Book Recommendation

I recently read the book Great Kids Are Homemade by Shelley Wille. She is a mom of six, and knows what she is doing! It is full of creative fun things to do with your kids. From celebrating everyday things to special occasions to plain old silliness, it is all about together time as a family. I hope to incorporate some of her ideas...once I get my act together.

I don't hold out a whole lot of hope for that at the moment. Today started with a call to poison control because the baby ate some of his sister's lotion that was left out where he could reach it. (He is fine.) It got worse from there. :)

Found

I found the stocking stuffers hidden in the baby's closet. They will now be New Year's surprises. Whee!

I found out that watching someone else's child is exhausting - no matter how well-behaved they are.

I found that not doing laundry every day results in two hours of folding once it does get done.

I found that you can never say thank you enough to your mom.

What I've Learned...

Don't hide the stocking stuffers so well that you can't find them on Christmas Eve.

Sucked Back

I'm filling in at work this week. Ugh. Ditto said it's like the Hotel California. "You can check out any time you want, but you can never leave." Apparently.

My last day was a month ago. The Monday after that, my counterpart (and it was only the two of us in our position) gave her notice. Only, her notice was a month long. Did they find a replacement? No. Did they bother to look? Not really. They were hoping to find someone by word of mouth. Sheesh. Then they finally posted an ad, and now they have a bundle of inadequate resumes. So I'm back. Temporarily.

Boy it had better be very temporary. I was just getting used to being home, and now I have to get my head back in the working mindset. Not to mention the scheduling nightmare it has created with the offspring's schedules. If I could have juggled those in the first place, I wouldn't have quit.

So I went in to the office Friday to have Counterpart catch me up on what's been going on, and what needs to be done... When I quit, I thought I'd miss everyone tons, and I'd miss the adult conversation, and knowing what is going on in everyone's lives... After being there one day, it's amazing how much I don't miss them.

To play or not to play

I am faced with a new dilemma. My kids want to play with their friends every day after school. I never know what to say. It's easy if we have some conflicting appointment, I can say 'no'. But most of the time we don't have anything pressing. I don't think they need to play every day. It's hard to get into a routine if they are flitting off to their friend's houses every day.

BUT I feel like a tyrant if I don't let them without a good reason why not. They have never had the chance to play with their friends after school because they were always at the babysitter's. What works the best? Pick a few days a week as 'play days'? Do I ask them for their input? Do I just lay down the law?

I need stay-at-home-mom lessons.

Beginnings

The blog-o-sphere. A place to spew all of our thoughts, feelings and daily dramas, and then sift through them with friends and total strangers. What fun!

I am a recently unemployed-by-my-own-choice mother of three. I have two daughters and one son. I am married to a great guy. I have a house and a dog. Yep, that's me in a nutshell. Lately, it feels more like nut-case! Or nut-house. Who knew staying home was so hard?