Teenager laments

Since I have been a mother for, gulp, 24 years now, this parenting thing should be a piece of cake right? Nope, no way, uh uh. I just still cannot fathom how this precious little angel that once thought that I was a super hero, super star and best friend all rolled into one, can now see me as their arch-nemesis. When my children become that certain age of know-it-all-edness, I soon found myself as a disciplinarian turned police officer, turned prison guard when grounding went into effect, to finally be followed by parole officer. Gone were the years of friendship, giggles and time spent together, at least willingly. I seem to have become a woman that knows nothing and who has never known what it's like to......insert one of the following.....fall in love, be a teenager, get in trouble, fight with a friend, etc. I seem to have dropped here into my daughter's world as a middle age woman with no life experience of my own, at least in her eyes. Now I remember when I was first a mother and I knew, absolutely knew without a doubt, that this would never happen to me and my children. They would always love me, we would have eternal love and trust for one another, and the world would be right. I have learned that these dreams that we start with often skid face first into a nightmare once a child hits those double digits and continues for a while longer. I remember when my mom told me years ago that if I didn't kill my children during teenager years, that I would love them again once they were grown. I scoffed then. Now? Ah, once again a mother's wisdom holds true. If you don't believe me, just ask a teenager. They know everything. Till next time......

Birthday whines and aches

Did you ever feel that kind of tired that is totally debilitating? The tired that knocks you for a loop and leaves your head feeling strangely unusual? That is the tired that I soooo often feel lately and I am starting to think it's just another symptom of the almost birthday week. I guess that my body is fighting this age thing as much as my mind is and it seems to be an ongoing battle. Tomorrow my son turns 24 and since he is almost exactly 20 years younger than me, that means that unfortunately next week I will be 44. Now I am not one of those woman who has ever lied about my age or even felt humiliated about those advancing years of mine but the toll it takes on my poor muscles and bones is just unsettling. I really do remember when standing for more than a few minutes didn't cause that excruciating pain to shoot down my bottom (that lovely sciatic nerve), when I could kneel and not feel those little bones grind in my knees (and it didn't make that lovely cracking noise like dry leaves in the fall) or when I didn't find some strange new area of my body that ached for no good reason (like my elbows hurt today....for crying out loud!) I know that these are just little flags my body sends out (little white flags of surrender I imagine), that tells me to take better care of this body while I still can, but still, enough is enough. Maybe this year for my birthday I can wish for a new body....that is if I can blow out all of those candles without losing a lung. Till next time.....

Children as a form of entertainment

The other day I was talking to my father about how much I love the way a child's sense of personality develops and I am still thinking of it. You know how amazing it is the first time a child actually gets a joke or sarcasm and giggles at the right time? How about when they are watching a cartoon on tv and you hear them giggle out loud all by themselves? I love watching my oldest grand-daughter and how much she is developing her own weird and lovely personality. Jaide is 4 and is the grand-daughter that I spend the most time with since two are not in the area and the 4th is only 3 months old (and not up to spending much time at grandma's house yet.) Anyways, being a grandma means that for the first time I get to sit back and get a front-seat ticket to the entertainment without all of the worries and I am taking full advantage of it. The other day Jaide kicked a lamp that was sitting on the end-table and it started wobbling so I grabbed it and said "awww.....now you went and broke it" and she said "oh please, that lamp's been broke 10 years". Okay granted, it has wobbled for a long time since it has been passed down for generations, but 10 years? She's only been here for 4 of those, the little heathen. Now fast forward to later that same evening when I was on the phone with my mom and Jaide sat on the other side of me looking bored and finally found a solution. She moved the hair off of my free ear and laid her ear on mine. I asked her what she was doing and she said "trying to see if I can hear Nana too." I laughed so hard and told the child that I wasn't a sea-shell which she found hilarious of course. It seems that no matter how many years I have put into this parenting thing, the wonders never really cease. A child always sees things in a new light and always find an interesting and original way to share this with us and for that, I remain forever their greatest fan.

New blog, new group

I think everybody that knows me knows that I love to try new things. Give me a million dollars and I would probably try every new gadget, every "as seen on tv" gizmo and every new food product out there and never grow bored. So I was pretty thrilled when I found a new group called Pssst.... Now I admit I am skeptical about these new great groups because you soon find out that all they get you is a ton of unwanted e-mails and a bit of a headache. I was hoping that this one was different though since Pssst....is hosted by General Mills, which means a name I not only am familiar with but that I trust. So today I got my first email since I signed up (so nope, they don't inundate your inbox with spam) and it's to tell me about this great new product they have coming out (and to tell me that I will be getting a sample in the mail to try.) Now how can you beat that? Anyways, I go to the site to read about the new product and its a yummy one. It's for a new thin crust from Pillsbury which is wonderful on its own, but you can also go to their website to get a bunch of recipes for free. Now lately I have been totally into cooking shows again (still hoping that I will find something that EVERYONE will like at the same time) and trying to go a bit healthier as well. Having a new thin crust means thinner calories and more room for creations. YEAH!! So on this group I have to say it's definitely a win/win. Till next time....