Only Child Syndrome... or just too attached?...

Little man and I have always had a super close bond.
It's been just the 2 of us at home since day one. He's slept in my bed with me every night (that he's home) since day one. Other than work and school we're alone together about 98% of the time... leaving that other 2% for the times we spend with family and friends. 


Lately I've noticed a problem. 
It's been building for years... and I fully acknowledge that I am the reason for the problem.. I've allowed and at times even encouraged it. 


Little man is becoming anti-social... in the sense of having ZERO desire to be around anyone.. other than his mom. This became very clear on Christmas day. 
We always spend Christmas day with my mom's family at my grandma's house. There were about 50 of us there this year. Having Christmas for 50 people takes a lot of work, so as soon as we got there I started helping set things up and getting food made. Drew was not happy about this AT ALL. He brought a game with him to play... but wanted me to sit and play with him.. even though my cousins were there and ready to play... that's not what he wanted. Drew wanted Mom.. and kept following me around the house. After the gifts were opened he asked if we could leave. I couldn't understand why Drew wanted to leave when our whole family was there and everyone was spending time together and having a good day. Drew just wanted us to go home. So after an hour or so of him asking, I gave in. Once we got home (which is actually right next door to my grandma's) he was completely happy. He had mom's full attention and we played with his new toys and had Christmas dinner alone. 


My little man is also becoming possessive of his mom. I cancelled my plans to attend two adult get-togethers this month because Drew didn't want me to go. He says I don't need to hang out with anyone but him. My aunt is having a New Years Eve party at her house... and Drew has no desire to go. He says we should just stay home. Any time I drop him off at his dad's house he asks what I'm going to do that night. If I say I might have dinner with friends or go to someones house, he asks if he can stay home with me. It's been over 3 months now since I've done anything with out Drew. Even on the nights when he is at his dad's I don't go out or have people over because I feel guilty.. and know that if I tell Drew he'll be upset. 


I've created a bad situation. 


Drew and I talked about this the other day and I let him know that it isn't good for either of us... and that we need to make some changes. I'm not exactly sure of how to go about doing it... but I'm going to do it.. one way or the other. 

Merry Christmas

Happy Holidays.... 

From our family to yours!

*cell phone pic

Tamales & Trees

 This last weekend was a busy one... aren't they all in December?
My family gets together at my grandparent's house (Molles Manor) every year to decorate their tree in the "Big Room". It's tradition that they guys (my uncles and oldest male cousins) string the lights around the tree first, while the rest of us hang out and clean up from dinner.


Then it's time for the women (my aunts and oldest female cousins) to hang the popcorn chain on the tree. Our family has been decorating the tree this same way for at least 50 years... we don't mess with tradition. 

Then it's finally time for the kids to hang the ornaments. I wish I would have taken pictures of some of the ornaments. There are a lot that us grandkids made in school when we were little and gave to my grandparents as gifts. Also, most of our bulbs are glass.. the old school real thing glass bulbs. (and we always break at least 2 a year) 

Another tree tradition is tinsel... lots and lots of silver tinsel.... and when it's in the hands of my crazy cousins, it's EVERYWHERE. Decorating the tree is always a process, but we all love it and look forward to it each year. 

Best Grandparents EVER

One of my favorite tree traditions is our own personalized ornaments. Each member of my family has a small gold ornament with their name engraved in it. Once the tree is all decorated, each individual family takes turns taking a picture posing with their ornaments in front of the tree before they actually hang them. 

Unfortunately Drew was with his dad this last weekend so he missed out on the festivities... and I really missed having him there. 

The morning after the tree (Sunday) we all come back to my grandmas to make tamales. I found out this tradition started the first year my grandparents were married.... so we've been making tamales every December for the last 62 years. 

People start showing up around 4:30am (but not me... in all honesty I didn't get there till about 5:30 and I live right next door) and the process begins. It's like an assembly line of masa spreading, leaves being cleaned, meat being made.... This year we made 92 DOZEN tamales!! and that's actually a small number for us. We used to do about 125 dozen a year. It's a long day... we're all tired and complain the whole time... but it's a great day where we're all together catching up on each others lives and sharing a ton of laughs. We take a lunch break on In & Out burgers and hang out until the last tamales are cooked and every things cleaned up. This year we finished at 3:00 and I was SOOOO happy to get home to my nice warm bed and was asleep by 6:00 that night. 

My little cousins Seany & Corey

Happy Early Christmas Mom!!

Yesterday Drew's school started their "Christmas Shop" where they have random gifts the kids can purchase for their family. I gave Drew some money and he managed to spend it all and get all his Christmas shopping done in about 10 minutes. 

So last night we spent some time wrapping presents and singing Christmas songs. When we were done Drew took all the gift wrapping supplies and headed to his room to wrap the gifts he bought for me. He wanted to do it alone so I couldn't see. He was in there for about half and hour and I kept asking him what was taking so long. When he came out he had 3 small gifts all wrapped up, and showed me the small round one and told me how difficult it was to wrap and that's what took so long. 

After he got them neatly set up under the tree he asked if I wanted to open one now. Well we're both HORRIBLE at deciding anything, so we went back and forth about the whole thing.. and finally he handed me one and says "Here Mom, open this one. I got you this so it would help you save time in the morning and we won't have to ever be late". 

Hmmm.... What instantly came to my mind was an alarm clock. Seeing that I don't have a clock AT ALL in my bedroom and I use my cellphone alarm to get up in the morning... or if I know I absolutely MUST be up at a certain time, I'll set the alarm clock in the bathroom (yes, I have an alarm clock in the bathroom.. and not even a regular clock in the bedroom). And the box was about the shape of a small one. 

But I was wrong.... very wrong.....  

My little love bug bought me a bagel slicer.... to prevent us from being late in the morning. When I opened it he says "see mom, it makes it easier to cut the bagel, so it saves time" all with a HUGE smile on his face.. he was so proud of himself for buying such a "practical" gift. 

And I kissed him, thanked him, hugged him and told my little man how much I loved him and my great present. 

Only issue.... I only buy or even eat bagels about once a year. 

But it's the thought that counts!!

Happy Early Christmas!

Thoughts for Thursday

~ Since it's supposed to be slightly warmer here today (about 78 instead of 62) I decided to revert to my old self and wear my sandals to work. I've been in boots (Ugg style) for the last 3 weeks and my toes need a breather. However... it's still chilly in my office so luckily I have my trusty slipper socks here to keep me warm. 

~ The other night Drew wanted to make potatoes for dinner... all by himself... but since I refuse to leave him unattended in the kitchen, I had to hear him tell me that I am PARANOID at least 8 times during his cooking process. I'm sorry if I'm scared to death of him slicing his 7 year old finger off with a peeler.. or afraid he's going to catch on fire while working with HOT oil on the stove. He actually did very well, and the potatoes were great.... however, my hair is officially gray now.

    

~While decorating the house, Drew decided it was a great time for a photo shoot. He posed himself and the dogs in about a million different ways. Then he started using my Krismutts... There were 124 pictures taken that night... But we had a blast!


~Mom's shouldn't have to work.. ever. Just sayin'... 


~While at Wal-mart at noon yesterday, shopping for work supplies, there were at least 200 people there.... umm, I thought we were in a recession, and if people are unemployed and have time to be shopping in the middle of the day, where is all their money coming from? 


~We made a gingerbread house the other night and all the frosting Drew licked off his fingers and candy he managed to sneak in his mouth counted as his dessert for the night... he says next year I need to tell him if that is going to be the rule before we start. Nice try kiddo!


~Being a single mom that never dates means that my legs will be ridiculously hairy all winter long. Until it's time for dresses and shorts, my razors will be getting minimal use... and I'm ok with this. Just means shorter showers =)