Before I had kids...

Everyone always says that after you have kids, you forget what life was like before they came along... and WOW is that the truth!
Before I had kids, I had time for everything that I don't have time for now. I stayed in better contact with all my friends, I kept my house cleaner, and I got to wake up whenever I wanted to wake up. I could go to bed without having to pick up clothes and toys off the floor, and there weren't crushed pieces of cracker in my carpet.
I didn't react to sudden noises by saying "Noise!", I didn't open the cabinet and hear "More, more?" and I didn't see the little things as so important.
Since Thursday night, I have had the opportunity to remember what it was like before I had Micheal. My husband decided to go hunting with his dad, and he took our child with him so that Micheal could hang out with his grandma. Plus, it was my LAST AND FINAL MASTER'S CLASS EVER! So, he went to her instead of her coming down to him.
Anyway, I got to do the things I've been wanting to do this weekend, and it has been wonderful!
I got to have one last hoorah with my sister, who will be moving away from us next week. But, I can't talk about that. I got to go Christmas shopping without having to worry about when I had to be back home, and I finished my shopping! Then, Amanda Sue came over, and we wrapped our Christmas presents and had girl time fun! I had forgotten how much fun it is to just hang out with a great friend and not have to worry about babies and husbands wanting attention and other things needing my attention. I got to have conversations with Amanda that opened my eyes to things that I've been wondering, and I got to share time with the people that I love, other than my husband and child.
I realized that I have been neglecting certain things since my child was born, the most important of those, myself and my friendships.
But, in the end, I find myself wondering what time my child will be back home, and I can't wait to hear him ask for hugs and kisses, and say thank you for everything that goes his way, whether I gave it to him, or if he gave it to himself.
What did I do before I had kids?
Does it really matter? Because it's so much more fun now! And he gives me so many more things to laugh about!

I am Woman, Let Me Cry!

Ever since the stupid buyout of AT&T Wireless by Cingular, we've had some creative cell phone bills. We opted to stay with the default carrier that picked up our contract, and have been happy with their service for the past few months. But, when our carrier officially cut all ties with AT&T, we had to go into the store and have a piece in our phones switched out, so that it would officially be all our carrier, and nothing else. My husband took his in a couple of weeks ago and had his SIM card changed out, no problem. So, yesterday, since he's been off forever, he took my phone to get "updated."
When I got home, I asked for my phone, and he told me that they couldn't get mine "unlocked" or some crap like that, so they just transferred all my phone numbers, and then gave me a new phone. It is just like my old one, except it's not blue, it's grey, ugh. And, they lost all my photos that were on there. Like the ones of my child being goofy, and the things that I had seen that I didn't have my camera with me, but I had my phone. I was pretty upset that I had lost my phone, and I had had a long day, so the tears started flowing.
That's when my husband starting getting defensive. Why do they do that? Let a woman cry if a woman wants to grieve the loss of a phone and all her photos!
Then, to top it off, when they transferred my phone numbers, they doubled and tripled almost all of them, and now I have to go back and delete all the repeats. Stupid minimum wage phone company workers.

Lazy bones!

Just a moment ago, I received this short e-mail from my husband. He is off work for the 18th day in a row, just because he wants to, so he is watching my child today...

910......3 numbers, no big deal.......till today....910 has great signifcance today.....on this great day 910 represents the time that jr decided to wake up today.....and since it was good enough for him to sleep to 910 i figured it was good enough for me.....so now i guess we can both be classified as worthless and lazy...he is his daddy's child....later.

I can't believe it! Any time I want to sleep in, the boy has to wake up between 6:30 and 7 in the morning... But NO... when it's Daddy at home, they sleep until 9! What the heck?!?

Here Today, Gone Tomorrow

Yesterday in church, I was listening to our associate pastor drone on about the same point for too many minutes. In doing so, I happened to fall victim to my lack of decent sleep the night before. And twice, my husband caught me. So, not wanting to give him too much to nag at me about later, I tried to keep my mind occupied with other things that would keep me awake, since the ever-continuous sermon kept going on.

In doing so, I noticed that there was a gentleman that used to lead our Sunday school class, who was always impeccably dressed, was not so impecible this morning. He was wearing a shirt that had a bodice one color, the collar a different color, and each sleeve was a different color as well. I was drawn to it the way you're drawn to a car wreck. I wanted to look, just to be sure I was seeing what I was seeing, but it was so grotesque that I couldn't take my eyes away.

And then I started thinking. I know, wrong thing to do, but I did it anyway. Looking at his shirt, it looked like the ones that were really popular in the late eighties, early nineties, which was about the time that he was in college. And, being the fit, muscular man that he is, he probably hasn't changed sizes since then, so all of the clothes he used to wear probably still fit. So, he chooses to wear them, still.

Herein lies my dilemma. Do I wear clothes that are out of style now, or are the clothes I wear still timeless enough that it doesn't matter? Do I have enough sense to know which clothes are out of date now, and not to wear them? Or am I getting dressed every morning and being a distraction to my students as I stand in front of them? Even worse, is there anyone that would tell me that a certain outfit shouldn't be worn anymore? My husband sure wouldn't know.
I just don't want to look like that other guy when I go out in public.

The Apple is Red

When I was going to school to be a teacher, I decided that I liked the 3rd to 5th grade range the best. Junior high kids scare me, I didn't want to teach high school where they were all bigger than me, and I didn't want to go lower than third grade because that was when you taught kids how to read and write, and that was my biggest fear: being responsible for the literacy development of twenty kids. So, I am now teaching high school. Ironic, I know.

Then, we wanted to start a family. We were so excited about the baby, and what to name him, and what he would look like, that I forgot about all my fears. Then this little angel was born, and for over a year, I've been watching him grow up and just been amazed at how fast he's growing up and all the things that he's learning.

Then, I hear a bunch of other parents of toddlers talk about all the things that they are teaching their children. And, suddenly, my fear returns. I don't think I'm teaching him all the right things. Or even ANY of the right things! How do I know what to teach him first? There are so many things, and I don't even know developmentally where he's even supposed to be right now!
He learns new words everyday, he knows to say please if he wants something, and to say thank you when he gets it. He pretty much can communicate exactly what he wants with either words, gestures, or grunts. He can recognize many different objects by either their picture or looking out the window, he can tell you what cows, horses, chickens, ducks, Mickey Mouse, dogs, monkeys, lions and a few other animals sound like, and he can name a whole bunch of different body parts and point to them when you ask where they are.

But are these the kinds of things I am supposed to be teaching him? Are there more important things we should be working on instead of colors and how many pencils are in the picture? Why didn't anyone tell me when he was born all the kinds of things he's supposed to be able to do by certain milestones in his life? And don't even get me started on potty-training...

Can't we just go back to seeing if he can raise his head and roll from his tummy to his back?