Thursday, April 23, 2009

Thomas the Trailblazer

Thomas and I had a fantastic day. We met up with some of our MOMS Club friends and went for a hike on Slick Rock Trail. It was awesome. The weather was perfect. It was nice and warm and a little breezy, but not too hot. We have never hiked this trail before and were really looking forward to it. Every other time our group has gone, it has been in the afternoon and too close to the time I need to leave for work. Needless to say, I was really excited to be going, but was a little worried about how Thomas would do because this trail is not stroller friendly, and he would have to walk the whole way.

But, Thomas was an amazing little boy today. He ran ahead of the whole group down the entire trail, as if he had been there a hundred times before. When we got to the rocks that you can climb on, he scurried up like a professional rock climber.



I was completely impressed with him. Although, it scares me as a mother that he is so completely fearless, I am also a little in awe of him. I no longer have the bravery to just run up a mountainside without worrying about falling down. That is one of the great joys of motherhood - being able to see things through the eyes of your child. You get to have experiences that feel completely new because they are new to him.


Thomas and one of his friends were really excited when they discovered a little "cave" to explore. His friend was so excited to be smashing pine cones on the ground. He even offered one up to Thomas for him to try and eat.


I am grateful on days like this that I live an area of the country where I am able to go to places such as this in less than a half hour's drive from my house. We had a such a great time. I am looking forward to returning to this trail with my husband and have a nice family day out.


After we got done hiking, we still had a whole list of errands to run and it was getting close to nap time.

First stop: Walmart. I had bought some juniper plants for our front yard. Unfortunately, I found out that I am allergic to juniper, so we had to return them. So, after we had finished with our return we went to buy some groceries.

Second and third stop: Frys and Safeway. We are trying to live on a pretty tight budget, so I typically grocery shop at all three places (just not always on the same day). Today, we were going to all three places.

Thomas behaved really well at all three stores. That may not sound like a big deal, but lately, going shopping with Thomas has landed us both home in tears after a very stressful time together. He didn't complain about riding in the shopping cart. He wasn't begging for me to buy him things. He wasn't pulling things off the shelf and throwing him on the ground.

I was really proud of him today.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Super Mom Syndrome

About a week ago, I had what can only be described as an epiphany. My discovery was that I was suffering from 'Super Mom Syndrome'. Now, I thought I was being clever in calling in that, but apparently many other mothers are suffering from this disease as well. (If you don't believe me, just google it).

Here is what happened.

I was driving home from work at almost 10:00 at night. I was feeling completely overwhelmed. I hadn't had a day off in quite some time and the last few days I did have off were spent cleaning, cooking, doing laundry, entertaining a cranky two year old, the usual mom workload. And I just burst into tears. I tried to compose myself before I got home but couldn't. My husband and I ended up having a small fight about it because I didn't want to talk, and then we both went to sleep.

The next morning after he left for work, I was still feeling crummy. So I decided I would sit down and write him a letter about all that was ailing me. And as I was writing this letter, I thought to myself, "I better come up with some solutions to my problems, or this letter isn't going to do anyone any good."

So, as I wrote and wrote I started to realize that I was trying to do everything in every aspect of my life perfectly (i.e. 'Super Mom Syndrome'). However, I realized I was a complete fraud. In trying to do everything perfectly for everyone all the time, I never really accomplished anything. And the more I tried to stuff into each minute of each day, the more I ended up not making room for myself and my needs. I wanted the house to be spotless. I wanted Thomas to have educational, fun activities ready for him and I to sit down and share together. I wanted to be a gourmet, five-star restaurant chef. I wanted to be the perfect wife, always happy and willing to please.

But somehow among all of these wants, I seemed to have lost myself. I couldn't remember the last time I did something just for me. And unless I decided to stop sleeping, there were not enough hours in the day to get it all done.

And that is when it hit me.

I must make time to take care of myself, or I won't have anything left to give to take care of my son, my husband and the other people in my life. And the funny thing is, there really are not enough hours in the day to complete all that needs to be done.

So I have made some resolutions to myself:
  • I must make more time to do the things that I love to be able to recharge my batteries.
  • There will be days that all I do is play with Thomas and the housework will just have to wait.
  • There will be days when Thomas must play by himself so that I can get to the inevitable piles of dishes and laundry and cleaning that must be done.
  • I must let let go of the perfection of it all. Sometimes, good enough just is . . .

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Introductions - The Usual Suspects

If you have stumbled upon this blog, you are probably wondering "who is this woman?" and "why should I read her blog?" I am finally jumping on the blogging bandwagon. I have so many friends that already blog, and a few that just recently started, so I thought, "What the heck!"

So, I thought I would introduce myself and the main characters of this blog (and my life). My family is made up of the usual suspects:
Mom, Dad, child, two cats, one dog, and fish.

Mom:
A.K.A. Mommy, Laura, Lou, Schmoo
Age: 29
Stay-at-home mom. Part time manager of retail craft store. Mildly OCD, or what some people would call a perfectionist. Best friend to Dad.
Interests: Scrapbooking, reading, being outdoors

Dad:
A.K.A. Daddy, Aaron
Age: 35
Account executive in sales. Amazing dad. Best friend to Mom.
Interests: Hunting, archery, guns

Child:
A.K.A. Thomas, Boo Boo Chicken
Age: 2 1/2
Rambunctious. Stubborn. Oh so silly. Tests limits on daily basis.
Interests: Trucks, trains, cars, airplanes - pretty much anything that moves.

Cat one:
A.K.A. Sweet Pea
Domestic short hair. All black.
Stand-offish at times. Other times very affectionate. Has strange affinity for people that are not part of our family.
Interests: Chasing her tail. Cat two.

Cat two:
A.K.A. Tigger
Domestic short hair. Grey, black and white tabby.
Lover. Overweight. Tolerates great injustices by child.
Interests: Playing fetch with toys. Cat one.

Dog:
A.K.A. Sadie, Pooper Piper (Enemy #1 to Cat Two)
Yellow labrador retriever
Spastic and hyper.
Interests: Fetch, fetch, eating, fetch

Fish:

Tank #1: 150 gallons
Occupants: One cichlid, one plecostomus

Tank #2: 55 gallons
Occupants: Approximately 100 guppies, one plecostomus, one cichlid with bullying complex (used to reside in Tank #1)

You now have a small glimpse into who we all are. I am simply writing this to share my experiences as a mom, wife and woman. Perhaps you will be able to relate, perhaps not. If nothing else, I hope you will enjoy my take on life. And it is always nice for family and friends to see what you are up to.

So until next time . . .