So What Wednesday.

I’m linking up once again with Shannon from Life at I Dew for another
So What Wednesday.

So what if…

-I put the toddler to bed early tonight.  Kiddo  was out of his mind he was so overtired.  Sprinting through the kitchen, then crying hanging on my leg. 
-I just heard H woke up and did a silent prayer to myself that he falls back asleep.
-I only clean my car out if I know someone other than my husband will be riding in it, (and only then does ‘cleaning’ entail brushing the goldfish cracker crumbs off the seats.
-I always leave the bath toys at the bottom of the tub for my poor husband to clean up, almost every time.
-Everything in my house has some sort of leveler under it.  Gotta love a 100 year old house with crooked floors.
-If that also means that if you position yourself correctly you almost always end up winning that game of pickup hockey in the kitchen.
-I can’t say no to projects at work, and am becoming slowly frazzled by the deadlines looming over my head.
- I skim, then pass over the last WAHM VS. SAHM VS.Working mom post.  Parts of me have been so conflicted lately that reading another will send me over the edge.  As a guilty party myself, I need to gather my thoughts before I post again about it.
- I let my voicemails sit for weeks at a time. 
- Don’t immediately (if even) respond to texts within the same day.
- I am loving my husband now having his first ‘smartphone’.  BBMing has never been so fun!

Thanks for reading, and link up with us for So What Wednesday.

Ashley

The snow finally came.

It was about time.

I’ve been anxiously awaiting a snow day/delay, anything to stay snuggled up in bed with Harrison.

H and I are currently enjoying our second delay of the school year.  I’m half watching the ridiculous Kardashians, while Harrison terrorizes his cats and dog. 

Last week the snow came and our district was one of the only ones that didn’t cancel, so I packed the feisty toddler up in his gear, trekked my way across town to drop him at care.  Then I  proceeded to almost get myself in an accident when my car slid into an intersection.

Became irrationally upset with the superintendent of schools for not cancelling the day, and continued to blame my almost car wreck all on him.

But all was worth it when we came home and let H-man experience snow for the second time this year.

               

Lets just say that toddlers + snow = lots of frustrations on their part.  He couldn’t take two steps without falling, and having a hard time getting up.  So we resorted to this…

 

       

 

Sweet Harrison wanted to rip those mittens right off.  Loved having a ‘snowball’ fight with momma and dadda.

It was a short lived excursion outside but worth it for all the sweet pictures. 

Messy Mom Monday

I’m linking up today with Katie from Loves of Life, Brittany from Living in the Moment , and Jess from  Dudes and Sweets. for Messy Mom Monday. 

                                        
I’m very fortunate to have today off, and in turn I’ve let my toddler destroy my house.
I feel like I’m in a constant battle with my entire home with cleanliness. 
Toddlers don’t help.  All I do is clean up after him.
Between the laundry, a picture that I won’t even post on the internet.  (Our laundry room is located in our old dark basement, that is currently being used as my studio too.)
The dishes, Sippy cup overload with all their bits and pieces. The twelve plates I use throughout the day to try and attempt to feed my temperamental eater.

The cabinets, that I just freshly painted today, because they were covered with chocolate milk splatter, grubby fingerprints…
The bathtub has been over taken with squishy letters, rubber ducky's, and the random objects (this week it’s paintbrushes) that Harrison insists he bring in the bath.
 
My car.  Oh my poor, poor car.  Cheerios, goldfish, pretzels, and a couple of lost sippies that I am sure are trash worthy.
But my biggest problem is the toys. 

THE TOYS…

The obscene amounts of toys one toddler accumulates is Insane.

Oh and the pictures that have only been sitting on the couch since Christmas ready to be hung.  Husband and I can’t make any decisions, so there the artwork lies.

Our solution to this problem was to put his toys on our three season porch.  This has turned into a poor decision because it is –2 outside and it’s called 3 season for a reason.  So, poor H wants to go out there to get his toys but mean mommy says no.  So we compromise, and allow H to bring his toys in.  We started with just a couple at a time, which rapidly morphed into this disaster of a living space.

The toys seem to steadily crawl outside of the living room, into the kitchen, and all the way around to the stairs.  Notice all my opened freshly painted cabinets, it was a very productive 2 hour nap day.

I vaguely remember the days where it was only me and the husband to look after, but it seems so long ago. 

So very very long ago.

Mommy only weekend.

The husband is going to be gone tonight for my little brothers bachelor party. 

A little bit of me is excited.  I’m looking forward to a little bit of mommy and Harrison alone time.  OK, Ok, more like momma alone time.

After that sweet sweet bedtime hour, the house is going to be mine. 

All mine.

 

Maybe I’ll enjoy a bit of this,    

With some uninterrupted perusing of this 

With this in hand

 

Maybe I’ll actually stick to my goals and do some more posts and preschedule them?

More than likely I’ll end up reading blog upon blog, and become obsessed with yet another blogging Momma out there.

To be able to read that other mommas out there are going through the same exact thing that I am with my toddler is incredibly refreshing. Talking to my coworkers about their children that were born within days of my son always ends with me leaving the conversation worried about my child's development.  Because their children are, of course, perfect and spouting off hundreds of words at 19 months. 

That’s where real life blogging mommies come in. 

They reassure me that those moms aren’t like all mommies out there.

I love that I can share via twitter that my 19 month old has a decent vocabulary but that his favorite words to use are “Oh, Shit”.  And heck, I get a laugh out of it not judgment.

The blogging world has made me feel better about myself as a mother when I’ve worried that I was screwing my child up by making him CIO.  Thank you BabeChilla for this great post.

 

So tonight I look forward to reaffirming my mommy choices, wine in hand, body on couch.., with this sweet boy tucked tight in bed..

So What Wednesday

I'm here linking up to Shannon from Life After I Dew with another So What Wednesday.

   (PS Shannon I love your SWW's, don't get rid of them!)

So here goes...



So What.....

-If I felt like not being the adult and acting like a child today at school when I found a student had deliberately put a tack on my chair.  (Really?  My feelings were more hurt than anything, I didn't sit on it.)

-If I really look forward to the lazy nights on the couch with my husband, after H has gone down to bed.  Sweet, sweet, silence.

-If I only scrub my shower when those little pink dots start to show up.

-If those pink dots have started growing up my shower curtain.  Can't believe I'm admitting that,  Gross!


- If I took some pleasure from the compliments my students gave to me.  Nothing like a kindergartner telling me I'm pretty.

- That I take full advantage of being an art teacher, and wear clothing with paint already on it to school.

- If I have ancient sippy cups lodged far under my car seat. It's so cold I can't smell them, so I leave them there instead of digging them out.  Again, Gross! 


- I'd rather sit here typing than do the four baskets of laundry that have been accumulating all week.



So there it is.  My disgusting So What's of the week.  

To be a working mom.

I was a bitch.


Yes, I said it.   I was a "b-word" to my day care provider.
(I curse IRL, it just feels so harsh to do it in blogging form)

 I'm having a hard time balancing mom commitments, work commitments, and those of my daycare provider.   That's what happens when you choose to use In-home care.

My provider is a relative of a relative on my husbands side, so she's 'family'.  I love her, I really do.  She cares for my child well, her family loves him, and I do not doubt that she makes sure all his needs are met.

I'm just having a hard time dealing with her inability to be consistent.  This is her job, I expect her to be able to do it.

See, this is where I start to get grumpy.   I'm just tired of early pick ups, last minute cancellations, and last minute drop off's because of her kids games.

I got a text last night at 8:30 pm.
Yes, a text, she doesn't call for some reason.  I wish she would.

The text let me know that she wouldn't be able to care for H the next day.
I only looked at my phone at 10:00.

So at 10:00 pm, I'm left with no care for the next day.   As a teacher, it is a big No-No to not come to school the day after a vacation.

This comes on top of my sitter telling me (on the same day as our 8:30 text) that she wouldn't be able to watch H until 10 am this Friday.

In the end it all worked out thanks to my fabulous MIL.   But it still left me with a sour taste in my mouth.
 (and a guilt inducing reply text from me that mentioned my"'scrambling for care for this morning and Friday"... I regret that.   It was done in anger and frustration.  Hence me being a 'b-word')

To stay in a place where I know my child is loved, and cared for but is not always the most reliable?
Or go to a center where I know they will always be open, have longer hours, but my child will be with a rotating set of care givers.

So I sit here with a list of pros and cons, with a decision I thought I'd never question.

Working and being a mom breaks me.

Well, it's been a while.

I'm one of those bloggers that is writing about the fact that I haven't written for a while.  

Typical.

It was hard rolling back into the transition of work and mommyhood.  I'm cashing in on nap time to catch up on the blogging world.   I was going back and forth in my mind whether or not I wanted to continue this venture in blogging, and to tell you the truth, I loved it this summer.

Creating and writing, posting, and networking.

Time management, spending time with my wild man Harrison, husband, and being in my very first Craft Fair, took all my time this fall.   As time went on the space got further and further from when I last posted so heres to a fresh year, and a fresh new start on my blog.


RECAP of September, October, November, and December...

- Had yet another birthday.... 26 years old.
- Started another school year, as the Crazy art teacher.
- Harrison transitioned wonderfully into being back at day care.
- Went to the fair with H, and he loved chasing all the animals around petting them.

- Also tried giving kisses to random little girls in the petting zoo.
- Went apple picking with daddy and mommy.  H was a blast, was able to pick his own apples and the whole experience got me excited for what we are able to do as a family now that he's getting a bit older.

 






October

-Trick or treating with my little Monkey.

- Had a crazy snowstorm where we took H-man out in his snowsuit to enjoy the fresh flakes

Note that since then it has not snowed again.

- Started panicking about the fact that I hadn't done enough for my first craft fair and set up shop in my basement creating away!

 November
- Participated in my first Alternative Craft Fair.  Deemed, Not your Grandma's Craft Fair.

Had a blast and met lots of new friends, and artisans.

December
- As a result of the Craft Fair made a couple more Etsy sales.  
-Involved lots of planning and shopping for gifts.  Created and dabbled in some homemade gifts including skittles vodka and homemade crayons.
-Sent out our Christmas card with this picture that I have fallen in love with, and since have overused all over my home.

- Celebrated my husbands Christmas Birthday turned 26.  Yes, I nabbed myself a younger man.
- Had a round of sickness on our Christmas break.  Started with H-man, moved on to me, back to H-man, then on to the husband. (and the cat and dog, gross).


So here's to a new year, with a fresh rejuvenation and commitment to writing this blog.