Our latest Sunday Adventure

I told this story to my dad, and he said I needed to make sure to tell other people about this so, here goes: It was Sunday morning and my husband was gone with the youth in our ward to serve at the Utah State Developmental Center to help push wheelchairs. I was left at home with my three darling kids to try to get them ready and out the door for church. I was left without a car and we needed to walk to church, which gave me a little less them to get ready then normal. We were doing pretty good, but I was bouncing from one place to another trying to get kids ready. The boys were getting dressed on their own and my two year old daughter, Addi, insisted on getting ready on her own as well. She picked out her pink dress to wear so I pulled that down and gave her a pair of underwear to put on. I left her with her clothes and went to check on the boys. Addi came out dressed and I was proud of her for doing it on her own. We finished getting ready and headed out the door. Amazingly, we were actually on time as well. I was feeling pretty good about things. We'd been in the meeting for a few minutes and, after the sacrament (about 15-20 minutes into the meeting), Addi said she needed to go to the bathroom. I took her into the bathroom and, in the process, found out that she wasn't wearing any underwear. Totally commando! Not a big deal for boys, but a pretty big necessity for girls wearing a dress. My jaw dropped. I didn't even think to check to make sure she had put the underwear on! Since I didn't have a car, I'd have to walk home to get my daughter underwear since it was a necessity. Thankfully, I have a "Mary Poppin's purse", where I have all sorts of odds and ends in it (lesson learned from 8 years of parenthood). I had a slip on diaper which is underwear-ish that we were able to use. My new lesson learned is to always check to make sure my daughter had underwear on when wearing a dress.

Boring

The other day I overhead my five year old tell my two year old "Mom's a boring person, ya know". Apparently I need to liven things up. My husband thought it was awesome.

I love my neighbors

On the one day I'm at office, Jeff will usually text or instant message me small things that the kids say or do. today, this is the story I got:

"so... Ethan just knocked on the door looking for Nate (who is at Jakes)
as I opened the door, I see Warren accross the street with a football.
I look a little closer, and I see Blake next to him,
then I wonder "where is Zach, he went over to play with Blake..."
Then I see a little tuft of red/brown hair poking up over the top of a car in the street, and notice that Zach is wrapped around Warrens legs trying to tackle him...
then I see Warren tumble to the ground..."

I have some seriously awesome neighbors. Once again, I'm so grateful for the awesome neighborhood we live in. Hopefully our neighbors think we're ok too. Granted, my son just took our neighbor down so who knows...

life skills

I've been at work for the last 11 1/2 hours and my brain is fried, so I'm going to take a couple of minutes to give me some sanity. I was talking to some friends and we talked briefly about some "life skills" that just good skills in general. This all started when I was talking to another friend and she had said that, as she watched her kids grow up, she felt bad for the neighbor kids, like cub scouts, who didn't know how to swim or play basketball. She thought both of those were good life skills to have. Not critical (well, maybe swimming can be critical in certain situations), but very helpful to have. My husband added being able to play golf as another life skill in the business world, which I have come to appreciate since he has been golfing in a business situation many times in the last ten years. I also think being able to drive a stick, or manual transmission on a car, is also a life skill. We've had a couple of cars that were manual transmission over the last few years and I've had my younger brothers who were going to drive them a short distance, like around the block, and couldn't because it was a stick. So, there's another designated life skill.
I've become good friends with my boss, who is an attorney, and think the world of him. We have a really good relationship and have talked about many many topics. He has told me, flat out, not to spoil my kids. He has said that's one of the worst things you can do as a parent. Growing up, my parents made me do chores around the house, help watch my younger brothers, mow the lawn, and all sorts of jobs. I was told that if I wanted to be able to drive a car when I turned 16, that I needed to get a job and pay for my own car insurance. With the exception of a couple of months, I have had a job since about a month after I turned 16. My parents helped me develop a good work ethic and it has greatly influenced my life. I'd be in a much different position without a good work ethic. I didn't necessarily want for anything growing up, but I certainly didn't get everything I wanted either. And I realize that was one of the best things my parents could have done for me. My poor kids. They get told "no" all the time. I've also tried to explain to them that it's not because I'm trying to be mean, but because if we get everything we want, then we become spoiled brats and no one wants to be around that. They don't have the coolest toys. They don't have iphones or ipads, and won't be getting them any time soon. I hope I can strike the balance between giving my kids what they need, and never spoiling them. I have watched adults my age, or around my age, who have been spoiled as kids and he has been a great detriment to them. HUGE detriment in fact. So, here's hoping to be a good parent who can take care of her kids, love them to death, and yet give them the life skills they need to become the best people they can be. Wish me luck.

I think I can, I think I can, I think I can....