be a good mother

Edit: With help with MadamKelly we have decided that this contest looks like a scam. She says that it collects info and only award money if a certain number of photos are entered

Even if I do/or do not believe it is a scam I will not being asking you guys to do anything you are uncomfortable with, in any way…

but there it is:
http://gapc-vote.com/?p=1912945

And if you guys have any contest that do look clean let me know. I would really like to see this picture win!*

I don’t even want to write it down here as most people will probably think I am a bad mother for even doubting my decision.

It’s just so hard to be wise, sensible, caring and controlling whilst dealing with an emotional, hormonal, turblent teen.

Today when we were at the indoor playground at the mall, Isak (friendly as ever) said hi to this other boy around his age. Out of nowhere this kid got a scary aggressive look on his face and sucker-punched Isak right in the face.

Isak was totally shocked (as were we), and before Markus and I could get over the parent fence, the kid hit him again. The boy ran off and Markus soothed Isak while I went after the kid who was shoving a little girl down at that point. I (politely, which was hard, I was surfing on adrenaline at this point) asked him where his mommy was.

He led me to a very nice looking pregnant woman and I asked if he was her son. She looked at me, puzzled, as I told her he was being really aggressive, pushing and hitting other kids, that he had punched my son in the face, hard.

She looked appalled, apologized, and dragged him off while he cried, and I headed back to see Isak who had a bright pink patch on his face where the kid hit him. I gave him a hug and told him that the other boy’s mommy had taken him home, then we had an impromptu talk about bullies. I was NOT expecting to have to throw myself into defensive mama-bear mode and have this conversation today. I would feel completely ashamed if the situation were reversed.

I was proud he hadn’t retaliated on the other kid’s level, but what do you say? Both Markus and I reiterated the “come tell a grown up” bit, but the hard part was that he wanted to know why. Why this kid he’d just said hello to had hurt him – how do you explain that? We tried – saying that some people feel angry inside and don’t know how to treat other people, and it has nothing to do with you, but still, it’s scary. Do you start self defense classes at 4 years old these days? Maybe you do.

Remembering the look on Isak’s face right afterward makes me feel ill. It’s not as though we’re raising him to think the world is all sunshine and rainbows, but we want him to at least feel safe. The look on his face made me feel like that sense of safety got dented, but honestly? – I think he’s bounced back from it better than I have. I still feel really upset.

It was delicious. Isak and I spent the afternoon carving our pumpkin (I tried my best to follow his design then added a few touches of my own) and getting ready for the trick-or-treat fest. We did a Morticia and Gomez dance around the living room and made up silly ghost ditties.

All the weather reports insisted we were in for foul weather, but it was beautiful – clear, with a fat moon and a sprinkling of stars. It was a wonderful surprise, I was picturing a very wet frog making it about a block and a half before wanting to turn back, but there wasn’t a drop to be seen and it was very mild.

Isak really wanted to wear his froggy costume again, and it still fits, so off we went into the night. We went all around the area, zigzagging up and down the hill, meeting friendly neighbors, looking down at the city lights garnished with bursts of random fireworks, stocking his rapidly growing bag of treats, admiring the other costumes, singing Halloween songs…

We got home after a couple of hours and had a late dinner before sorting (and sampling) treats by pumpkin light and playing with some spooky lego daddy bought in case we got rained out.

We all had a great, great, night, although I don’t know if we’re ever going to get him to put the frog costume away. He even had me “interview” him in character, which I’ll have to post sometime – it was hilarious.

I hope everyone else had a great night too!

or Wednesday – Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs :)

Parents: Fathers and Mmothers ~ our kids are only young once! We need to cherish, nurture, guide and love our children in every possible way. Possibly the greatest virtue a parent can have is patience.

My son is 21 now. Josh and Nat have gifted mme mmy first Grandchild – Aidan Neo on June 28 2009. They are both wonderful, loving and caring parents!

If I only knew then what I know now. I love you, Josh!

^{Lately one of my very favorite things to do together is to trade bedtime stories. First I’ll read a book he’s chosen, then we each make up our own. Last night he went on at length and I did my best to take it down afterward. What a marvelous imagination…}

Isak’s bedtime story (as told to Mommy October 13, 2009)

Once upon a time Isak found a garbage can with a bad cake inside. Isak took a bite, spat it out and said “ewww, that’s gross. And stinky. P.U.”. Then he met a worm. It was a talking worm with little closed eyes. Isak took the worm to the playground and the worm said “ow, the ground hurts my tummy” so Isak made some jello like a ball and the worm crawled inside. A snail came and said “hello” and they all played together.

Then Isak found a dump truck in the road and drove it home. Mommy and Daddy were there and said “oh Isak, we love your dump truck!” so Isak went to the dump truck store and got one for Mommy and Daddy. A purple and silver one.

Mommy and Daddy were so happy and drove their dump truck and Isak drove with Bob and they went to the coca cola store and bought coca cola in cups. Mommy and Daddy put their cups in the cup holes but they flew out the window and Bob and Astara drank them (Silly guys!). Mommy and Daddy got more coca cola and they drove to the train tracks.

The train tracks were blue and the wheels were blue and the train was blue too. We drank our coca cola and the bubbles went into our noses and the noses jumped off and ran away. We chased the noses but they ran up the wall and hid in a vent.

There was a door and the lock on the door stopped working. There was a sticky bug on the door, and a sticky jellyfish. Then Isak said “I have a good idea!” and asked the door to open nicely and went looking for Star Bear and Baby Bear. They were in the recycling bin and Isak fell in and went into a garbage truck and got squashed and looked like this [squeezes side of face with hands] and popped his head off and then he couldn’t talk.

Then Isak got a robot tongue and could talk and turned into a bat and flapped and threw bad snakes at people for Halloween and it was a party and we had good cakes and we were there just in time. The end.

...I was in full blown labour!

I can’t believe a year has passed since I went into labour at my friend’s daughter’s 5th birthday party and after denying I was in labour for several hours eventually conceeded that I probably should go to the hospital.

Stinky Pinkleton was born at 1.04am so most of my labour actually happened on the 11th. This photo was taken exactly one year ago!!

Beautiful Boy by John Lennon
(substituted a few words)

Close your eyes,
Have no fear,
The monsters gone,
He’s on the run and your mommy’s here,

Beautiful,
Beautiful, beautiful,
Beautiful Boy,

Before you go to sleep,
Say a little prayer,
Every day in every way,
It’s getting better and better,

Beautiful,
Beautiful, beautiful,
Beautiful Boy,

Out on the ocean sailing away,
I can hardly wait
To see you to come of age,
But I guess we’ll both,
Just have to be patient,
Yes it’s a long way to go,
But in the meantime,

Before you cross the street,
Take my hand,
Life is just what happens to you,
While your busy making other plans,

Beautiful,
Beautiful, beautiful,
Beautiful Boy,
Darling,
Darling,
Darling Gabriel.

Juniper star and Samantha star are one!!! We spend the weekend at our family cabin. A place of pure magic and awe. Prefect place to celebrate the joy these girls have brought us! We then had a big family dinner with everyone on Monday. Good times.

Ok, I know I’m being silly… or at least I think I’m being silly. Yesterday was the bugs one year check up. Boo for shots! And poor Sam has an ear infection. It took her a really long time for her to clam down… I don’t think I have ever seen her that upset. : (

Anyway on the little questionnaire thingy they asked if they where using the words “Mama” and “Dada” accordingly. They have made those noises and they really are quite partial to “Dada” but it’s never directed towards my husband. I wasn’t worried, I think that their development is coming along swimmingly. But should I be worried? It’s hard to admit this, because of my background (early childhood professional) and my deep love of books, but I don’t read to them as much as I should. Some days we are lucky if we get enough food in both of them and that they are bathed and happy. I KNOW I should read to them more, and when I do they love it. But, I mean… give me a break I have two one year olds! Early exposure to reading does help with language. I know that. But we do a ton of playing, singing, and talking to them. Twins do tend to develop a little slower than singletons, but so far my stars have been ahead of schedule.

So yea, silly… right?

Anyway, besides all that Samantha has decided her first word is going to be, “Hello” She will repeat it back to you if she’s in a really happy talkative mood, usually early in the morning. It’s so fun to hear her little, “EERRllo” : )