Goodnight Sweet Child

After a hard fought battle, we all need a little sleep.

After a hard fought battle, we all need a little sleep.

Getting out of my daughter’s room when putting her to bed at night requires special forces training. She can sense the end of the book coming and she turns into a spider monkey clinging to anything she can get her little claws around. The moment that last page is turned she goes pro wrestler, climbing on top of me and holding on to my shoulders and head. I start my escape using moves a contortionist would be proud of. It’s like working my way out of a straight jacket. Once I have successfully peeled her off my head and back it’s time to stuff her under the covers. I mean this quite literally. As her limbs come flying out from beneath the sheets, I stuff them back in until they stop escaping. Luckily she is already fairly tired from the wrestling match so the flailing doesn’t last too long. (more…)

Thank God my Daughter is a Velma

Riley's hero Velma

Riley’s hero Velma

The other morning while my daughter and I were rocking out to the Hex Girls in the car she pointed out that the song was from the Scooby Doo episode where Daphne was really jealous because Fred was giving the Hex Girls attention. She said “wasn’t that silly Mama, Daphne thought Fred liked the Hex Girls more than her!” I wanted to tell her that of course Fred would be a fool not to like the Hex Girls more than Daphne, but I was a good Mom and stuck to the lesson plan.

Unfortunately most of stories involving both her Dad and me don’t include him giving attention to other females. He’s kind of an introvert and doesn’t give attention to many people at all. My example was from when her Daddy was in a band and I had to contend with all kinds of women trying to get him out of his pants after seeing him perform. I worded it a little differently for her since she spends most saturday mornings trying to get him into his pants as soon as possible usually with the words “eww, Daddy, quit showing me your butt!” It brought me back to one particular night when I heard a few of these women in the ladies room talking about the best possible way to get my husband (then boyfriend) to come home with them. When I watched them approach him twenty minutes later when he was trying to make his way back to the merch booth I giggled a little bit with a friend watching him squirm his way out of the conversation gracefully. (more…)

Life Lesson from My Five Year Old

My daughter got punched in the face by a three year old little girl the other day while she was at the child care center at our gym. When the little girl was asked why she did it she said she didn’t know. My daughter’s reaction to getting socked in the head was not at all what I would have expected. She didn’t retaliate, she didn’t cry, she told an adult and went about her business. This very minor random act of violence didn’t bring her down one bit. This made me very proud and very confused. I was of course proud that she did the right thing, but honestly, I did not expect that reaction. I expected her to fight back, to get angry, to be outraged. I expected her to think that the other child’s action was about her in some way. I expected her to internalize the other child’s anger or frustration or fear. I expected her act like me! (more…)

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