Please Tell Me This Is Normal

It Sounds So Easy

So,  I have a question for you, dear internet.  HOW DO YOU GET YOUR CHILDREN TO GO TO SLEEP AT NIGHT.  And, yes, I realize this is something I should have figured out long ago, seeing as how my oldest is now, um, (gulp) six and all, but seriously?  I suck at this part of parenting.

In the old house, the kids had TVs and VCRs in the room and would just watch a movie and fall asleep.  We realized that this was setting a bad precedent and during the move, moved the TVs out of their rooms.  But now?  They will not go to sleep on their own.

It will be, like midnight, and they will still be awake.  Still coming down the stairs every two to three minutes for “just one more drink” or “I have to go potty” or “I’m scared;  I think I saw Swiper the fox.”  And it never ends.  Finally, when I’m ready to lose it, one or both of us goes up there and lays down with them and within 30 seconds they are out and you can sneak out.  But it is a horrible evening all around.

The alternative is to start off by laying down with them and then leaving, but that also kills your whole evening and before you know it its ten o clock before you get both kids finally to sleep. 

Considering I’m with them from the moment they get up in the morning until the moment they go to sleep at night that makes for a very long day and a very worn out mommy.

So, how do you do it?  How does it work in your house?  Can I copy you?  I promise, I won’t tell! 

I'm such a nerd

I'm sitting here watching High School Musical sing-a-long versions 1 and 2 while I price claims. 

"She needs a little fabulous...is that so wrong?"  LOVE IT.

Old Story of the Time My Life as I Knew Ceased to Exist

Okay, story time.  Everytime I hear someone say that their parents are so embarrassing and they did this or that, I'm all:  I so have a story that beats that.   And they are all "No" and I'm always like "I so do".  And then I tell this story.  And they are all like "Whoa".  And I win.  And then I remembered how much it sucked at the time, and while I still feel victorious from the win, I feel a little bit sorry for that poor, poor girl I used to be.

Okay, there once was a girl.  Who was a freshman in high school.  Who was me.  To frame the story, I will tell you a little about my life as a freshman.  I went to a Christian school.  I had fun friends, but mostly hung out with the kids in my class, etc, etc.  I had an everlasting insane crush on some boy who had a girlfriend and avoided me like the plague.  You know, normal issues for a girl my age.  I also was a first born, which is important for this story.  I was the first teenager my parents had ever had.  Please remember this when I tell this story, for it will help you understand how my father could act so insanely.  He really meant the best, and while I know this now, I seriously wanted to DIE then.

Also, at this school, I tended to get in trouble A LOT.  I tended to wear my skirts a little bit short, talk in class, and chew gum (which I know, NOT a big deal, but for some reason, against the rules).  Also, my Dad taught there from time to time and subbed there a lot.  Also, my dad is a pastor, which makes me that proverbial PK, but whatever…that's really NOT that important to the story.

At the time of this story, my Dad was not teaching at the school, but knew it and the kids there well.  And everyone loved him and blah blah blah.

Early on in the year, my very best friend got a boyfriend.  A boyfriend who was a senior.  Which was so amazingly cool as it introduced me to a whole new world.  Like, wait, seriously?  That class?  That contains my crush?  Which I thought was so out of reach?  We can date them?  Whoa.  So I started looking at those boys in a whole, new way.  It was awesome.

Also, if you have never spent any time recently with teenagers, to a 9^th grade girl, senior boys are SO. MUCH. COOLER. than boys their own age.  So much.  Freshmen boys have just barely graduated past hitting the girls that they like and when you do go out with them you are lucky if you get regular notes throughout the day.

At the same time, with my best friend going out with this senior, she got invited to like, everything.  Which meant, that I got to also go to everything because her Mom did not want her going by herself.  Which REALLY worked out well for me.  So we went to all the soccer games that fall, including every single away game and I got to know a lot of people in my school I normally never would know.  And then basketball season started, and I was a cheerleader so I went to all of those games and long bus rides and it continued.

Okay, so I started hanging out/talking with this certain senior.  Who I really started to like in the process.  And he really started to like me.  And it was so much fun!  I can not even tell you.  Oh, those were fun times.  He was so cute, and we had so much fun, and ya'll – he wrote me poems.  POEMS!  And would tell me I was beautiful.  It was wonderful. 

And somehow, my parents found out about it and that's when it all starts falling apart.  So my Dad goes into my school (Into My School!), pulls said boy out of class (I am not even kidding!), and tells him….wait for it….you are not even going to believe this is true…."You are not good enough to date my daughter."

SERIOUSLY.

Now, I don't know what my father was thinking and why he did not like this boy.  Because to me?  This boy was awesome.  Maybe it was his mullet?  (Okay, this is time where the story gets a tad bit embarrassing for me because I recently saw an old picture of said boy out there in myspace world and I'm sad to admit, he did have a bit of a mullet.  But remember – this was like, 1991, and he was hot then, my friends.  And I totally didn't remember that until I saw the picture and I thought, oh my lands.)

Suffice to say, things between me and the boy did not work out.  And it was probably for the best as I found Tim and got married and have two beautiful children and I'm pretty sure he's out there somewhere happily married as well.  But at the time?  I'm pretty sure I hated my Dad for awhile because I was convinced he had RUINED MY LIFE.