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Why Do Father’s Day Gifts Suck?

I’ve been out shopping this week, searching for the “perfect” Father’s Day gift for my husband. After searching high, low, left and right, I’m here to tell you all the options out there really suck. There’s no nice way to put it.

Let me break it down for you. If you look in any of the sale flyers in the paper, they are all littered with neck ties, khakis, golf clubs, and tools. I’m sorry, but I think those are all crappy gifts. First of all, the only time my husband wears a neck tie is for a wedding or a funeral. Through the years, he’s acquired enough to never need another one in his lifetime. So, scratch that off the list.

Now on to the khakis. Boring. There’s really not much more to say. I don’t wear khakis. My husband doesn’t wear them. We are not a khaki clan. I can’t buy khakis. The same can be said for golf clubs. I know a lot of guys would be foaming at the mouth if they got a new set for Father’s Day. Not in my house. My husband doesn’t golf. So, this goes in the “N/A” pile of Father’s Day gifts.

Moving on to tools. I like to compare these to small appliances for women. It’s kinda like buying a woman a vacuum or iron for Mother’s Day. You may need it, but it’s really not a gift. It’s just something to help you do even more housework. It’s like giving your guy an electric screwdriver, a shiny new hammer, and a wrench and saying, “Go fix all the things in the house that you should have fixed all year round. Happy Father’s Day!” Yet, another crappy gift.

There are always gadgets and electronics. Guys love that stuff. But, honestly some of them are so expensive. Who has money for that? Not this momma. I thought about going the sentimental route and getting something engraved. But, I’ve done that so many times. I’m running out of things to carve.

Hmmm. So, what do you buy for a Father’s Day gift? I asked my husband what he wanted. He truly said nothing. He’s the type to just buy something when he wants it. He’s not going to wait for some Hallmark holiday to get something he’s been wanting. That’s why shopping is so difficult.

I was ready to chuck the whole gift idea, but I felt a twinge of guilt about not having something for him to open Sunday morning. At least something from the kids. After sorting through racks of ugly shirts that left me wanting to chuck some golf balls at someone, I did find a gift. Not a big gift. Not a “typical” gift, but a gift none the less. It’s just a little something from the kiddies. Hopefully he likes it because I can’t return it.

So, what am I going to get him? Maybe I’ll make something other than chicken. That would truly be a gift in my house! I don’t know. I still have a few days to decide.  All I know is that shopping for Father’s Day is annoying. Enough said.

The First of Many Graduations

It may sound cliché, but time passes so quickly. That’s especially true once you start having kids. One day turns into one week, into one month, into one year which crashes into the next, creating a domino effect that has you shaking your head wondering where all the time has gone.

I’ve been thinking a lot about time lately because my daughter graduates from pre-school this week. I know to some people it may seem so insignificant considering all of the other graduations and milestones that are yet to come, but to me, it’s a big deal. It signifies the fact that she is really growing up and I really can’t believe it.

I can remember the day she was born more clearly than what I ate for dinner last night. I can re-tell her delivery story up to the detail of what was on the television in the room at the time. I can remember her jet black hair (which has turned twenty shades lighter since then) and trying to figure out who she looked like more.

I remember her first ride in the car and how I thought I would never be able to drive around with her because I would have to be staring at her constantly. Yeah, I got over that one! I remember how I felt leaving her for the first time when I had to go back to work and how much I cried. Fast forward a few years to her first day of pre-school and how she felt when she had to leave me and how much she cried. Now, she hardly stops to give me a quick hug and kiss before settling into the classroom. It’s funny how time changes so much.

I’ve just been thinking about what the beginning of “big girl” school really means…for both of us. I think it’s going to be harder for me, lol! We all know kids are pretty resilient. It’s us parents who need to grow a thicker skin. There’s so much more to worry about once kids get to “big girl” school.  Truly, I don’t think I’m ready for Kindergarten! I just want to bottle her up and keep her tiny forever. I know she has to grow-up. But, it sucks.

To make matters worse, her Kindergarten orientation is scheduled a few hours after her graduation. Talk about hittin’ a momma hard. I’m gonna be one Lifetime movie away from a total crying fest. I’m sure it’s nothing some adult beverages can’t fix!

Growing up is hard to do…especially for parents. You just want to stop the clock. But, you can’t.  You just have to hit the “play” button without accidentally tapping “fast forward”.

 

 

 

 

 

Why Flying With Kids Isn’t So Bad

As a parent, there a lot of things I dread. Cleaning up puke, temper tantrums, kids sleeping in my bed…the list goes on and on. Up until a week ago, I would have put flying with kids on that list as well. Since we’ve had kids, all of our vacations have been road trips. Why? Well, for one they are cheaper. Secondly, you can always pull over and take a time out if the kids get a little too crazy. I really never entertained the idea of putting my two and four year old girls on an airplane. I didn’t want to be “that” family. You know what I’m talking about. The ones they do news stories about. The kids who don’t stop crying leading to all the other passengers demanding their money back. I just didn’t want to take the chance.

So, what happened? Why did I change my mind? Well, the eleven hour drive we would have had to take was starting to make me break out in hives. I could envision a symphony of “are we there yets?” with a chorus of “I have to pee” ever hour. I could feel my neck start to tense and my eyes burn with exhaustion. Wouldn’t it be easier to take a two hour flight and be able to enjoy the day when we arrive at our destination? It sounded like a lovely idea, although I still had anxiety. Would the plane bother their ears? Would they be too scared to even get on the plane?

Well, my girls surprised me…big time. They were so excited to get on the plane that any anxiety they may have had just disappeared. I never heard them say they were scared or that they didn’t want to get on. As a precaution, I gave them some Benadryl just in case their ears started to bother them. But, I never heard them complain. After about fifteen minutes in the air, my two-year-old fell asleep. My other daughter was just so excited, she just looked out the window and took it all in. Before I knew it, we were landing.

The ride home went just as well. This time I forgot to give them Benadryl, but they didn’t seem to really need it. This time both girls fell asleep for awhile! This was 100 times better than any road trip we ever took!

I know, I know. We were lucky. Things could have totally went the other way. They could have been kicking and screaming the entire way leading me to look for an emergency exit and a life vest. Thankfully, this wasn’t the case.

So, if you were like me, dreading flying with your kids, I’m here to tell you to give it a try. You won’t know until you do. I would advise starting off with a short flight(ours was two hours) just in case there are problems. In the end, we were able to enjoy the day once we arrived. It was like having an extra day of vacation. It was also nice to arrive home not feeling like a zombie!

Have you flown with your kids? How was your experience?

 

 

Night Night Phone

I will be the first to admit that I am semi-obsessed with my iPhone. I used to roll my eyes at people who constantly scrolled, texted, and tweeted through their days. I sadly admit, I am now becoming one of those people. They say the first step to fixing a problem is to admit you have one. So, there. I’m not saying I’m going to give up my phone completely. Come on now, I may break out in hives. But, I think I have come up with a way to hang up on my obsession…a little.

I started to get the idea when I was on vacation last week. I didn’t unplug completely, but I did loosen the cord. I checked all my fave sites in the morning and again before I went to bed. But that’s it. I wasn’t constantly looking to see who liked my photo or who just tweeted they went to the bathroom. I didn’t catch an email just as it came in my inbox. Guess what? I survived! Shocker, I know. By tuning out my phone I noticed I was more tuned in to my surroundings. Granted, I was near a beach. But, you get the point. I started to remember the days before my smart phone began to transform me into an anti-social notification hungry nut.

So, now that I’m home in my not so picturesque surroundings, I’ve come up with a plan to control my phone frenzy. It starts with really making an effort to limit my phone usage during the day. That means resisting the urge to constantly check for updates. Instead, I can use that time to play with my kids or get more things done around the house. But, the big change is…drumroll please…saying goodnight to my phone so I’m not constantly on it before bed. My new rule is to put it to bed when I put my kids to bed. If I can do this, I will have a few hours to do things like have a real conversation with my husband or watch one of the dozens of shows in my DVR and read a book. I’ll admit, it’s hard to resist the urge, but I’m trying…baby steps…baby steps.

If you can relate to anything that I just wrote, how about trying to make the change too? Isn’t it times to say night night phone?

Should Little Girls Wear Make-Up?

Before you read this post, I should warn you…I have a real thing about kids growing up too fast. I hate it. I don’t like the fact that so many kids seem to have better phones than I do. I don’t like the fact that many have girlfriends and boyfriends before puberty. As the mother of two little girls, ages two and four, I especially despise the fact that a lot of little girls wear make-up.

I know a lot of people out there think it’s really cute to put some eyes shadow and lip gloss on their little ones. Can I ask why? Aren’t they cute enough without it?

I’ll admit, as an adult I wear make-up. But, anyone who knows me can vouch for the fact that I’m not big on it. I really don’t know why I wear it. I guess because I want to? Truth be told, many days I don’t wear any at all. But still, I’ve had my girls come over and reach for a make-up brush out of my bag because they want to be like mommy. I grab it right out of their hands.

“But Mommy, I want to be beautiful,” whines my four-year-old.

“You already are. You don’t need it, ” I reply.

It’s sad that a girl that young thinks she needs make-up to be beautiful. Sometimes I blame myself. Should I not wear make-up? Should I just let her try some anyway? What’s a mom to do?

My daughter takes dance lessons and recently saw a lot of girls in her school all made up for their pictures. This was my first experience with the whole dance thing. I was never a dancer as a I child. Shocker, I know. I’m not a “dance mom” in the stereotypical sense and neither are a lot of the other women there. But, I guess in the “dance culture” this is what happens. Eye shadow, mascara, glitter, fake eyelashes, and lip stick are more the norm than the exception. Hmmm. My daughter did notice all the glitz and glamour, but did not once ask me if she could have some or why she didn’t in the first place. Score one for me, I guess. I suppose there’s no harm in getting all “made up” for these special occasions, but I’m still not 100% convinced. I just don’t see who benefits from it all.

Maybe I’m just a Debbie Gibson living in a Lady Gaga world hoping they still made “Electric Youth” perfume. I don’t know. I do know that I’m definitely starting to believe that raising girls is harder than raising boys! I also know that we need to start teaching little girls that make-up doesn’t make you beautiful. Having a good heart and being a good person is where true beauty lies. So, how do I convince everyone else? I guess I’ll have to take it one Cover Girl at a time.

 

 

 

What the Fork? Who Has a Potty Mouth?

It’s the moment any parent dreads. The moment when your child learns how to say a swear word. He or she may not be able to say their name all that well, but they sure know how to say “fork” like it’s second nature. Of course you laugh at first because you have no idea that the word or words are about to come out of that little mouth. But, after the shock, awe, and a few giggles you really need to squash it like a bug. But, what if you do and it still happens…repeatedly?

If you haven’t been able to guess, my little princess angels have learned some rather unlady like words. Does it make me a bad parent? No. Please say, no. It all started when I was driving one day and some jerk cut me off. Instead of calling him a jerk or something else that didn’t start with an “F”, I chose some other words that are not exactly in the Bible, if you know what I mean. All of a sudden, I hear an echo like there’s some kind of parakeet in the car. But, she wasn’t saying, “polly want a cracker?” Instead, she repeated my profanity in the sweetest little voice…and then laughed. She knew it was bad. She knew she shouldn’t say it. But, she did. Ooopsy…mommy made a boo boo.

I could lie and say that was the only time she ever said it. My two-year-old says it on occasion. My four-year-old, not so much. It’s the little one who has a little truck driver mouth. Of course I yell, of course I punish, but yet those words have not been erased from her ever growing vocabulary. Oopsy! All I can say is at least she uses it when it’s appropriate…like when the Target lady wouldn’t give her her toothpaste after she asked a few times. Thankfully the lady didn’t get what she was saying, but I knew all to well, and so did my little potty mouth toddler. Of course I yelled at her outside and told her I would run over her favorite teddy bear if she said it again. Of course she stopped saying it…for awhile. Of course she still says it now. Sigh.

So, what’s a mom to do besides watch every word that comes out of her mouth to make sure they are all “G” rated? I’m still working on that one. For right now I’m hoping this is just a phase. Really, I am.

 

Why I Don’t Want a “Perfect” Mother’s Day

“Oh my gosh…my kids got me flowers, jewelry, and took me out to the best restaurant. It was the perfect Mother’s Day.”

Have you ever heard some women say this? I have. It makes me want to poke my eyes out with a spork. Trust me, I’m not jealous and I’m not being a hater…really. I just don’t think that’s what the day is about. At least not to me.

Don’t get me wrong, I love flowers and jewelry and going out to eat, but it’s not the whole kit and caboodle.

What really is all that and a bag of chips is this craft my daughter came home with from school:

mother's dayIf you can zoom in and read the fine print it says, “Sometimes you get discouraged because I am so small, And always leave my fingerprints on the furniture and wall. But every day I’m growing, I’ll be all grown up some day and those tiny little handprints will surely fade away. So here’s a final handprint to help you recall exactly how my fingers looked when I was very small.”

I’d be lying if I say I didn’t get teary eyed. This was so sweet and the words so true. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve dropped an “F” bomb because I’ve stepped on another Barbie shoe or am cleaning up juice off a floor I’ve just mopped. At times like these I don’t think to enjoy the moment or about how fast they grow up. I’m honestly thinking about how annoying the situation is at the time. Sometimes you just have to take a deep breath and not sweat the small, stupid stuff. It really doesn’t matter.

What does matter is spending time with your little ones, soaking up all the little laughs, pushing them on the swing, making sand castles, cheering because they finally mastered riding a tricycle, hugs, kisses, and bedtime stories. So if a “perfect” Mother’s Day doesn’t include these things, I don’t want it.

Instead, I’ll take an “unperfect” day of staying home, spending time with my family, and doing whatever else we feel like doing. I won’t need to try it on or need a gift receipt. It will be just right.

 

 

 

I Pooped My Nemo

Potty training. It really is one of the most annoying things about having a toddler. You desperately want them out of diapers especially when they poop worse than you do. No one likes cleaning that. No one. You desperately want to ditch the diaper bag you’ve been lugging around for more than two years and exchange it for one the pocket books that’s been collecting dust in your closet. Hell, maybe even treat yourself and buy a new bag. You deserve it.

Instead, you spend your days trying to tell your little one that there are no more Pull-Ups in the house even though she knows they are hiding in your bag. You try to tell her no one else in the house wears diapers. You try to show her how cute it is to have Dora or the Disney Princesses all over her little butt. She’s not buying it. Nothing much seems to work.

If you haven’t been able to tell, I’m the middle of potty training my younger daughter. As much as I thought it was going to be a breeze, I was wrong. The potty seemed to be her BFF for a short time. She went to pee every now and again and thought it was great. Now, not so much. I tried letting her pee in her underwear. She got wet, got changed, and moved on with her day. It didn’t faze her. That is until she had to poop.

One day when she was in the playroom, I hear my older daughter yell that her sister pooped in her underwear. It doesn’t get much worse than that from the whole cleaning up perspective. As I walked in, I hear my pooper say, “Mommy, I pooped my Nemo.” You see, she was wearing underwear with Nemo all over it. Well, now Nemo wasn’t so pretty. She pooped for sure. After I cleaned her up, I told her not to poop on Nemo anymore. It’s so 2013.

To this day, Nemo has managed to stay clean. Instead, she takes off her underwear and grabs a Pull-Up. She does her business in her Pull-Up and then tells me she pooped. Couldn’t you have just gone in the potty instead? I. Don’t. Get. It.

Anyway, that’s where we are. The pediatrician says not to push it. She says it will click one day. I know she’s right, because that’s what happened with my first. I’m just sick of cleaning diapers and paying for them! For now, our goal is to keep Nemo, Dora, and all the other characters poop free.

Starbucks Spring Blend Review & Giveaway

Starbucks Spring Blend Review & Giveaway

Winter, Spring, Summer, or Fall, it really doesn’t matter, I have to have my coffee. As a lot of you know, I’m a bit of a coffee addict. I don’t know exactly what it is, but I love it. With that said, I’m kinda predictable and tend to always have the same brew. Boring, I know.

When I was in the “out of the house” working world, coffee time was not only a must, but also a great time to gossip and catch up with co-workers. Walks for coffee were always the best. I’ll admit, I used to have my favorite little place to go. But, one former co-worker was a Starbucks lover and introduced me to the brand. I must say, after one cup, I was hooked. But again, I ordered one drink and always stuck to it. I was (and still am) in love with the lattes. I know some of you may think it’s so simple and boring, but oh well!

Fast forward a couple of years, a couple of children, and a “work at home” life later, and I’m still a Starbucks fan. Lord knows I drink more coffee now than ever before with these two little ones! I have tried to expand my horizons, but I’ll admit, I am still boring when it comes to my coffee selections.

One day, I ventured out of my box and ordered the blonde roast. Wild, I know. But, I loved it! Another day, I went really crazy and tried the Hazelnut Macchiatos. OMG! They are my favorite! But, those are for “treat myself” days. Still, I am proud of myself for trying some new stuff.

IMG_0998With that said, I also recently tried out the Starbucks Spring Blend at home.

 

I know some people say coffee never tastes as good when you brew at home. Honestly, that is true sometimes. It’s just like food tastes better when someone else makes it! Anyway, in the spirit of Spring and new beginnings, I tried this new brew. After just the first sip, I really liked it. It didn’t leave a bitter taste in my mouth and didn’t make my heart pound out of my chest. It was a nice, mild cup of coffee with just enough flavor. It was also light, which is great for when the weather gets a little warmer.

Will I continue to brew this at home? Absolutely. It really was that good. Have you tried it? If not, there’s a way you can get some free brews at home.  I’m giving away a pound of the Spring Blend.

Here’s what you have to do…In the spirit of Spring, I’m going to try some new drinks when I visit my local Starbucks. But, I don’t know which ones to spend my money on. So, leave a comment below telling me about your favorite Starbucks drink and why it’s your fave and I’ll enter you in a drawing to win a free pound of Starbucks Spring Blend.  You can enter until 11:59 p.m. on April 30, 2014. I’ll pick the winner May 1, 2014. Good Luck! Recommend some great new drinks for me to try please!

*This is a sponsored post