Blasted Sippy Cups

I detest blasted sippy cups. Seriously, how old is too old for a sippy cup? I had a friend over this past weekend that has 3 children. Ages 4, 2 & 4 months. I have 3 kids myself. Ages 19, 6 & 4. As it went, she was in the kitchen fixing formula, when my 2 younger boys came running inside from playing, with her 2 older children. Let me make sure you got this clear, ok? There were 4 children, exhausted and thirsty, ages...6, 2 four YOs & 2. She tells her 2 kids, "Help your cousins find their sippies." Now, I know what you're thinking. She is used to her kids having sippies, so she simply slipped up. I gave her the benefit of the doubt, assumed the same, and gently corrected her. "They don't have sippies, Hun', they use grown-up cups & glasses." This is where it gets weird for me. "OH! I had no idea they no longer used sippies. They use the same cups as y'all?", she questions. I say, clearer this time, "Oh yeah." So she goes to the kitchen cabinet for the cups & says, "Oh my, there are only glasses, no plastic cups. You mean to tell me that is ok?" At this point I want to smack her back to her senses, but I don't, and say with a twinge of frustration, "That's fine, Dear, they are big boys now."

I was a little confused by all this. Don't misunderstand, please. I used sippies with my boys. When they moved on from bottles, I wanted them to use a cup, but I didn't want the spills. Also, for the first few weeks after bottle weaning, carrying around a sippy seemed as comforting as carrying a bottle for them. (See? I DO have a heart.) But as soon as they began self feeding, I would give them a cup (not a sippy) of juice or milk or kool-aid or iced tea, with their meal. They made a mess oftentimes, but they had to learn, and I knew it. With time they mastered it, and if we were somewhere without our sippy, that was ok. Before you know it, they are using big boy cups here at home, and even at restaurants and at Mamaw's house. It was a natural progression to us.

What I have witnessed recently, not only with this person last weekend, but with other family members, church family, friends & even strangers out in public places...THE ADULTS/PARENTS ARE THE ONES ADDICTED TO THE SIPPIES!

1. I think they are lazy. It's easier to keep up with the sippy, than clean up a possible mess.

2. I believe they can't bear to see the kids grow up. Ditching sippies equals independence equals less reliance on the parents, and they just can't let go.

3. Sippies, as opposed to cups, can be filled with 8, 10 or 12 ounces of drink at a time, therefore relieving the parent of continuous refill duty. Again...lazy.

4. Can we say "spoiled?" No, no, not the kids. The parents. The kids whine when they don't have their sippies to tote around like a baby doll, and instead of saying, "No, if you're thirsty here's a sip from this cup," they just wanna stop the whining and hand them the sippy.

I have friends and family whose kids are in school...SCHOOL...and when they come home they tote around a sippy. At what point do the parents find this ridiculous?! I see a child calmly say he's thirsty, and I watch the parents go into a panic and a search & rescue mission for the beloved sippy. I used to think that children who could carry on conversations, looked ridiculous with bottles. Now I think if they can tie their own shoes, it may be time to toss the sippies. I find it sad that MY boys are thought of as the weird ones, because they drink from a glass. Children are being allowed to drink anywhere, anytime because there is no fear of spillage with a sippy. Therefore, the are not being taught that there is an appropriate time and place for having drinks. I see kids drinking out of a sippy during worship services in the sanctuary. The parents, I feel, are using it as a "mouth plug." If they are drinking, they aren't talking or crying.

Folks, maybe I am the crazy one. I admit, I am not always right. BUT, if people feel the same as I do, when is it that we will speak up and tell these lazy parents that they are possibly making a mistake overusing these blasted sippies?!

OBTW...Later on, on the aforementioned day, my friend said to her 4 YO..."I can't believe you lost your pacifier again!" She then asked me if my boys still had pacifiers. Folks, my eyes rolled so far up in my head, I thought they might get stuck!!

Sick Again

I feel like I am sick WAY too often. It might be relative. I mean, I super-duper hate being sick, so I might think it's far too often, when in fact, I am sick no more often than the next person. Honestly though, I believe my immune system is very inefficient. I seem to catch every communicable illness that gets within a square block of my mucus membranes. I do all the suggested hygeine. I wash my hands often. I try to keep my hands away from my face. I also eat LOTS of FRESH fruits and veggies, take supplements like vitamin C, probiotics & echinacea. I get sufficient amounts of sunshine, fresh air & exercise. So how do I get sick so often? WHY do I get sick so often?

I get sick so often, I am beginning to worry about my immune system, no kidding. Things like Lupus & HIV have crossed my mind. I mention this to my doctor during visits. He flips through my file, raises an eyebrow, then assures me that I seem perfectly normal. So maybe I am. Maybe I'm a hypochondriac. Maybe it's all relative.

I will be telling you, my imaginary friend, every time I'm sick. Then I will go back thru the blogs and see if I genuinely believe that I get sick TOO often. If I think I am, I will go back to the doctor and 'put my foot down' about it. If I don't think I get sick too often, I will chalk it up to being overly worrisome, and I will deal with that appropriately. Either way, I am very eager to get this statred.

So, in the spirit of getting things started with a bang...
I currently have Strep Throat...and it sux.

TGIF? BUT...but...

Whenever I am on social websites like facebook & twitter, Friday always has a common theme. "TGIF!" Everyone and his brother seems to resent weekdays more and more each passing weekend. They speak of their personal hatred of Mondays, the boredom of mid week, and then begin their late week countdown to every weekend. It's the same outside the cyberworld also. On a scale from 1 to 5, 1 being hate it, 5 being love it...it's unanimous that Mondays are 1s, Fridays are 5s.

Unanimous, however, may not be completely accurate. Especially since I, for one, would rate Mondays a 4 and Fridays a 2. If you disagree, it is clear to me that you are not a SAHM with school age &/or teen children.

Now don't get all shook up. Please don't misunderstand. I LOVE my husband of 21 years and my wonderful & amazing sons. I also enjoy time spent with them. I uber-enjoy doing things as a complete family. All 5 of us, enjoying something as simple as a meal or church, as a single unit, is incredible. But...there's always the but.

Let's start with the husband. OMG, he is the best husband ever. He goes above and beyond that of the average husband, father & friend. He is selfless. He is generous and helpful to a fault. He is a manly man, who can put a 'machoesque' sub-husband in his place when threatened by teasing. I have the best husband out there...period. BUT (there's that word again)...but...when it comes to children, their care and feeding, juggling them and their periodic meltdowns, kissing boo-boos & other injuries & illness, preparing for transport, hyper flashes & lazy spells, 'girl' squeals, sharing issues and arguments, appropriate clothing choices, diet & nutrition, general messes, etc...he ADDS to the chaos. He has the best of intentions. He longs to be daddy of the year and helpful husband of the decade, but he is not. Whatever chaos and disaster that come with my brood, is elevated, exponetially when my loving husband adds his 'help' to the mix. He compalins often of our children's slobbiness, as well as my own, but fails to see his own trail of garbage & dirty clothes left in his own wake. He makes mountains out of mole hills. His volume knob does not have a low setting, and certainly not a mute. He has some sort of misled belief that if he is louder then the boys, they will be quieter, which is only relative, of course. His anxiety is painfully obvious in sticky situations, even if he tries to hide it, with out success. Meltdowns of children lead to his own personal meltdowns. His thought processes quickly become clouded. Food & clothing choices for the children become almost ridiculous. Shorts in January and cleats for walking the mall and a bowlful of peanut butter drizzled with maple syrup for snacks.

Then there's the teenager. At 19 years old, having graduated HS, he would rather be considered and called an adult. BUT...he is a teenager. He adores his little brothers. I have never witnessed sibling love to this extent in my entire life. He wants them to be happy, loved, secure and safe. He appreciates their beauty and innocence. He cannot believe he will ever love anyone, including his own children someday, any more. I can almost physically see his heart swell with love & pride in those boys' prescence. BUT (it just keeps popping up)...but...he equates happiness with laughter, and will do almost anything to make those boys laugh. After 19 years, he still does not understand the idea of appropriate actions in appropriate situations. He might tickle the boys during church worship services or throw them up in the air in the hospital waiting room. He endlessly enjoys wrestling with them, oblivious to the fact he is a grown man, all 260 pounds, banging into furniture and pounding acciedental blows to anyone in his vicinity. Being a teen, he is very forgetful and a bit self-centered too. Just because he is hungry and foreging for food in the kitchen, does not mean he remembers or thinks at all that the younger boys could be hungry or thirsty at this time too. Not to mention that considering the conquences of his or their actions is nonexistent. He doesn't think 30 seconds to the future. Teens only live in the now. And last but not least...when he wants those little guys' time and attention, he's right there, and when he is done, he is done. He couldn't care less about their desires to continue play or cuddling. As he says, "that's THEIR problem, I need to be alone." All too often he will get them into the habit of nightly cuddle time or all cranked up in play, and then suddenly, without warning, be all done, and the little ones don't understand. They seem to be left hanging and sometimes left wondering what went wrong, as the teen closes himself up within the walls of his room.

Most people would believe that 2 boys, ages 4 & 6, would be chaos in itself. Of all the chaos my tribe creates, the little ones add the smallest portion. BUT (jeesh)...but, they do, in fact add their portion.

I've said it a million times, and I mean it, "Waylon(4yo) was named after an outlaw (Waylon Jennings), and he is living up to that name." He climbs anything, runs everywhere, has a dirty face ALWAYS, tends to be moody, pees in the tub, sneaks, plunders, tears, breaks, leaves a trail of crumbs, refuses to wipe, and generally breaks all the rules on a regular basis.

Wyatt is a mama's boy who worries about everything, is a picky eater, is more stubborn than any mule I know of, cries easily, doesn't know the meaning of the words neat or tidy and talks endlessly. If he doesn't say, "Mom..." 1000 times a day...his tounge must have been rendered useless.

So Fridays, to me are the signal of a 2 day weekend of C H A O S! Mondays become my recuperation & recovery days.

Please let me clarify one important thing about all of this chaos. It is MY chaos. I love it, appreciate it, and will certainly, one day, miss my chaos when all my fledglings have flown the nest. God has certainly blessed me with the very finest fellas in the whole wide world. I love them. They love me. We are passionate about our love, our play, our faith and joy. BUT (yes, I said it again)...but, it is trying sometimes.

Where to begin...

I have never blogged before, so bear with me as I muddle through.

I started this blog to create a place in which to express my thoughts and feelings, hoping that someone, somewhere, within the spectrum of the 6.5 billion people of the world, would maybe listen to me.

I am currently a SAHM. I am a mom of 3 fabulous boys. Aaron is 19, Wyatt is 6 & Waylon is 4.

Aaron graduated HS last year, is still living with us, and working for a commercial roofing company...but only temporarily. He has applied to a missionary group, in hopes of doing full time missionary work for approximately 2 years. He will receive word on his efforts soon.

Wyatt is in first grade. He enjoys school very much. He is also very, VERY attached to me. He is our 'ham'.

Waylon is still home with Mommy, but will begin Kindergarten this August. He is aptly named, for he is my 'Little Outlaw'.

My husband works in the construction business as a concrete mixer driver. As the weather allows, he works long, hard hours. He is an excellent provider, as well as a terrific daddy, caring husband, faithful Christian and my best friend.

I am a...mom. I am a...wife. I am a...Christian. I am a...lonely person at times. I am hoping this blog will become an outlet for me. A place to muse, vent and generally...THINK...in print.

To anyone reading this:
Welcome to my blog, to a small portion of my world. Please visit anytime you like. Thank you mostly for taking time to hear me...for I often feel so unheard.