Kids Say and Do the Darnedest Things

From December, some holiday treasures to savour:

Molly is devastated that not only will Santa Claus be IN her house, but that he will EAT her cookies. Poor kid!

I woke up to a note beside my bed that exactly read, "Mom can we PLEASE get a dog and Molly will do everything." Sophie's new spelling words this week included "please" and she put it to good use too! Sorry Sophie, no dog for us.

Sophie and I discussed the importance/"realness" of Christmas, the Easter Bunny, fairies, Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy and God. The final verdict was that she doesn't believe in all of these people, but the ones she does believe in must live with Santa Claus at the North Pole....because how else can they all see you if they don't share the same 'magic snowball'. Love kid logic!!!

Molly at two says (and I quote), "butthole". This of course is followed by a time-out and a long lecture for Dad!

The girls are given a choice to stay up late for a movie and popcorn or extra story time in Mom's bed. Of course they choose a movie, but at bed time the following conversation ensues: Molly, "Story now, Mama." Me, "No story tonight because you chose to watch a movie." Molly, "I don't want watch movie!" Me, "It's too late, you already watched it." Molly, "I don't want to watch movie!" And on and on the circular conversation goes. Molly doesn't quite understand that what's done is done!

Apocalypse: Party-time or just keep truckin'?

Continuing with the challenge, answer this in just one sentence:

If this is the year to end all life, how would you live your life? Would you go on like normal? Would you party-it-up? What would you do differently or the same?

My answer: I would live more, better and harder.

Long answer: I would celebrate milestones, birthdays, holidays and everything in between with more enthusiasm. I would eat better, dress better, exercise more, and care for myself with intention. I would work harder, give more, share more, and love more. It would be great to travel, party, celebrate, laze and love, but if I knew this was it (because the Mayan calendar says so) I would want to leave my life being the best me I could be. I would want to leave this life knowing I lived with intention, dedication, passion and energy.   Leave this life being the best me, and not a different me.

Guess I better get going....you never know after all...this sounds remarkably like a new year's resolution...yuck! Doomed to fail! ;-}

Apocalypse: Me at Thirty-one.

Remember the challenge? Answer this question in just one sentence: if this year is the apocalypse year, the year that the world ends, how would you want to be described? (I know if the world ends there will be no one here to describe you or your life, but play along.) What have you done? Accomplished? What mark have you left? What kind of a person are/were you?

My answer: "Neither bad nor good at mothering, teaching or being a wife; Sadie leaves little mark on this world, but she tried to care for others first and loved her family with all her heart."

(Okay, I'm not a one sentence kind of a person so here is the rest.)

For every day that I have a success, I have a failure. For every day that I'm an awesome mom, I make a world-enveloping mistake. For every day I love others too much, I don't love myself enough. Whether any of this is good or bad I don't know, and I'm not sure I care because regardless of my errors, my flaws and even my triumphs I'm trying. I try to be a good mom, a good wife, a good friend, a good teacher, I try to be good and do good when wearing all my different hats. And, I honestly think that is all anyone can do. Do your best, be your best and always hope for the best. One day I may actually be the best I can be, and until then I'll just keep trying. What's that expression? An 'A' for effort. For me effort triumphs success and failure. I hope that those around me know that I'm always trying, striving, putting in effort...