My husband

So Nick's a weird guy.

He talks in his sleep. We'll have small conversations in the middle of the night. When I tell him about it in the morning he says it never happened. Denial.

He wears the oddest combination of clothing. He has a 'vacation' shirt. It's a Hawaiian, red, short sleeved, button up with white flowers all over. He likes to wear it with green, blue, and tan plaid sorts, Adidas sandals, and a Guinness hat. He doesn't have company when he wears it in public ... not even Layla will go anywhere with him.

He waters his beloved raspberries and hops and forgets about it. 24 hours later he calls and asks me to 'check and see if maybe he left it on'. He always leaves it on.

I've probably mentioned this before but the man is obsessed with checking the weather. I guess it makes him feel all knowing to be able to answer any question about it. You know that's all people talk about in Minnesota.

He is the worst to watch sports with. If his team is winning he is happy as a clam. Let them make a mistake and he may just rip the tv off the wall. For real.

He is the perfect combo of odd and awesome.

Crazy Days

So this is the last week of high school baseball and it's a busy one! Gage has games Mon-Thu and Traveling ball starts right away on Friday with a practice and a tournament on Saturday. I think I'll be missing a lot of TV and computer for the next few months.

Bullying

So I wasn't going to write about this but it is so infuriating that I can't not write about it.

Bullying is an awful thing. Like really awful. And I'll add that it not only sucks for the girl that's being bullied, it sucks for the mom of the girl that's being bullied.

There are weeks for Layla when everything seems fine and everyone is getting along but when that gets too boring a certain someone likes to start the drama and it's always aimed at Layla.

Now let me say before I go any further that I know my daughter well. I know that she is incredibly sensitive and it doesn't take a whole lot to hurt her feelings but as she has gotten older she has toughened up a little. The problem is when it's a continuous thing, the whole 'I'm gonna get every other girl in class to ignore Layla and not sit with her at lunch and not play with her at recess and never partner with her at group activities' that she just loses it. And rightfully so! She never wants to go to school in the morning, she goes to the bathroom in the middle of the day to cry so no one sees her, and every day after school she is so relieved to be home that it makes her cry.

NO ONE deserves that. Forget the fact that she's only nine years old and seriously, this shit isn't supposed to start until middle school...not the freaking 3rd grade. That's not normal! A nine year old isn't emotionally ready to deal with this kind of stuff.

And I'd be concerned if it was my child doing the bullying too. There have to be some issues if a nine year old girl is treating another girl like dog shit. Although I understand it a little better now. This particular girl's mother is completely oblivious to her behavior. Not only is she oblivious...she's bat shit crazy! Without hearing a word from the teacher about what was going on, she saw her daughter crying after school (crying because she got called out for her behavior) and instantly went to the classroom and tried to ream the teacher. Didn't ask about her child's behavior, just wanted to know why the teacher made her cry. Not satisfied with the discussion she went to the principal and yelled and whined for a bit there as well.

Lady, if the teacher, who is with your child ALL DAY, says that she's noticing bullying behavior you should probably get your head out of your ass and address the problem. WITH YOUR DAUGHTER!

At this point I have talked to the teacher, talked to the principal, and talked to another parent who's daughter was dragged into the drama. I'm super pissed that it's happening at all but I'm even more pissed that this girl's mother is so stubborn and ignorant that I have to make her look like an ass (she's doing a good job of that all by herself). This woman has never seen me mad but it's bound to blow up.

I will defend my daughter no matter what. Look out crazy lady...it's gonna get ugly.

I've got the bruise to prove it

So I'm deep in slumber (because it's the middle of the night) and I'm woken by the sharp pain of a kick to the shin.

Me - "Ow, you just kicked me."

Nick - "It's raining!"

Me - "Yeah" in the most annoyed way possible.

Nick - "Georgie needs to go out."

Me - "What are you talking about? She didn't make a sound."

Nick - "I just kicked her in the head."

Me - No you didn't, you kicked me!"

Nick - "Zzzzz"

My Kids Don't Have Chores...They Have Jobs

So Nick and I might be in the minority with the whole chore thing. We don't have set chores for our kids and never will. Why? They have a job. It's called school.

It takes a lot of effort to do the work they have to do. Not only are they gone most of the day at school but then they get homework.

Most people I know don't get homework at their job.

Now, for Gage, lets factor in the sports. He stays after every day for either a game or practice...every day. That means he's rarely home before 6:30. The kid gets up at 6:00 and is at it all day. When he gets home it's shower, dinner, homework, bed. Do you see any time for chores in there?

As for Layla, she does little things all the time for us. She likes to dust and sweep and steam clean the floors. But we don't ask her to do it. While her days are not nearly as packed as Gage's, she's a lot younger and still has enough on her plate. She's in school until almost 4:00 and then we're going somewhere...Gage's games, picking him up from practice, piano lessons. She never gets to come straight home and relax. Chores on top of all that is a little too much stress for a nine year old.

Oh and then there's that other small detail. The chores are my job. Yep...call me a 1950's housewife (you'd be wrong but you can call me one). I am here all day every day. I'm lucky to be able to be here so I don't mind a little scrubbing of the bathroom or loading and unloading the dishwasher. Folding laundry...love it. It gives me an excuse to sit on my big, comfy bed and watch soaps in the afternoon. Mowing the lawn, sweeping, vacuuming countless times a day (thanks Georgie), scrubbing stainless steel appliances (not stainless at all thank you very much), volunteering in the classroom, mopping up muddy Georgie footprints from the kitchen floor, cleaning poop from the yard...all of it.

Best. Job. Ever.

I've got the easy part. It's the kids that have it tough.

When you turn 15...

So for Gage, his birthday was spent on the baseball diamond. He had a game after school and went straight to tryouts for traveling baseball right after that. He did pretty awesome at both.

By the time he got home he was wiped out and had a piece of cake while he iced his arm.

This is the only photo I got of him on his birthday.



*frozen peas make the best ice pack ever!

Happy Birthday Gage

So it's that time again. It seems a little shocking every year. And now he's 15.