Mama's Losin' It!

To The Ocean!

Mama Kat — Tue, 15 May 2012 18:00:00 +0000

I thought the ocean would be the perfect place for Pat and I to take the kids this past weekend.

I’ve been along the Oregon coast (you should go) and also to California and Hawaii, but have never visited the ocean in my own state. How does one not visit ones own ocean?** I know!

And then I remembered how much I actually dislike sand and salt water and WIND and I realized that’s exactly why my interactions with the ocean have been so minimal. It’s because I don’t care.

But I decided to care on Sunday.

We ended up renting an electric boat that went no faster than 5 miles an hour while weaving in and out of canals that weren’t actually even attached to the ocean and the kids were in heaven. They saw racoons and baby ducks and deer and I was all “See I KNEW going to the ocean was an awesome idea! WE SHOULD LIVE HERE!”

And then we drove over to the actual ocean and I all was all “look at all the sand and salt water and wind…doesn’t that look like fun kids??”

I had pictured Mother’s Isle…myself on the beach in my retro suit, the children splashing in and out of the water until sundown, but instead pulled my hoodie over my head, wrapped a gigantic blanket around my family and willed myself to brave the freezing wind and sand and saltwater until my kids had had their fill.

Kainoa and Mr. Hawaii were done within five minutes. Pat is convinced my blood is different than his Hawaiian blood and that he is physically incapable of tolerating a cold ocean.

The girls and I forged ahead.

And by ‘the girls and I’, I mean…Maile and Laina actually played in the freezing cold ocean while I cocooned myself in our blanket to protect myself from the elements until they were done.

It wasn’t easy.

But I survived.

We won’t be moving there after all.

In action:

**My sister told me I make it sound like I “grew up in Ohio or something” where water is replaced with corn fields. To be clear, I live near many bodies of water that feed into the ocean within minutes of our home that we visit often. One might argue *cough my sister* that the bodies of water I frequent ARE the ocean, but I say it’s not the same. When I say I “haven’t been to the ocean in our state” I mean like the actual OCEAN ocean…you know…with expansive beaches and large waves and horses and kites and that kind of thing. I do not live in Ohio, but visiting a corn field is next on my list!**

Old People Are Cute

Mama Kat — Tue, 15 May 2012 09:00:00 +0000

Old people are cute…especially when they’re using the computer. Take a look at YouTube’s most adorable old people and try NOT to adopt them as your own.

This webcam captured an adorable old couple trying to figure out how to work their webcam…they didn’t realize it was on the entire time:

The most adorable video of old people playing the piano together that you ever did see:

Grandma’s watch Kim Kardashian’s sex tape…it’s explicit folks. Old ladies can be so VULGAR!:

Writing Prompts

Mama Kat — Mon, 14 May 2012 18:00:00 +0000

Every week you’re invited to join me in Writer’s Workshop by responding to one of the provided writing prompts posted each Tuesday. The directions are simple:

Choose a writing prompt from the list provided that inspires you most.
Write.
Come back this Thursday and paste the URL from your post into the list of links that will be displayed…this way anyone can click on your post thumbnail and head over to your place to see what you wrote.

To view more detailed instructions on how this weekly meme works, check out the Writer’s Workshop FAQs.

Writing Prompts:

1.) Share a story from fourth grade. (inspired by Wild Life in the Woods).

2.) Describe where you were when you met a boy. (inspired by Sadie Dear)

3.) Write about a time you saw someone doing something kind for someone else. (inspired by Gigi’s Ramblings)

4.) Name something you swore you’d never do when you had kids, but now find yourself doing. (inspired by Not So Newly)

5.) List the songs that tell your life story (so far). (inspired by Moments That Define Life)

Some favorites from last week:

“I might have to hide it, but I was never going to be able to hear my son cry without having this visceral reaction.” –Not Just Another Mother Blogger

“…just because I didn’t have a great mother doesn’t mean that I can’t be one myself.” –Mommy Boots

“while you are glorious in your nature and your promising presence brings genuine feelings of hope, I wonder why you take so long to come around?” -blisfulvida

“ There was no better feeling in the world than riding that yellow bike down the big hill with my hair in the wind and my best friend by my side on her bike with her, umm…duck.” –Be Still A Minute

“As long as there are no jelly fish, I’ll make it out to the ocean and just stand there… for hours.” –Stylenerd.net

5.) List the songs that tell your life story (so far). (inspired by Moments That Define Life)

Fifty Shades of Whoops

Mama Kat — Sun, 13 May 2012 18:00:00 +0000

This week on Mommalogues we were asked to share whether or not we would be reading Fifty Shades of Grey. It’s a steamy novel about a couple and their extremely provocative interactions.

I thought it would be hilarious if I actually READ a passage from the book for my video so I went out and bought it. What I didn’t know is that 50 Shades of Grey is the first in a TRILOGY. I stood in the book store holding 50 Shades Freed and wondered why in the world they changed the title of the book…because I thought it was supposed to be 50 Shades of Grey. And then I shrugged and just bought the book anyway.

You’ll notice my moment of recognition as I wave my book at the camera and then realize I had the wrong book altogether:

(video here)

I have a degree in English folks.

Nothing to worry about here.

Have you read 50 Shades of Grey yet? Will you? Should I bother actually purchasing the first book in this trilogy or should I just take the darn thing back?

This One Time…I Realized I Was A Mom

Mama Kat — Fri, 11 May 2012 18:00:00 +0000

This one time I realized I was a mother when I was feeding my first baby solids and I was all “Say Ahhhhhhhh” and then I’d open my mouth with her and chugged the spoon her way.

This is so borrrring…why does she have to eat so often? I can’t wait until she’s older and I don’t have to feed her anymore.

And then it hit me.

OMG…I’m going to have to FEED her FOREVER!

A year earlier I only worried about what *I* wanted to eat and here I was with my 7 month old baby, realizing that everyday for the rest of my life…multiple times a day…I was going to have to concern myself with what she was eating, how often she was eating, and how the food she was eating might affect her GROWTH.

GAH!

Being a mom is so harrrrrd.

Busiest Mom In The Whole World

Mama Kat — Thu, 10 May 2012 18:00:00 +0000

I want more more milk!

Can I have waffles?

Will you help me with my shoes?

Don’t forget to pack my lunch?

Can I have a band aid?

Can I have a kitten?

You’re the busiest mom in the world!

CAN I HAVE A DOLLAR?

Will you read to us?

Will you turn on a show?

Can you find my hamster?

Can I play your phone?

Did you hear that?

THEY APPRECIATE ME!

WW: But For The Grace Of God Go I

Mama Kat — Wed, 09 May 2012 18:00:00 +0000

2.) Share a lesson you learned from your Mother that still sticks with you to this day.

I was fifteen and listening in on the 5′oclock news my Mom had on in the kitchen while I set the table for dinner. The top story was about a woman who had forgotten her small child in her car. It was out of her normal routine to have the baby with her and, distracted by work, she simply forgot to drop the child off at daycare. She spent the entire day at work before returning to her car to find her child has passed on.

It was awful and I reacted as the news show had conditioned me to react. I tsked the woman and her thoughtless behavior. How do you forget your own child? Clearly this woman loved her job more than she loved her precious baby! I expected my Mom to chime in and agree with me. After all, she had managed to raise me and my brothers and sisters with nary a car forgetting incident.

Instead, she sighed and recited a line I’d heard her say many times, “…but for the grace of God go I.”

Instead of condemning this woman as I had, she showed compassion.

She talked about how we push ourselves to be too many things…to do everything…to be in too many places. She’d been that woman late for work, paperwork a mile high waiting to be tackled, deadlines, meetings, important calls. She talked about how your mind processes it all and loses focus. How many times have we traveled from one stop light to the next and not even really remembered that drive?

It’s so easy to puff your chest and describe what you would have done. The right way you would have reacted. How something you see happening to other people could never happen to you. An arrogant assumption.

My Mom challenged me to humble myself. To see how easy it is for something as simple and silly as human error to result in something catastrophic.

And that none of us are ever immune to making such mistakes.

Her compassion taught me to always consider every side and to not be so quick to judge. It also made me extremely thankful to have her on my team, knowing whatever mistakes I make in my life, that she will be there to understand them and support me.

Today I am the Mom who gets it. Hoping to raise my kids to be compassionate and humble as I navigate them through the same tricky waters. Clenching the sides of my boat and praying to God I can get my cargo to shore safely as boats around us flip.

How easily it could be us.

Now it’s your turn!

Choose a prompt, post it on your blog, and come back to add your name to the link list below. Be sure to sign up with the actual post URL and not just your basic blog URL (click on the title of your post for that URL). For good comment karma try to comment on the three blogs above your name!!

The Prompts:

1.) Happy almost Mother’s Day! Share a parenting moment where you really began to realize what this mothering thing is all about.

2.) Share a lesson you learned from your Mother that still sticks with you to this day.

3.) Write a poem that expresses how you feel about any day of the week.

4.) List your top 10 favorite things about summer growing up.

5.) You have a 3 day weekend to do anything you want with your family…money is not a factor, BUT you must stay in your own state. What would you do?

The Vacuum People

Mama Kat — Tue, 08 May 2012 18:00:00 +0000

I made the mistake of dozing off on my couch the other day. All of the kids were away at school, I had completed a ton of work, and after a really late night the night before, I was exhausted.

I had an hour before preschool pick up time and I thought I would go ahead and allow myself to enter dreamland for JUST a minute.

And just like that I was asleep….dog at my feet…sun streaming through the window. A moment of luxury indeed.

Until the doorbell rang…my heart JUMPED into gear, the dog started barking and I was on my feet before my eyes were open, “Oh my God what’s happening? What’s happening? What am I doing right now?”

I stood in front of the door with my hands on my head trying to think of WHAT I should do next…open the door? Yes, that seemed like a good step. Heart still racing, adrenaline pumping, brain still sleeping, I opened the door.

“WELL HELLO!!!!!! YOU MUST BE THE QUEEN OF THIS FINE CASTLE HEE HEE HEE”

It was the vacuum people! Very enthusiastic and LOUD vacuum people. Again. Will I ever get peace from them? I managed to mumble out in my most drunk sounding-slurred-barely-awake speech, “Everyoneissleepingthisisabadtime” and shut the door in her face as she excitedly shouted out a reason for me to keep the door open. But I couldn’t hear it because I was too busy trying to keep my heart from having a heart attack.

Sometimes I really really don’t like people.

And I never like vacuum people.

NO SOUP FOR YOU!

A Day At The Office

Mama Kat — Tue, 08 May 2012 04:00:00 +0000

I shared this video on Facebook the other day and I love it too much to leave it there. Watch these co-workers as they put together an impromptu Backstreet Boys performance. It will make you ridiculously happy (click through to view videos…I’m too lazy to link to them all separately):

Too bad all days at the office can’t be that happy…sometimes people get angry at equipment that doesn’t work the way it’s supposed to:

And sometimes people at the office get angry at each other!:

Or just tear the whole damn office apart:

Things would be a lot simpler if the boss would just call in sick to work, wouldn’t it?:

Just another day at the office!

Writing Prompts

Mama Kat — Mon, 07 May 2012 18:00:00 +0000

Every week you’re invited to join me in Writer’s Workshop by responding to one of the provided writing prompts posted each Tuesday. The directions are simple:

Choose a writing prompt from the list provided that inspires you most.
Write.
Come back this Thursday and paste the URL from your post into the list of links that will be displayed…this way anyone can click on your post thumbnail and head over to your place to see what you wrote.

To view more detailed instructions on how this weekly meme works, check out the Writer’s Workshop FAQs.

Writing Prompts:

1.) Happy almost Mother’s Day! Share a parenting moment where you really began to realize what this mothering thing is all about.

2.) Share a lesson you learned from your Mother that still sticks with you to this day.

3.) Write a poem that expresses how you feel about any day of the week.

4.) List your top 10 favorite things about summer growing up.

5.) You have a 3 day weekend to do anything you want with your family…money is not a factor, BUT you must stay in your own state. What would you do?

Just a few of last week’s favorites:

“I am asking you to please give me a chance based on my merits and not my age.” –La Casa Di Frigerio

“Bitsy only played with me when it was convenient.” –Jamie Miles

“It would need to have some sort of plastic sleeves which I could stick my hands in to type.” –Second Blooming

“He can take care of himself, but I forget sometimes that he needs me.” –Mommy Y

“After my beauty regime, I would emerge looking all beautiful and smelling nice.” –Bees With Honey