What Your Mother REALLY Wants for Mother’s Day

Mother’s Day is right around the corner which is the not-so-subtle hint that if you haven’t gotten Mom something, you better get on it. Or else. This woman is either the person who birthed you (or what do moms want for mothers dayyour spouse) or who birthed your children. Honestly, that’s reason enough. I could stop right there and be done with this post.

But of course, I won’t.

So, you’re not sure what to get Mom? Here are a few suggestions to help:

  1. This is the woman who puts up with endless amounts of crap from everyone – it’s either oozing out one end or spewing out the other, but moms put up with more crap than a stableboy at Churchill Downs. For this she deserves Shari’s Berries covered in chocolate.
  2. She’s the one who always makes it happen. No one knows what the magic “it” is, but leave it to Mom to get it done. You forgot to tell her you need snacks for your class? Mom can open up the magic cupboard and magically make something appear. You don’t see the magic bottle that helps Mommy get it done, but that’s okay.. it’s magic, remember? Help mom be prepared and get her a Wine of the Month Club membership.
  3. Need to go from point A to point B back to A and then over to C before you go to D? All in 30 minutes? No problem – Mom’s a logistics expert. It also helps that she has a couple of cop friends phone numbers programmed in her speed dial since she’s going to be hauling ass to get you there. For this, mom deserves a Richard Petty drive experience. Obviously, to get you to all those places, she’s going to need to know how to outrun them.
  4. Mom’s the one who usually gets stuck with homework duty. I’m sure you’ve guessed by now that she’s older than dirt and doesn’t know squat, so how in the world can she EVER figure out the new math that leaves no child behind? Help your poor Mama and get her a new Mac. This way she can look for Pie recipes while looking for the value of Pi.
  5. All that screaming that you do is making Mom deaf. You yell demands down the stairs. You yell at your siblings. You yell at your friends because your music is so loud they can’t hear you. Yelling is just wicked cool, isn’t it? Mom doesn’t want Advil. Mom wants Bose noise canceling headphones. Trust me… mom won’t care if you yell then. Yell away.
  6. Memories… sweet, sweet memories. Sadly, they’re fleeting and with all the mundane, day to day tasks that mom has to do, she’s probably going to forget when you lost your first tooth, said your first word or caught your first flyball (what the hell is a flyball anyhow?). She needs help and what better way to help her remember YOUR life than to give her a Chamilia bracelet. Next time you have some major event, make sure you buy a bead before you tell her about it. Trust me – she’ll remember then. If you’re in the Triad, go to my cousin Lisa’s store – Silver Gallery and she and Brittany will hook you up with Chamilia and anything else Mom’s heart desires.
  7. There are these things in the house that collect trash. They’re usually round and placed in strategic locations so that you don’t have to go too far to find one. Obviously, the middle of the floor wasn’t the strategic location you were thinking of since that’s where you drop your stuff. And have you ever noticed that the dishwasher is conveniently located right next to the sink where you just dumped your ice-cream bowl? Stunning, isn’t it? Mom’s tired of being the only person in the house capable of bending over at the waist. Mom wants a maid service so she can come home to a clean house – even if it’s only for an hour.
  8. Once upon a time, there was this lady named Kristen (feel free to put your mom’s name there) and she met this incredible guy named Steve (put your dad’s name there). They had a different life before the kids came along and while their life is bigger and better now, they miss their couple time. Mom likes to get dressed for Dad and Dad likes to open the doors and all that sickeningly sweet stuff for Mom. Maybe you should think of sending mom and dad off for a trip. Alone. Or if that’s too much.. a gift certificate to a restaurant that doesn’t have a kids menu. Yeah. That would be nice, too.

Bonus Tip: And if all else fails… write Mom a really long letter and really tell her how much you      appreciate her. If you feel compelled to buy something, buy her a box of tissues to go with it. It’s so rare that we hear that not only do we exist, but you’re happy that we exist that we’ll be blubbering idiots by the time we’re finished.

So, see… Mom’s not hard to buy for! All you have to do is look around the house and you’ll find hundreds of ideas!

Now, make haste and figure out what you’re getting mom. And I’d love to hear what you decided on! Moms – what else can we add to this list?

 

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Wordless Wednesday – From Cradle to Grave #iPPP

Best friends always come together in the endThe girls had their big Girl Scout camping trip this past weekend and the inevitable finally happened.

Girl drama.

I’m still not 100% clear what happened, but I have been able to deduce that it circled around Cassie getting hurt (foot or something) and some of the others not having the patience/desire to stick around.

What I love about this picture is that it was sent to me by my best friend…  whose daughter is Cassie’s best friend (and one of my extra daughters).

And that’s her, with Cassie, doing what best friends do -

Sticking with you when no one else will.

Linking up with Greta and Sarah for #iPPP!

GFunkified
Posted in tweens | 23 Comments

Rooster’s in the Hen House

Today is mine and the Rooster’s anniversary. We’ve been married 13 years today and together for a few more than that.  We’re no different from any other couple in the world – life hasn’t always been smooth but somehow, we’ve managed to stick together.

We don’t make as much time for each other as we should, but now that the girls are getting older it’s Happy Anniversarystarting to become easier. Matter of fact, we went out last night to the awesome Spring House Restaurant to celebrate our marriage and discuss how much longer we thought we could make it. The food and company were awesome and we decided that we’re good for at least another 13 years.

I thought that I would test my knowledge of my husband and see if I still know him as well as I did 15 some years ago. Remember when you’re hopelessly in puppy love and nothing is more important than spending endless moments in bed learning more about each other? What? That’s not what you did?

 

 

1. What’s your spouse’s favorite color? Green. Specifically Eagles green

2. What’s your spouse’s favorite city to visit? Philadelphia

3. What’s your spouse’s favorite vacation destination? Caribbean. Specifically St. Maarten

4. What’s your spouse’s favorite restaurant? Right now it’s Spring House

5. What’s your spouse’s favorite type of food? BBQ (yes, it’s a type)

6. What’s your spouse’s favorite home cooked meal? Eggs Benedict or Beef Wellington

7. What’s your spouse’s favorite dessert? He doesn’t eat desserts but when he did it was Boston Creme Pie

8. What’s your spouse’s favorite holiday? Christmas

9. Who is your spouse’s best friend? Duh. Me.

10. Who is your spouse’s favorite relative? His parents (you know I wasn’t picking just one)

11. What’s your spouse’s favorite thing for YOU to wear? Nothing

12. What’s your spouse’s favorite movie? The Godfather

13. What’s your spouse’s favorite band? Pink Floyd

14. What’s your spouse’s favorite day of the week? Sunday

15. What’s the most relaxing thing for your spouse? Napping

16. What’s most stressful for your spouse? Incompetent people.

I wish I could tell you how close I was to my answers, but since he never visits the site he won’t be able to grade me. I say I scored a 100.

So to my older and wiser groom I say “thanks for the past 13 years of marriage. The good times, the bad times and all the plain ones in between that really make up a marriage. I know I’m not always an angel and somedays I ask for more than I should. You have a lot of patience being in this house and even though we don’t tell you or show you more often, you are the rock and the rooster of this hen house and we can’t imagine a day without you crowing.”

Love you, Boo. Happy Anniversary.

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The Thing About Bullying – Love Is All You Need?

There are no two ways about it – bullying is an epidemic in our schools and with our kids.

No child deserves to be taunted, teased and beat up because they may look, think or act differently. We should never have to hear about the death of a child ever but especially not one that includes the word “bully” anywhere in the description of it. Our kids shouldn’t have to worry about anything worse than the occasional outbreak of acne and the awkward age between 12 and 15 where girls are lanky and the range of a boys voice can go from soprano to bass in a single sentence.

Yet with all the attention we’re giving to bullying, it continues to get worse. I’m constantly watching for signs with my girls that something might be amiss. If they’re too quiet, I ask and ask until they either tell me or they lose their cool because I’m making them nuts. But in our world of technology, SnapChat, Tumblr and texting I can’t let my guard down for one moment.

I came across this short on my cousin’s Facebook wall and after I watched it, had to be sure that everyone saw it. If you’ve seen it you know how powerful it is and if you haven’t, you soon will. The short is called Love is All You Need? and it came out 2 years ago. The premise is what if the roles were different and it was heterosexuals that were not the norm and the “breeders” were shunned. After a few minutes of watching it, you really see how ridiculous the whole anti-gay “movement” is. It’s 20 minutes long but believe me, it’s worth it.

But more than that, it shows that bullying knows no boundaries and we have to teach our kids to stop.

Love is All You Need? full length movie.mp4

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Welcome to Text-as: The San Diego Edition

Welcome to text-as!

It’s time for another edition of Welcome to Text-as!! This week, the rarely-seen, never-texting Rooster is the star!!

The Rooster is in San Diego this week for business – let’s all give a collective “awww…poor guy” Yeah. Right. Other than the fact he had a flight that left at zero dark:thirty, I’m not feeling sorry for the guy at all.

 

 

He’s been texting me pictures all fricking week of the beautiful weather and amazing places he’s eating. This text was the final straw -

textas from san diego

You can see from HIS image that he was taunting me with his San Diego Food Truck lunch. While I was cooking dinner for tonight AND prepping dinner for tomorrow night. For his kids. The ones that I have already given birth to (which means my job is done).

Winston-Salem Food Kitchen

Can you say “not fair”??

Actually I’m kidding.. as much as I hate when either of us travel, it’s good for both of us to get away from the routine of house life. And since we both love food, our favorite thing to do is seek out these awesome food experiences.. I just wish I were with him to enjoy it :)

Posted in family | Tagged , , , , | 8 Comments