crazedparent

Catholic guilt on July 4th...

The hubs and I were reminiscing about Fourth of July celebrations from the past. And since we go way back (nearly 20 years), we have lots of stories. They mostly end up with, "Remember when we used to just go out to dinner and have cocktails and chill and sleep in before we had kids? Sigh." And then we watch the boys do something cute and feel like heathens for thinking about how we'll get those days back when they are off to college.

When we were dating in our very early twenties (maybe even late, late teens), we went to a July 4th picnic organized by the hub's church. It was non-denominational but very Christian and very conservative.

The group, also in their late teens/early twenties, decided to play a game a volleyball. I played  in high school (my high school team was the best in the city and we ranked high in Northern California back in the day) so you could say that I was slightly competitive whenever I got on the court. Or in this case, on the grass.

I missed a ball and threw down a "Jee-zuz CHRIST" under my breath. A girl whipped her head around and stared at me with her eyes so wide that I swear I nearly jumped. What'd I do?

The game went on and I said it a few more times along with its variants: OH JEEZ. CHRIST!

The stare. Every. single. time. And she wouldn't talk to me. But the game ended, the picnic was over. Another July 4th gone by.

And then the hubs and I reminisced. One day, years later, it clicked.

Here was little liberal Catholic school girl at church picnic with some very devout young Christians saying the name of the Lord in vain. Not once, not twice. But many, many times. When I think back on the picnic, the volleyball game and that stare, it's really hard not to laugh. Not because I, you know, basically cursed in front of folks that don't even say "oh shoot!" But that I didn't even notice what I was doing. Seriously. This is how my entire volleyball crew dished on the court. A bunch of teenage Catholic school girls spouting off various forms of Lord-in-vain type jargon. I mean, yo, when you grow up hearing that all you need to do is say 10 Hail Marys and God will forgive you for swearing, what's to worry about?

Now I've got my little Catholic school boy son who walks around singing about peace flowing like the river while he does his homework and tells me about David and Goliath. And I don't say Jee-zuz anymore, mostly because I don't want him to end up in the Principal's office because he took the name of the Lord in vain.

Besides, sweet baby jesus works just fine. It's much more pleasing on the ears and kind of sounds like I'm praying...which means it's easier to cover up.

Happy Fourth of July and hope any strolls down memory lane make you smile as much as ours do.

Hey there, cowboy...

I'm a friend of a friend of Oprah...

There's something a little wild about finding yourself on Oprah's website. I was interviewed on Oprah and Friends Radio by the cute Aussie organizational expert, Peter Walsh. A few weeks ago we talked summer fun for kids and how parents should get prepared for summer break, a hot topic on Shine parenting these days. You can listen to part of the interview here and read about it at the same spot.

And yet, and yet...even with it being Oprah, it was still not as squeal-worthy as, you know, being wrapped in a Rick Springfield blanket.

Happy Monday!

When dogs blog...

Someone's getting a little jealous of MacBook Pro. And it's not the boys. This was taken from the iSight when Luna jumped on the couch next to me and nudged her way in front of the laptop. Such a goofball.

Back to basics...

When we first moved into your house four years ago, we completely overhauled our backyard to make it kid friendly (this SF Chron story documents it). I love to garden and we spend much of our weekends outdoors. Here's the funny thing: On the day the landscapers began ripping apart our yard, I gave birth to Q. And as any parent with two kids knows, the world suddenly goes topsy turvy. For a really long time. We had a new lawn, which still looks decent even after Luna has some issues with her personal potty spot. But the borders, the planting of vegetables and herbs. All by the wayside except for a few mini projects.

Over the weekend we decided to get back into the gardening. All of us. We started small with a little veggie garden box. After a field trip to our local nursery, we hauled home a bunch of organic veggie and strawberry seedlings and seeds for a few more. Six and Q. wanted to create their own garden so we bought a small planter box for them to sow sweet pea and cherry tomato seeds. We also planted basil, cilantro and carrot seeds. Everything we get at our farmers' market that we feel like we should easily be growing on our own. It's not perfect timing from a planting schedule, but given the sun we get in our hood I think we'll be okay.

The boys were immersed in filling up the planter boxes with dirt, planting the seeds, making signs for their garden. At some point, Q. started calling me Farmer Mommy. "We're farmers, right Farmer Mommy?" (Must have been the breaking out with my cowboy hat.) After I replied with, "We sure are, Farmer Q.", every conversation we had included referring to each other as Farmer Q. and Farmer Mommy. The best line, however, was when he said, "We always get the job done, right Farmer Mommy?" A little mixing and mingling of Bob the Builder with real life.

It was one of those lazy yet productive weekends where you want it to go on forever because you're having such fun and you're also making progress on your home life. For me, this always goes back to life balance...which means  letting my creative brain do it's thing. And spending time with my boys (all three of them) without thinking about anything else.

What makes you get back to basics?

Kid & camera...

Six is currently fascinated with my camera and snapping photos. I let him use it occasionally when I can follow him around to make sure he doesn't drop it when he runs off to play with the dog after a few clicks. But sometimes the kid manages to get ahold of it without my knowledge and I catch him in the act, camera dangling from his neck.

I upload all the photos so I can see what life is like from his perspective. Some photos get deleted because they are of the walls, the floor, his brother in mid motion, mom or dad with a contorted face. There are those that I save and will make it into his little photo album. And then there are those that will end up on our wall, matted and framed.

Six snapped this photo in our backyard. I have no idea where he was standing or what he was looking at. Is it grass? Bamboo? Ivy? Weeds?  Was it against the house? The dirt? I love that I'm transfixed by this image, trying to find out the story behind it when there is likely none. I love that Six asks about creating photo journals and writing stories to go with his pictures. His imagination will go wild when he sees this one in print.

What kind of writing do you do?

I was on a flight down to Los Angeles last Thursday night for my segment on the KTLA-Channel 5 morning show, chatting with a guy sitting next to me. (To be accurate, he had the window seat, I had the aisle seat, and empty seat between us). After we discussed our jobs, he turned and asked me, "So what kind of writing do you like to do?"

"I write about parenting," I answered and before I could continue, he stopped me mid-sentence.

"No no. You're not answering the question. I asked you what kind of writing you like to do, not what you write about."

I smiled because he caught me. I was being safe and talking about work. He was talking about life.

"I'm an essayist. I like to write about snippets of my world."

Just like that.

What kind of writing do you do?

It's a good day at camp...

Somehow I never really thought hearing the phrase, "Mom! We made chocolate poo today!" would make me smile. Funny how that happens when you have a son, his gleeful face covered in chocolate (poo), reciting the ingredients for one of the day's projects (crushed Oreo cookies, Nestle Chocolate Nesquik, butter, shredded cheddar cheese and vanilla).

She thinks she's the alpha...

If anyone is wondering about little Luna Lovegood, you may now rest easy.

Luna's been hanging out in the sun. And clearly not embarrassed that her chaise of choice is...

...the sandbox. When the boys aren't home, natch. I believe it's her passive-aggressive way of asserting her alpha-ness when they're away (she said in her best Dog Whisperer voice). And girlfriend, what would your lab friends say if they knew that's where you chilled out in the daytime? In a faded plastic turtle sandbox with plastic toys all around you? Show some lab pride. (Yeah, you know I said that to her.)

Okay, now a few question for all you blogging parents...

-How often to you post on your blogs? do you try to keep to a regular schedule or is it just when you're hit with inspiration? what's the longest you've ever gone without blogging (and does it bug you to no end?)

This is all for the benefit of me (hah!) and other bloggers who are trying to manage their personal blogs with, you know, life and making time to put fingers to the keyboard. So do tell, 'cuz it's all staying here.

All play and no work...

...more about this over here. (Or just press play and watch Rick Springfield give me a smooch.)