The Secret In the Sauce

My little two-year-old is such a giant shining star in my life. He is so much fun and makes me laugh multiple times a day. I was talking to one of my mom's friends the other day and she said, "We all love our kids of course, but don't you find that some are just (pause), juicer than others?" Well said, and very true. With that being said, my shining star has entered the 'terrible two's' and it is exhausting! I'm re-naming this phase the 'tantruming two's' because that is the biggest issue. He knows what he wants but doesn't really want to try to tell me exactly what that is, nor does he like to be told no, later, just a minute or anything that doesn't satisfy him immediately. He starts jumping up and down and whining and crying and screaming - it's totally awesome. "Blessed are they who expect little for they shall not be disappointed."     Expectations reduce joy. Most of the time we get frustrated becaus...

Parents. What would you say is the roughest, toughest, dirtiest job you've ever had? Do you watch the show "Dirty Jobs" with Mike Roe? Would it be one of those? A job in the military and being deployed? Being a CEO of a major company? Working on Wall Street? An ER Doc? A heart surgeon? A teacher? What would you say is the most important job you've ever had? Well, I can say, without equivocation that being a parent is both the toughest, dirtiest  and most important job I've had. I've had some stressful and demanding jobs but raising my kids is putting me through the wringer more than anything else I've done. I'm not quite sure why I have ever been or would ever be compelled to answer the question of what I do for a living with the, 'I'm JUST a stay-at-home Mom,' nor can I wrap my head around the fact that some people sneer at that answer or look down with disdain. Isn't it pretty much the most critical and ...

Ah Valentine's. I read yesterday that St. Valentine was actually a Roman Priest who was beheaded. Nice. I'll have to do a little more research into why exactly Valentine's day became a lovey holiday based on this person. At any rate, I still enjoy it. In years past I've coerced my man to take me out to dinner and started thinking this year that it might be a fun day to celebrate as a family instead. And it turns out quite a few of my friends already do that! So I jumped on the bandwagon and declared the whole week a week of love. I tied all of my nightly meals to the theme: Monday - HEART-burn chili and LOVEly cinnamon rolls Tuesday - Lady and the Tramp Spaghetti Carbonara Wednesday - Red Chicken (well, orange chicken - it's one of the kids favorite dinners) Thursday - Double Chocolate Sweetheart Waffles with sweetened whip cream and fruit topping with strawberry smoothie and my perfect scrambled eggs Friday - Date night (this one is for me and my man) ...

Oh the joys of parenting. Or not. Honestly, it's okay to once in awhile say, "this job sucks!" in regards to parenting right? We're back on the Preston Whirl-Around roller coaster ride and I'm never sure from one day to the next what is going to happen. I guess it's like that damn box of chocolates that Forest Gump emblazoned into our brains - I never know what I'm going to get. I try and try to be patient but like the 'Sound-O-Meter' they put on the jumbo-tron at basketball games, that's what my patience level looks like in a week, or a day, or an hour. Try as I may, it isn't always possible to have my game face on or kept the wrath of mom bagged. The point is that I try and I don't beat myself up anymore when I'm not June Cleaver. I do take note when those moments happen and with a shake of my head recognize that I didn't handle that the right way and review what would have been a better way to go about that issue. I think ...