Am I doing this right?

I worry sometimes about being a stay-at-home mom. Don't get me wrong - I LOVE it. But I can sure feel guilty at times when the checkbook has to come out. Especially now with this new roof we're putting on part of the house - why oh why couldn't a mild hailstorm have hit to allow insurance to put this one on. And with Christmas coming up. And with the big car service bill from last month. And with new clothes needed for the kids with Fall and Winter approaching.

I worry because I can't seem to keep my house clean, even though I'm here most of the time.

I worry because I find myself running out of ideas as to what to feed my slightly picky 3-year old and my just learning to feed himself 1-year old. But should I worry if she is happy eating pb&j for almost every meal? And I suppose I'm getting enough vegetables and protein into the boy; I just don't remember at what point I quit giving baby food to Grace and what I fed her instead, so I'm not sure when to make that transition.

I worry because I can't remember things from only a couple years ago (see above).

I worry because I can't imagine having enough time to do something creative on the side to make some extra money (see first paragraph). I get a little depressed when I read another article about a mom that now has an amazing money-making company started out of her home, creating cute little burp cloths or baby clothes or something like that. I worry because I've been telling myself for over a year now that I will (re)teach myself how to knit, but the needles and yarn remain untouched.

I worry that I don't play with my kids enough. That there are too many times when I have to tell my daughter that I don't have time to play school/color/play with blocks/etc because I have to make dinner/get Alex down for a nap/clean the kitchen/etc.

But I do know my kids love me. And that they are healthy and seem to be reasonably intelligent. And are most of the time happy. And I know that I am gladly giving up having up-to-the-minute fashionable clothes and more dinners out on the town in order to have this time to spend with my family. I volunteer for some good groups that benefit both my family and others in the community.

I just read a line in an essay in one of my parenting magazines that said "As a stay-at-home mom, my job is to do Things That Need to Be Done". I feel like I accomplish that most of the time. Sometimes more so than others.

I wish I wish with all my heart...

We went to see Dragontales Live this weekend. Lot's of fun for a 3-year old. Actually not that bad for a parent to sit through either simply because it's so fun to watch your kids get all excited about something. But Jim and I couldn't help but wonder about those poor people who sing and dance in the show. Are they actors striving for Broadway but got stuck doing touring preschool shows? Do you tell people you dress up in an elf costume with a big goofy mask and frolic on stage? Or that you have to sing and act your whole show in an "Up With People" mode.

And what do you tell people if your kid does that for a living? Jim actually said "What if Alex does that for a living?". I think he's a little too in to throwing things and banging himself in the head with stuff to end up prancing around on stage some day.

On our way in 

 

Alex dances to the preshow music 

Excited Grace 

The show. 

Coming home with the loot. 

Art show

I forgot to post a few pictures from Grace's art show she had at the end of the summer session of school. Each kid made an art book full of different projects from throughout the summer. The art show consisted of the art books displayed by class, along with cookies and drinks for everyone. The whole thing took about 30 minutes max, and that includes hunting down Grace's teachers for pictures. But it was the last day of the summer session, so that was exciting in and of itself. Plus even though I knew the show wasn't going to be any big production we still came out with myself, Jim, two grandmothers and one great-grandmother to pump up Grace's ego.

We love matching outfits 

Grace, Mommy, Miss Monica and her friend Madeline 

Her teachers made pictures for the kids to decorate based on things they like. Of course my kid ends up getting a television character. 

Music

Is it pathetic that when I hear music from the 80's I still get totally psyched? (Is it totally 80's that I use the phrase "psyched"?) A lot of times when Grace is in school I have a dead time between eating lunch and picking her up. Sometimes I switch on the VH1 Classics station, and from 1-2pm they have the Pop Music show. Now I can do without the hair bands and the cheesy top 40. But I LOVE it when an "Alternative" song comes on. So far in the past 15 minutes or so I've seen The Cure, Echo and the Bunnymen and Frankie Goes to Hollywood. Alex was rocking out to "Relax" (I'm sure much to Jim's horror now). And I'd hate to see the percentage of tunes on my iPod that are pre-1990.

Oh well - when you no longer have much access to GOOD new music, you have to fall back on what you know (one of the downsides of staying at home is not being able to run Radio Paradise on my computer all day).

Yikes - Olivia Newton John is now warbling "I Honestly Love You". Time to go back upstairs and finish cleaning.

Clothes

When I just had Gracie as a kid, I'd always hear from people (and say it myself) that "Oh, girls are just so much more fun than boys to buy clothes for". And yes, girls are very much fun to buy clothes for - lots of cute outfits, dresses, accessories, etc. But as I was folding kids clothes tonight before bed, I realized that boy clothes are as cute as girl clothes, just in a different way. I love having a kid that has little trucks or robots on his jammies. I love the tiny Hawaiian shirt from Target with the matching khaki shorts. I love the jersey knit shorts that go almost to his calves in order to be big enough to fit his massive thighs. I love the hand-me-down t-shirts we've received that say Old Navy Football or have cool dump trucks on them. Maybe I just love the little guy that wears them all.

God I can get sappy about my kids. Ick.

Aargh

Chris posted about this a few days ago - I just had my first experience with it today. Jim takes Cl*ritin D just about every day for allergies. It's also my drug of choice when the sinuses start acting up. We're running low and I decide to pick some up at Target today. First time to buy it since the new behind-the-counter laws went into effect. In addition to being a pain in the ass, having to go sign the sheet in the big pharmacy book, you also have to BUY it at the pharmacy, making me stop to pay twice at Target with two kids in tow. And since we use the 24-hour version, I can only buy one 15-count box at a time. If we're both having a bad allergy time, that box will only last us a week.

Also, why is it that all the generic brand Cl*ritin D's at both Target and Tom Thumb are on sale and SOLD OUT. Luckily I had a big ol' coupon ($4 off) for the name brand so I broke down and bought it. I have another even bigger coupon ($6 off) for a 20-count+ box, but since I can no longer buy that quantity in this state I guess I have to just toss that one out (or break down and buy the 12-hour version).

Yes it's important to try to stem the tide of Meth misuse, but it's still a big pain in my ass.