I had a mind once. Now I have small children.

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Summer Break Begins

Mothers around the world, Rejoice!!! Summer Break is here! Oh, wait. I think instead of "rejoice," what I meant was, "Prepare the kegerator, it's gonna be a long two and a half months." Yes, summer is here and schools across the nation are celebrating their last day of the year. Moms across the nation, however, are trying to figure out what the heck they are going to do with their kiddos all day, every day.

Here in Goomba-Land, our summer vacation has already begun. Mario's last day of school was the past Friday. Luigi's last day is this coming Friday. Peach is just thrilled that both of her brothers are here to play with at her disposal. We are officially 3 days into the break (I don't count the weekend), and here is what we have done so far...

~We excavated the toy room. I'm surprised I didn't have to actually borrow my Father-in-Law's skid steer to deal with the mess in there. I bribed all the Goombas with ice cream if they would help. Aaah, I love a good bribe. We threw out a couple bags of trash. I had to sneak another bag out without them seeing, because we could have had a major breakdown over the noisy, spinny, baby toy getting tossed. But, now we are done and you can actually see the floor in there again! I won't gross you out by telling you what we found under the toys. Let's just say, old sippies full of milk are totally not cool.

~We have watched every single episode of Blue's Clues. Did you know there are 100? And that is not counting the movie specials. That is a lot of Steve. Thankfully Joe came along for the last couple of seasons. And now we walk around singing, "Here's the mail, it never fails, it makes me want to wag my tail, when it comes I want to wail...MAAAAAIIILLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" I'll let you use your imagination to figure out just how loud my Goombas can wail the word mail.

~I have heard the phrase, "But I'm so BOOOORRRREEEEDDD!" more than we have watched Blue's Clues. Seriously, Mario. This is not going to be a summer full of Wii and DS. Use your imagination and find something else to do. We are only 3 days in. If he is already bored, I am done for.

~On a bright note, I now have 2 Goombas that can swing without my assistance. 2 down, 1 to go. It's not that I don't "love" pushing kids on swings, it's just that, standing there for hours at a time, pushing a swing, while listening to, "higher, Mommy, higher!!!" is just, well... not my thing. Now, eating sand pic-micks (Peach is just so adorable!) is something I can live with.

We do have some exciting things coming up. As we speak, I am tackling Mt. Washmore in it's entirety to prepare for our trip to the Big Apple. That's right, New York, watch out. The Marios are coming! I am giddy with excitement to see my aunt get married and to visit all my cousins, aunts and uncles that I haven't seen in far too long. Did I mention we are taking the red-eye with the Goombas? And, did I also mention we were on crack when we decided to buy red-eye tickets for 3 kids? Oh well, it is going to be a blast and I absolutely can't wait!!!

Then we have Cub Scout camp, Luigi's birthday, swimming lessons, a new water park in town to check out, and more. So, raise your glass, all you Mamas out there, summer is here and we are ready for it!

Cheers!
~Daisy

Friday, May 20, 2011

Play Time

I am all about kids using their imaginations. I love hearing the fun, unique and sometimes silly games the Goombas come up with, without the aid of the television or a video game. I also love when the little Goombas play nicely together, because it is not very often. Usually they are fighting like cats and dogs, stealing toys from each other, and trying to figure out ways to get the other one in trouble. But, every once in a while, when all the stars align and the cosmos smile down on the Mario household, we have a moment when everyone is enjoying each other's company AND simultaneously using their imaginations. Then Mommy walks in and finds out what is really going on.

We had one of those rare instances this afternoon. Peach woke up from her nap and since Luigi had lost his Blue's Clues privileges for the day, he decided to invite her into his game. They ran around downstairs for a while, giggling and talking to each other in some kind of pre-school code language that I couldn't quite figure out. Then they decided to head upstairs. Aaahhh...peace and quiet for me! I started folding laundry, and actually got through an entire load, without someone knocking a pile off the couch because their "very favorite shirt EVER" was at the bottom of the stack.

"This is so nice," I foolishly thought to myself. "When was the last time they played so great together?" Then I remembered. The last time they played so quietly and happily upstairs, was the time I found them with all of their blankets, pillows and lovies in the shower stall in my bathroom. Which, incidentally, was also still very wet because Bowser had recently showered. They were apparently having a "sleepover party" in my shower.

With this thought in mind, I figured I better go check on them. They were being far too quiet, with only the occasional muffled giggle floating downstairs. I slowly tiptoed up, not wanting to be too loud, because I wanted to catch them in the act of whatever it was they were doing. I tracked them down to the hallway bathroom by following the sound of laughter. Just before I walked in, I heard Luigi say, "No! Peach! She is taking a bath, leave her there!" Peach replied with, "Oh! Ok, that's right!"

I hesitated for a split second, before I turned the corner into the bathroom. When I finally stepped in, I saw Luigi with no pants on (thankfully, though, he still had on his underpants), and Peach standing with a towel wide open as if she were going to dry something. "Hey, what are you guys--NOOOO!!!!!" At this point, I realized that there were wet stuffed animals lying all over the floor and Peach's Thumper Bunny that she got for Easter was bathing in the TOILET.

...sigh... One of these days I will learn not to leave them alone together for more than a moment or two. I think it is Beer:30 now...

Cheers!
~Daisy

Saturday, May 7, 2011

Happy Mother's Day

Being a Mom is the most difficult job in the world. Oh, I will admit, there are other things out there that might technically be more dangerous and some that maybe require a few more brain cells, but really, Moms do it all.

I'm not going to sit here and lecture on all that we do. Because all of you already know, seeing as how you all had moms. You don't need to hear it repeated ad nauseum. But, I would like to take a minute to say thanks to all of the Mommies I know and love.

To my Mommy friends...
You are the people I depend on every day for love and support. You are the people that help me through every day crises, you don't judge me for not having swept my floor, and you make me laugh just when I think I might have to throw myself off the top of someplace very high. We watch each other's kids, we have lunch dates so we don't go insane, and we can yell at our kids while we talk on the phone and we still understand each other. You all mean the world to me and I love you so much. I think we should go out and celebrate sans kids with some wine and/or beer. We deserve it!

To my Survival for New Moms....
You are the very first friends that I made after moving here and having Mario. I was terrified of motherhood and I was terribly lonely. You all changed that! I used to live for our playgroups. I would even get all dressed up with my make-up on as if I were going out on a date, because I was just so excited to have friends. We laughed together, cried together and learned how to be Mommies together. Although we have grown apart over the years, I still hold you all very close to my heart and think of you often. Without you, I surely would have thrown myself off of an incredibly lofty building.

To my Mom-In-Law...
Most people talk about how much they dislike their in-laws. I guess I lucked out because I just happened to get the best Mom-in-Law ever. You welcomed me into your family with open arms so many years ago. You have always been there for me, from watching the Goombas, to your patience with a certain incident when I showed up crying at your door with the Goombas in the van. Without your help, I would probably have to throw myself off a very tall tower. Thanks for raising Bowser to be the man he is and thanks for all you do for us.

To my own Dear Mother...
I guess if I am going to be honest here, I have to admit there was a time during my teen years where I'm pretty sure we didn't like each other very much. But, since I became a mother myself, I have a whole new appreciation for all you did and still do. So, I guess really, I should say that I'm sorry and I really have no idea how you survived all 3 of us! I look up to you and believe it or not, actually take to heart the advice you give me. I miss you so much and desperately wish we lived closer. Your old, crepe-y skin and all. Ha! Thanks for never letting me throw myself off the Abbey Tower. I love you forever, like you for always, as long as I'm living my Mommy you'll be.

A very, very happy Mother's Day to you all! I wish you mimosas in bed, no fighting children, a helpful husband, and a day of all around relaxation!

Cheers,
~Daisy

Friday, May 6, 2011

Trouble with Peach

I just had an hour and a half long battle with my 2-year old daughter. That was 90 full minutes of arguing with each other, chasing, pleading, crying, and yelling. And what, you ask, was this disagreement about? My darling Peach decided she did not like any of her clothes and did not want to get dressed. Dear Lord in Heaven, please save me, for someday she will be a teenager and I'm not sure I will be able to handle it.

Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays are usually our mother/daughter mornings. The boy Goombas are both in school, so Peach and I have 4 hours all to ourselves. This morning, we laid on the couch for a while and watched Jammins. (Only for the 4,598,409th time this week.) When I told her it was time to go upstairs and take a shower she asked if she could shower with me. Oh sure, I thought. She likes to clean the walls in the shower with an old poof, so why not. Plus, her darling curls always look so pretty when they are freshly washed.

After the shower, she ran around in her birthday suit, giggling hysterically and screaming, "Naked Baby! Naked Baby!!!" All the while her adorable curls bouncing around her face. I threw on some clothes and said, "Peach! Time to put on your princess clothes!" Suddenly, my sweet little cherub became possessed by the fashion gods and decided that she was most definitely not putting on any of the "trash" she had in her drawers. I couldn't even get her diaper on her. When she went and pee'd on the floor in Mario's room (shhh! Do NOT tell him that!) I finally wrestled her down, kicking and screaming, and strapped on a diaper.

I pulled out a pretty pink dress. "No! I don't like it!"

I chose a cute new shirt with hearts all over it and some brown pants. "NOOOO! It's NOT princess!!!"

I opened all her drawers and told her to pick what she wanted. She proceeded to pull everything out, give it a once over, and toss it to the side like a rag.

At this point, I walked away to go finish getting myself ready. As I left her room, I heard her say, "Haha, Mommy! No get dressed!"

By the time I was done with my make-up and hair, I went in with renewed conviction that this girl was not going to be in the nude all day, whether she liked it or not. She finally picked out a shirt with purple flowers on it. I put it on for her, she looked in the mirror (yes, she loves to look at herself in the mirror) and she said, "No. Too big," and ripped it off. This went on for a while, till I finally found a nearly too small princess outfit from last summer. "Yes! Princess! Now get me dressed Mommy!"

Are you kidding me??? She isn't supposed to be this opinionated till she is at least 12 or 13, right? Have I mentioned that she is only 2??? My boys give me trouble now and then, but they never flat out fight me on things. I've never had to chase them down and sit on them to get their clothes on. I can see my mother now, nodding her head, with a gleeful smile on her face, thinking to herself, "Paybacks are a bitch, aren't they!"

After our long and arduous struggle, Peach looked at me, batted her long eyelashes and said, "You the best Mommy!" Which made me feel better for about a split second, and then she said, "And I the best Princess!"

I am in so much trouble.

Cheers!
~Daisy