Invisible Children

I have no words.  The video says it all.  (This is only 1 of 6)



Edited to add their website: Invisible Children We can help, people.

PB & J

It's kind of freaking me out, how independant my little girl is becoming.  Nevermind the fact that she doesn't need me to stay with her to fall asleep.  Forget the truth of it that she can pretty much take a shower without me.  Let's focus on the day she decided she also didn't need me to make her peanut butter and jelly sandwiches anymore.  Isn't that one of the quintessential duties of a mom?  To make their kids pb&j's?

It almost hurt, like a growing pain, to watch her do it so well! I did get to help cut off the crusts, though.  Phew!  I'm still needed. She has told me a couple of times in the past week that pretty soon she won't need me...  Can I put her on a time-out for a statement like that???

The Independent Clause

It has been brought to my attention that I coddle my nearly 5 year old way to much.  My husband has been telling me that for ages, but it didn't really hit me until the good Lord above called me out.  So, I started to think about our daily routine starting with bedtime.

We start in the bathroom where I put the toothpaste on the brush.  She then she opens her mouth for me to brush her teeth.  After, we go into her bedroom to read some books and bible stories and then she'll lie down.  I will snuggle up next to her as we say our prayers and then I sing and snuggle until she is asleep.  I quietly sneak out of her room and into my own bed at this time.

At about 3am Savannah either calls me from her room or shows up at the side of the bed.  "Can I sleep with you?"  She then crawls up and we snuggle until the morning.  I usually wake up before her, so I wait until she wakes up so that she doesn't have to wake up alone.

Then, I grab her animals and her nightime juicy and carry it downstairs for her where I proceed to make her breakfast.  After breakfast we head back upstairs where she picks out her clothes.  I sit on her bed and she brings them to me and lifts her arms so I can take off her jammies (nauseated yet?...)  I then hold out her pants as she places her feet in each leg hole.  I follow that by pulling her shirt down over her head for her.

After this, we go to the bathroom to brush her teeth.  I put the toothpaste on the brush and then she opens her mouth for me to brush her teeth.  After I brush my own teeth, I go into her bedroom, grab her socks, and we both head downstairs.

Once downstairs she sits down either on the couch or at the kitchen table while I put on her shoes and socks...  Yah, I could go on, but I won't.

I have to tell you, as much as she got (yes got, that is past tense) pampered and coddled, she showed little to no appreciation!  In fact, she was getting *cough, cough* a bit spoiled.

So, I decided that a lot of things needed to change.  I instituted the "Independent Clause" in our house.  She now dresses herself, brushes her own teeth, puts on her own shoes and socks (I still help a bit with the socks, but just a little bit, I promise!) and even washes her own body in the shower as well as drying off after.  It's amazing what a change I've seen in her in just the past week.  In fact, she even made her own PP&J (that's a post all by itself because it was so cute...)

Just yesterday, after accomplishing to put on her own socks she says to me, "Mommy.  Now all I have to do is be a good listener, and then I'll be a big girl."  Yah.  By todays standards, honey, you've been a big girl for over a year.  Being a good listener ain't the way to get there.  I kept that to myself though, hoping that she'd try to behave better so she'd "be a big girl."

Going into Retirement

Her shoes, that is.  I'm not sure exactly how long Savannah has been wearing these Wal-Mart brand "Crocs" but it's been well over a year.  She wore them in Hawaii in June of 2007 and I know that she had them approx. six months before that!  And, as you can tell from this picture, they have been worth the whole $6 a pair that I paid.

"Why are they two different colors?" you may ask.  Let me tell you a story...

Once upon a time Savannah had two pairs of Crocs (yah, I know they aren't really Crocs, but that's what we called them); one pair were pink and the other pair were blue.  She loved matching them with her outfits.  And then, the unthinkable happened.  One of her blue ones fell out of the car when we were shopping never to be seen again!  She was so brave.  She didn't even shed a tear because she still had her favorite pink ones.

Then, one day while Savannah was playing at the park with her cousins, they decided to start kicking dirt into a grated drain.  As everyone knows, Crocs don't fit on the foot real tight, so after a few kicks, her right pink Croc went flying and fell down the drain!  Daddy tried his best to retrieve the shoe, but to no avail.  This time tears were shed.



Wouldn't you know it though?  What are the chances, I ask rhetorically, that she'd lose the opposite shoe?  She still had a complete pair, even though they were two different colors.  So, she began to wear her Crocs, one of each color.  We would get so many people commenting on how unique and "hip" she was to step outside the norm and wear two different color shoes.  Sometimes we'd just smile and other times she'd share the story.  Pointing out her left blue foot she'd say "This one fell out of the car," then she'd switch to the right foot and continue, "and this one fell down the drain."

So, my daughter's fashion statement was nothing more than a set of unforeseen circumstances. She did look pretty cool though.  (At least to me.  I was one of the weird kids in high school that would wear two different color of Converse shoes...)

Anyway, the poor things had seen their day.  The tread was almost completely gone from the bottom.  Her toes were almost popping out the little holes, not to mention the fact that they looked as though they'd been run over buy a car at least half a dozen times.

Off to the mall we went to purchase her a pair of "real" Crocs.  And "real" Crocs is what she got.  They are a nice shade of purple.  We even got those little things that pop into the holes.  I'm thinking of getting her a pair of pink ones hoping that she will opt to wear one of each color.  :)

Soccer/Team Mom

That's me, minus the mole above the lip.  Even my haircut now looks similar.  Well, I don't wear high heels either, but honestly, that's besides the point.  The point being that I am a soccer mom.  And more specifically, Team Mom for Savannah's AYSO soccer team.

I'm not sure why I chose to volunteer to be a Team Mom.  I think I just wanted that experience since I grew up with my mom usually being the Team Mom for my brothers' teams.  I myself never played soccer.  I was the gymnast.  I thought it would be fun to take on that role.  Which it has been.  Well, kind of.

There is a "kink" so to speak, in my Team Mom status.  Mostly that my kid refuses to play the game.  Practices go wonderfully.  She loves to kick the ball back and forth to her team mates.  She even likes to dribble the ball down the field into the goal.  However, as soon as Coach starts a scrimmage game, she runs off the field in a pout.  She looks at me and says "I don't want to play that game."  Um.  I hate to break it to you kiddo, but that IS the game.

Game days are so stressful for me.  Wayne even told her that if she scored a goal, we'd go to Build-A-Bear.  And honestly, had she joyfully played even one quarter we would have taken her.  She was excited last night to play because she is good and I was pretty sure that if she played she would score.  However, we get to the field and all the sudden she starts her pout and again, refuses to go on the field.  This, of course, upsets her daddy, and reasonably so.  Not only were we one player short today, but we've vested time and money into this.  And she wanted to play soccer this year!  *sigh*

I'm not sure exactly what to do.  I know that a few things need to change at home (I coddle her way too much) but I'm at a loss at what to do on game days.  I seriously am dreading next Saturday.  I guess I just need to offer it up to the Lord (in the grand picture of things, this is really no big deal) and pray that the changes that I know He wants us to make will make a difference in just six short days.

Any suggestions are welcome.

BTW - Her team name is Flutter Power.  I'll have to upload some pictures of her first game.  She at least played one quarter then.  Of course, I was on the field because the coach had to leave early.  Oh, and in case you are going to say I should go on the field with her, that's not an option.  I think that is part of the problem.  She doesn't feel that she can do anything without me (my fault *cough, cough*)