Rash

I have to admit almost nothing can get me in more of a tizzy healthwise than an unexplained rash that pops up overnight on my body. Really? At my age? What in the world can I be reacting to? I can deal with health issues going on with my husband and kids so much betther than myself. Maybe it's the itch that causing my mind to overreact. Maybe it's the fact that I think if it is something serious, then what am I going to do? Who's going to take care of me? The simple answer is me...while I'm taking care of everyone else. True this is a sob story that every mom goes through, but I'm still going to pout about it just a minute...cause that's all the time I've got until someone needs something. Seriously, though it's a good thing I've got a Dermatologist in the family that's all I have to say. If I can just get the itching manageable, today won't be bad.

OUT OF SHAPE

I have to admit I am not in shape for my upcoming triathlon. I swam yesterday and felt pretty good, but when I woke up and went for a run, BLAH! My poor legs are not used to running outside anymore. Considering the triathlon is only a month away, I'm toast. Oh well, I wasn't really hoping to do great in it, but I really didn't want to do worse than I did last year. I guess I should have been better about training. Any good suggestions for quick training? It's just a short triathlon so I don't really need a lot of endurance, just enough to drag my carcass over the line in a respectable time. Tonight I'm riding 20 miles on the bike. We'll see how that goes. Luckily for me, my husband agreed to come with me, so if worse comes to worst (is that even how that saying goes?) I'll just draft off of him the whole time. We'll see how I feel tomorrow...

Testing Boundaries

I have to admit I'm not a huge fan of my 4 year-old's boundary checks every day. How many times do the same boundaries need to be tested? Doesn't he know that I'm very serious about nap time? Hasn't he realized that toys will be taken away (just like yesterday) if he continues to throw raging fits? And privileges will disappear if I hear name calling (like you're a freaking stupid head) aimed at me or anyone else. I know every child has to go through it and that it's good for them. Of course every child needs boundaries. Otherwise all they would eat is candy, they would only sleep when sheer exhaustion made them and they would only learn respect from the university of hard knocks. I guess I never expected it to be so hard to take privileges away. I want to give my kids everything to make them happy. But paradoxically sometimes the things that make them most happy are things that leave them in tears. Sometimes the thing that is best for them is a firm "No". Sometimes I have to watch him fall for him to learn. That's hard. I've kind of digressed from Testing Boundaries, but coming full circle, the best thing I can do for my son is to let him know that there are boundaries and they are set for his benefit, not to his detriment. Now if he will only learn that...

Fairy Tales

I have to admit I love to watch or read new spins on old fairy tales. Some have been better than others, but a new take is always appreciated. They don't even have to be fairy tales. I have seen 5 or more versions of "Pride and Prejudice", "Sense and Sensibility" and "Emma". Recently I have watched some remakes of fairy tales and I've liked seeing all these new twists. I watched the new Red Riding Hood, which I didn't so much like. (Way too many bad computer graphics for me). Today I watched Mirror, Mirror. While I wouldn't rave about it, it was clever, fun and predictable in lots of good ways. You have the evil Queen, the Prince, Snow White, the 7 Dwarves and a magic mirror, yet it's not exactly your Disney Snow White. But isn't it fun to watch movies for the story's sake and not necessarily to see the best movie ever made? My husband would disagree. He can't stand these types of movies that aren't terrible but aren't that great either. Not to mention that I would say this one is aimed toward a much younger crowd than me and my husband. But what can I say, I'm easy to please. Plus I watched it with my 4 year-old son and I didn't have to worry about it being graphic, inappropriate or scary at all. I will say this is a good family movie.

Really?

I have to admit I just yelled loudly at one of my 2 year-olds. Imagine this scenario. I'm packing and cleaning my house so that I can go to my family reunion. As I was just finishing up in the kitchen, I heard a blood-curdling scream come from one of my little girls. As I came up the stairs I saw the other one with a cup in her hand going for the toilet. She dipped the cup into the toilet and then commenced in dumping it everywhere. Really? Apparently the one now screaming had come in, slipped on the completely wet floor and she was now covered in toilet water with a sweet bang on the back of the head. Lovely! What added to the drama was my son informing me that he hadn't flushed after the last round on the john (luckily it wasn't # 2). What a mess! I'm not proud of the decible level my shouting reached, but I do have to say I didn't swear, I didn't name-call, and it didn't last very long. I just told her, in a very LOUD voice that I was extremely upset. What a day! You'd think that after all the times I've told her no, and the swat on the bum she received for DRINKING the toilet water--yes she really did drink it--that she'd stay away from it. But no. What is the facination with it, anyway? Is it just the water? Doesn't she get enough water time with the water balloons we throw often, the swimming we do nearly every day and the baths she has all the time? Hmm... I suppose not. I just hope it never happens again. Nasty, Nasty, NASTY!!!!!

Family Reunions

I have to admit I love family reunions. While they may not have had the same appeal as a kid as they do now, I think I've always been fond of spending time around family, both immediate and extended. This week my immediate family will get together for our annual family reunion. Doing this is quite as feat as there are 11 of us kids, seven of which are married, with 24 grandkids and one on the way. That means there are over 40 people converging on one house (well some will sleep the night in a hotel nearby) to eat, play, laugh, swim, and talk, talk, TALK! One year my oldest sister, always the one with stupendous ideas, decided we needed this one time a year when we could all get together, so she hosted the first annual reunion. She planned it to the T complete with a talent show, scrumptious food (much was homemade), a kids Olympics, and an adult Olympics. Each year, many of these things have become tradition, with each family putting their own twist on things. When we went to the Pharmacist's house, one of the "Olympic" events was using an old beaker to pour water into another beaker. (I think I might have gotten 3 drops in. It definitely requires a steady hand). This year will be no different. We get to go to Southern California, and partake of the beautiful summer weather there. We will have a beach day, a sort of Hollywood day (we'll be doing other things around there, but we're all looking forward to family pics in front of the Hollywood sign) and a lazier day where we'll get to hang out at the house and swim. Like I said totally summer activities. But my personal favorite that I absolutely can't wait for is the visiting. I'm a talker and I can talk. But then, so can all my siblings and parents. The in-laws are getting better and just jumping in, but sometimes they have to take a break because we can be pretty intense. (I just have to give a shout out to any of my brothers in-law who may be reading. We'll try not to go over all the labor and delivery stories again this year. That's a tradition I know they could all do without. But with somebody pregnant each time, who can resist, right?) Anyway, I can't wait to be with my family. This week is going to be AWESOME!!!!! I'll let you know how it goes when I get back...

Bee Stings

I have to admit I hate seeing my kids get hurt. My sweet little guy got stung by a bee as we were swimming today. One second he was getting out to jump in the pool again and the next he was screaming, squashing a bee on his head. I had to pull the stinger out and it made me feel just miserable to see not only the pain he was going through, but the trauma. He just kept saying over and over, "This is my first bee sting" like it's going to happen again over and over. I just hope it doesn't. My husband is extremely allergic to bees, so I'm hoping that he didn't pass that on to our kids, otherwise we're going to have to have lots of epipens on hand, especially if the kids are as fond of the outdoors as my husband.