Happy Mother's Day to you all!

… and I hope it is truly a happy one, I know the day can be rough for many.  May yours be exactly the way you hope, whether it’s spent alone or normally or with gifts and pampering.  A day to acknowledge the mothering you do, and the mothering you’ve had.  Both potent, important, and worth celebrating. 

We’ve come a long way, baby.  Happy Mother’s Day!

Laying Down My Wand Day ... is today!

Bridget has declared it so, and I like it. 

A day when we all kick back and appreciate that we are doing our best and that more often than not, our best is good enough. A day when we acknowledge all of those around us who are doing the same. One day a year where we proudly wear the crown of best wife, mother, daughter and friend. One when guys can be the best husband, father, son and friend. A day when we all make a secret pact to be happy with who we are. (And if we aren’t, we’ll promise to do better.)

Read More

Is your holiday calendar empty enough?

Today’s crafty moment : Glass “bracelets” so we can tell whose is whose. This time of year can be utterly chaotic, with the invitations and obligations tripping over each other to make a tangled web of shoulds and coulds.  It can cause tension and drama, but I hope that’s not happening to you?  My life has changed enough in the last couple of years that it’s now easier to follow the KISS principle, mostly thanks to homeschooling.  We have a cello party this week, and our own holiday party next week, but other than that the calendar is pretty clear of obligations on our part, and has left room for family and friends to come visit which I’m really looking forward to :).
Read More

Happy Hallowe'en!

The costumes have been finished for several days, which is a miracle.  Thanks to the storm that dumped 4 inches of snow on us on Saturday night, the festival in the park was postponed and then cancelled entirely when there were trees down everywhere.  Instead of that we had a nice quiet weekend, and now have fresh costumes to take around the neighborhood tonight! The grinch in me is glad we’re only going out once.  The boys both made their own costumes this year too, which is a first for Fynn, and a very welcome relief as things tend to get over elaborate in a hurry when a procrastinating artist or two get involved.  How does it happen in your household, or does it at all?  Did you wrestle kids into costumes before school this morning?  Do tell :)

 

Q of the Week : What's your song?

Becky and I at her partyOne of my SIL’s was in town this weekend, for what’s become her annual birthday bash at our place.  She’s slow but able to live on her own, and relishes her rare weekend in the city for many weeks before and afterwards.  Her tastes are simple, which makes it pretty easy to please her.  We always have plenty of Coors Light, steak, and Push It by Salt n Pepa.  I admit that my tolerance for the song grew after about the 12th repeat with the volume cranked, but perhaps I was just tuning it out?  I did truly enjoy her enjoyment of it though, and even did a little rocking to it myself while cooking dinner.  I’m not sorry the CD went back home with her however! It’s definitely her song.
Read More

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother’s Day to all of us, here’s hoping yours is fabulous and you get whatever you need!  I’m not feeling the love right now, but hope I survive until Sunday night without imploding or saying too many things that I regret.  Just one of those weeks where the breaks are few and far between, and the stresses pile up in precarious towers that I keep bumping into in the dark.  Imploding might be nice at this point?

I’m obviously not full of cheer, but do have a few things to share that might brighten your mood if you’re feeling the least bit down!  Otherwise I hope you’re headed for a delightful weekend full of things you love, whether that’s kisses and chocolate and sticky cards, or a day to yourself after getting to sleep in.  I’m going for a long run, and can’t at this point imagine any better way to spend Mom’s Day :). 

  • First up is a great video that My Mama Mojo shared on her facebook page.  It’s called Your House is Strong, and the words and harmonies are delicious, please give it a listen!
  • Another video, with a lot more attitude :) is In Tha Muthahood by Anita Renfroe, and it’s well worth it … a good dose of reality thank you very much!
  • A Tale of Three Mothers on Mother’s Day is raw and good and oh so real … she ends with “But Mother’s Day of 2008 will always be a sacred day in my memory. It was lovely, but it was also raw and painful. And that’s motherhood, isn’t it?” By Shannon of Peter’s Cross Station. 

Can you take a quick look at who you were before you became a mom, and tell me if you’re stronger now?  It just takes a glance for me to see that I’ve grown immensely since those pre-kid days, in ways I never thought possible, and in many cases didn’t want to.  I’m stronger now than ever, but weaker and more fragile too, in matters of the heart. 

Happy Mother’s Day to all my amazing Mom friends, enjoy!

I don't love you because ...

I don’t love you because …

… you still reach for my hand every time we walk out of the gate

… you held my hair back every time i puked, and never lost your patience

… you tell me i can do anything i set my mind to, and believe it with all your heart

… you buy me amazingly perfect gifts, over and over again

… you never stop prying apart my armor, making sure my heart is still beating inside

… you taught me the meaning of fierce

Read More

I have a 9-year-old

I’m not sure how it happened, but I now have a 9-year-old.  Hit me almost as hard as 40 did, this growing up thing.  Nine??!!  It’s almost ten, and the double digits are a whole other ballgame.  It’s the little things that suddenly freeze-frame in your mind, like a birthday or sudden new look in your kid’s eye, and you glance back and realize how far you’ve come.  How the days and moments added up to a whole other dimension, the one that trips along in years.  How days equal a life if you stack them up, and that  you never know how big your stack’s going to be. 
Read More

Happy New Year, Moms!

Whew, we made it!  Another year of mothering, growing, stretching, learning, and hopefully so much more than surviving … and thank you all so very much for being a part of my year.  I’m honored by your company, comments, and sharing of yourselves, it really means a lot to me.  Thank you, fellow sane moms!

So how did you spend New Year’s Eve?

Read More

Merry Merry Christmas to you all, and Happy Holidays!

Hand-cut card by my talented house-mate, you can find her work here on Etsy. I hope you’re all tucked in somewhere lovely, finding bits of your heart fed, pockets of delight, and enjoying warm thoughts and toes.  It’s a time to revel in love and friends, indulge in what gives you joy, and know that if things are rough, they’re even rougher somewhere else.  I was commenting to a friend on the phone yesterday about my husband having a big upcoming job dropped into limbo, and when she said “things must be hard for you” I realized I was talking to someone whose life was in a far darker place than mine, and I had no reason to complain!  May your children be grateful, your love reciprocated, and your fellowship rich.  Thanks for all your support and comments on SaneMoms this past year, it’s been great to have you all along in my quest for sanity! It truly makes the journey more enjoyable. 

Love and Merry Christmas to you all,

Bethany

Please Welcome ...

Heather SobieralskiDarah Zeledon… two new regular Contributors to SaneMoms!  You’ve read their words several times over the past few weeks, but a formal welcome (and huge thanks from me!) to Darah Zeledon and Heather Sobieralski.  Darah’s a well-travelled mom of 5 who has a humorous take on the Chaos Chronicles, while Heather has stories from the What-happened-to-me-now-that-i’m-a-mom Corner that will keep you reflecting and enjoying.  They’ll continue to add fresh perspectives and wit and wisdom to the blog, coming from their unique backgrounds as women and moms.  You can read more about them here.  Welcome aboard moms!

Happy Birthday Fynn!

On the USS Intrepid, in case you’re wondering, and yes those ropes are insanely heavy!My little guy turned 4 today, and it’s bittersweet as always.  So big and independent!  So big and independent :(.  Four is so easy to please though, at least this one is … the thing he was happiest with were the balloons I grabbed at the last minute.  Helium = joy, and he hasn’t even discovered the voice-changing squeakiness of it yet :).  He went to bed happy and exhausted, and I’m following soon after.  Birthdays are always last minute around here, and usually involve too-big projects at 11th hour, leaving us exhausted and crashing.  Today is no exception, but the handmade easel my husband turned out last night will be a hit long after the balloons have collapsed. 

On an utterly unrelated note, what pet names do you call your kids?  Mine get called Goose affectionately and fairly often.  No idea why, it just seemed right.  Catch you tomorrow!

Happy Mother's Day!

I hope you have some love coming your way this weekend, even if it means sleeping in an extra half hour!  We have a late party to go to the night before Mother’s Day, which involves an open bar among other things, so we may both be vying for that extra half hour, we’ll see :). 

I listened to Kelly Corrigan’s Mother’s Day message earlier this week, and it hit me in exactly the right place.  I’m going to simply say Happy Mother’s Day to all you amazing moms, no matter what you said or did or yelled or thought this week (I highly doubt it’s lower than my low point a few days ago!), and “what Kelly said”, because she says it so much more eloquently than I ever could!  You are amazing for being there day in and day out through all the yuck and the yum and the sanity-stretching moments, and I hope you get a bit of acknowledgement of it this weekend.  Just in case, it’s said beautifully below. 

Q of the Week : Holiday burnout tips? Pretty please?

Fynn’s list for this year, conceived and mostly executed by his older brother. Coming home from my run this morning, I had to weave around huge stacks of artificial christmas trees lying on the sidewalk, and dodge the man trundling them slowly into the store.  I shuddered a bit.  The Holiday Season is upon us, and every year it seems to get a bit crazier and even less sane.  The shopping starts earlier, the sales are more desperate, and travel frenzy messier, and the expectations harder to manage. 

I’m not a scrooge, but I think we take the holidays easy.

Read More

Was it worth it?

I think the look on his face says it pretty well, and the fact that he didn’t want to take it off … not much sleep had here but there are pluses.  Creating things together (besides kids ;) is something that my husband and I don’t do enough of, and yet we both absolutely love it.  Staying up till 2am (+beyond for him) raiding the recycling bin and burning fingers on the hot glue gun was the best time we’ve had together in a long time.  It’s not just a question of economics, or the desire to be unique (both are small factors) but the joy of working together on something fun and creative. 

Now if we can just stay awake again tonight to get the martian invader put together …