Mothering Mayhem: Life with the Wild Boys

Sunday morning. A thing of beauty, but for what the cop and I have dubbed "fair hangover." It started as a simple plan.  Every year we go to the county fair.  It's a tradition, it furthers our appreciation of small town living.  Plus, about a quarter of the entries are by Auntie or our oldest boy.  Seriously, there's not many livestock areas you can wander past that the teenager doesn't have at least one competitor entered in, which adds to the "rustic charm" of the fair experience since loosely translated it means we will be spending time with every form of livestock known to man and I will not have nearly enough hand sanitizer to keep me sane throughout.  This year, with the new schedule, I decided it was time to try an evening fair experience.  This was common for me as a single and with my older kids, but since the addition of the wild boys it has been a virtual impossibility.  This means that for several years now I have missed what has bec...

Often times, when children visit or are babysat by family members it takes a little while to gently tease out whatever damage may have been done.  This is not the case with the wild boys.  They come home eager to tell tales of all of the forbidden extravagances they have been allowed.  And that's to be expected.  But perhaps most entertaining is when they have experienced something entirely new that a family member has clearly not felt entirely comfortable explaining.  We've all been there.  None of us want to be the monsters that ruin the fun of Santa or the Tooth Fairy while we are in charge of someone else's child.  But this time it was poor Auntie suffering the questions of pregnancy (insert dramatic sound track here). Somewhere along the line while Auntie watched the boys they encountered a very, VERY pregnant lady.  And when Auntie brought them home they were very interested in when I would have another baby (ummmm, never. EVER. I tipped t...

Obviously my material this week is limited.  After all, the boys spent their week without this chick.  And then they didn't even want to talk to me on the phone at night! What a rough crowd.  Apparently they survived camping out, kayaking and movies (i.e. copious amounts of spoiling). That being said, I have decided to reach way, way back for this weeks edition to the ultimate birth control: pregnancy.  Because I don't feel like people give an accurate representation of this part of parenthood in the least.  I've been spending some time with some ladies trying to get pregnant for the very first time, and the information they are being provided is setting them up for failure in my humble opinion.  Now don't get me wrong. I'm sure I've said before, and I'm sure I'll say again, my boys are the best part of my life. They are amazing creatures who never cease to amaze and entertain.  And I know there are women out there who absolutely adore pregnancy, and...

Here I sit, blogging a day early. Ahead of schedule? How is that even possible, you ask? Well it's not.  I'm doing this now as a means of escape since I have piles of laundry waiting and packing that needs to be completed. Plus it has the added bonus of putting me in the same room as the munchkins, who as a result of the lunar cycle (or lack of sleep or change in routine or some other random crap) run extreme risk of needing hospitalization due to rough play this evening.  And being a fantastic multitasker I am able to referee and type simultaneously.  If only I could add in the laundry I'd be one happy chick. Laundry and packing.  Every mom's dream come true. And the only real benefit of laundry and packing? That's right, travel.  This Momma is out of here on Monday, gone for a week of gang training in southern California.  And my own testosterone gang? Left to their own devices. But no, not really, I'm not that cruel.  I have tagged in the gra...

My bouncing baby boys, they are amazing creatures.  And, having subscribed to the attachment model of parenting, were pretty much sewn to me for...well, it felt like forever I'm not going to lie.  I was a huge believer of the whole "the world is a cruel place, and they'll figure it out soon enough, so why not comfort them when it's simple and I have the ability" train of thought.  That train of thought, it has produced fantastic little humans.  But really and truly, it's time to switch them from the mommy train to the train that takes a nice, scenic tour through manland.  That was the declaration of the cop after discovering how badly his little men wanted to blow dry their hair and paint their toenails. So, starting a few months ago the cop changed his schedule.  For the first time in years (about four, to be exact), the cop and I had days off in common.  This allowed for limited couple time, but a vast increase in paternal exposure and best of all,...