Randomness
March 19, 2009
1) I have a bad sunburn on my formerly pasty white arms. I have not had a sunburn in years, probably since I stopped slathering myself in oil and laying out on my tinfoil blanket. Sunburns hurt. I forgot that. I am enjoying the fabulous weather before June comes and merely walking out the front door causes me to instantly dissolve into a pile of embers. At least that is what everyone around here keeps telling me.
2) My daughter made a friend in our neighborhood. She is thrilled because up until now we have only met boys. We were outside in the driveway when my daughter spied some girls down the street. She sent her 8 yr old brother to ask their father if she could play with them. What he actually said was, “My sister is looking for some girls. Can she play with yours?” I think he needs to work on his technique if he ever hopes to be allowed to date.
3) On the same note, I am so damn thankful I have one girl and six boys, not the other way around. My boys have all made friends in the neighborhood, many friends. Not one of those boys ever wanted to come into the house and “see what it looked like” or asked for snacks, or generally just wanted to chat and narrate every last thing until my ears fell off. The new friend is a very sweet girl, but it is like having two of my daughter, which is frankly one too many. Give me boys, outside in the yard, chasing each other with sticks ANYDAY.
4) Another day, another doctor co-pay. My 14 yr old son hurt his back playing baseball. It has been about two weeks and has not improved. In fact, it has gotten worse. That could be because he REFUSED TO STOP PLAYING EVEN THOUGH IT HURT. But what do I know. So we went to a sports medicine doctor today. Diagnosis: pulled muscle. He will have some physical therapy, mostly to show him how to properly stretch and what sort of core strengthening exercises he should do. Which was pretty much what I had been telling him to do, but then again WHAT DO I KNOW?! I really should have gone to medical school just so I could have some authority around here. At least this visit was only the regular dr co-pay.
5) Is it wrong to use google maps to see which people in my neighborhood have built-in pools? So I can befriend them?
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LOL! about the pool. Have you been to Lake Travis yet? There are some good swimming holes there, but kind of a long drive. It would be a lot better to find a neighbor with a pool and possibly a Tiki bar beside it!
March 19th, 2009 at 4:40 pmNot when summertime arrives in the south. Whatever it takes.
March 19th, 2009 at 4:51 pm5) Google Maps was specifically designed just for this purpose.
March 19th, 2009 at 4:52 pmOMG! That’s hysterical about the pools… I have to remember that one!
March 19th, 2009 at 4:55 pmIt’s interesting to see your comment about boys vs. girls. I don’t have any children yet and I wonder if it’s easier to raise boys or to raise girls. Growing up, my family had two girls. It was peaceful and clean. No rough housing and no broken bones. But I’ve heard from more than one person that boys are easier.
March 19th, 2009 at 4:58 pmI think #5 is a stinkin’ brilliant idea.
March 19th, 2009 at 5:07 pmDefinitely enjoy the weather now. Come summer time you run the risk of spontaneous combustion! I remember one year it was 108 on the last day of SEPTEMBER. I guess it’s the price you pay for being able to wear flip flops all year ’round.
March 19th, 2009 at 5:09 pmMy daughter is ten and when she and her friend get together (usually/mostly at our house as they like not having to share time/space w/ the friend’s siblings and here they are alone) they drive me up the wall sometimes…constant, relentless chatter about everything they did at school, who they like, who they dislike, what they are doing, what they want to do….UGH…..I smile and feed them but the running commentary in my head is “for the love of G…SHUT THE HECK UP!!!!”
We are considering adopting again…maybe I’ll get lucky and they’ll be boys!LOL
March 19th, 2009 at 5:14 pmI am cracking up on the built-in pool note. Isn’t it amazing the things we can do now without even making an effort. Our grandmothers would NOT approve I can assure you. If I were closer I would befriend you and let you swim in my pool.
March 19th, 2009 at 5:18 pmI thought your old house was the best house ever but with all these new friends for your kids nearby, I guess in many ways, your new place is even better!
March 19th, 2009 at 5:21 pm#5 = pure genius.
March 19th, 2009 at 5:28 pmYou know that even if you had a medical degree, he still wouldn’t believe a word you said. Because you’d still be his mom, so you would still, automatically, know nothing. Medical degree or not.
My 10yo has considered his dad and I to be total idiots for a couple years now, so he’s got lots of practice in for the upcoming adolescent years.
BTW, I think it is totally reasonable to use Google Earth to scour the neighborhood for pools.
March 19th, 2009 at 5:31 pmHAHAHAHAHAHA JUNE! That’s funny. I don’t know about Austin, but here in West Texas where I live, it gets melt in your doorway when you open the door before you can step out of the air conditioning well before June. Just thought I’d be encouraging like that.
March 19th, 2009 at 5:47 pmgo for the google maps, come summer when you are an ember you will be glad you took the time.
March 19th, 2009 at 6:11 pmfrom one pasty white girl to another lotion lotion lotion need i say more
and yes it is okay to google looking for the pools and zoom in a little more and you can also pick the one’s serving cocktails. Good luck..
And on the subject of boys and girls the jury is still out on which ones are easier to raise.
March 19th, 2009 at 6:16 pmIsn’t that what google is for???
March 19th, 2009 at 6:18 pmMy brother in law is an MD. He has no authority with his kids. All kids think their parents are stupid, MD, PhD, whatever letter you have after your name, you’re stupid.
March 19th, 2009 at 6:27 pmWhat a great idea about Google maps and scoping out pools! I’ll be totally using that one.
If Texas gets as hot as they say look up the homes with pools on Google maps and send all the kids out to the different homes to say “we heard it’s going to get hot here this summer and my Mom is looking for someone with a pool and can she use yours? (it worked for your daughter to get a friend). They only need 7 homes and you can switch daily so YOU don’t get on their nerves with your observations to blog about the next day and someone reads it and reports it and the neighborhood turns on you. LOL
March 19th, 2009 at 6:29 pmHave you considered taking your son to a chiropractor?
Chris says: Yes, I have thought about it!
March 19th, 2009 at 7:11 pmIt is not wrong to use google maps for that purpose. It is really handy if the friends they’ve already met have pools. Check to make sure there is not a neighborhood association pool. Many of them have some good ones and recreation areas.
March 19th, 2009 at 7:44 pmAlso, even if you had a multiple degrees and MD’s in every possible field you would still be the mother and KNOW NOTHING to a 14 year old. Don’t take it personally.
about number 5, that’s really cool and I don’t think it’s wrong cos if they like to they can get it off Google maps, so since it’s there it means they don’t want it not to be there, therefore it’s ok.
March 19th, 2009 at 7:49 pmTotally Random…BUT, my son goes to college in Austin. EVERYTIME we go visit him, we HAVE to go to Phil’s Ice House. A hole in the wall, next door to Amy’s ice cream, can’t tell you what side of town it’s on, but we LOVE it. The zipcode burger (its not called this, but it’s close) is my fav. And it has all these little kid things to do outside. Worth the drive, they have Shiner beer, and delicious. We love Austin, and I am so glad one of my children chose it for college. Welcome to Texas.
March 19th, 2009 at 8:33 pmHa! I have looked up Hot Tubs (being in Michigan…)!
March 19th, 2009 at 8:55 pmI have relatives in Texas. Too darn warm for me. I would need to live in a bubble of AC. I tell my students, “WHEN I GLISTEN, YOU BETTER LISTEN, CAUSE I GET CRANKY!!” And I live in upper NY State bordering Vermont and Canada. Damn hormones!
Sue (turning down the heat and opening windows as I type)
March 19th, 2009 at 9:32 pmI think after 7 kids, you have what it takes to be board certified in emergency medicine, sports medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics… you could probably pass all those tests!
And on the Google Maps thing, I can’t *think* of a better use! Just buy some sunscreen first!
March 19th, 2009 at 9:36 pmChris,I have 6 girls 1 boy! I know be jealous NOT. YES boys are way easier. When you have a boy you worry about one boy when you have a girl you worry about all boys. I love my girls all the way to Jesus and back,the drama I face all the way to h@#$ and back.
March 19th, 2009 at 10:35 pmPool idea thumbs up
The other thing I hear about boys vs girls is that they don’t really do much of the tattling. Is that true? Because oh my HELL when my 6-year-old daughter and her friends are all playing together, sometimes all we moms hear is “So and so did this. That one did that. Those two are doing XYZ.”
It gets to a point where you want to stab yourself in the ears just so you don’t have to hear it anymore. Meanwhile our one friend in the group with a son the same age? He NEVER comes to us with tattles. We love our kids, but we REALLY love that little boy for not driving us insane.
March 19th, 2009 at 10:35 pmas the queen of skin cancer (20+ removals in the last 7 years) get you and yours sun screen and use it. use lots of it. do not allow anyone outside with out it. don’t be stingy with it. do the backs of necks/top of ears/nose/cheeks/etc. really, not kidding.
March 19th, 2009 at 10:36 pmI have 4 sons and 1 daughter and I feel the same way–nobody else cares at all what I’m doing and it drives me crazy when she and her friends what to shadow me and comment on what I’m doing. I’m so accustomed to clueless boys!
March 20th, 2009 at 12:43 amMy son is 43 and my daughter 37. I have such fond memories of so much of his youth, but I still have not fully recovered from raising her. She was (and is) a beautiful, bright, terrific girl, it just wore me out to keep up with her talking talking talking that went on for years. She’s not an excessively chatty woman, but as a little girl she had to tell us every single detail of her thoughts and life every single moment of every single day.
Hang in there. It’ll be worth it.
March 20th, 2009 at 1:38 amThe pool thing? Really hilarious!
March 20th, 2009 at 1:46 amAh, what’d I say about getting to know the local medical types?
I have a MIL and a friend that I’ll give info/advice to when they’re whining about various aches and pains. They ignore me, then when the doctor tells them the EXACT SAME THING a few weeks later, they act like he’s God and it’s the first time they ever heard it. Oooh, I get no respect!
March 20th, 2009 at 5:48 amChris, you are so stinkin funny I have a feeling that if we lived closer we would definately be friends
I have 4 kids and sometimes feel like life could not be any more crazy so I laugh all the time at all the antics @ your house.
March 20th, 2009 at 6:52 amI hate to tell you, but even if you had gone to medical school, you’re Mom. You’d still know nothing. Our 7yo doesn’t seem to believe my husband and I when we try to explain things from our various areas of knowledge. It has to come from a stranger I’m convinced.
Living in TX, I’d do whatever it takes to find a pool for the summer. Don’t consider it so much wrong as using the tools available to you to get the feel for your new surroundings.
March 20th, 2009 at 7:14 amI live in Florida so I know about summer heat, but I’m from NY and people would love to taunt me about how much I was going to suffer in the summer. Honestly, unless you are outside doing sprints, the heat isn’t that bad. Nothing an ice cold (alcoholic) drink can’t fix. Also, if it gets that hot there is this thing called air conditioning. All the cars and stores and homes now have it and it’s usually blasted so much that even in the brutal heat, you’ll be taking a sweater with you everywhere you go and complaining about how annoying it is to be cold in 108 degree heat. I’m just talking from experience here.
March 20th, 2009 at 7:54 amWhy do girls, and by girls I mean their Moms, have to come in and check out the place? And not just peek around from the froyer..literally, walk into places they weren’t invited, as if we don’t know what they are doing…ughhh.
March 20th, 2009 at 8:07 amIn regard to #1- I think it’s more of a “melt” instead of a burn to embers. Go buy extra underclothes for yourself now. By June, just walking to your mailbox and back will necessitate a quick change of underwear/bra.
March 20th, 2009 at 8:34 amGoogle is Good!!!!!
March 20th, 2009 at 9:35 amOMG I am dying laughing. Do you know how many times I have thanked God that I have only one daughter? Know how many of her friends come here and look through her drawers, talk to me til I am about to scream, etc?? Plus, being around all these boys all the time has made my daughter a bit less like those other girls. Thankfully!
I was just trying to help my 13 yo pack for a quick beach trip with a friend. I know nothing about packing or beach trips now. Not sure when that happened.
March 20th, 2009 at 9:59 amIt seems to me that this move to a warmer clime has resulting in injuries to 3 of your party (sunburn included). I hope everyone is ok!
It’s nice your girl found a friend - I sometimes think my girl is lonely for a BFF but then I remember how happy she is with her own stuff and with me and her papa and I come to my senses.
i think googling pools is an awesome idea!
March 20th, 2009 at 10:15 amWhen I lived in Dallas, I seriously thought the summer heat would kill me. Fall, winter, and spring were wonderful, but I’ve had skin cancer so hanging by the pool wasn’t really an option for me. I coped by going to the indoor ice rinks. Summers aren’t that bad if you can find a way to stay cool and you have a garage. Do not leave your car in the driveway, and seriously, buy one of those windshield screens.
March 20th, 2009 at 10:25 amhahaha - love your #5!
March 20th, 2009 at 10:36 amI love my friends with pools! Trust me they love you just as much.it keeps their kids in the pool longer!
March 20th, 2009 at 11:35 amxoxo
ronee
PS Oldest just needs to find a new wall to hold up. He did not get muscle injuries when he held the wall day after day. Hope he is feeling better soon
March 20th, 2009 at 12:11 pmIt will be almost too hot to use those pools in the midst of summer ! When I lived in Alabama, my neighbor with the pool and I had an arrangement. When I was watching the 4 kids swim, she went ahead and made her dinner and tidied the house. Then she watched the kids at the pool while I did the same. Great for when we dragged in at 7:30 pm after an afternoon of swimming and the dinner was all made !
March 20th, 2009 at 12:14 pmI once befriended my mom when she lived in Texas because she had a pool. True story.
March 20th, 2009 at 1:10 pmUsing google maps to scout out potential friends? Hmm…sounds rather ingenious to me.
Just make sure you couple that lovely little internet search with the one that shows you where the neighborhood registered sexual offenders live. You know, to make sure the pool people are nice people.
And if, by some sad coincidence, all the neighborhood pool people are felons, then resign yourself to never step outside in the Texas Summer sun. It’s brutal. I STILL have freckles from the few months I layed out in the TX sun. Eleven years later.
March 20th, 2009 at 1:15 pmHa ha ha! We actually know someone with a pool, but aren’t friendly enough with them to just show up. Now, my neighbor (who is best buddies with PoolGuy) invited us over. My 4yr old daughter asked later if we could go swimming, but I told her we had to be invited by the actual PoolGuy. Her response? “But Mom, we can just bake him something!” She learns quickly.
March 20th, 2009 at 5:31 pmI find it only slightly amusing that almost every woman who has written in has had negative things to say about raising little girls. How sad. I am no feminist but if women don’t think that little girls are the Bee’s knees, who will? The world tells them that they are moody, time consuming, too chatty, too petty; all of these stereotypes being affirmed on here only serve to diminish the essence of true girl/womanhood and the amazing intricacies that are. What an amazing relationship is formed between a mother and a daughter over a lifetime, raging hormones and all. Raising a son might be easier in some things, but the payout is not nearly as sweet. Your sons will one day be gone, living their lives but your daughter will be yours forever…
March 20th, 2009 at 7:16 pm1) They are not kidding. Except it is not so much dissolve as combust. It’s a drier sound, with perhaps a touch of sizzle.
5) NO IT IS NOT WRONG. Especially when June comes.
March 20th, 2009 at 8:01 pmI always wanted a girl, in fact I got so depressed when I didn’t get one I nearly went mad. Then my friends who did have girls started visiting with them and I realised God does know best!
Google away lady, if it’s good enough for the government it’s good enough for us.
March 20th, 2009 at 9:21 pmI just have to say - I agree TOTALLY with the boy/girl thing. I love my daughter to death, but two of her would be a bit much
She’ll hang with the boys just fine, but when her friends come over, UGH! When Dude’s friends come over, I never see ‘em. I HEAR them all right, as I’m sure does the rest of the neighborhood . . . but I’ll take that anyday over the “conversations” with my daughter’s 5 and 6 year old friends!
March 23rd, 2009 at 9:27 pmIt wouldn’t matter if you had a medical degree….In your own house, you never know what you are talking about.
March 30th, 2009 at 11:23 am