Let's talk motherhood...

Ok So it's been awhile and I have a million stories to share to my online journal but as I sat down this one is the one I want to start with for absolute no apparent reason. 

Motherhood is so stinkin' funny.  

Sometimes "haha" funny and sometimes this is "the absolute worst" kind of funny and a million other kinds of funny because let's just say there is nothing like raising baby humans to adult humans. This particular motherhood funny is about how much I have changed in my tooth fairy role. Oh my gosh I laugh every time I think about it.  So when I had Nicholas (my first) I could hardly wait until he had a loose tooth.  That was such a huge milestone and it simply would not come fast enough. I'm sure we ripped that thing out instead of waiting patiently for the little thing to just fall out on his own time. The glee in my heart when I could finally slip in my sleeping angel's room that very night, and secretly lift his pillow, and silently place that little change for him to find in the morning....

The magic, the joy and utter happiness.

That sneaky tooth fairy. 

Fast forward to poor Charles. (My fourth)

True story.

I just gave him $15.00 2 nights ago for 3 teeth that had been under his pillow in 3 separate sandwich sized zip lock bags for a minimum of 5 months.

There is so many funnies to dissect here where to freaking begin.

Are you kidding me that my son was waiting for the tooth fairy to come for almost half a year?  I am going to die laughing right here right now.  But there are tears running down my face so I think it is the crazy laughter that is tainted with embarrassment, humiliation, and regret and hopefulness that this does not ruin my poor boy in some way that I am not aware of at this time.

And how about that amount?

By the way according to my sources which is my 16 year old daughter that amount of money is a little low for the going rate of the tooth fairy.

Again, are you messing with me?

$15.00 is a boat load of money to hand to someone because the inevitable happened. He grew teeth and bigger tooth pushed out his little tooth. It happens... end of story.

$15.00? 

 I thought I was giving him the most money that any child had ever been given in the history of tooth fairyism because if someone has to wait that long I figured there was a premium, possibly some interest on those quarters and a hard price to pay.

And come to find out I didn't even hit the going rate....

It all is just too funny!!!!

Who are these other parents and why are they trying to make me look so bad and why are they giving their children so much money and on the first night their children lost their teeth no doubt? haha

Well I have to go do crap that I always do like laundry and dishes so this is the end of my funny story.

But I am going to walk away from this computer still giggling....

Oh my how I have changed and unfortunately not always for the better.  But one thing I have learned in this journey is that if your children know with every fiber of their being that you love them unconditionally for exactly who they are... everything else you do is just stuff.  And it just washes out in the end.  Even a ding dong tooth fairy that just never shows up.


By the way while I am here I love making videos of our family and this is just a short clip that I made when we went to Carmel over New Years.  We had such a blast and maybe I will start posting them here more.  I save them all and make a video for every year but it's always fun to see clips...so here you go!

In a blink of an eye

Second star on the right, straight on til' morning
Peter Pan

My Sister in law, Ann gave me a sign with these words and they have been hanging in my boys room as a reminder for the last ten years. A reminder that one of my wishes as a mother was never going to come true.

Little boys grow up.

They were not going to bring me worms from their pockets or give me dandelions for flowers. They were not going to swing from branches upside down or throw rocks way too close to cars. Hours and hours spent outside hollering and yelling would shift indoors to watching some crummy TV show.
The years of endless little league baseball games would all come to an end. I loved seeing that proud look in their eye and tiny relieved smile as they start their mad dash to first base.
I knew those dirty little bodies snuggling on my lap begging for another story would transfer to being curled up into their own corner of their room reading by themselves.

I used to ache inside thinking of them growing older. How to hold onto the precious days, like sand in my hands, consumed my thoughts. I knew that time was a gift with them and it would be over in a blink of an eye. I would call my sister Angelin (She hated seeing her kids grow up as much as I did) crying to try and figure out how to slow everything down. It was something I wrestled with everyday.

And then it sorta just stopped.

I don't know when it did, but it did. I am not saying that I don't dread it anymore because I do but I don't cry and fret like I used to. It probably is because I still have my littles that occupy so much of my energy and time. Nicholas was almost 13 when Charlie was born so I got another precious little boy to give me dandelions. (Which he does everyday.) I also think that I am sincerely enjoying this time with my boys growing up too.

Teenagers are hysterical.

I mean they are really funny and their lives are wildly entertaining. One of the reasons is because suddenly I get them. I know they don't think I was ever their age and I am creepily ancient but I remember being a teen. I remember the driving, the friends and the dates. This all seems oddly familiar and I enjoy watching them plow through it. Of course there are things I really don't like and watching them fumble around is hard. I sometimes want to take control of their life so they don't make stupid mistakes but that is just it... I can't. They have to learn from their own mistakes. But in the process they are growing into these amazing people. People I am so proud and honored to know. It takes my mind off of the ticking clock and into seriously enjoying their company.

One of those teen milestones happened to my boy last Saturday night....Junior Prom. I loved almost every part of preparing for that night. I have to say almost because it cost me serious money for my teen's memory. I also did not enjoy the fact that he thought 4:00 was a completely reasonable curfew. We agreed on 2:30 but that was not without hours of debate.

I did however love being there when he asked her. I loved seeing how sweet and darling his date was. I loved going to pick up his date with him. I loved chauffeuring them both to the pre- party. Most of all I just loved being there whenever he'd let me because just like everything else it was over ....in a blink of an eye.

So funny... so that night my honey was off playing with his brother and friends. I was home flipping through the channels and the ultimate 80's prom movie comes on... "Pretty in Pink." I just found myself sitting there smiling. It brought back so many great memories. How can it be that now my own son was having those same milestones?

Even though time continues to pass, I am grateful that I will always be a mother.