I am thankful for so very many things in my life, both great and small.
I enumerate some of them over at AlphaMom. Come on over and tell me what the little things are for which you are grateful.
Also, what do you think of the i love boobies bracelets that the tween/teen boys are so fond of wearing these days. I am wondering if I am alone in my utter distaste for them.
And speaking of thankful, I am in love with my dishwasher. You won’t believe what I discovered it could do this week. Hey, you in the back, get your mind out of the gutter.
I am taking a long, restful weekend mostly away from the Internet. Eating turkey and stuffing (GLUTEN FREE!) until I burst.
My oldest son continues to be ill with the flu. You know your teenage son is really sick when he refuses to eat anything, including ice cream. Poor child always ends up with swollen and infected tonsils. We have been putting off having them removed for the past 6 months simply because life is too busy. His life, not mine. I sit around eating bon-bons all day watching my shows.
It is looking as if he will be getting his tonsils out over Christmas break this year. Merry Christmas, Son! Enjoy!
I am furiously knocking on wood that no one else gets sick, as well as spraying every last thing with Lysol and/or bleach. Though the way the incubation period seems to be for this flu we might still be having sick family members come June. If that happens I won’t be living here any longer. I will have been committed to an institution.
At my review page I am writing about my brand new space age dishwasher from Kenmore. You’ll want to go read because there is a giveaway. A pretty damn good one, too.
And now I must drive my other high school son to school since he MISSED THE BUS this morning. And just why did he miss the bus? Because he wanted to wear a certain pair of jeans that were in the dryer and so he stood in front of the dryer, fully dressed except for pants, until the very last second. The very last second being the one where the bus drove past the house. Therefore about five second too long.
I watch the video and think of all the other moments:
the vacation at the beach
the paintball party
the basketball games at the hoop across the street from us
the way you get out of bed every morning without a fight
the swim lessons
the parties
the time you got to be an extra on Friday Night Lights
the omlettes and French toast you cook yourself
your voice when you called to tell me your TAKS scores
your quick wit and sarcasm
the look you give me when you are angry
the way your eyes twinkle when you smile
the way you make me laugh, even when I don’t want to
how you still want to snuggle up next to me on the couch or read in my bed
There is no way to really encompass a year, without living it over again. But one thing I know about you, you squeeze every last drop of life out of every single day. You are a risk taker. I love that about you. Probably because it is so very unlike me.
My love for you is as intense and fierce as you. I can’t wait to see what the next decade brings. The only thing of which I am certain is that it will be a wild roller coaster ride. We will love most of it, hate some of it, and scream a whole lot. I can only hope that at the end we will look at each other and say, “I enjoyed the shit out of that ride.” Well, that and that we both survive.
This too shall pass. I say that a lot. It is supposed to be a comfort. A reassurance that things will not always be the way they are right now. But along with the challenging stuff, so passes the good. And that is the bittersweet part of being your mother. There is so much that I will miss about the you that you are right now.
And now I am going to go cry a few tears. You are so beautiful and precious to me that the thought of you growing up, all the way up, stabs my heart a little.
My son turned sixteen and all I got was a crappy iPhone photo to document the day.
And on his sixteenth birthday we bought a car for him. An old Ford Bronco. Exactly the vehicle he wanted.
Miles has been home sick all week with fevers peaking at 104.5 most of the week. Today he seems better. But guess who is sick now? Yup, that would be me.
My oldest two sons had a knock down drag out argument last night over something so incredibly stupid it was like reliving their toddler years all over again. Only this time there is a broken bedroom door. When my 14 yr old rolled his eyes at me when I told him he was buying a replacement door, I offered to smack him upside the head. Yes, those words came right out of my mouth. He wasn’t afraid. I should have smacked him when he was younger and I was still bigger. That’s the take-away for you, Internet, smack your kids while they are small. Don’t miss that window of opportunity.
And how about some irony for your day, a post where I talk about how kind and wonderful my teenagers are. I’m not sure if I have already linked to it. And I am too sick to try and figure it out. But I know there is a new video post up over at AlphaMom also.
My daughter has been invited to so many birthday parties lately that I am considering not allowing her to go to anymore. I am going broke one Claire’s giftcard at a time.
I finally sent in my book proposal today. That is a weight off my feverish and congested chest.
God, why are you breathing on me.
(elbow shoving)
Sorry. Sheesh. I’ll stop breathing.
Please do.
Oh, that’s awesome.
Duuuude.
Now, you’re leaning on me.
(elbow shoving)
Whatever. Can I look when you are done?
Why? Why do you need to look? Copycat.
What? Am not.
Yes, you are.
I can’t help it if you always do things I want to do before I think of doing them.
This same conversation has played out in my house for twelve years, give or take. It began with looking through the toy catalogs that came in the mail. Then it was the guns and weapons catalogs. Now at just-turned-16 and not-quite 15, it is the online car listings.
My son turned 16 today. At 10:05am to be precise. And when you are a kid,even a big kid, those small distinctions matter.
I don’t feel any different.
Neither do I, baby.
From when, Mom? Yesterday? It isn’t your birthday.
I don’t really feel any different from the day you were born.
But that was SO long ago!
To you it is a lifetime. To me it was a blink of the eye.
I went to NYC last Friday and this is the only photo I took. My phone died right after this and it would seem that there are no public outlets in the entire city.
******
The post I wrote for Alphamom, 16 Things I Have Learned About Being a Mother, was mentioned here in the New York Times. I am trying to be all cool and casual, but honestly I was excited. And I am not ashamed to admit that.
*****
I have a new video post up over at Alphamom… about toilet paper. I know. Who knew I had so much to say about our toilet paper habits.
I also have this post where I waxed on about how these days I want to spend more time with my older kids than they want to spend with me.
*****
And then yesterday I came home from my latest east coast jaunt to this:
That’s the face of 103.3
Luckily he is on the upswing today.
And I am trying not to think about all the germs he is coughing on me as we snuggle together on the couch. I may have to dip myself in bleach later, however.
(my son is not the one who is carrying the ball, he is the one who comes running at full speed across the field to congratulate his team mate after the touchdown. look for him at the top right of the video)
Some days I wish I were still nine
When a job well done
Meant you got a star, or candy
Or a chest bump.
When you ran
Because you couldn’t not run
Not because you worried
About your weight.
When you still believed
In goodness and magic
Because nothing had really hurt you
Yet.
When you would wake up
In the morning and
The endless day loomed before you
A solitary question in your head
Will everyone at school
Think the tinfoil in your mouth
Covering your front teeth
Is a real grill?
