He Isn't Even Slightly Phased By You

Oh to be young again. 
Carefree.. without a worry in the world.


Ok, wait.. he does have worries. He worries about when he will get to play the Wii next. He cares if we have dessert each night. And he definitely cares if he's getting shots at each of his doctor's visits.


But my son... my gorgeous and intelligent little 7 year old.. doesn't care what people think. 


When I tell him to get his clothes ready for school, he simply grabs the 1st pair of shorts in the drawer without considering the color or pattern. Then he goes to the closet and grabs the 1st shirt he sees... not stopping to think if it will match his shorts or if it even still fits him any more. 


He doesn't care. Appearance means NOTHING to my son. 


He sees nothing wrong with giving the toys he no longer plays with to his friends for birthday gifts. He does not see the need for the toy to be in it's original package.. unopened.. un-enjoyed. NEW is not important to him... and he doesn't think it matters to other people. He would be excited to receive a game from his friend... not ever looking to see if it's ever been opened or where it came from.


He knows that I buy clothes for him at the thrift store whenever I see something cute in his size. Clothes that have been previously worn by another child... clothes without their tags on them... and he doesn't care. The only thing he questions at theses times is why I keep buying him clothes that he doesn't need!


My son is not phased by labels. He couldn't tell you who any of his shoes were made by. The only labels this kid cares about are Wii and Xbox.. his two best friends. (And I guarantee if there was a knock-off video game brand I would have bought that instead of the Wii.... and he wouldn't have cared one bit.)


My son cares about people's feelings... when it comes to them being sad or happy. He just doesn't care what they think about him. He's a kid.. of course he wants to be liked by the other kids on the playground... but he's not on a mission to impress anyone.


He's a practical and resourceful little man. He will think of a way to re-purpose ANYTHING I want to throw away. He could live on mac & cheese and chicken nuggets daily, and thinks I'm wasting money buying anything else. 


The world hasn't corrupted my baby yet. He hasn't been impacted negatively by TV advertising and celebrities. Greed hasn't taken over his pretty little mind.. yet. 


I am realistic and know the day will probably come. The day when he HAS to have the latest Nikes... or HAS to buy his friend the new video game for his birthday.... The day might come.... and he might start to CARE...


But until then, I will enjoy his innocence and lack of concern. 


And I will wish that I was more like him...... 

Vegas With My Baby

After very little discussion, Drew decided we'd be going back to Las Vegas for our vacation this year. This makes 3 years in a row.... The only other place he even considered was Miami... to see a Dolphins game. And since I knew there was no way I'd be able to save up $3,000 in a few months, we settled on Vegas. 

** Don't mind my horrible pictures, we are in desperate need of a new camera**

First off, Vegas is HOT.. ridiculously HOT. at 8:30 in the morning it was already 99 degrees... YUCK. We stayed at the Monte Carlo again because we LOVE their pools. The wave pool, lazy river, and regular pool. Drew would have gladly stayed out at the pool all day, every day... but even for this Summer-lovin' Mamma, it was just too stinking hot. 

We pretty much spent our mornings at the pool, afternoons napping in our room, and nights on the strip. 

Our lives really aren't all that hectic and crazy... but we both really needed this vacation. 3 days away from everyone we know.. no work.. no school.. no computers, video games or phones (except one call from his Dad). We just needed a break. 

On our last night there we went to see The Tournament of Kings at Excalibur. 

I was kind of hesitant to take him since it was completely new to him (and he HATES new things), and they warn of smoke, fire and loud noises (all 3 things that he HATES)... but I've always wanted to go, so we gave it a shot. He was pretty reluctant... but once he accepted that I was making him go anyway, he was fine. 

And I'm SOOOO glad we went because he LOVED it!! All he's wanted to do the last few days is have sword fights and joust in the living room. There were moments (fireworks and cannons) that freaked him out, but he handled it really well. And the food... oh I was nervous about that too. This kid is a super picky eater.. and the idea of him eating without utensils was kind of funky to me... 

But once again, Drew surprised me. He loves "Chicken on a bone" (drumsticks) so he was excited to rip them off the chicken and gobble them up. Of course the brocoli was never touched.. but that was to be expected. It was really a great night there. We loved the show, the food was great and we had a blast.

On our last day there Drew asked if we could go to the Wax Museum. There weren't that many "people" he recognized.. but he enjoyed seeing the ones we did. And since we were the 2nd ones to enter that morning, we pretty much had the place to our selves... and were out in less than 20 minutes.

Of course Michael Jackson was his favorite... but he was a little nervous to stand next to him.. Some of those statues look so real it's creepy. 

All in all it was a good little vacation for us. But once we got home we both agreed that we'd had about enough time alone together... so he went to school the next day to play for a couple hours while I ran some errands.. alone. Guess some times you can have too much of a good thing. 

School Shopping Jealousy

Growing up, I LOVED back to school shopping. (I was a kid and Mom was buying me stuff.. of course I loved it!!)


I remember the lists of school supplies. Stuff my sister and I would NEED for class. (Besides pencils and paper, most of that stuff was never NEEDED... just sayin')


I remember all the new clothes I planned on getting.... until Mom brought me back into reality by informing me we were only buying clothes I NEEDED... not a single thing just because it was cute... ok, this part I didn't love so much.


When my son started Kindergarten 3 years ago, I was super excited about school shopping. I was looking forward to the list of classroom "necessities" and putting together endless adorable outfits for my little man. 


At Kindergarten registration I was told that there wasn't a "school supplies list". I was told that the school didn't expect the children to bring a single thing to class...... I believe the look I gave the secretary was one of utter SHOCK. What the heck was this lady talking about? Kids need stuff for class... at least some freaking pencils or something?? She told me I could check with the teacher at orientation day, but she doubted I'd get a different answer. 


At orientation I was again disappointed. The teacher didn't want them to bring anything... NOTHING. At this point I was strongly doubting whether I was sending my kid to the right school. What kind of place was this? His teacher explained that all supplies were already provided and they didn't want to put the burden on the parents. Ok, now that was pretty nice of them.... however, I was looking forward to the burden.. I WANTED that burden. 


So I did what any other sane mother does.... I ignored them completely and bought my son every school supply that walmart offered. He was loaded up with a backpack, binder, folders, paper and a full pencil box. My son was prepared for any scholastic emergency that should arise. And of course he was decked out in an awesome new wardrobe. 


By the second week of school I realized I had just wasted money... a lot of money. Not a single item in his backpack had been touched. The only time he even opened the thing was to take out his lunch. And the clothes... oh those adorable clothes... were a disaster. Kindergarten boys get DIRTY... very easily. Why they even make white shoes and white shirts in toddler sizes is beyond me. Every single day this kid came home with a new grass, mud or ketchup stain. 


The next year he went back to that school for first grade. I had officially learned my lesson... well, pretty much. He got a new lunch box and backpack... but that was about it. He was getting new clothes only to replace things he'd outgrown.. and this year we were shopping at the thrift store. I was still bummed about missing out on the whole back to school shopping experience... but at least I wasn't going broke. 


Last year my little man switched school to a private school in our area. I thought FOR SURE I'd be getting a supplies list this time. Nope... instead I was given a bill for "Materials Fee"..... a $310 bill..... Now can someone please tell me  what in the world my second grader would possibly need $310 worth of supplies for? Were they going to give him a new backpack, binder, lunchbox and calculator? Nope. By this time I had given up. I accepted the fact that Back to School no longer meant the greatest shopping trip ever like it used to... 


Yet for some reason I still can't stop going down the school supply isle at every single Target and Walmart I walk into. My son has zero desire for any school stuff. I asked him to pick out a new backpack and he says "why?, the one I have is fine"... I try to convince him he needs a new lunch box, and his response, "Mom, we already have 4 at home." Who's kid is this????? He certainly didn't get his shopping instincts from his mother... And don't even get me started on his clothes. This kid couldn't care less about what he wears. Doesn't care if it matches or even fits him!! He could probably keep all the clothes he has for the next 2 years without asking for a single thing.... except a new Miami Dolphins jersey.. necessities. 


So while everyone else is complaining about the ridiculous supplies lists they're required to shop for... and all the new clothes their kids need after growing 3 inches over the summer... This mom is completely jealous.. and will just have to learn to start shopping for herself =)

Living By The Clock

Not really sure when or how it started. I swear I don't remember always being this way. Maybe it happened when I became a mom... 


I am EXTREMELY conscious of time.


All day.. every day... I have to know what time it is at every moment. 


There are certain things in my life that are planned for specific times of the day. Actually, 90% of my day is scheduled. I know exactly what I'll be doing at 6:45 am on the weekdays. I have to leave the house at a specific time every day. The entire drive to work is spent glancing at the clock, and figuring out how many minutes until I get there, and approximately what time I will arrive. Crazy!!


Breakfast, lunch and dinner are at the same time EVERY day. At 11:20 am, I am sitting at my desk figuring out what I need to get done in the next 40 minutes because everything stops at 12:00 for lunch. There isn't a strict rule in the office about lunch time.. but for some reason there's a strict rule in MY head. 


I must glance at the clock about 100 times a day. Checking the time is absolutely the thing I do the most with my phone. 


Routine and schedule are now HUGE necessities in my life. I will seriously stress out if we are not home by 5:00pm so that dinner can by ready by 5:30. Bed time is at 8:00pm on the dot. Maybe even a few minutes early, just so I can be sure we're in there at 8:00. 


I've realized lately that this is a problem. Not everything needs to revolve around the clock. What is it possibly going to hurt if we eat at 5:45 instead of 5:30? Is the world going to end if I don't wake Drew up exactly at 6:10 every morning? 


I stress out about any time conflict and it affects my son. He sees me stressed so he stresses... and he's the one that has to hear me complain or make him rush if we're even running 2 minutes late for the time I have planned to leave for the grocery store. 


It's ridiculous!! I recognize this as a problem... and now I need to find a way to change it. I do realize the importance of structure, routines and schedule for a child.. and even for a family... but that should only apply to the big stuff... like getting to school and work on time. 

No Summer For Us

I absolutely LOVE that it is now officially summer... at least according to the calendar. 


The temperatures have FINALLY risen around here, and we're expecting a high of 93 degrees today.


But there is still no summer for our household. 


School is still in session. 


I still work 40 hours a week... 5 days a week. 


And truth is, this is the way it'll be until Little Man graduates high school. 


Because I work full time and we have no nearby family members to care for Drew, he goes to a year round private school. He's there 5 days a week, 52 weeks a year... unless we're sick or have a random vacation day. 


Right now his school is "off track" which means there's no actual school work going on for the next 2 weeks. But their still open all day and the kids are kept busy with structured learning activities. 


Technically their school year doesn't even END until August 12th (at which point he'll have 3 weeks off track before the next school year begins).


Because I was raised having a traditional summer (for the most part), this is a little tough for me. I feel awful that my kid is stuck at school all day while other kids are at the beach or even at home playing video games. He doesn't get a long break... ever. 


We're planning a little vacation for 3 days in August... but that's about all he gets. I have more vacation time available through work, but I like to keep some of it for the inevitable sick days or personal emergencies that are bound to occur. 


It's times like this that I really wish I could change things. I wish so badly that I didn't have to work full time and that I was available more to be a MOM... so that Drew could have more free time to be a KID.

Why I Love My Job

-40 hours a week I have an obligation and responsibility.
-I absolutely dread a ringing phone from 7:30 - 4:00 five days a week.
-I'm expected to be somewhere at 7:30am.
-My paycheck is never large enough.
-When it's nice and sunny outside, I'm stuck inside where I can't even open a window to get fresh air.
-I get bored VERY quickly at work.
-I do not enjoy the daily tasks of my job.
-Worrying about what to bring for lunch each day, or if I have enough money to buy lunch, is exhausting.


These things actually suck... but despite all of it, here are the reasons I LOVE my job:


-I have never missed a single practice or game of my son's, no matter what sport he's played.
-I am able to take my son to every doctors appointment... scheduled or not.
-Every other week there is a decent enough amount of money directly deposited into my bank account.
-I can bring my son to work with me if necessary.
-I have a great benefits package that allows me to stress less about health and dental issues, money for my future, and vacation, sick and personal time that I can take whenever I want to.
-I work with 9 men... and no women (no drama).
-Making it to parent-teacher conferences, awards assemblies, and Christmas performances on time is never an issue. 
-During my interview for this job I made it a point to explain that my son is my priority and the only reason I wanted this job was for the paycheck... and they hired me anyway... and because of that (they said it showed I had a reason to be there everyday).
-I get to spend my day watching movies, reading books and shopping online since there's no actual "work" to be done.
-I can afford to put my son in private school, chess lessons and any sport his heart desires.
-I am home every night in time to have dinner with my son, do his homework with him, play endless rounds of Boogle, and tuck him into bed (next to me).... EVERY night.


I certainly do not enjoy the daily tasks of my job... but I am beyond thankful for the mother that my job allows me to be. 


Some people go to school for years... spend endless time studying.. to pursue a career that fulfills them, a career where they can use their talents and spend their days doing what they love. 


I am so lucky and thankful to have a job that allows me to be Drew's Mom. 

Another Year Older

I thought I'd have issues with turning 29.. turns out I don't. Maybe I'll really feel old at 30. Sure hope not. 


Yesterday was my birthday.. and in true ME style, we hit the beach. 


At first I refused to go. The temperature was only supposed to be 66 degrees.. and I had no desire to freeze on the beach. I hate being cold. But since my family had already scheduled their whole day around it, I gave in and we went. 

It was kind of cold in the morning, but it warmed up nice enough that we really enjoyed our day. 

Drew had a great time playing with his cousins. Usually it's just Drew and I, so any time he can play with the boys he's in heaven. I can't believe these crazy boys actually went into the freezing water.

My mom has made me the same birthday cake for as long as I can remember... Strawberry cake, Cool-Whip frosting, and fresh strawberries... and this year she even brought it to the beach for me. 

It was too windy for candles... but I loved having my favorite people and my favorite cake all at my favorite place.

As always, my favorite part of any day... especially my birthday.. is being with my baby boy, and seeing him smile. 

So here's to the last year of my 20's.... let's hope it's a great one!