Angry Working Mom

What your kids think about you

I would like to think that my kids think many things about me (and hope that they don't notice a couple of things). I hope that my 6 YO thinks that her Mom is strong and successful and in that she sees that she can be or do what ever she wants (she wants to be a pirate at the moment). I hope that she thinks that I am loving, nurturing and that she can confide in me. I hope that she knows I would do anything for her, and that she knows that I break my neck to make it to her school events. I hope that she thinks that I'm smart and funny and maybe even hip. I hope that she thinks a lot of things.. So when we had a recent Mother's Day Tea at school and she wrote an across poem "M.O.T.H.E.R"  I laughed pretty hard at the words that came to her mind when she thought of her Mother.

M- My Mom is pretty (so sweet)

O- Oranges (she said - you do like those ,right?) No not really, but hey O is hard!

T- Takes me to the movies (True)

H- Hugs me a lot (LOVE, LOVE that she put this..I smother her with my hugs all of the time)

E- Enjoys TV (This is where I just have to say Huh? I never get to watch TV..EVER)!

R- Reads to me every night (I love reading time every night..I'm out of town a lot and this is what I miss most)

First, Hey kiddo that TV comment (in front of the entire class) cuts your ole' mom deep. But, second is a whole other issue. Why is it that the only comment that I focus on is the one that I perceive as negative. Why don't we as moms think about the positive that our kids see instead of the one negative.

On another funny note the kids made place mats for us that had fill in the blanks. Quite funny!

My Mom's hair is: Blond

My Mom is 23 years old (add about 10 yrs to that)

My Mom weighs 24 pounds (well what can I say..My kid knows that flattery is the quickest way to Mom's heart)

My Mom makes the best brownies (true, true)

My Mom is the best because she takes me places with my friends

How stinking sweet is that!

So the take home of this story for me is this: the homemade brownies, the crafts, the gourmet meals, the organic produce, shuffling back and forth to everything thing that we shuffle them to, the everything that you do for them... in the end they remember that Mom "enjoys TV".

Chain letters...10 things that make me Happy

Yesterday NuckingFuts Mama challenged me (ok..ok..asked me to play along) to write a 10 things list that was inspired by a "you will certainly die a horrid death if you don't respond" email. Well, we don't want to wish death by shark attack so we are playing as a game..no death threats attached.

I'm going to do Top 10 a la David Letterman

10) Shopping. I love it, it makes me really, really happy. Happy like call some on on A&E because I am surely to be on their next pet reality project. I don't wreck the budget shopping, but when I can I love, love, love it. Here's my crazy: I love shopping at Nordstrom's for an expensive pair of shoes BUT I also love running to Target and picking up 13 T-shirts or beach towels or cleaning products. I'm calling a therapist as I type

9) Sleeping Kids. I love the feeling of the breathe when the kids are asleep. That makes me happy! There is something abut seeing my 1YO's butt sticking up in the air that is pretty awesome. Checking in on my 6 YO with American girl doll clinched gets me every time = pure joy

8) Running. Running makes me giddy. I yearn for time to go and spend time doing nothing but getting my run on! I am also a major pilates junkie and over all gym rat. I have a lot going on in my head..A LOT that is the cluster Fuck that is AWM. The only thing that turns off all of the work shenanigan, the 400 things that aren't complete, the 200 things left to do in the day is to run until there is not a thought in  my head. I know exactly what mile clicks me in to zombie brain and that makes me really happy!

7) Surprises. Hello Happy! OK not the dog took a crap in my Miu Miu's but a genuine surprise. A card in the mail...a sweet craft from the kiddo, flowers at the office, doing the dishes (did you hear that one honey I do appreciate that). I love surprises! 

6) Girlfriends. When you feel like hell..when you feel like life is going to implode girlfriends make me very happy. From a girls night out to a phone call. From sharing a great day to taking a phone call when you are at your lowest girlfriends rock!

5) Gardening. Through a curve ball at you there, didn't I. OK, so what I have a hoe and I like to get dirty, really, really dirty (couldn't resist). Landscaping makes me happy! Not the heavy lifting, but the pretty part. I love a cascading petunia, what can I say! Hydrangeas make me happy!

4) Laughing kids. What is about a laughing kids? Maybe it's the ridiculous, uncontrollable laughter. A tickle fight, a silly game..I just can't get over the smile that pops on my face! 

3)Security. That feeling of just being settled makes me happy. There is nothing better than being able to lay your head down and sleep. That peace rather it be relationship, financially, or work being settled is priceless and makes me very happy. I feel like the stars align and this actually happens about twice a year. Those 2 days a year I am super, super happy!

2) THE BEACH!!! Every time I see coast line I turn back into a 10 year old little girl. Nothing makes me happier (except #1) when my toes hit the sand. It's magic..that squishy feeling of the sand between your toes puts a HUGE smile on my face! An umbrella drink doesn't hurt either!

And the #1 thing that makes AngryworkingMom happy is.....

1) Going to the bathroom alone.

Check out Fucking Nuts Mama's list http://mama2point0.wordpress.com/2010/05/18/ten-things-that-make-me-happy/

The Mother's Day let down

So, every year, I think of this wonderful day with the girls bringing me pancakes in bed like on one of the many freaking commercials that are on the air in the weeks leading up to Mother's Day. And every year, I end the day with an overwhelming sense of being let down. I don't know why I still have this expectation. Maybe it's because it's the one day of the whole flipping year where your husband, your kids, hell even your own Mom can say we appreciate all that you do!

 

That being said, this year - like all the rest - I was soaringly underwhelmed. We headed out to my favorite brunch place (I made the reservations, I got everyone ready..you know the drill). We had a wonderful brunch..until.. well until my husband says "I was thinking about getting you . . .". The rest doesn't matter because I tuned out and was so ticked that I didn't hear it anyway. He is notorious for this. He was thinking that he may blah, freaking blah, blah for me for Mother's Day. Only one problem IT IS FREAKING MOTHER'S DAY. So you weren't thinking you would, you just didn't.

He would argue that he sent flowers on Friday from him and the girls, which was super nice (although it was his way of breaking the ice on a week old argument, but it still counts).

Insertion: There is a website where married women go looking for affairs. The #1 day for women to sign up is the day after Valentine's Day, the #2 day is the day after Mother's day. Not advocating, just a simple point to show that it's not just my husband, but an epidemic of thoughtlessness. 

Is it too much to ask to go to the girls and ask what gift that they would like to get me? Inevitably, it will be some ridiculous item, but it's the thought that counts, and it's sweet because it came from the kids in their tiny little minds. OK, my 6 YO wants to get me a shake weight, but outside of that the bright pink, ginourmous, ugly earrings are super sweet coming from a kid who thinks Hannah Montana is a fashion icon. But not this year, this year I got a "hey, I was thinking of getting you . . ." followed up with a "I guess I'll take the kids to my mother's house."  So yea, I sat by myself on mother's day. It was nice at first. I ran to the gym, to Target, to the grocery store, but then as I sat in the house alone I thought, is this how it should be?

To end this tirade and also explain where exactly I am coming from, my husband (the day after Mother's day) bought himself a pair of Costa Del Mar's. The really sad part is that I had mentioned wanting a pair of sunglasses for Mother's Day and thought that he bought them for me.

Here's the thing guys: We aren't asking for much. Seriously, not much. It's more about the gesture.. that you get that we do 10 fold what you do because we are the Mom. And hey, we are fine with that BUT on the ONE day out of the whole damn year where you have an opportunity to express that, DO IT.