The M Party of Five

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Keeping up with The Joneses

You've lived there. You know, next to "The Joneses." The place where you are always trying to keep up with them and in some cases compete and surpass them. I've lived there. No, really, right next to them, our neighbors were actually Mr. and Mrs. Jones. And we kept up with them. Then we moved.

The thing about "keeping up with the Joneses" is such a waste of time. I've been there, I know. The grass is always greener and your life will always be better and you will always be happier "if only we had...." That is a bunch of hogwash (insert worse word here). We had the hand-scraped hardwood floors, stainless steel kitchen with the granite counter tops, fabulous staircase, study with bookshelves, fancy dining room, valuted ceilings, outdoor fireplace, and more square footage than we actually lived in. No kidding, I lived there. The fact is though is that it did not make me happy. I thought that once we moved into that house I would never again utter the words "wouldn't we be happier if we had....." Truth is, things don't make you happy, people make you happy. That house cost more and my kids still spilled apple juice on the hand-scraped hardwood floors just like they did on the other floors in our other house. The granite counter tops got sticky just like the laminate countertops at our other house. The kids still made a mess of their bedrooms just like they did at our other house (only this time I had to climb a fleet of stairs to clean them). You know what wasn't just like our other house? How much longer it took me to clean that square footage that we couldn't live without and the amount of money that it took to heat and cool the rooms with the vaulted ceilings.

That was then, this is now. Like I said, we moved. This time we got a more "sensible" house....one more our style. We don't have hardwood floors, we have carpet (even though when it is time to replace the carpet my husband is pushing for hardwood floors), our counters aren't granite and our appliances are white. There is no fabulous staircase, it is all on one floor (so yes, I have gained 5 pounds because I'm not doing stairs a hundred times a day anymore). I can stand on a stool and touch the ceiling (this fact alone dropped our electric bill $200). You know what else? We are a happier family because of it. We love our house, we love our life, and we love each other. There is no more "keeping up with the Joneses," we keep up with ourselves (this is a big enough chore with all of the extra-curricular activities).

Madison watching tv....I think it was "The Fresh Beat Band" (notice her complete pause and awe of what she was viewing)

Audri and Tim: Pelican Cove

Molli and Morgan: Pelican Cove

Madison eating her morning Cheerios (maybe it was lunch or supper, she eats Cheerios all day)

Maddie the dog...once again proving she has a hard life.

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Designer Jeans and Honesty

I saw a woman in the Wal-Mart parking lot the other day that was getting a stroller out of her van. I commented to her that she must be a mom too (at the time I was getting Madison out of her car seat). She laughed and said yeah, she had four girls with the oldest being 9. This woman then went on to say that she was lucky if she got a shower three times a week (note: she was wearing gym shorts, T-shirt, ponytail, and a visor....I was too, just in different colors). She was honest. I don't think most women are honest about it. Some are, I am. I don't have a job (one that pays me anyway, although I'm waiting for the someone to pay me my $100,000 since the national survey says that stay-at-home moms deserve this salary...check still hasn't come but I keep holding out hope) and I find myself with no time to take a shower every morning and get decked out in my designer jeans. I don't even think I could find my designer jeans in my closet if I wanted to, I'm sure they are in there under all of the stuffed animals that are waiting for their "stitches" and the clothes that need ironing. I'm also sure that they will still fit, never mind that I wear elastic-waisted shorts seven days a week so my view of my "size" is probably not the same as the size reflected on the tag in my designer jeans. I've always wondered how (and really why??) stay-at-home moms get up early, get their showers, put on their make-up, do their hair, get dressed in the latest trend to take their kids to school and then go home to have the baby spit up on them or finger paint smeared on the legs of their designer jeans or the bleach to dribble down the ruffled shirt or twist their ankle cooking in the kitchen while wearing the latest wedge sandal. These people exist, I have met them. Or I have met what they want people to believe they are. I am not this person, I am not like these people; nor do I want to be. I get up, hair goes in a ponytail, gym shorts and a t-shirt are my wardrobe, and flip flops are on my feet. If I have to go out in public, my red visor is on my head (even if my shirt is pink, I still wear the red visor). There are exceptions such as doctor appointments (which the kids go to every week it seems and I always get spit up on or a snotty nose wiped on my shirt because they can't stop crying due to the fact that their finger got pricked; which means the blood from the finger is on the back of my shirt where the kid is holding on for dear life while wiping their snotty nose on the front of my shirt) and trips to the school. But for the most part I only get to take a shower around midnight when everyone is asleep. I'm not complaining because I wouldn't want my life to be any other way.

This past week was the beginning of the school year. Morgan started 3rd grade and Molli started kindergarten. Madison has been sick all week which has made the week that much more stressful. I haven't slept in a week. I haven't slept more than four hours a night in a week (and these are not four consecutive hours). So if you see me in my gym shorts, t-shirt, and visor, don't look at me as if I could have dressed better because for the love of God, there is no way that I could have had the energy to pretend that I care how I am dressed.

Morgan's 8th birthday (Morgan and Molli)

Morgan and Molli at the Bernice Pool

Madison, Morgan and Molli

Madison's 1st birthday

Morgan: first day of 3rd grade

Molli: first day of kindergarten

Morgan and Molli

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Pictures and Not Much Else

Let's see.......it has been one month and 18 days since I last posted. Really, I can't believe that much time has passed. Not much has changed, Tim's car probably needs to go to the shop, my house is still a mess, and I am still eating candy in the closet. Madison had tubes in February, Molli had tubes in March, Tim had an appendectomy in April....at the rate we are going, we are averaging a surgery a month...let's hope that the trend stops soon since May is approaching. Which also means that school is ending soon....thank God. I don't know who is more ready for summer, the kids or me (I think me....no more car pool lines!). I have to go do laundry so I am going to post some pictures and write more later.