Randy and Shari's World

Hi everyone (makes it sound like I have a huge fan club, doesn't it??)

I have missed blogging!  (I have also missed sleeping, but some things are more easily fixed).  As always, I have a few random thoughts fluttering about inside myself of what I should say in this post, but no formal plan, so we shall just see what happens and hope that it will not bore anyone to the point of willfully stabbing themselves with pointy objects just for some variety (I mean really people, if it gets to that point, just stab ME with some sort of pointy object and tell me to kindly stop blogging for the good of the masses).

Let me begin by saying that I love being a stay at home mom!  I truly, truly do.  I know it is a huge blessing that many women would love to be able to have, but for one rea$on or another, cannot.  I love my husband and children very much.  The cats have their moments too.  I am also very thankful for our house, yard, car, etc.  I do wish for "better stuff" at times, but I am thankful that we are able to choose to have "not-quite-as-nice stuff" so I can be with my kids each day.

That being said, I have come to the realization that it is quite possible that I will go bonkers before my children grow big, strong, and shiny enough to take care of themselves (or as my own parents are finding out - as I call them to ask for yet another favor, bit of advice, or large wad of cash - IF this actually ever does happen).  

Before I had children, I had certain ideas of what it would be like to be a stay at home mom.  You would think that by now, since I have 2 kids, that I would have abandoned those ideas completely, realizing instantly upon the birth of the 1st, that none of them are remotely realistic.  But no, I still find myself thinking, "I think I would like to do… someday" only to come to the end (or even early-middle) of that very same day and tweek my statement just a tad.

Here's what I mean:

"I think I will write out a detailed menu for our dinners for the next week, look at each recipe to ensure that I possess each ingredient, write out my store list for tomorrow, and stock up for a week of fabulous food!"  TURNS INTO: "Hmm, let's see here: we had frozen chicken nuggets last night with frozen peas, so I guess we could have frozen fish sticks and frozen green beans tonight.  But it is kind of a lot of work, since you have to flip the fish sticks halfway through cooking, but as long as Serena doesn't need to nurse during that time, I can probably swing it."

 "I would love to work out on the Nordic Track today while one or both kids are sleeping!" TURNS INTO "If I have to walk to another part of this house, or even get off of this chair, one more time, I will actually consider crying, but I'm tired up to my eyeballs, so nothing would happen anyway."

"When I have kids, I will make a lovely scrap book for each child so he/she can always treasure his/her growing up years" TURNS INTO "I used to scrap book before Micah was born.  I even got in the pictures of my pregnancy with him!  One of these days I'll do some more and maybe sometime we'll even get some of our billions of digital pictures to be in a form that is more scrapbookable than inside of my computer monitor.  But right now, I would like to sit down and eat an entire snack without any interruptions from anyone."

"When I'm at Stay At Home Mom, I will clean every inch of my house each week so it always looks and smells fresh" TURNS INTO "Well, my mom cleaned the toilet in the big bathroom a few weeks ago and it doesn't seem to smell or anything, and we don't really use the other toilet much, and no one will peek into the shower, so I'll just wipe out the sink this week.  And as long as I vacuum the living room, the rest of the rugs will SEEM cleaner because the Vacuum Strips of Cleanliness will still be imprinted upon the viewer's retina and will remain there while in the other rooms, so those rugs will appear freshly vacuumed as well.  And if I just sweep up the actual pieces of debris on the kitchen floor, I don't need to mop it this week.  And as far as dusting goes, well, is that kind of like ironing?  Like one of those things we did every now and then for amusement before we had kids?"

"I think I will call some old friends and maybe mail out a few cards to people I care about today, just to remind them how much I love them" TURNS INTO "If I can just free my hands enough to give my husband a hug as he comes in from work, I will be doing great in the compassion department!"

"When I have kids I will never send a crying child to his room without talking things out in a calm fashion first, and I will CERTAINLY never let my baby cry for even 5 minutes if she has trouble falling asleep" TURNS INTO "Well, at least Micah's crying in his room is acting as white noise to help Serena stop crying and fall asleep so that I can finish folding this load of laundry in semi-peace."

 "I wish I could write in my blog at least 2 or 3 times a week" TURNS INTO "I would give pretty much ANYTHING for a whole, entire night of uninterrupted sleep!!"

But hey, I'm feeling happier already, because I was able to type this whole blog in one sitting, in the middle of the day!  And yes, both kids are home with me and there is no other big person on the premises!  I HAVE JUST ACCOMPLISHED SOMETHING!!!  WOO HOO!!