From Inmates to Playdates

Posts Tagged ‘Motherhood’

Not Me! Monday was created by MckMama from a desire to be brutally honest about our imperfections and shortcomings and reveal a few moments we’d rather forget. It is cheaper than therapy and therefore, you should join in the fun!

Now, for the things I most certainly did not do this week….

There is no way that I lost my sweet Alex at the Monster Jam Pit Party on Saturday because what kind of mother loses her kid? Seriously, I did not run around the joint yelling his name thinking that even if he couldn’t see me, he would definitely hear me and come running.

If that had happened, I’m sure it would have been very scary.

It also wasn’t me who did something mysterious to her left thumb that caused internal bruising and soreness. And, if you think I have a flair for the dramatic you would be sadly mistaken because I am not a drama queen who experiences some of the weirdest problems known to man.

While sitting at the breakfast table eating apple jacks, it wasn’t me who had the overwhelming urge to throw an obviously rotten orange on the driveway just to see what would happen because it was hard as a brick. I talked myself out of it, but left it in the fruit bowl because tomorrow might be a different day.

Earlier in the week, I did not visit Google to find out what happens to an orange when it rots because who cares about the orange and the rot? Nor did I just minutes ago talk myself out of cutting the orange in half to find out once and for all what was going on inside of the orange because it would probably be nasty and I would probably gag because thats what I do when I am grossed out. 

No indeed. Not me!

And speaking of nasty… I DID NOT have a dream about inch-long worm looking things crawling just under my skin and then poking holes in my skin with tweezers to get the inch-long worm looking things out of my hands and legs.

Have no idea what that was about, but I was never so happy to wake up from a dream ever in my life.

I did not ask the ultrasound tech 312 questions about the ultrasound I had on my kidneys on Wednesday after she told me under no uncertain terms that she could not discuss what she was seeing with me because I am not nosey at all.

I am not currently watching ‘The Invention of Lying’ and thinking it is the stupidest movie ever because everyone knows that the stupidest movie ever award goes to Napoleon Dynamite.

And speaking of stupidest movies ever, I did not watch Dumb and Dumber for the 412th time on Tuesday, laughing just as much as I did the first time I watched it because Jim Carey is not funny. At all.

How about you? What’s the craziest thing you didn’t do this week? I’d love to hear from you today!

Ten years ago, I walked the halls of South Central Regional Jail counseling inmates about their behavior and incarceration.

Today, I walk down our hallway here at the McResidence counseling two little boys about their behavior and punishment.

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Ten years ago, the only cell I inspected was a twelve by twelve concrete cell.

Today, I inspect my cell daily for e-mails, blog comments, and facebook statuses.

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Ten years ago, I scheduled visits for inmates and their family members.

Today, I schedule playdates for my boys and their friends.

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Ten years ago, I daily spoke with mamas who were at wits end with their children for the latest, dumbest stunt.

Today, I AM the mama at her wits end with her children for their latest stunt which is usually something like jumping from the top bunk.

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Ten years ago, I ordered inmates to their cells, and scheduled their in-house hearings.

Today, I order little boys to their beds and cancel their daily television programming.

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Ten years ago, I carried a walkie-talkie with me and called for assistance when the inmates got rowdy.

Today, I carry my iPhone with me and I’m the one called for assistance when the playdate gets rowdy.

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Ten years ago, I spent time in the booking department calculating release dates.

Today, I spend time booking playdates and calculating how long it’s been since our last potty break.

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Ten years ago, I was swamped with jail paperwork and inmate files.

Today, I am swamped with PTA paperwork and insurance files.

—

Ten years ago, I worked with folks charged with all a host of crimes.

Today, two little fellas charge at me in Batman and Superman capes as they fight crime.

—

Ten years ago, I found myself sitting in court waiting to take the stand.

Today, I find myself sitting courtside, screaming like a crazy person in the stands.

—

Ten years ago, I thought I was living the best years of my life.

Today, I KNOW I’m living the best years of my life.

On Sunday, we learned that a little boy in Stevie’s first grade class most likely had leukemia.

Heartbroken at the news that a little boy who has been a part of my son’s life for the past four years was seriously ill, I prayed that God would heal his body and be with his family as they started down a lengthy, heartbreaking road. In a split second, (or in the time it took to render a diagnosis) the course of this little boy’s life was changed.

The next day, we learned that it most likely was not leukemia, but a problem with his body absorbing sodium. Whatever the case may be with this little guy, I have carried a heavy heart for them since I heard the news. I will continue to pray that the Doctor’s can locate the cause of the problem and that it can be corrected.

I will also continue to count my blessings for two healthy children. In a split second, that could change.

A while ago, our family attended a program in the auditorium of our local high school. Before the program began, our two-year-old-spit-fire, Alex was playing on the bleachers in the auditorium. In a split second, he toppled head first down the bleachers and landed in the next row on his head. As he fell, I noticed his neck was bent and it appeared as though it might have snapped.

For a split second, my heart stopped. Fortunately, this particular spit-fire is one tough cookie and so he was fine after about five seconds of top-of-his-lungs-wailing. I was sitting just a few feet from him, but, I was completely helpless to stop the fall. A fall that happened in a split second.

That incident happened just days after Steven Curtis Chapman’s daughter, Maria was struck in her driveway.

The day before that incident, while we were excitedly preparing for a fun day with our family, I received a call from my friend asking me to send a prayer request out to our church. A little boy, Davin, who was almost two years old, fell from an upstairs bedroom window. He was bleeding from his mouth and he was believed to have broken his neck. My family went on with our sweet, peaceful day. We enjoyed time with our families and the children enjoyed playing with each other. My children, who have never known war, or trauma, or distress, continued to play and enjoy their day.

In a split second, Davin’s life changed.

I simply can’t imagine what the Chapman’s went through after the death of their five-year old. Or, what Davin’s family faced after his fall (he recovered completely by the way!)  Their hearts are most likely filled with regret, desperation and terror. My heart hurts when I hear about children in tragic, life-threatening circumstances.

By the grace of God, we have not endured any of these tragedies. I am typically on edge when it comes to the safety of my children, yet, in a split second their lives can change. And, as was the case at the high school, I was right there. Within feet of the fall. So very often, we as parents, make mistakes. Most of those mistakes only result in close calls. At any given time, however, those incidents can leave us drastically changed. As a parent, charged with the safety and well-being of  my sweet boys, I try to be on guard every minute of the day. An error in judgement or brief distraction can result in tragedy.

Scripture tells us we will have trouble and heartache in this world. Some will have more trouble and heartache than others. Still, I believe in the Sovereignty of God and believe in His word. While I can hardly wrap my mind around the heartache and despair faced by the Chapman’s,  I take a deep breath and trust in my God. I am so very thankful that they are His and that He watches over them daily. 

A split second can change your life.

Recently, my URL friend, Darcie (Such The Spot), wrote a post about how a few seconds changed her life. Thankfully, her sweet son Jayce is okay, but we could all learn something from her post about aquatic awareness.

Today, I am thankful that the God of the wind and the sea watches over my fellas and me!

To: My Sweet Boys

From: Your Mama

Date: November 19, 2009

RE: Just So You Know

Dear Boys,

November is a month of thankfulness and I am so thankful that God picked me to be your mommy! I hope that I never forget to tell you both how special you are and how much I love you!

I think I missed Just So You Know last month, so let me just add that the two of you were the cutest little Superheroes ever!

Dear Stevie:

You are having a great year in the first grade! You made straight A’s on your report card, you began your second year of basketball this month and you started Cub Scouts. You ended up in the emergency room last month because you fell on the playground and got a big, ole, nasty knot on your head. Sweet child, please slow down. It was a nerve-wracking day for me to walk into the office at your school and see this…

Motherhood sure is tough some days. It broke my heart to see you sitting in the office trying to be brave. I hope I never get another one of those calls. Your biggest complaint was that “you were winning the race” before you fell. I am thankful that the knot healed quickly and that you were okay!

You are a sweet, thoughtful little boy who makes me smile every single day. You sang “Voice of Truth” at our church Youth Service this month.

Yesterday, I was working at your school laminating cornucopias that you all had made. You were asked to write what you were thankful for on it. Tears came to my eyes as I read yours…

 I hope you will always remember that God is awesome!

You decided that you are “old enough to sleep without a stuffed animal” now. Your teddy bear, “Milo” has a place of honor on the shelf beside of your bed and it was all I could do to contain my tears last night. You are growing up so quickly! I’d like for time to stand still for a bit. Six is a sweet age and it fits you perfectly!

I love you, Stevie and I am thankful for you!

Love, Mom

Dear Alex,

You are such an independant little boy! You want to do every. single. thing. all. by. yourself! I love watching you when you are determined! You love pre-school and have made many new friends. Your best friend at school is Tanner. You also enjoy attending Scout events with Stevie. I’m thankful that the two of you are good friends!

You just had your fourth birthday and you are excited about getting to wear underwear to bed at night. You received some bad news at the eye Doctor last month and before we knew it, we were at the hospital trying to explain to a four-year old what was about to happen. I can honestly tell you that my heart shattered into a million pieces as they took you through the doors and you said, “Mommy, I want you!”

At that moment, I wanted to scoop you out of that woman’s arms and run as fast as I could out of the hospital.

Sweet mercy that was one of the most difficult moments of motherhood I’ve faced. I pray that the problem is fixed and that we won’t ever have to go through that again. It was the longest hour of my life.

I am thankful that you got a great report at the eye Doctor after the surgery. You are doing so good with your eye-drops. Putting eye drops in your eyes four times a day for ten days could be miserable. You have been a trooper through the whole thing! We are proud of you!

You haven’t forgotten that daddy spent six months in Cuba and you mention it just about everyday. I never dreamed it would still be so fresh in your mind. I’m thankful that daddy is so special to you that you think about his absence in your life. Daddy is a great role-model for you boys and I am thankful that you all love to spend time with him!

I love you sweet boy!

Love, Mommy

I am an organzier by nature.

And a multi-tasker.

I also like being one step ahead of the proverbial game. Stevie and I both have birthdays in December. In fact, thanks to my unwillingness to reamain on bed-rest on my 29th birthday, I had Stevie one day later on December 12th. McDaddy was happy that our sweet boy arrived in time to be claimed on our taxes and I was happy that I didn’t have to spend one more miserable second on bed-rest but if I had any sense I would have kept my sorry behind in the bed and waited until after the holidays to have my sweet boy. Instead, we have two birthdays, one day apart, two weeks before Christmas and one very L-O-N-G sentence.

For that reason, I try to do as much as I can to prepare for the holiday way in advance so I can enjoy the holiday.

If you are a friend IRL (as opposed to URL) who receives the McFamily Christmas Letter in our Christmas card, you should stop reading right now. If not, you will totally ruin the surprise of our Christmas letter.

In other words, you should not read any further if you want to be surprised when our Christmas card arrives.

Now.

There are probably a million handful of people out there who despise the Christmas letter.

We get about six or eight Christmas letters each year and I look forward to them. I also appreciate the cards that are acutally hand-signed by their senders.

I told my BFF Becky yesterday that every year I wonder if I will be able to compose an interesting Christmas letter. And, every year, I surprise myself. During a twenty-minute stint in the pick-up line one day, I started thinking about our Christmas letter. Within minutes, my wheels were turning and I knew if I didn’t get home quickly, I would never remember what I was thinking about.

I’m glad to have this one thing done well in advance of the holiday.

Here is the final product that has become the 2009 McFamily Christmas Letter. It should be read to the tune of Twas The Night Before Christmas… [Insert image of cute Christmas paper here!]

Twas the month before Christmas, at the McFamily abode
Steve’s working for Honeywell, Julie’s cleaning a commode
The stockings are hung on the banister by the door
Hopefully the kids won’t knock them in the floor.
The children are healthy, and snug in this place
They run wild here at home, they sure love to race
Julie’s in her bloggy chair, Steve plays in his jeep
The fellas love to off-road in that big, dirty heap.
When in the back bedroom I hear a big thump
Our sweet little Alex is jumping from the top bunk.
Away through the hall, I fly with a flash
I arrive just in time to see my little boy crash

It’s been a long year filled with deployment stuff
We made it through, but some days it was tough.
After 107 days, Julie and the boys appeared
On Guantanamo Bay with eyes full of tears

The boys were excited, to see their sweet dad
We were all reunited and man, were we glad.
More rapid than before, the days passed quickly by,
And we said tearful goodbyes again with a sigh!
Now daddy! We’ll miss you! Please hurry home!
Our house is just not the same when you are gone!
Daddy was gone six long months with the Guard in Cuba
Spending time with the GTMO folks and a little time for some scuba.
And now that it’s done, we’re grateful for each-other
And Steve and I are sure thankful for two sweet little brothers
Stevie’s in first grade and soon will be seven
He asked Christ in his heart this year so he could go to Heaven.
Alex is four and wears glasses like his brother
He’d rather be in the garage with dad instead of in the van with his mother
As they play together and giggle with joy
Steve and I thank God for our two little boys.
Usually dressed in CARS attire, with shoes on their feet,
Our boys stay busy, their rooms rarely neat.
A bundle of Toys they’re asking for this year
We are just thankful our family is near.
There’s joy in our home and smiles on our faces
We’re thankful to travel and camp in lots of new places.
Our hearts are full and so are our hands
We continue to pray for those serving in far off lands.
Steve’s family is still growing with three kids on the way
There’s lots of nieces and nephews what more can we say?
Alex is potty trained and that makes us real happy
We’re trying our best not to make this real sappy.
Julie dishes out some crazy on her little blog
(www) From Inmates to Playdates is what it is called
You can keep up with the McFamily boys and all their drama
Along with some random ramblings from their crazy Mama.
Another year is done, with many blessings from our Lord.
We’d like to say bless you as this New Year we look toward.
We’ll exclaim it once more before the year is through
Much love and blessings to every one of you!

I have no idea why the document won’t move those two lines. It’s enough to drive me crazy!

At any rate, I’ve got the first part of our Christmas card completed! 

Hopefully this week, I’ll be able to sign the cards and have our Christmas picture printed.

Being organzied works for me!

Check out other Works For Me Wednesday posts over at We Are THAT Family.

This was another easy, albeit eclectic week.

Real life?

Wow. What fun this was because? Well, because it’s fun to be me! I’m a blessed, crazy gal with three special fellas in her life. So, without further rambling, may I present to you, my real life…

This happens to be my dining room table.

And it happens to be covered with cars from the movie CARS. Meet Lightning McQueen and his expensive posse.

That little mess up there is equal to about one hundred dollars if you can believe that. Throw in those three Longaberger baskets you can see on my table and well, you’d have a lot more than one hundred dollars.

That, my friends is my real life.

And sometimes we throw caution to the wind and have these home-made goodies for breakfast…

I have two words for you. Scrumpt and Tious. Especially that one there at the bottom.

Okay, so home-made is a stretch unless you consider that I was home when I made them.

At any rate, they were yummy in real life!!!

And for a real look into our real life, take a look at this….

Our calendar stays pretty full! (Oh my sweet mercy, I love that MACRO setting!) The “X”s you see mean McDaddy will be out of town. Blah, blah and more blah!

That’s about as real as it gets around here.

We would rather be posing like this….

Than like this…

I love my real life!!!

There’s lots more real life over at I Should Be Folding Laundry. Head over there and check it out!

Dear Alex,

How can it be that you are four years old?

It seems like just yesterday, we were getting your hair cut for the first time.

Before you were born, the Doctor said you would be a ten-pound baby.

They were right on the mark.

At ten pounds, five ounces, you were the biggest baby in the nursery. The nurses nick-named you, King. Still, you were my sweet, little, boy! You were a good sleeper, you latched-on immediately and your hair was so thick in the middle, you looked like you had a mohawk.

When we were introduced to you, we knew you were sent to complete our family. I immediately saw some striking similarities between the two of us and although we’ve had our moments, I have a place in my heart reserved just for you!

Over the past year, we have seen so many changes! Your temper tantrums have turned into rational thinking and your stubborn streak has turned into, well, nothing…. [And believe me, I know all about the stubborn streak. We have been friends for many years!]

You are an independent little boy with a strong will and a determined spirit. You and and your sense of adventure scare the soup out of me. Please be careful. You are not Spiderman, Superman or Batman.

You have a double crown, a big foot, blue eyes, an extra tooth, a great laugh, a sweet voice, and a shrill cry. You are a be-speckled little boy who loves poptarts and shoes. We quarrel daily about your shoe selection. You need to understand that when it is 43 degrees outside, you cannot wear crocs. It won’t happen. I understand your shoe dilemma, I really do, but please just work with me here. [We are alike in so many ways!]

You are so good to go along with whatever I am doing. Whether we’re trapsing through Wal-Mart or sitting in the copy room at Flinn, you normally go with the flow. I enjoy hanging out with you, kiddo!

It is my prayer for you that you can always be as happy and full of joy as you are on this day, at your fourth birthday party. I had a great time watching you enjoy your day!  Happy Birthday!

I love you, sweet boy!

Love, Mama

What would you do if you knew you would not fail?
 
Recently I heard this quote and it has taken root in my brain. I have thought a lot about roads in my life that I turned off of, afraid that I would never see the end of the street. If I knew I wouldn’t fail though, I would still be trudging down some of them, my hopes high and my worries light.
 
Life is not like this though and so I’ve been thinking about various incidents  in my life, how they have changed me and how changing my behavior would have changed my life.
 
A couple of years ago, McDaddy received an early Christmas present. The McInLaws and I went together to purchase a TomTom GPS System. For those of you living under a rock wondering what a TomTom is… it is the smart choice in personal navigation. In other words, this system when plugged into a vehicle can navigate you to any destination in the US, England or Canada. On a recent trip, this new loyal friend guided us from our drive-way right to the door of our destination. She was a little peeved when we missed a turn, and then again when we turned into a scrapbook store parking lot to kill time because we arrived a little early. It didn’t know our plans had changed and she became increasingly agitated.

She needs to take a chill pill.
 
I thought about this little system, and its benefits to me if I could hook the thing up to my brain. It would give me a swift kick in the tail when I was about to turn onto a wrong road. Not that I have a miserable life, but because I can use all the help I can get. For instance, if I had a TomTom, I would not open my mouth to say the wrong thing because my loyal friend would be there to tell me I was about to make a wrong turn. He would save me the guilt I would feel afterward and save the poor soul I offended the reason to be offended. 

Seriously, I’m working on it.
 
I can think of at least two people right off the top of my head that could have benefitted from TomToms services in the past month. These two people have made decisions that have significantly changed the way people viewed them and its my belief a little navigation on their part could have avoided the crash courses they caused.
 
Oh….. and when I didn’t comlete my Graduate School thesis, TomTom would have been there to guide me along the road to see that I finished that silly thing so I wouldn’t have failure looming over my head. I would also know that the quote, “What would you do if you knew you would not fail” had a lot more meaning to me than I would  like to admit. You see, I have failed. My thesis is nothing more than words on my computer hard drive now. I have no intention of finishing and quite frankly, I am sometimes sorry that I even started grad school, because now I have to admit that I have unfinished business. I have no desire to finish now…but, the end result is still the same no matter what my intentions are at this point. I could list all the reasons why I didn’t finish the thesis – entitled “Gun Use in West Virginia Domestic Violence Cases,” but seriously, who even cares about that anyway. I wanted to write a thesis on something cool like murder or meyhem, but, the chair of my thesis committee had other ideas.

I have other ideas about him now too, but, that’s a whole ’nother blog.
 
If TomTom would have been on the job back then, he would have told me to back myself up, pick my own thesis topic and drive quickly to the end of the trail to get it finished. My grad school days did produce a group of great friends and provided me with lots of knowledge about Criminology, Statistics, Criminal law, Grant Writing and Counseling. If nothing else, I sure learned how to be a criminal during my academic pursuit at Marshall University Graduate School. The really sad part is that I was at the end of the road ready to pull into Masters Avenue and my thesis was not and is not as of this date finished. TomTom sure could have aided me in making a different turn to make those two years really mean something. Its all water under the bridge now and TomTom has rerouted me. Its not always easy to forget though and I’ve not forgotten it, even after eleven years. I have other interests in life now and couldn’t say with 100% clarity that I would finish it if I had the chance to go back. Instead of focusing on that, I will spend the next howevermany years routing myself down roads that will have significance in my life – raising my boys, nurturing my marriage and maybe even going back to work when my sweet angels are both in school. 

I am proud of what I have achieved and would like to think that I’ve learned something from the navigation system of my life. I’ve learned that its not always about the destination. There are so many wonderful things to see on the route, if your too involved in the destination you may miss out on the chance to make friends, change your course or learn something. I’ve learned this the hard way.  Winston Churchill once said, Failure is not fatal, it is the courage to continue that counts…. I will continue to focus on the road ahead of me and not look back down that long road I turned off of eleven years ago.
 
When you find yourself on the WRONG road, take advice from your internal  TomTom – at the next intersection make a RIGHT turn.

Hello Internets!

Today’s Thursday Thirteen will be a little different than what you’re used to.

I thought it might be fun to shake things up a bit.

So, I gave Stevie my camera and instructed him to snap pictures of 13 things in our house that he wanted to show you. Besides some technical help from me (and you should know that I am playing fast and loose with the whole technical help thing) he took the pictures himself and chose what he wanted to show you. The only stipulation was that he could not photograph 13 toys.

He provided the narration and at times I had a time keeping up with him. He can talk way faster than I can type. I’m not at all sure where he gets that from. (Ahem!)  He is definitely his daddy’s son. He didn’t leave out any important details and paused to make sure I got it all recorded just the way he wanted.

And now, may I present, Thursday Thirteen – Thirteen Things From Stevie 

———

1. “The TV is special because we can watch shows like Tom & Jerry and see what else is on”

And because it provides mommy with some great entertainment.

2. “This is one great game because it’s very easy and very fun!” I play it when I feel bored and feel like doing something fun!”

3. “This is a Cub-Scout manual. It tells you what the cub-scout sign is, like wolf ears, the salute and it tells you what all we do in Cub Scouts. I like cub-scouts because it’s fun!”

4. “You think this is the way this monster truck El Toro Loco looks, but its really not because Alex tore a horn off of it when we were camping at Carter Caves.”

5. “This hat is just like the manual because it is from Cub Scouts, also. Except for it’s different. I wear it when I go to Cub-Scout meetings with dad and Levi and his dad, Eli and Jordan and his dad, Josh and Jackson, and his dad and his brother.”

6. “This bed may look like a car to you because it has wheels on the bottom and a license plate, but its a bed. And the funny part of it is, on the back license plate it says Snooze which means you’re snoring!”

7. “We helped daddy change this faucet a long time ago. Once he yelled up to me and asked if any water was coming out of the pipe, I said no. He said that’s the best thing I ever heard because water was flying out all over the place before that.”

8. “This Mario Cart Wii backpack is just like the game which is the second picture, but, except it has a 3-D scratchy part and it shows you Mario, Wario, Toad and Luigi. This backpack goes with me to school.”

9. “The boots that look like fireman boots are mine. I took them on the scout camping trip at the Kanawha State Forest and I stepped in the creek a couple times and we had a paper cup race down the creek and mine was #6 and then we stopped the race and then I raced a broken cup and my cup together and they both got stuck on a waterfall and I stepped in to find out where it was and the water was too deep and got in my boots and um, they were kind of damp so I didn’t get to wear them on the hiking trip on Sunday up to this huge rock called Alligator rock and the alligator is a rock-eyed alligator.”

Can I just say that the fact that my sweet boy included shoes in this blog makes me smile! The boots were line up in a row and he wanted to turn his boots around so that he could take a picture of the fire badge.

10. “You know this vehicle may look clean, but as usual on off-roading trails we get it so muddy you can’t even see the black. This is one of the best vehicles I like because it has a winch on it now. The wench is for towing other JEEPS out of stuck trouble because they may just spin right out and go right down a hill and it also gets us out of stuck trouble because we can hook ours to a tree and someone else can hook to the tree and it can pull us out of trouble. I took this picture because I wanted to write about this, I really like this, and, on the way home from the camping trip on Saturday I got to switch gears in the Jeep and even when it wasn’t running very well and then on the way home, he let me switch gears again. This is the only vehicle I get to switch gears in and only if mom and Alex stay here, cause if mom and Alex are in there, me and Alex have to sit in the back.”

11. “A long time ago, we had this thing full of toys but now its just half-way full and that’s because we put things back in the right spot, that’s how it got half full. And a long time ago, I think it was a few days before that, me and dad sorted my toy tools and put them back in the right spot. I sorted the black screws in one drawer and the gray screws in the other drawer of my tool bench and I found a black pair of pliers and I decided to put them in a seperate spot.”

12. “This we hardly ever ask to go out and play on because its getting cold. Papa and Dylan helped me and dad build this. After it was already built, me and Alex pretended to build it again. We used toy tools.”

13. “This is a riding toy motorcycle. It may look like a real one because it has vents and something that can hold the tires together but it is not real because it does not have an engine. The way you make it move is by paddling your feet on the floor. I hardly ever ride it because I have more interesting stuff rather than doing that.”

Now, wasn’t that fun?

Yes, I thought so too!

He pays close attention to detail and loves to talk.

Sounds like a perfect DNA match to his dad and his mama.

Enjoy your Thursday, y’all!

With the exception of this sinus headache I have going on, I absolutely love everything about fall. I love the cool, crisp mornings and the cool evening wind. I love the changing colors of the leaves. (Did I mention orange was my favorite color?) And, I love, love, love pumpkins, scarecrows and hay. I really love the season. And, as I sit on my porch and watch my boys play, I realize how special this season of my life is.
 
As a child, I’m not so sure I paid a whole lot of attention to the seasons. I know I dug out my winter coat for snow and had to put on sunscreen in the summer before going to the pool. For me winter meant I was going to get presents at Christmas, spring meant a new dress for church and a candy filled Easter basket, summer meant school was over, and fall allowed me to dress up in my favorite costume for a door-to-door candy fest. As an adult though, the seasons indicate more than that. They mean a change of weather, a change of time, and changes in my boys.  It means I’ve made another trip around the sun and completed another personal season in my life.
 
As an awkward teenager, my high school years were filled with seemingly endless band trips, school dances that you only hoped you’d have a date for and harmless cruising on the weekends with the same group of four or five friends who laughed at each others silly antics. We’d have piles of homework and the responsibility of making sure nothing below a “C” came home on the report card. This season of my life is special because it was during this season that I met McDaddy.
 
Off to college, I experienced a new season because I now had a job with responsibilities and endless piles of term papers and tests to be taken (and hopefully passed). I wrote on index cards, covering them with notes to be studied while on the job and in my car. I remember my frustration in trying to fully understand economics and the life changing internship at South Central Regional Jail where the focus of my studies changed from child psychology to the psychology of criminal behavior. I refuse to call it criminal justice as that seems like an oxymoron to me. This season is also the season I became engaged to McDaddy and received a BS Degree in Psychology with a minor in… what else? Criminal Justice.
 
Finally, the day came for McDaddy and I to become husband and wife. He taught me and continues to teach me about respect, compassion and what it means to truly love somebody. Marriage, with all its perks has been great, but, I now found myself holding even more responsibility. There were endless tasks that now fell solely on me (cooking and cleaning) and daily tests in patience, persistance and compromise. No matter how wonderful the two people are there are life lessons to be learned and scores to be settled. There is give and take and the score is rarely tied. I am still learning the give part.
 
The next season – motherhood – brought even more responsibilities to my daily life. I now experience endless piles of laundry, and find myself being tested daily in subjects like patience, conflict resolution and sacrifice. During my career, I had deadlines to meet, daily interaction with inmates, mounds of paperwork, oh, and I received a paycheck. I had hoped to make a difference, but, the truth of the matter is, I probably didn’t. My job today is not much different than the one I had back then. The major difference is, I now counsel and correct my boys instead of inmates. I still have mounds of paperwork to sort through – only now they include dealing with insurance companies, utility bills and endless stacks of catalogs that need my attention. Oh, and if I don’t meet deadlines on this job, someone may be without clean underwear. And even though I don’t receive a paycheck the dividends are priceless.
 
I’m not usually one to embrace change. This time though, change has embraced me. As a mom, you don’t always have the luxury of thinking about the change, you just gotta roll with it. When all you’d really like to do is take a quick nap, you have a bottom to wipe, a belly to feed, and a boo-boo to kiss. When you’d like to take a nice, long, hot bubble bath complete with candles, all you really have time for is quickly scrubbing your body while the tub is still filling. Oh and those candles… forget that, because most days I’m lucky if I remember to turn the light on.

Even with all that, I am enjoying this season in my life. I get to race monster trucks before lunchtime and dance senselessly to “Made To Love” while my sweet boy wraps his arms around my neck and giggles as I twirl him around. I GET to do these things. I get to be the one to hold my boys when they are sick. I get to be the one to feed them each meal and I get to be the one to sit and play with them in the middle of the day.
 
I am so enjoying this season of my life. I have FALLen in love with my new job and I am so thankful to be a mom. This short season will be over quicker than I want it to be and so I will SPRING into action and embrace each change as it comes.