Mistakes in Motherhood

I will call it “Drop off your damn kid like you have a brain, 101″.

Austin goes to a charter school, it is an amazing school, it is free, but it comes with a price. The price is that it is a commuter school and most parents must drop off and pick up their kids. I think there is something about this parking lot that turns normal people into complete idiots. The school parking lot is designed very well, I think my 3 year old could figure out how to navigate it, however some parents seem to regress to the wisdom of a newborn babe as soon as they cross the thresh-hold.

The parking lot is laid out simply:
You enter, you pull into bay A or B depending on which one is empty, you pull your car up to the front of the line, you kick your kid out the door and leave.

Simple huh?

Yeah, one would think so but this is what I see on a daily basis:

• Bay A is full, Bay B is empty, and cars are backed up to point C so no one can get into bay B because heaven forbid we let our little prince or princess walk TWO full freaking car lengths more to get to school! Let everyone behind us be late, we MUST wait to get to Bay A!
• Kid sits in the front seat, backpack goes into the trunk, so in order to kick the kid out of the car, we must make a fiasco of kid out, unlock (or pop) trunk, rifle through the crap in the trunk to find book bag, binder, lunch pail, coat, etc. What happened to putting your coat on, your crap inside the backpack and put your junk on your lap or feet so mom or dad can pull up and you can move onto class.
• This is my favorite, I love it when mom makes a HUGE production of sending her baby off to school with multiple hugs and kisses and the line is backing up around the block. I feel like screaming “GET A ROOM!!” I can understand this if little Johnny is going off to kindergarten for the first time. But this is middle school! for shit’s sake people, your kid is TWELVE! You are humiliating your kid into lifetime therapy!
• I love it when cars stop directly in line with the door instead of proceeding down to the end of the line. This prevents about 6 more cars from entering the drop off line and slowing the whole process down.
• Same goes for the people who stop one or two car lengths between the car in front of them. We are not driving at highway speeds here, 15 second rule need not apply. Guess what, at ZERO miles per hour, you can be less than a foot from the car in front of you and STILL be able to stop in time!

I am sure more topics to my class will come up as time goes on. Props will include gestures and words not suitable for young children, so if you wish not to attend, pull into the first available bay (yes B is just as good as A) pull up all the way to the numbered line, kick the kid out of the door with no more than a wave or a “have a good day” and then GET OUT! If you do wish to attend, please arrive between 7:15-7:35, and behave like your IQ is the same number as the temperature is outside. This seminar is complimentary and includes a free birdie, multiple four letter words you may not have ever heard combined before, and if you are lucky I may just get out of my car and smack you upside the head!

Have a nice day!

8 Comments | In: This is how I roll | tags: Austin, Lame-o, Public Service Announcements, Ranting, School, Tirade, Vehicle(s). | #

I am finally back from my 3 week long vacation in Spokane and I totally need a vacation! The short version

• 3 weeks away from home
• 4 kids- ages 12, 10, 3, and 1 month
• Just me, Bobby did not come
• 3400 miles driven total
• Four 12 hour days of driving

Every year I try to send Austin & Christopher to see my parents, either by flying them up to Washington alone, or by flying or driving with them. Last year we flew them up first, then Bobby, Matthew and I drove up together and then the five of us drove back together. The trip from Colorado to Washington is about 1200 miles each way.

This year Bobby did not have enough vacation time and it was even more important for me to go because my dad is having some health issues and because I wanted my family to meet Sophia. I knew it would not be easy to drive that far with a 4 week old and a 3 year old, but they were actually very good. My van has a DVD player in the back and all the jacks necessary to hook up a game system, so the three boys brought their Gamecube and kept themselves entertained while the baby slept through most of the drive. We made a point to stop once or twice a day at parks along the way to get the kids out of the car. In Billings the hotel we stayed at had a pool with a water slide and the five of us unwound in the pool, which was heavenly after the long drive.

My dad looked amazing, we don’t know what is causing his health problems, but he has to be on oxygen and we are all pretty bummed about that because my dad leads such an active lifestyle and the oxygen pretty much keeps him tied down. My dad is a non-smoker, and the doctors had no answers to why he is having breathing problems, despite spending a week in the ICU.

While we were there we visited with Bobby’s nieces and nephew who we met last year for the first time. To make a long story short, Bobby and his brother had a falling out. We have always liked ex-SIL, but lost contact with her when we moved away. I met her back in 1997 when she introduced us to her oldest daughter, R., despite her husband’s (Bobby’s brother) wishes. I found BIL on myspace, contacted his girlfriend who gave me his ex-wife’s number, and we have been in frequent contact since.

Here is a picture of her youngest daughter with my youngest daughter. Click to see a larger image.

And here is a picture of her three and my four.

From Left to right is Austin -12, B. – 9, and Matthew – 3
Christopher – 10, A. – 6, R. – 11, and Sophie – 5 weeks.

In addition to spending time with my parents and his family, we also got to go to Faragut National Park in Idaho for a family reunion. My mom and her sisters and their families get together once a year for a long weekend campout. Since my dad could not stay the night and I did not want to camp with a baby, we drove back and forth each day (1 hour drive each way). My sister kept Austin and Christopher with her so they were able to stay the night. Matthew loved playing in the dirt as you can see.

It was so nice to spend the weekend with my sisters, Aunts and uncles, cousins, and all their kids. My oldest sister made me the nicest gifts ever, she is so talented. She scrapbooked a little brag book, and hand painted Sophia’s name on wooden letters, she also got her the most darling little outfit. All three were in Sophie’s colors, pink and brown, which I did not know were also my sister’s colors. I need to take and share some pictures, the scrapbook has got to be about the most gorgeous thing I have ever seen, I wish I had an ounce of her talent.

We also spent a lot of time up at their cabin in Priest Lake Idaho. The older boys stayed a little over a week up there with my parents, where the little ones and I drove back and forth a couple times (2 hour drive) since the cabin is unsafe with exposed electrical and a loft without rails. They are building it themselves, so they are waiting for inspections and such, and with my dad’s health issues, they did not expect the process to take so long. Since they are only a couple miles from the lake, we spent almost all our time at the lake. Click on the pictures below to see larger images.

Time flew by so fast, I only got to spend a couple hours with my best friend of 28 years, and my best friend of 14 years.

My mom started the potty for penny campaign with Matthew, and now he is almost potty trained, I am so proud! He is now peeing in the potty with maybe one or two accidents a day, and rarely needs reminding. Even more shocking is that he is pooping in the potty, something we could not get him to do when we almost had him trained a few months ago!

Leaving was bittersweet, I was so homesick and missed Bobby so much, but I did not want to leave either. I had such a wonderful time with my parents, and the boys were ready to leave me forever and live with their grandparents forever. My 11 year anniversary is tomorrow, and school starts in 2 weeks, so it was necessary to return. On the drive home, I did get some amazing pictures of Sophie, you can’t tell in the pictures, but her eyes almost looked violet in the light.

She was so good in the car, she only cried when she wanted to nurse. The rest of the time she either slept or just looked around contently, or smiling at her brothers.

4 Comments | In: People, Places & Things | tags: Austin, Auto Stuff, Bobby, Christopher, Family, Friends, Health, Holidays, Insanity, Marriage, Matthew, Me, School, Sophia, Vacations, Vehicle(s). | #

No, not Sophie, she will come when she wants to come and be right on time.

My baby as in my new car!! I have been bitching about my ’00 Ford Windstar for a LOOOOOOOONG time because it probably needed 2x its value in repairs that I was just not willing to pay for. It came down to a few choices… either suck it up and go into debt to fix my van and hope nothing else goes wrong for another 2 years. Suffer without heat, and all the other problems. Or my third and final choice was to trade it in and hope we get a good deal on another car. Well, that deal came along today when I learned that my bank, USAA, would take $3,000 off the purchase price of the van I wanted. They also valued my POS van at $2500 for trade in, which is about $2000-15000 more than what we expected.

Ideally, I would still have liked to wait until both cars were paid off and we had several thousand to put down, however I just cannot imagine putting my new little girl into a car that I cannot trust NOT to break down on me, and lacking heating/cooling.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE my new baby!! If you had to marry something that you loved this much, I would be a polygamist. I got a 2008 Honda Odyssey EX-L with the optional rear entertainment package. It has so many features I could write pages and pages about all the little things I love.

Here is the stock photo, since I just got it and have not taken pictures yet, and a link to all the features.

2 Comments | In: Uncategorized | tags: Family, Me, Newsworthy, Something Worth Mentioning, Vehicle(s). | #

Today was supposed be Austin & Christopher’s first day back to school after a LONG, LOOOOOOOOOOONG winter break, but the school had other plans and I guess we missed the start date and assumed it was today.

Nope, it’s tomorrow. I leaned this after Austin called me to ask if I wanted him to walk home or if I would pick him up from school. W.T.F??? Why would I be picking you up from school 15 minutes before classes start?? He then explains there is no school today, so I get dressed and drive to get him in my freezing ass van. The heat was on full blast the entire time, but of course never kicked on. Twenty-damn-degree weather is NOT the time to have no heat, and totally not a great way to start the day. Bobby also showed me the hideous clicking noise it makes instead of cooling. Lovely. A full year without heating, cooling, and four kids ages 12-newborn… how ever did I get so lucky?? Oprah needs to give me a new van, otherwise my only hope of having a vehicle that keeps the passengers happy, does not turn my driveway into an oil slick, and does not smell like death warmed over every time it is started is some rich long lost relative kicking it and leaving me their fortune. Otherwise I just don’t see us having the $37k I would need for a van anytime this decade. At least in a year when my POS-car is paid off I can justify a car payment.

I am exhausted. I got two hours of sleep total last night in 30 minute increments. The dogs are at my feet with horrible gas, and I am hungry and feeling quite nauseous. The worlds-crankiest-toddler has decided today would be a great day for fits and tantrums… because he did not want a clean diaper, did not want to eat, and lord forbid I watch the news this morning instead of Sesame Street or the Wiggles. This is of course after he dominated the television for an hour.

I just want to crawl back in bed and emerge to happy kids and a working vehicle.

No Comments | In: Uncategorized | tags: Bobby, Christopher, Family, Lame-o, Matthew, Me, Ranting, Vehicle(s). | #

My check engine light just came on… again. It keeps getting better and better!

No Comments | In: A lot about nothing | tags: A lot about nothing, Vehicle(s). | #

I hate my van, I hate it, I hate it, I hate it! I should have taken it back the moment we got it home and it started leaving oil spots on my driveway, or sold it when the dealership could not fix the leak the first, second, third, fourth, or even FIFTH time I had it in for a visit. The perpetual overheating smell it lovely, even when you drive it two blocks to the store. I have cussed at it all winter long when I go start it at 7:00 to find it still blowing cold air at 7:15 and get home from taking Austin to school at 7:35 JUST for it to start warming up. Today takes the cake though, I get two blocks away to a stop light and it sounds like I have a pain can full of marbles in the paint mixer coming from the dash of my car. It was the most hideous sound ever to where the baby was saying “too loud mommy, too loud!” and Bobby could hear it through the cell phone when I called to bitch. I wish it was paid off, I really do, because I want nothing more just to get rid of it and get something that is not falling apart at my fingertips!

3 Comments | In: Uncategorized | tags: Lame-o, Ranting, Vehicle(s). | #