Thursday, May 30, 2013

Meetup Group Gripes



I belong to a Meetup group (a website that pairs people w/ similar interests according to location like writers, bird watchers, homeschooled kids, SAHM). I joined last summer when we moved to Wichita.

For the most part I enjoy the outings and I've met one really great mom who I do things w/ outside the group. I do, however, have a few complaints about the group.

1) Home Play Dates - Many of the activities offered are play dates at other Mom's homes. My complaint about this activity is that every month the same mom's RSVP to go to these play dates. Most of them have more than 2 kids which I understand, they don't want to take that many kids out to a public activity, but for those of us who live outside of Wichita (that's right it usually takes me over 30 min. to reach an activity), we would like a chance to attend these play dates. There is a limit on how many people can attend each play date so as you can imagine, they fill up almost immediately after the event is created.

2) Other Moms/Kids - After you've attended a few group activities you know which kids/moms you want to avoid. There aren't many kids in the group my son's age, at least not boys, and there's one mom/child I do NOT want my son to play with. So I tend to avoid any activities where there isn't a group larger than 4 moms. When there are less kids, that's more one on one time my son would spend w/ the "problem" child.

3) Organizational Meetings - Once a month the group gets together to plan the next months activities. They usually meet on a Tuesday or Wednesday night at 6:30 PM in Wichita. My Hubby usually doesn't get home from work until 6:45 PM so chances are slim I will attend a meeting. I think the group is doing a good job of choosing the activities but it would be nice to have a say in what goes on the calendar. Some people complain b/c all the activities happen on the East side of Wichita and they live on the West side.

4) Time of Activity - ALL the activities take place in the morning. Not every day, but every activity has a start time in the AM. I can't figure out why they don't schedule any afternoon activities. I understand some kids need to be picked up from school, nap time conflicts, etc. but it would be nice to have other options. (I know I could bring this point up at the organizational meetings)

5) My Schedule - When school was still in session, it seemed like a lot of fun activities happened on Tuesday mornings. My son had preschool every Tuesday and Thursday meaning I couldn't attend. The time it would have taken me to drive to and from Wichita I wouldn't have had any time to participate in the activity. Next year, my son will go to school on M, W, F. Hopefully we won't miss as many fun activities.

I've met some great moms through this group and none of these complaints are severe enough to make me quit the group. It's just therapeutic to B***H and let off some steam.

Thanks for listening (reading)!

A quick favor: Could someone PLEASE like my page on Facebook?! I haven't done much w/ the page, but I think one of the reasons is I know no one is looking. Help me boost my self esteem!

Sunday, May 19, 2013

I'm NOT a Morning Person

I've never been a morning person. In college I could sleep until at least 11 on the weekends. And I didn't even stay up that late the night before. (Again, I was lame in college.)

After I got married and started work in the "real world" it was hard to sleep past 8 or 9 on the weekends.

And then after our son came we found sleep wherever we could get it. After my daughter came, Hubby would let me sleep in most weekends. Once she was older, she didn't need to be fed immediately after waking which meant I didn't need to get up right away.

My usual morning routine has been: Hubby gets up, showers, leaves for work, I'm still in bed. Our son comes in about 30 minutes later to tell me Good morning and would I make him breakfast. (This is usually roughly 7:30.)

I then stall as long as I can (usually another 15-30 min) until the Girl wakes up.

Over the weekend Hubby was gone so I was playing the single parent. My son insisted on getting up at 6:30 Saturday morning and wanted milk which he can't get himself so I HAD to get up. I couldn't stall him. (I know how lazy/selfish of me to want to spend time in bed.)

After I got the water, I snoozed on the couch while he watched TV. Baby girl didn't get up until almost 8.

I'm embarrassed to admit that when my kids force me to get up earlier than I want, I tend to be a little on the cranky side. I'm short w/ my son, scold him for small things, and find fault w/ almost everything.

I know being a mother is my full time job and I'm supposed to be at their beck and call at every moment, but mornings are not the time I turn into June Cleaver and have breakfast and a smile waiting for them.

I'm working on changing my attitude. Just like I tell my son. I'm waiting for the day to come when I tell him I don't like his attitude and he tells me he doesn't like mine either.

That will not be a very happy day for either one of us.

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Cartoons = Trouble

I've already told you all that my son likes to watch My Little Pony. Our new favorite is Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends. (If you all haven't seen this show, you need to. It's awesome! It's on Cartoon Network.)

Anyway, Hubby and I are BIG fans of this show as well (I know it's a cartoon)so didn't mind adding it to our queue. Unfortunately, Netflix hasn't added any new episodes. We've watched the same 13 episodes at least 30 times.

Our daughter pleads to watch, "Bloo," on a regular basis and she's just so darn cute it's hard to say no!



This particular cartoon has taught our son some not so great behavior. In one episode, a character gets tied up, mouth taped shut, and put in a closet.

On several occasions, a character says, "What the...?"

(THIS IS NOT A VIOLENT CARTOON!)

My son has started using my hair ties to bound Woody's arms and legs, he asked me for tape to place across Woody's mouth (and later his own mouth). He no longer has access to my hair ties.

And saying, "What the...?" on a regular basis.

What kind of behavior do your kids get from cartoons?

Thursday, May 9, 2013

High Expectations for Mother's Day

There are a lot of ecards and blog posts going around about Mother's Day.

Ok again, I was on vacation last week (sorry to keep bringing that up). I was gone for 3 1/2 days leaving Hubby alone w/ our 2 kids.

He asked me for a list of activities they could do while I was gone. I found this particulary funny. I didn't have a list when we moved here and I became a SAHM. Why should he have one?

The weather was rainy and overcast most of the time I was gone. Hubby reported there were no meltdowns, no major issues, and the house was clean when I got home. Like vacuumed the carpet, bathroom, floors were clean of toys, kitchen counters and sink were cleared off, way more effort than I put forth on a day to day basis.

I have to add that I did receive a text on day #2 stating I needed a raise b/c even though the kids were being good, their demands were constant. I got a small thrill from this, but that was the end of the sympathy for mom.

I had a small fantasy that Hubby would see how hard my job was and get me an awesome Mother's Day gift.

Then I walked into a spotless house and was told the kids were great the whole time I was gone. What?!

What an eye opener that maybe I need to put forth more of an effort to get things picked up before Hubby comes home.

The toys scattered in the living room/kitchen don't bother me all that much. But I know they bother Hubby.

He's usually the one to pick things up after the kids are in bed. We make our son pick up his own room before bed.

Back to Mother's Day, Hubby has a day trip for work on Sunday (what a rip right?). To say I'm less than pleased would be an understatement. I'M PISSED!

He's been gone the last 2 days, will be home tomorrow for supper, we're taking a day trip on Saturday, he's gone Sunday, and off Monday only to be gone on his annual "Man Weekend" the following Friday.

Ah the life of a pilot's wife.

What are your Mother's Day expectations? I'll let you know if I'm surprised.

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Public Restrooms

As I stated in an earlier post, I was in Boston last week.

Our connecting flight home took off from Chicago. I have never been in the Chicago airport. We were there for about an hour. Long enough to find our gate, grab some food and use the bathroom.

Now I realize a lot of people don't like to use public bathrooms. They get squeamish and would rather pee their pants than use a public toilet. I'm not one of those people. If you gotta go, you gotta go.

I'm not a germaphobe. I don't always use a toilet seat cover when using a public bathroom (insert gasp here). If there's a little something on the seat, I grab some TP and wipe it off. Call me disgusting if you will but I hate those toilet seat covers. (I ALWAYS wash my hands if that makes me less disgusting.)



Those covers always seem to fall in the water before I have the chance to sit down. When the toilet flushes, it's not always strong enough to suck the cover down so you have to push it over the edge w/ your finger. They're loud and make me feel even more uncomfortable than I already am.

Like almost everyone, I used the bathroom before getting on the plane in Chicago. Imagine my surprise when I found this on the toilet seat.
That is a plastic cover already on the toilet seat. You can push the green light and the plastic cover spins to give the user a "clean" portion to sit on.

The questions were running through my head:

"Am I the first person to use this section?"

"Where does the 'dirty' section end?"

"Does the 'roll' get changed?"

"Did the person before me spin this or am I sitting on their section?"

"Should I spin it when I'm done or will the next person do it?"

"Isn't that a waste if I spin it and the next person does the same?"

I spun it before and after just to make sure.

Anyone else faced this dilemma?

Monday, May 6, 2013

Magazine Epidemic

We have a bit of an addiction over here. It doesn't involve alcohol or drugs or even peanut butter.

We get roughly 12 magazines delivered to our house. 9 of those are exclusively mine. They range from Parenting to Style and Entertainment to Fitness.

The other are the Hubby's. Family Handyman and some aviation magazines (he's a pilot).

I don't really care about hair, makeup or fashion. I like to read the celebrity interviews along w/ some of the sex tips (I know I'm not the only one out there).

The Fitness magazines are for motivation even though a lot of time I dog ear pages and don't look back.

I think the Parenting mags are self explanatory. Most of the time there are some great new gadgets and it's so nice to read about celebrities raising their kids and how "normal" their lives are. (Insert sarcasm here.)

The Holy Grail is my US Weekly. I absolutely LOVE this magazine. I can't live w/o it. I've been getting it for almost 10 years. Hubby calls it my Smut magazine and he's right. I'm in the zone when I read it.

How many magazines are stacked on your coffee table?