Sunday, October 31, 2010

Never, Never, Never, Never, Ever Clean For More Than a Minute

Is it just me? Am I the only mom who feels like no matter how many times I load the dishwasher, run a load of laundry, pick up the leggos, clean up the sink full of toothpaste, or even make my own bed that there really is no point in doing it because I am just going to be doing it again real soon?

I enjoy watching my older girls clean up the livingroom. Ethan follows them around and takes out his cars, his legggos, etc...as they have just picked them up. I hear them say "no, Ethan...I just picked those up!"
(he will help clean up his toys, but he does have more fun dumping them out when they clean them up).

Somehow when I hear them say "I just picked those up"...I feel less alone in the house. Like I am not the only one who is going crazy from doing the same chores over and over and over and over again. Even though the house is never, never, never, never, ever clean for more than a minute.

Toria paused the Tv on a gorgeous double staircase in the entrance way of a mansion the other day and said "can we have a house like that?" I answered simply and quickly " Nah, it wouldn't be as pretty all messy".

It's very easy to loose your motivation for cleaning when first of all you hate doing it in, second of all it feels like you are never done!

Have your children ever fought you about doing chores by saying things like, "but I don't like unloading the dishwasher (folding laundry, sweeping, ect...you can replace with your personal favorite)?"

Well holy you know what! I had no idea I was the only one cleaning the house without arguments because I actually enjoy doing it! Talk about delusional children! Yes, thats why I do the dishes, because its so much fun! I love sticking my hands in the nasty sink of who knows what below that rim of water you guys let it half fill up with!

Not to mention how much fun it is folding laundry and noticing I have washed clothes that haven't been worn in months! Apparently its so much easier to just throw the clothes in the laundry pile than to put them away. And its not just the teenage girls in my house! The biggest culprit in our house is the 7 year old! She will look me dead in the eye and say, "yeah, I wore that the other day". To which I will respond,"how? it hasn't fit you for a year? Um, why is it out the box I put it in because IT DOESN"T FIT YOU ANYMORE?!" Her response is usually just a shoulder shrug maybe combined with a I don't know.

My problem: I love the house clean. Why its a problem, I have 5 kids and a husband. I wouldn't trade them for anything in this world! If I could go back in time, I wouldn't change a thing for fear of losing them...that doesn't mean I wouldn't love to put something down and find it there again in an hour! Do you remember what that was like? Maybe remembering labor pains and forgetting not having to clean up after kids would be better? I'm just saying...

Friday, October 29, 2010

Halloween Costumes for Girls

Why? Why do Halloween costumes for girls have to be so damn skanky? There was a line in the Movie Mean Girls that said it was the one time of year every girl could dress up as a slut or something to that affect. Why?

We went shopping for costumes tonight and Macy isn't interested in trick or treating (yay!) but the twins at almost 13 are just above the childrens sizes and way way below the damn skankyness of the adult costumes!

Even the Junior size ones are way too risky...where in this country is it 75 degrees on Halloween night? We lived in California for, well forever except the last 2 years...it may be colder here than there but how in the world can these costumes be comfortable for trick or treating? And thank God they can't wear costumes to school anymore! Its bad enough the twins have boyfriends!

Well, Haley is still in the cute phase as a Littlest Pet Shop Bunny this year. She really wanted to be a tiger until she saw those costumes, thankfully they were on sale!




Ethan will be that creepy Elmo guy...but it makes him so happy and Target had it on sale! Boys are soooo much easier. You don't have to find shoes, stockings, make-up, etc... oh and then worry that they may freeze to death trick or treating!

Doug will be answering the door this year which will be a challenge as the Steelers will be playing right around the height of trick or treating time... We got the good candy, chocolates... in hopes that we won't get any angry kids throwing tp or eggs around the place. I suppose if Doug gets too distracted with the game, he's the one who will be cleaning the mess.

I hope the girls have fun, get lots of candy, don't wear me out, and we don't freeze to death! Pictures will be coming shortly...as long as the twins can figure out how to tone down their costumes. Otherwise they may never get to leave the house, ha ha!



BUT WHY?????

But Why? Every day we are asked this question over and over by our small children, but they are not the only ones who ask why all day long! I do it too! Here are some of my whys?....

Why do you leave your candy wrappers laying everywhere you have been? Its like a crumb trail letting me know your activities for the last few hours! Is it really so hard to just cram them in you hand and then drop them in the garbage can?

Why do you insist on locking your door when your sound asleep at night? Why don't you lock your door when you leave in the morning? You know your brother can't come in your room in the middle of the night while your sleeping, but he can while you are at school. And how am I supposed to wake you up in the morning if your door is locked?

Why are there ties, dress shirts, and suit coats all over the house? Why don't you just take them up to our room when you go change into your jeans?

Why can't anyone in this house pick up their clothes off the bathroom floor and walk them 3 feet to the laundry basket? Why is it my fault when the jeans your looking for are behind the door in the bathroom where you left them?

Why doesn't clearing your place at dinner include your cup and silverwear? It does? Then why am I always clearing cups and silverwear off the table after dinner?

Why can't you put your silverwear with the other dirty silverwear, your dirty cup with the other dirty cups, your dirty plate stacked nicely with the other dirty plates? Why does everyone in the house rinse their plate (yes, thank you) and then throw everything into the sink? Then I have to re-rinse everything and sort it our to put it into the dishwasher...I don't like sticking my hands in the yucky ucky sink either!

Why is it when I text you with a reminder to come do your chores you say you didn't get the text or you didn't hear your phone go off but if your friend texts you, you know before the alret is finished going off?

Why do people lie? I don't mean the lies that are meant to keep from hurting other peoples feelings, I mean the stupid, it took a ton of energy to come up with such a stupid absurd lie instead of just telling the truth by saying three easy words, "I don't know"? Why is it so horrible to admit you may not know something? Don't people realize they are thought even less of when they are stupid for lying instead of honest and just uninformed on the whatever the subject?

Why do I need proof of residencey to change my address with places like Costco? Does it really matter to you where I live? Why would I make up a false address for a warehouse membership? Why?

Why do some people tailgate so badly when there is nowhere to go? I mean they can see both lanes are full up on both sides, both sides going above 60mph, everyone doing there best to get to where they are going. Why the hell do you need to ride my ass and try to weave in and out of traffic when even after passing us and a few more cars at the next light we will all be right there together again? Why?

To my 2 year old;

Why can't you hand me the wrapper or banana peel as you are taking it off instead of tossing it on the floor behind you?

Why can't you just say you are all done instead of throwing your plate on the floor? Or if you don't like something why don't you just say no and hand it back to me, why do you throw it on the floor instead? Why?

Why do you pour your drink out and slurp it up off the plate? Why?

Why do you grab my Iphone, run away from me, and when I even get close to you you throw it on the floor? Why? Why do you have to throw it?

I love the kisses and the rubbing of noses, but why do you have to end all that cuteness with a surprise Noggin (which is disney code for headbutt)? Why?

You do so great not putting things in your mouth, I know I can trust you to play with toys that are for oldre kids. Except anything NERF! Why? Why do you chew huge bites out of anything nerf? Why?

Why did you flush your toothbrush down the toliet?

Why do you like Elmo so much? He is creepy! And you seem to know it. Come on you know he creeps daddy and I out, otherwise WHY else would you put your dance with me Elmo in places like standing outside the bathroom door when one of is in there, or by the front door before daddy gets home, or on top of the DVD player looking at us? Why?


Oh I have so many more but alas...I need to do some dishes and get off my tush. But WHY?!!!!

Thursday, October 28, 2010

So Many Challenges So Little Time To Complain About Them All!

So as a stay at home mother of 5 children, I have very little time to myself. On top of having very little time to myself I also have many challenges aside from the standard 5 children.

Our oldest daughter has Type 1 Diabetes. She wears an insulin pump and also does injections of another medication to help manage her blood sugars.

I have chronic pain in my arms from cubital tunnel syndrome of the ulnar nerve...in both arms. I had decompression surgeries way back in 1994 which helped a lot but since they took so long to figure out what was wrong (this was before ergonomics) I have permanent nerve damage in my arms. Chronic pain in my hands and arms causes some issues with household chores and every day life that normal people never have to even think twice about.

One of our 12 year olds has asthma. It is very seasonal but has caused many hospitalizations for her throughout her life. One minute she starts coughing and then boom full blown pneumonia!
So we don't have real Christmas trees, live pets, or even indoor plants. Its amazing how much havoc these things can cause to someone with asthma.

Our 2 year old son has reactive airway disease. That's what they call it when it happens only occasionally and your under 6 years old. If you can't do the peak flow meter than they can't actually diagnose you with asthma. He only has wheezing when he gets a cold or virus. So breathing treatments and sometimes prednisone.
So the above precautions we already take for our daughter with asthma covers him too.

My wonderful husband deals with chronic knee pain. He hurt both of his knees in the Air Force and medically separated from them about 3 years ago.
We often joke that combined we make a whole normal healthy person.

I have suffered from Complex Migraines that mimic stroke symptoms since I was 13 years old. People who put their hand to their head and say "oh, I have such a Migraine" have no idea what a real Migraine is like. That's not to say that there aren't different levels of pain and symptoms for people. But a Migraine is nowhere close to a normal headache. And let me tell you, Excedrin Migraine or regular is just aspirin with caffeine, if you have severe Migraines you laugh at people who take Excedrin for their Migraines.

So my Migraines are almost always the same ever time with a varying degree of intensity of pain. First my arm and hand go numb and tingly. I loose the fine motor skills in my right hand. Then the feeling starts to come back. I then get a kaleidoscope affect of the top or side of my vision. The lasts for a few minutes and then goes away...the next symptom makes things difficult, I loose the ability to speak coherently. I can talk, it just doesn't make any sense. I remember one time I answered the phone at my now ex-step dads business saying "Humboldt Rock Quarry" when his business was actually Humboldt Carpet. That one hit quick. So anyway I think I am going to say one thing and something completely different comes out or I can't seem to think of very simple things, like my name or my own birthday or address. That passes and all of my senses become extremely sensitive...smells, hearing, light sensitivity, even touch...and that's when I get nausea's, sometimes actually tossing my cookies most of the time not though...and then, then, the pain. It comes in a huge wave on one side of my head, the opposite side that I had the numbness in. The pain isn't something you can just work through. No driving, working, watching tv, nope...nada! Dark and quiet room with very little smells (good or bad).
I used to take Maxaalt when the symptoms (or aura) started and if that didn't work a pain medication and nausea medication. Now I am taking a low dose of Topamax daily. Which has a lot of side affects that are starting to go away after being on it for over a week now, thankfully.

So...in addition to the many challenges life throws at us because we have a 15 year old, 12 year old twins, a 7 year old, and a 2 year old we also have many health and medical challenges that have entwined themselves into our lives. And yet we are still ok...and happy! Go figure.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Adorable 2 year old jumping into his bed!

Happy Jumping Boy

So Ethan has taken up the habit of climbing up to the to edge of his bed and slowing falling foward.
I must say that when you are laying on the bed below him it looks like a much higher fall. Not to mention the velocity really hits hard!
Watch his "uh-oh" video above. He is so darn cute.