It's Not Like Riding a Bike

early Mother's Day gift

2009-04-23T22:51:00.003-05:00

Parenting is hard. Stating the obvious I know. I’ve got it coming at me from both sides. Juggling an infant and a preteen/tween/twerp.

Recently, it’s been the eldest one that’s giving me fits.

It just always seems to be something. The blasé attitude towards everything. Taking his grades for granted, almost causing a dive in his GPA. Having a girlfriend, which he NEVER TOLD ME ABOUT. Notifying me of Spring Band Concerts with only about 3 hrs notice.

And the largest infraction. Getting booted from safety patrol. His involvement in other extracurricular activities took away from his commitment, and the result was that he was ‘fired’. He didn’t get in trouble for that. Where he went wrong was that he didn’t notify me of this development for TWO WHOLE MONTHS.

I tell you what, it always seems to be something. We never seem to stay at an even keel for very long. Soon as he comes off restriction, he ends up back on it. It leaves me wanting to pull my hair out sometimes.

For all my moaning and groaning though, I know how lucky I am. If these are my biggest complaints, then I have it made..

And then there are days like yesterday. When everyone (except Hubby, who is traveling for work) is home for the day. I always ask him how his day was, if anything of note happened. Usually, I get a shrug, or a ‘Nothing’, from Mr. Noncommittal Preteen. Not today. That alone is a gift.

But I was given much more. Yesterday, a bunch of classmates were making fun of someone. Someone physically limited, not like them. Not only did my son decline to participate, he even SCOLDED his fellow classmates with regard to their behavior.

Since kindergarten, peer pressure was one of my son’s biggest weaknesses. The bane of my existence. And now one of my biggest victories as a mother.

can you really recycle wives??

2009-01-06T16:00:00.001-06:00

See if you can follow along.

Ex-husband has been married three times. THREE times. Between three wives, he has fathered four children (before he finally got snipped).

I say ‘has been’, because last summer he divorced wife #3. Shocking, but yet not. Not shocking that he’s divorced again. But shocking in the fact that HE was the one that chose to end the marriage. He’s just not that type.

Unless you know him well enough that he wouldn’t do such a thing unless he had a plan…..a replacement. Ex-wife #2.

Yes, you read that right…..he left wife #3, for wife #2. Somehow, the both of them got it in their head, that their divorce was a mistake. Given what I know, I have no earthly idea how they drew that conclusion. They had this big romantic explanation to justify their actions and current relationship.

It only held together for 6 months. Ex-wife #2 kicked Butthead to the curb this week.

Now Butthead’s trying to cry on Ex-wife #3’s shoulder, moaning & groaning over how sorry he is, and how messed up his life is. I fear a reconciliation is possible, no matter how much she protests right now. Time will tell.

He knows better than to try to turn to me. A) I’m re-married, and B) even if I wasn’t, I turned him down flat when he tried to turn to me when Ex-wife #2 kicked him out the first time.

I’m all tapped out of sympathy for him. I’m too busy trying to comfort and undo all the damage that this havoc and chaos has wreaked on our son, Marc.

stupid green beens

2008-12-19T13:15:00.005-06:00

Being thrust back into to the world of diapers (after almost TEN years) was really no big deal. Just some minor re-acclimation.

Blowouts, however are a different story.

Tyler's most recent was of nuclear proportions. Every article of clothing went directly into the washer. Poo spreading faster than I could clean it up (silly baby and his flail-y grabby hands). Baby had to have a wipe bath before he could even have a real bath. The changing table was just a hair away from needing a firebombing. It was THAT BAD.

I heart lawyers

2008-12-11T10:10:00.003-06:00

....or perhaps just mine.

Went to court yesterday with my ex husband. Child support is being recalculated. Butthead is trying to engineer numbers and figures to benefit himself by under-reporting his income, and overinflating his visitation.

I could care less what the he pays me, I just want the figure to be RIGHT. Our legal strategy was to put the proceedings off until the new year as the only legal proof of my income is a W2. We were successful. My ex-husband is not pleasant when the universe fails to exist on his terms and timetable.

He tends to spin out a bit when things don't go his way, and this time I had the distinct pleasure of having someone else deal with that for me. I have to say, it felt good.

Now I just have to find a stand-in to deal with my tween's attitude problem, and I think I'm set. Any takers?

Irony is.....

2008-12-01T20:22:00.000-06:00

....my former in laws prefering my current husband's presence over my ex's.
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

5 mos

2008-11-20T09:11:00.003-06:00

I haz toof
I byte hard
NOM

wyoming

2008-11-18T10:53:00.005-06:00

Another week, another business trip. I knew it was coming, but I still feel unprepared.

I rescheduled Marc's bday party because of the last one, and now this trip is wreaking havoc on the planning. Mostly the house prep. I have a hard enough time keeping up with the baby when Hubby is gone. And to pile everything else on top of that? No wonder I have such a hard time keeping my head above water.

The Players

2008-11-14T11:41:00.004-06:00

Hubby - definition not required.

Marc - Eldest child from previous marriage. Recently turned 12.

Ty - The most recent addition to the family. About to turn 5 mos. old.

CuChi - Our ShihTzu. Now former baby of the family.

Sami - Our Lab Mix. Very CoDependent. Afraid of all men. The Husband has become an exception to the rule.

Chynna - Our Chinese Crested (hairless, sort of). Apparently the world exists without her permission.

Butthead - Exhusband. Defies definition. You'll just have to read it to beleive it.

Me - Grew up in a less than stellar childhood, thought to escape that environment through marriage. 'From the frying pan to the fire' is an all too apt description of that choice. After Marc was born, gradually began to stand up for myself and realized that raising my son in such an environment was NOT doing him any favors. As such, I struck out on my own ten years ago, focused on raising my son, and healing myself. I've come a long way baby.

daddy's away

2008-11-06T11:00:00.002-06:00

And mommy doesn't get to play. Work falls by the wayside as well. Nothing gets done. All baby, all the time. No backup.

Bonus: Mommy gets to fall back on the ever useful 'nap when baby naps'.

Business trips are no friend of mine.