daily photo (365/5)

At the Belle Show

Today, I took my Princess Belle obsessed daughter to a production of Beauty and the Beast at a local high school. Three hours of high school kids singing and little girls waving flashing roses. Surely this earns me a week worth of good mommy points??

yeah, that's my worm

This afternoon I discovered an unidentifiable glob of orange goo ground into the couch. Abby came over, identified it as part of an orange gummy worm and insisted that Claire did it. Yeah, right. She seemed to know an awful lot for someone claiming to be innocent. Plus, she was the owner of the gummy worms in question.

Just then Claire cruised by so I asked her about it. Her response: 'Yeah, that's my worm.' She was all wide eyed and innocent, like she was grateful that I found her worm for her. She had no idea that this could be trouble. That you are not supposed to store your excess gummy worm bits in the couch cushions. Ah, the sweet innocence of youth.

The fact that my husband and I laughed like she was the cutest thing in the world probably explains a lot about why Abby wants to be a baby.

daily photo (365/4)

Breakfast by Daddy

daily photo (365/3)

Sharing an Ice Cream

After Claire's doctor appointment, I took the girls to see the puppies at the pet store and out for an ice cream. I love to see them having fun together.

is me time allowed?

Dear International Parenting Review Board,

I am writing to clarify the good mother guidelines. My girls are 4 and almost 2 years old. I do not work. I am home with them all day. Our days revolve around them and their needs.

My question: Am I entitled to any me time in this day? Without guilt? Is it reasonable to expect them to play together while I do something I enjoy- like blog, or read, or read blogs? I can justify the need for me to do things that benefit us all, like cooking diner. But I feel guilty doing anything I enjoy that does not involve them.

If they want to watch a movie and I want to be on my computer, is this okay? Or should I force them to play with me because it seems like what a good mom should do, even if it is not really what any of us want to do?

Let me clarify. I like spending time with my kids. I believe that I do my fair share of activities with them. I color and play dolls with them. Just yesterday I built a block tower. We regularly go to the library, local farm, YMCA pool and playground. I schedule play dates and visits with grandma. Abby goes to preschool and dance class.

Yet somehow this still leaves a fair number of hours to fill in the week. Given that most of our activities revolve around the girls, should all of our free time also revolve around them? Or am I entitled to some of this time, guilt free? Especially if it makes me a happier mommy?

I assure you I have heard the warnings from older parents about the time for yourself that you crave being all too plentiful when you are waiting for your grown children to visit. True enough I am sure, but do I really need to wait that long? I am not sure I would know who I am after so long.

Also, this is a small point, but if we are all sitting down at dinner am I obligated to get up mid bite to supply more food or a new fork or whatever my child demands? Is making them wait acceptable? If so, how long?

Perhaps after fulfilling a certain number of requests in a day I can consider my job done? Or if we do something extra fun in the morning, I can take the afternoon off?

Thank you in advance for clarifying these guidelines. I trust that your rules are fair and have taken into account the needs of all parties.

Sincerely,
Trying to be a Good Mom

daily photo (365/2)

Abby and the Blue Dress

This is currently Abby's favorite outfit. She picked out the dress and headband herself on a shopping trip last Sunday and has wanted to wear them every day since. I guess it is better than a bathing suit.

project 365- one photo per day for a year

I recently stumbled upon the idea of Project 365 at Photojojo and I have decided to give it a try. The idea is to take and post a picture every single day for a year. All 365 days. An entire year, day in and day out, documented in pictures. The big stuff and the everyday stuff.

I began this blog to better record, remember and celebrate this time in my life and the lives of my children. Recently, I was tossing around the idea of doing a series of photos documenting our everyday life and our home. I will use this project to expand on that idea.

I have plenty of pictures of holidays and birthdays, but so many other days go by and are all but forgotten. My goal will be to post a photo that captures something of our life each day. Some will be beautiful, some will be boring and I am sure some will feature what we eat, since I also write a food blog.

I also hope that taking a photo a day will make me a better photographer (as Photojojo assures me it will). My interest in photography goes back years, but since having my first baby I have photographed little else. Not even a single picture from a three day trip I took to London. Pathetic. So I hope this project will motivate me to occasionally take photos of something other than the girls. Eventually.

So without further ado, Project 365/1:

Little Princess Claire

I actually really love this picture. It is one of over 100 that I took today (how did I ever live without a digital camera?). I am experimenting with the shutter speed settings on my camera and the kids are great subjects because they are always moving.

wordless wednesday

Because cats love playing dress up.

all out of good mommy

By 8:30 this morning I was all out of good mommy. This was unfortunate because we have to leave the house at 8:30 to bring Abby to preschool. My kids get up around 7:30 which means on most mornings at 8:30 I am cleaning up after breakfast and having a cup of coffee while the girls watch some morning television. Harmony.

However on school days we need to get moving faster. We rush though feeding, potty, dressing and all the usual battles over hair brushing, clothes, accessories and missing shoes. This morning as we were heading out the door Abby had a meltdown because she was trying to balance a balloon on a rolled up piece of paper and it was not working the way she wanted. In case you are wondering this balloon was not a school project or in any way related to getting ready for school.

How exactly is it that I am responsible for every detail of getting all of us ready and out the door? At the very least can't I expect my four year old to focus on what we are doing rather than other random stuff? Especially if what we are doing is taking her to school? After throwing the balloon out of the car I attempted to get Abby's thoughts on these questions. The conversation could have gone better.

Typically, even on mornings like this I can muster up a good mommy routine at school. I am all "Good morning!!" and "Sweetie, lets hang up your coat!" and "Claire, honey, come back please!". But this morning I just could not do it. I was all out of good mommy.

miracle monday

The fabulous Beth over at A Mom's Life was called upon while shaving her legs to begin Miracle Monday. Who am I to question this type of calling? My standing in the religious world is somewhat questionable but none the less God has showered me with a number of miracles in recent years. So here is my first contribution.

Abby was the kind of adventure seeking baby who fell a lot, despite my best efforts to protect her. She fell off the bed, the changing pad and all sorts of furniture. When she was about a year old she fell down the entire flight of stairs. A full flight of hardwood stairs with a hard wood landing. I was steps behind her but not fast enough to catch her as she tumbled down step after step in horrifying slow motion. In that terrifying moment a thousand things flashed through my mind- head injury, spine injury, broken bones, death. I knew I had failed in my job of caring for this baby that I loved more than life itself. I knew she would never be the same.

And yet when the screaming (mostly mine) subsided Abby had nothing more than a small bump on the head. Nothing more than a small bump on the head from a fall down a full flight of stairs. She was completely fine. In fact, she was so fine that as I called the pediatrician she attempted to climb the stairs. It was truly a miracle to me. When I failed to protect my daughter, the Lord protected her. It is never far from my mind that accidents can happen in the blink of an eye and that my girls' good health is a daily blessing.

More Miracle Monday