Confessions of a Slacker Mom

About three years ago, I read a book. I don't remember for sure, but I think the title was Confessions of a Slacker Mom. I was quite entertained as I read it, and, when I had finished it, I concluded that I, too, was a "Slacker Mom."

As I mentioned a couple posts ago, sometimes I let my kids do somewhat dangerous things, like run on the treadmill. I also let them climb fences, do karate (with the understanding that if you play, you can't cry or get mad when you get hurt), play on anything they dare to at the playground, and a host of other things. I also don't pad up the corners of my counters, or do all those kind of things to assure your child never gets hurt. I guess I figure that the quickest way they'll learn if something is dangerous or could hurt is by personal experience. Me saying, "Don't do that" isn't nearly as effective as them thinking, "Wow. I'll never do that again!" Now, don't get me wrong. I do believe in safety, and if something is life-threatening, I certainly don't want them to learn that the hard way. But a few bumps and bruises just might help them learn some common sense that could be valuable in the long run.

Secondly, I don't have my kids on the fast track to Harvard. I do believe in playing with them and reading to them, but I have no desire to teach my 9-month old to read (like I've seen at a home party), I don't buy Baby Mozart, and I'm unwilling to fork out the big bucks for that special, better-get-on-the-waiting-list-when-they're-born, preschool. I figure if my kids know their colors, shapes, can count, and know some letters when they go to kindergarten, they'll be just fine. So maybe I'm sacrificing Harvard. Is that all bad? Who can afford it anyway?

Third, and I might take some major criticism for this one, I let my kids ingest some germs at times. For example, I have seen my kids eat popcorn, skittles, and other snacks that they find on the bleachers at sporting events. I don't necessarily encourage this behavior. I simply look the other way and pretend I don't see it. That way, I don't have to buy them a treat, they get their immune system boost for the day, and other moms don't know what a slacker I am because they think I didn't see it. Sometimes I really question myself on this one, but last winter my kids never got sick, and all the germaphobe moms I know had theirs on antibiotics all winter. Go figure.

Fourth, my kids sometimes look like orphans. Mylie's hair is often a sight in the morning, and when I put her to bed some nights, I realize that I never did do anything about it. I know a lot of moms like to bathe their kids every day, but I don't. I figure a couple baths a week is sufficient. Connor has a very obsessive personality, and he likes certain clothes a lot more than others at times. I have been known to let him wear the same outfit 2 or even 3 days in a row before making him wear something new. I just figure that if we're not going anywhere, and it's not TOO dirty, it's just not worth the fight. Besides, if it has a little spill on it, nobody will really know if that happened this morning or day before yesterday.

Fifth, sometimes I let some things in my house slide. For example, right now my house is so dusty, it's really not dust anymore. It's more like dirt. I know that this will probably flare up our allergies or something, but how does a mom do it all? You have to slack a little somewhere, don't you?

Now before passing judgement, let me say this. I LOVE my kids! I want what's best for them, and I really try to do a good job. But with some things, I guess I'm just a slacker. Am I all alone in this? If you have any "slacker mom" traits, please share and ease my conscience just a little. PLEASE!!!

Beautiful Girl

Of course, every mom thinks her kids are the cutest, but yesterday morning before church I was amazed at how cute Mylie looked so I had to take some pictures. She loved every minute of her photo shoot!

I asked Mylie to stand up on this chair to take a picture, and she immediately took this pose. I wondered where she had learned that, or if girls are just born knowing this pose. But when I asked, she said Granny taught it to her. Mom, did you do this???

When I grow up . . .

Connor loves to run on the treadmill. Yes, this might be dangerous, but he's done it a ton with no injuries, so I don't worry. Plus, I'm sometimes a slacker mom. But more on that in a future post. Anyway, the other day Connor wanted to try running while listening to his music on the Zune. He's watched me and his dad do this, so of course he wanted to try as well. Earbuds don't stay in small ears very well, so this was the solution--an earwarmer. Connor showed off for me by running for more than two minutes straight at 6.0, which is a ten minute mile. Not bad for small legs! He ran a total of a mile and a half, trying out different speeds and of course listening to his tunes. When he got finished he told me he might be a marathon runner someday since he's so good at running fast AND far. He's a pretty intense kid, as you can tell by the look on his face.

Are we having fun yet?

This past week was SO much fun! On Monday, we went to Bear Lake with my family. I forgot my camera, so I don't have any photos. Tami posted a lot about this, plus some pics, so to see more about Bear Lake, visit her blog.

Tuesday, I went with my sister-in-law and her two kids to Green River to a splash park. Totally free and totally fun!!! I kind of wish I had been wearing my suit so I could get in, too. Mylie never did get brave enough to get wet. She's not afraid of the water, just hates being cold. Connor, however, loved every minute of it. Mylie still had a great time since there was a regular playground right there, too.

Wednesday night, we went to a circus that was here in Mountain View. We all loved it! They had tigers, a lion, a trapeze act, several different balancing acts, unicycles, fire and sword juggling, and a clown, of course. It was a great time!
We rounded the week out with a couple visits to the park during Tony's softball games, and the start of the Olympics, which we are already engrossed in--even the kids!

Mylie and her best friend and cousin, Jaxon. This is as close as Mylie got to getting wet, but Jaxon got braver as the day went on.

Mylie loved the peanuts at the circus!

Connor was trying his own tricks by intermission! Balancing on Dad's shoulders WITH his eyes closed! He thought he was pretty tricky. We may end up with broken bones as a result of this fun outing.

County Fair

So, I was going to do a post about our anniversary complete with PICTURES, of course, but I got carried away deleting old pics from my camera and lost them. So, now that I'm done crying about that, (actually I didn't really cry), I guess I'll do another post.

Today we went to the county fair. So fun! The kids loved petting all the animals, or at least the ones smaller than them, playing in the sandbox, going on the carnival rides, and trying all the ice cream flavors in the homemade ice cream contest. I voted for the raspberry. YUM!!


P.S. We had a great anniversary. We went on a backpacking trip in the Uintas. It was my first time backpacking, but Tony had been several times. We drove about an hour to get to the bottom of the trail, then did a short hike--about 3 or 4 miles. We camped near Alligator Lake and just had a peaceful time. It was so beautiful. You'll have to picture it in your minds, I guess, instead of on your computer screen. We were surrounded by pine trees, and the silence was amazing. We set up a tent and cooked our dinner over the fire. In the morning, we packed up and were home by 10:00. A fun, short trip.

Summer Fun!!

So far, my summer has been quite hectic. In the last 6 weeks, I have been at a camp or vacation for at least 3 days of each week. I think I have only been HOME without a camp all day a total of 10 days since June 1st. However, I only have one 3-day camp remaining and I'm looking forward to enjoying summertime! On the few days that I've had at home, we've done some fun things. I thought I'd post pictures of what we've been up to when I haven't been at the track meet, girls' camp, or in a gym.

I bought a Slip 'n' Slide for the kids to cool off on hot days. They've had a ton of fun with it!

One of our family favorite get-aways is to the clay hills about 10-15 miles from our home. We had a picnic there one night and spent time climbing all over the place. The kids LOVE going there!

The 4th of July was a lot of fun. We went to the parade in the morning, where the kids each went home with a huge loot. Then in the evening, we headed to the city park, where the kids played on the playground, participated in all kinds of kids races, had some dinner, and finished off the night with a great fireworks show. I love watching kids watch fireworks. I think their faces are better than the fireworks!

A Peculiar People

Last night, I was entertained for quite awhile after stumbling upon this awesome website: www.stuffmormonslike.com It is a site completely dedicated to discussing the strange cultural trends of the Mormons. Don't worry, it's written by fellow Mormons, and isn't offensive at all, just hilarious. After reading through it, shaking my head in agreement after each thing I could relate with, I had a new appreciation for the term "peculiar people." I've been thinking about it all day, and have come up with quite a list of my own "stuff Mormons like." I'll just share five.

1. Busy wedding announcements with cheesy poses. Six years ago, when designing my own wedding announcements, I made sure I included 4 photos, and thought I was doing pretty well. However, in the past year, I've seen several wedding announcements that put my measley 4 photos to shame. I've even seen them two-sided in order to fit every single cheesy pose. Fun, huh?

2. Napoleon Dynamite. I was told to go see this movie when it came out by a group of single LDS students. When I got to the theater, it was packed with, of course, more LDS people. Now even if you didn't know that the producers went to BYU, the lead actor is LDS, and it was filmed in Preston, ID, it wouldn't take long for an LDS person to feel a sense of familiarity with this film. It is packed with Mormon culture: Ricks t-shirt, tupperware sales, online dating, finding treasures at DI, uncomfortable dances, and of course no swearing.

3. Historical Fiction that everyone loves, but can't quite sort out the history and the fiction. When I visited Nauvoo a few years ago, the missionaries there told us that they often are asked where "Steed Row" is. And every time I drive through Sugar House, UT, I wonder where the Thomases might have lived.

4. Ultimate Frisbee. It you don't know about this one, maybe you've never been in a singles ward. This is a favorite among LDS young adults. If somebody dropped the ball and didn't get the activity planned, the elders' quorum president is bound to have a frisbee in his backpack, and before long, everybody is having a blast showing off their incredible "ultimate" skills.

5. Desserts disguised as salads. Now we pride ourselves in being the healthiest people on the planet, since we have the Word of Wisdom to help guide our health choices. However, the last time I attended a Mormon gathering, the choice of "salads" was rather interesting. Next to the regulars--potato salad and that cabbage salad with the uncooked ramen noodles in it--there were three other choices: Red jello with cool whip on the top, some sort of whipped jello that had cool whip, cream cheese, cottage cheese, or perhaps all three in it, and the new craze, "Cookie Salad." Now that sounds like an oxy-moron to me, but I've seen it now at several gatherings, and it's NOT on the dessert table. Maybe it's for all the moms who want to say, "Oh yes, my child loves to eat his salad." Who wouldn't?

We are peculiar, aren't we? If you have any other "stuff Mormons like" please comment. I'd love to hear some more on this topic.