and stupid, I think! OK, that was mean because I do love him but I had to say it.

His attitude about anything romantic is awful and if he sees or hears anything it instantly gets the “how lame” comment. This does nothing for ones love life, let me just tell you. He makes fun of his friends that have any type of romance in them and calls them whipped. Honestly those friends could teach him a thing or two…. My husband’s idea of romance is buying me something sexy out of the Victoria Secrete Catalog. Seriously who is that for! I know it isn’t for my benefit otherwise they would be warm flannel pajamas, a bra that is practical and not pushing and pulling the girls in all the wrong directions, oh and the panties that look like dental floss, no thanks ….LOL

OK, I want to know, do you have a man like mine? Is he clueless about things that are romantic and if so, how bad? Or are you one of the lucky ladies that have landed Mr. Romance and what does Mr. Romance do for you that is so great?

Patriot Day, Never To Be Forgotten

Today is our day to remember 9/11. Even though this is marked on our calendars for American’s to remember I believe people all across the world remember this day just as much as we do. This is a day that will live in my memory forever just as if it happened yesterday.

I want to take the time today to send a blessing out to all those who lost loved ones on this day. I am sad when I think of the children growing up with out a parent, parents that have lost children and so much more that was so tragic about that day.

I also want to thank all the men and women who have joined the military and are protecting our country every day. I am sure so many of you are loved and missed by your families. Thank you for doing this duty and serving this great country. God bless you and may you someday return home safely to your families.

On a side note, did you know that after 9/11 our country saw a significant increase in the birth rate? My son was one of those born in 2002. Life really does go on…..

The Battle to Get Them Eating (Healthy)

Meals in my house are always a challenge. My 5 year old is a string bean and getting him to eat is like pulling teeth. He will love something today and hate it tomorrow. Now if it is breakfast food or junk food we have no problem getting him to eat but when it comes to eating something with substance and nutritional value, it is a lost cause.

Last night I was making him sit at the table until he finished his food, I came to realize “I have turned into my parents”. Oh no…. I can not be doing the same thing to my kids that my parents did to me. When I was a kid we would spend hours sitting at the table because we wouldn’t eat. I said I would never do this to my child and look at what I am doing. Was I really this difficult as a kid when it came to eating? Surely I am not as bad as my parents. They made me eat stuff I didn’t like and I know Luke likes spaghetti so he is going to sit their. This had me thinking, did I use to sit and cry about having to eat spaghetti? Oh no… I am in big trouble if my child is going to act the way I did as a kid. I use to sit there for hours just so I wouldn’t have to eat what was in front of me. My dad was so stubborn and would not budge on the eating thing and I am acting just like him.

Here is the kicker in all this, I talked with my dad on the phone and was telling him about Luke sitting at the table until he finishes his food. Then my dad says to me “He will eat when he is hungry, no need to force him”. OK, stop right now, who is this masked man on the other end of the phone. It can’t be my father. No way would he say something like this. Seriously, after all those meals and hours lost sitting at the table and he says this. He has turned soft over the years.

Now I want to make sure I am clear about this, I am not over loading my sons plate with lots of food. I give him very little and expect him to eat it all. My parents always fed us like we were adults and it was way more food than any kid should have to eat. My 5 year has as much food on his plate as my 10 month old and the 10 month old eats it all. So I am not asking much. Luke will just sit all through diner and have one bite. It drives me crazy!

Sometimes I get frustrated with him sitting at the table so I put his plate in the microwave and when he says he is hungry out it comes. This hasn’t been real effective because it ends up getting thrown out the next day. I just want him to eat healthy and eat when it is time.
I want to know, do your kids fight with you at meal time? How do you get them to eat?

Oh how I hate cooking...

Why is it I can love food so much and yet, hate cooking with a passion?

What I find most funny is I come from a family who loves to cook. My dad is a fantastic cook and will happily spend all day in the kitchen cooking from scratch. My mom not as much of an enthusiast but she enjoys cooking also.

When I was a kid my dad wanted me to spend time with my grandmother and have her teach me to cook. She learned to cook in a German kitchen when she was a young girl and she made some amazing meals. I never got the chance to have my grandmother teach me and she is gone now. I don’t know that I would have made a good student but I would have tried for her.

I could go on and on about family member’s who cook and how great they are. Ah yes and then there is me. I am an awful cook. My dad use to tell me I can burn water and honestly I think I have before. Thank goodness we live in an age with prepackaged meals that just pop in the oven or microwave. With out these my poor family would probably starve to death.

Just a few examples of how bad I am, a few years ago I made rice crispy treats. Ok, this isn’t even really cooking, it is mixing ingredients together but I can’t even do this right. My rice crispy treats came out bad. I was mad about this so I made them again and again and again. After about four bad batches of rice crispy treats my husband say’s “please stop making these, you just can’t do it”. Same thing with chocolate chip cookies that you make with the recipe on the back of the chocolate chip bag, again failed and was asked to stop making them.

I swear I follow direction to the letter and I still some how end up with a bad end product. It is a good thing I can buy premade cookie doe and already made rice crispy treats. These are life savers for me.

I have a few staple meals that we eat all the time and I know my poor husband gets so sick of them but I also know he is afraid to ask me to try making something else because of the end result. My poor kids are going to live on spaghetti and ham sandwiches the rest of their lives.

I want to know, do you love to cook? Or are you like me and stuck in a cycle of microwave meals and standard diners that you know will come out good? What do you love or hate about cooking?