Disgruntled Mama

Dear Mother Nature,

This crap you have going on outside is not conducive to, well, anything! Trying to shovel the snow off my front porch Monday night took 3 people. Keep in mind, we have a tiny porch. After 30 seconds I could no longer feel my fingers so I had to pass to shovel to someone else.

Today isn't going to be any better. And this creates a problem. A big one.

You see, my midgets have their school holiday concert. The politically correct "Winter Concert" where they sing Jingle Bells and Rudolph. The problem lays in what they need to wear. It has been made known to me that the school prefers the children to be dressed up so they look nice and stuff. I don't know about you, Mother Nature, but I can't think of too many warm holiday outfits. Dresses do NOT cover one's legs and dress pants are NOT thick. At all!

Even though we only have to walk from the car to the doors of the school, it's still cold as anything out there. Temperatures pushing negative numbers does not make me happy!

And now that I think about exactly what outfits they are going to wear it has occurred to me that said concert is after lunch. Kindergartners are not the cleanest of eaters. Come to think of it, neither are 3rd graders. Perhaps what I need to do is write a letter of complaint to the school instead.


Sincerely,

Disgruntled Mama


ps. I am really excited about this show. GG is in the chorus this year and will do her own songs and this is Little Dude's first school show. Plenty of pictures, and probably some videos, will be taken. I promise to share some of them!



Until next time....

Rudolph with your nose so bright

Hey yinz guys! It's Friday!


Thank goodness. This was my one week a month that was full of meetings. I hate those weeks! I certainly don't want to end the week on a sour note, so I thought I would show off the craft my Brownie troop made this year.





Supplies needed:

Large tan colored pom-poms

Dark brown pipe cleaners

Small eyes

Small red pom-poms

Clothes pins

Scissors

Tacky glue or a hot glue gun


1. Cut a pipe cleaner in half. Cut one of the halves in half again. Bend the larger piece into a "U" shape. Twist one of the smaller pieces around each of the ends. Glue to the back of the tan pom-pom.

2. Glue the eyes and nose to the front of the tan pom-pom.

3. Glue the tan pom-pom to the top of a clothes pin.


If you use tacky glue, you may have to hold the pieces in place for a minute or 2 for the glue to set. Once you have your reindeer assembled, you can clip him to a branch on your Christmas tree.





Enjoy!


For more fun stuff, please go visit Amy at Keeping up with the Schultz Family




Until next time....

Christmas joys

Every year I freak out over Christmas. I love the decorating when it's done, but I hate the process to get to that point.

Thank goodness my tree only has 3 pieces and is pre-lit (genius!). It's the ornaments that get me. We have quite a few that are extremely old or breakable or both. Of course my midgets want to help and that just sends me into a tizzy. They work faster than me and it's a miracle that nothing has been broken yet. At least not by them. I plead the 5th on that subject!

But once it's all done, it's a beautiful thing.





My favorite part is how Little Dude begs every night for me to turn the tree on. He props his butt on the side of the couch and stares at it like a kid in a candy store. I can't help but grin ear to ear at the look on his face.

I would provide a picture, but the little ham is quite observant and strikes a pose. Every. Single. Time! But trust me, there's nothing better to a mom than to see that look of joy on her child's face.


And what would be a true Christmas miracle? Getting the outside lights up and lit. My midgets would absolutely love that, but Mother Nature is not my friend at the moment. For now, they'll just have to settle for the tree!



Until next time....

The silver lining

I try to find the bright side when there's chaos. And believe me, there has been chaos in this house lately. A million and one things to do, topped off by the beginnings of cabin fever. Thank you Mother Nature bitch.

Yes, I colored the gray right out have been puling my hair out and yes, I have been yelling taking deep, calming breaths, but that doesn't mean there isn't an upside to this chaos. All I need to do is listen to the words that come out of the mouths of the people that live here. Let me give you some examples...


1. GG to Little Dude while doing the dishes - "Is that poo?"

referring to a Winnie the Pooh cup. I hope!

2. The husband to me - "I hope I cooked all the alcohol out"

Said after Little Dude was on his second helping of kielbasa and kraut. Little Dude was rather happy the rest of the night. Hmmm...



3. Speaking of that night's dinner, Little Dude was rather excited to try "Sour crap". Yet another thing to add to the list of his mispronunciations! Up until that, my favorite was "Chapsticks".

In case you weren't aware, you can eat your Chinese food with some chapsticks.



What crazy things have I said lately? Nothing! I never stumble over words or completely screw up pronunciation. I'm perfect like that.



Until next time....

How to get your kids to do chores

For years I have tried the whole chore thing to no avail. I can get GG to clean the bathroom, minus the toilet, but quite frankly, her complaining makes me just want to take over that job. Little Dude? It's useless. At one time I thought it would be a good idea for him to clean the insides of the windows once a week. He loves spray bottles. Why not?

Well, I ended up with streaky windows and wet furniture.

Dusting? Pointless. I have too many breakable things that I would like to keep in one piece please. Vacuuming? Sometimes, but only under my incessant hovering supervision. My vacuum is just too darn expensive to let them treat it like a toy!

But I think I finally found something. And I will let you in on my secret.

How to get your kids to do the dishes.


Ask!

Yes, it's that simple!

I told GG that she was old enough to do them and she could start after the holidays (last Monday). She jumped at the opportunity! And to my surprise, so did Little Dude! Of course, he wanted to help wash. Not only is there not enough room at the sink for 2 people, but I really didn't feel like mopping. So he dried the dishes instead.





I told him I would put them away when he was done, but he kicked me out of my own kitchen! I have never ran out of my kitchen so fast! Even faster than when I fill that room with smoke whenever I make meatloaf!


After GG washed everything and Little Dude dried and sorted the dishes, I put them away. And guess what? Last night they did them again!


How long do you think this will keep up?






Until next time....