Okay, it’s time to stop with all the coddling, and hovering, and helicoptering. Give your kids some space! Let them be kids.
We are stealing their childhood.
Sure there need to be rules. Don’t talk to strangers, look both ways before you cross the street, don’t hit your sister, don’t hit your brother... I don’t care if he hit you first, don’t throw balls in the house, and don’t play with balls on the playground... what?
Clean freaks and germaphobes, you might want to turn back now, because things are about to get dirty.
While many parents are buying antibacterial everything and sterilizing everything in their path, I am that mom that lets her kid eat the lollipop that fell on the floor. Yup, blow off the dog hair and that sucker is good to go. Okay, if there is dog hair on it, I might rinse it off.
I believe that we are cleaning ourselves to death.
When you have 4 kids at home, you don’t often get time to give individual attention to each. When the opportunity does arise, I like to try and do something a little bit special. Today, I only had Eleanor (11) and Siobhan (1.5) with me, so I decided to make the day about Eleanor.
We started by going to the mall; the girl likes to shop. We went to her favourite store, Old Navy, and we picked put some clothes. We got clothes for all the kids, but Eleanor may have gotten a couple extra items.
This Halloween, I learned a few things.
Green pumpkins are super cool and softer than orange ones, which makes them easier to carve. The guts were also less slimy and easier to remove.
It’s been said many times, “kids don’t come with a hand book”, and no matter how many books you read, parenting is a learning experience.
We had this conversation with our kids the other day because even we can see the difference in our parenting from one child to the next. If we can see it, I am sure the kids can see it.
Here’s what we discovered during that conversation:
So when something like a dead dictator trends on Twitter, I tend to feel the need to check out what’s going on. It turns out a couple in the US has a son named Adolph Hitler, and a daughter whose middle names are Aryan Nation and child services has removed the children from their home.
The other day, I rushed home from work to take Eleanor to her club swim meet. Tom was taking Ethan to hockey, and Rebecca was going to spend the evening with her dad, so Siobhan came with me to the pool.
As I said, I was in a rush, so I threw a few diapers, a change of clothes, and a snack in diaper bag and ran out the door. What I didn’t bring was anything to entertain Siobhan while Eleanor was swimming... for 2 hours.
42, It’s the “Ultimate Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, The Universe, and Everything.” (Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy)
It’s also how many outfits my family wears in a week. 42 shirts, 42 pairs of underwear, 42 pairs of sock (that’s 84 socks!). 6 people times 7 days. The math is easy. What’s not easy is getting all of that clothing washed, folded, and put away every week.
This weekend, I was fortunate enough to spend my time with some pretty cool people. It all started Friday with a big YMC gathering because almost everyone was in town for the Blissdom Canada conference.
I would like to start this by stating that I am in no way an expert on divorce. I do however, speak from experience.
I have been in my fair share of failed relationships. I was married at 25 and divorced at 29. They call it a starter marriage. I find it hard to believe they have a name for it, but they do.
By 34, I was packing up my 2-year old daughter and leaving her dad. As I said, I have had my fair share of failed relationships.
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Maureen Turner is a social media junkie who has somehow managed to transform some mildly humorous tweets about American Idol into a blog.
What’s her expertise? Keeping the peace, or rather, trying to keep the peace. With one spouse, two ex’s & four children all trying to blend together, it’s not always easy but she somehow makes it work.
Maureen’s here to give you some pointers on how it’s done in her house... and her ex's house... and her husband’s ex's house, and her sister's friend's, and the cousins... oh you get the point! She’ll share the trials and tribulations of being an ex, a step, a women, and a mother – helping to put the F-U in dysfunctional along the way.
In Maureen’s other life, she worked in sports television for almost 15 years and somehow still isn’t a sports fan… unless the kids are playing. She also enjoys writing and has been dreaming of being published since she was a kid. Twitter + Erica Ehm = dream come true!
Follow Maureen on Twitter: @moeturner
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