Real Moms

I just finished reading Real Moms: Exploding the Myths of Motherhood, by Elisa Morgan and Carol Kuykendall. At times, I felt the authors were speaking directly to me! Here are a few "real mom" statements sprinkled throughout the book that I connected with.

"A real mom . . ."

" . . . picks her kids' noses." Yes, I do that on occasion.

" . . . puts dirty socks on her kids when the clean ones run out." Sometimes you just can't keep up with all the laundry.

" . . . really likes to sleep, but when that sick or scared-from-a-nightmare child only wants Mommy, deep down she really likes that too." Thankfully those nights aren't very often, and I like them even better when I can go right back to sleep.

" . . . sometimes gets tired, frustrated, and mad at her kids."

" . . . fusses at her kids a good part of the day, then lingers over them as they sleep."

" . . . sometimes has bad days (or weeks)."

" . . . always loves her kids . . . she just doesn't always like them."

" . . . thinks that occasionally the television makes a wonderful babysitter."

" . . . shoves all the dirty dishes in the oven when an unexpected friend arrives." The dishwasher works great for hiding those things I haven't gotten to yet.

" . . . smiles at her little angels as she passes someone else's screaming brats in the grocery store - and knows she shouldn't." Yeah, this usually happens the other way around for us.

" . . . uses real plates when entertaining guests. But lots of times the family gets paper plates." They're in the pantry, second shelf, to the left.

" . . . hardly ever gets all the laundry folded and put away. She just grabs wrinkled shirts from the pile."

" . . . knows that childhood passes so quickly - but not quick enough some days." Grocery days!

Here are a few I came up with on my own:
*A real mom sometimes falls asleep while reading to her children and makes up nonsense words in the process.
*A real mom makes her children take swimming lessons, whether they want to or not. And she makes them go underwater to get used to it.
*A real mom wraps up an uneaten lunch and serves it again instead of an afternoon snack.
*A real mom makes sandwiches for lunch a little more fun by cutting them differently to make two houses. Sometimes she makes a window in each one to make sure they taste good. :o)

I'm sure I can come up with more, given a little more time. :o)

Got some "real mom" thoughts to share? I'm sure I can relate!

Menu Plan Monday #29

Last week, we ate sandwiches almost every night because we came home from Billy's parents' house with a package of 24 dinner rolls and a 5-lb. container of potato salad. We put most of it to good use. This week, I'm back to cooking. Some nights, anyway.

Monday: leftover hamburgers from yesterday's grilling session - I have a meeting.

Tuesday: Taco Layer Dip - I'm hosting a homeschool curriculum gathering for several of my friends so we can look over what each other uses and ask questions about it. The big homeschool shopping day at Mardel is Thursday. Everything education-related is 20% off!

Wednesday: Florentine Scrambled Eggs, toast

Thursday: sandwiches - I will be attending a ladies' game night at church!

Friday: Chicken Quesadillas

Saturday: Jerk Chicken with Pineapple Chutney, served over a bed of rice

Sunday: - leftovers

For more menu plan ideas, check out I'm an Organizing Junkie.

Free Lunch!

The park where the boys take swimming lessons is one of a few in the city that participates in a summer nutrition program for kids. One lady I've been visiting with during swimming lessons said she lets her two grandchildren play on the playground after lessons, then have the free lunch. She didn't want to at first because she thought they may be taking a needed meal from someone else, but the man who works that park said the more people he serves, the more funding he gets to do it.

She said they serve a variety of hot and cold lunches. Monday was steak fingers, mashed potatoes, green beans, and chocolate milk. I don't remember what Tuesday's lunch was. We decided to stay for it Wednesday, which ended up being turkey and cheese sandwiches on wheat bread, apples, fruit juice, and chocolate milk. (I think there's chocolate milk every day, which Caleb doesn't like. I end up drinking his milk and he drinks from the water fountain.)

Today's lunch was hamburger pizza, corn (YES! I know! Pizza and corn, just like in school!), and soggy tater tots. And chocolate milk. Caleb ate everything except for a few bites of his pizza; Jacob only ate a few bites of his. I told them we'd keep doing that after swimming lessons as long as they eat the food. Once they start picking at it and wasting it, we'll stop.

It's a great program. There are so many kids that just hang out at the park all day, unsupervised. The guy who works that park brings a few board games, some crayons and coloring books, and a few basketballs so the kids will have a variety of things to do. He also provides a visible adult presence to keep down any misconduct. It's too bad all the parks throughout the cities in the Metroplex can't do something like that, but as long as some parks in not-so-great areas are covered, it's a vast improvement.

13 Staples in my Kitchen

Here's a list of 13 things that you can always find in my kitchen.

1. Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning
2. Pampered Chef Sweet Cinnamon Sprinkle
3. Pampered Chef Italian Seasoning Mix
4. olive oil
5. brown sugar
6. onion
7. bread
8. milk
9. cheese
10. peanut butter
11. jelly
12. ham
13. honey mustard

10 Favorite Movie Characters

Here's this week's Ten on Tuesday list, in no particular order.

1. Napoleon Dynamite
2. Willie Wonka (as played by Johnny Depp)
3. Captain Jack Sparrow
4. Ouiser Boudreaux (played by Shirley McClaine in Steel Magnolias)
5. Gracie Hart (played by Sandra Bullock in Miss Congeniality)
6. Patrick Verona (played by Heath Ledger in 10 Things I Hate about You)
7. Mater (voiced by Larry the Cable Guy in Cars)
8. Forrest Gump
9. William Wallace
10. Landon Carter (played by Shane West in A Walk to Remember)

I'm on a roll and could go on, but I won't... I'll save those for another day.

Bribery or Threats?

Jacob had his first swimming lesson today. He got his feet wet. That's all. He spent the whole 35 minutes of his lesson sitting at the edge of the pool watching everyone else. He was the only one who didn't get in.

His instructor tried to talk him into getting in the water, but he made several excuses why he couldn't. Later the pool supervisor sat by him and talked with him, trying her best to get him to go in. No deal. She said they'll try again tomorrow.

I wasn't so concerned with it today because the instructors were focused on gauging what each child is able to do. (They now know Jacob is reluctant, and that's putting it mildly.) Tomorrow they'll be put into equal ability groups so the instructors and children can have an easier time with the lessons.

Caleb, on the other hand, did super! He was excited to get in the pool and eagerly showed his instructor his bobs. He did the front float and glide. He's still nervous about floating on his back, though. He just won't relax enough to stay up. He keeps lifting his head up, so maybe he doesn't like having his ears under the water. Tomorrow I'll tell him to keep his ears under and find out what things he can hear under there.

But what can I do to get Jacob in the pool? I'm not above bribing him. He wanted to play on the playground after today's lessons. I told him no, but if he'll get in the pool tomorrow - and stay in the whole time - he can play on the playground AND we'll get a treat from Sonic on the way home. I've also told him that if he does well with swimming lessons, we'll get him a special toy. I'm ready to promise a black cat Webkin just like Caleb's!

I'm also not above threatening him. I paid $41 for his lessons and I don't want it to be wasted on his sitting on the edge for two weeks. If he doesn't get in the water by Wednesday or Thursday, I'm going to be really tempted to go through the gate and put him in the water myself! (There's a chain link fence around the pool, and only the lifeguard instructors and students are allowed inside during lesson times.)

Jacob is very strong-willed, so I'm not sure what's going to work. Any suggestions?