Our first stop was cut short because the Sonic drive through at noon is just as impossible as the McDonalds drive through at noon. So we figured we would revisit that "Wacky Pack" idea later. Hey, don't judge, we don't generally eat fast food and she won a free kids meal for Sonic during VBS so by golly it was the perfect time to use that bad boy. Free food? Heck yes. A chance for her to eat said free food without her brothers around, YES! Which meant...Mommy didn't have to buy 2 extra Wacky Packs for the boys. CHEAP SKATE I KNOW! The boys would have just wasted it anyway. At least Kams ate hers, or well she shared some of it with her Mommy like the darling daughter she is.
However, since the drive through was SOOO FULL you couldn't even pull into the stupid parking lot we just kept on driving and decided we'd go drive around the down town alley ways and find some good spots for some fun pictures with Miss Kams. After all she starts kindergarten next week, and she turns 6 next month. So a photo shoot IS indeed in need.
We scoped out our locations, took a few fun photos but we didn't get to finish because a wonderful energetic elderly gentleman came up to us and asked to "follow him to the museum" I shrugged, figured sure why not. In hind sight....most people might have said "Ummm no" But not me and Kams. We apparently like a sense of adventure and following strangers (even elderly ones) to unknown locations (in this case said "unknown location" was around a corner to the city museum).
They were open, and things were slow, and the guy gave a WONDERFUL tour of the tiny museum. He was born and raised in the town we lived in. Her served our country in the Army as well, and was a school teacher as well. My daughter thought he was a pretty cool guy, and for ONCE she didn't say "That old guy" she called him 'sir'. THANK HEAVENS the child DOES know her manners.
While we were at the museum Kams got to try on some really cool old hats from back in the 30's she thought that was so cool, she loves hats. She also saw clothes that little girls her age would have wore "back in the day" this little child sized mannequin had on a dress that Kams would have certainly wore NOW. It was SUPER cute. She was impressed with the shoes those little girls wore back then too. She loves shoes too.
She was a little shocked at the first TV. She said "Mommy, why does it have such a small screen?" (The rest of it was pretty big, but the screen was probably not even 12") The look on my daughters face was priceless. We do not by any means have a huge TV, but it is a nice ish TV that we baby and protect (after our previous one of which one of the sons through a toy hippo through). So anyway, my daughter stood there perplexed by this small screen, and she was wanting to know why the screen was so small. I told her they didn't know how to make TV's like ours back then. I asked her if she thought she could have watched SpongeBob on that TV and she said nope. Then she couldn't believe that the shows were all black and white. Her little pint sized mine, was blown away.
Kams also got to see, and WEAR a few authentic uniforms from WW2 era that had been donated by kind people who used to WEAR these uniforms while serving our country. She found it very fun. She saw the Navy cap to the Navy uniform and she goes "Look Mommy, it's a nurse's hat!" I about died laughing. I explained that this was part of the uniform for a Naval officer.
There was an old shoe shine chair in there as well, and I tried to convince Kams to shine my shoes but she politely said "no thanks". Though she did like sitting in the old fashioned school desk, the kind that took an ink bottle and quill pens! I actually had one of those briefly when I was growing up, not sure what ever happened to it.
She got to work an electric train set and wear a real conductors hat from way back in the day which seriously made her day. My kids are obsessed with trains, and so her little brothers were seriously jealous when they found out what Sissy had gotten to do without them!
She had a really good experience today learning about the history behind the town she has been born and raised in. I am not originally from this town, I've only been transplanted here for 10 years. It's not bad, I don't hate it, and I think it's been better than if we would have stayed living back home. We've met a lot of really great people here (we've also met a LOT of crappy people to, which I could seriously write a BOOK about)!
We thanked the kind gentleman for the lovely tour of the museum and then we had to be on our way to pick up Kams school supplies for school. I am pretty sure Kams and I will be checking out the museum again and bring one of her brothers along (taking them both in there would be just too much)!
We stopped in at one of our favorite places and managed to find some cute clothes for her, the boys, and me which is always nice! Especially this time of year when back to school is just around the corner.
We finally stopped in at Sonic so she could get her Wacky Pack then my little lady and I stopped at the grocery store and she was a super big helper with getting the groceries. She helped me pick out the best veggies and counted them, and we added up the prices so we would know how much we were spending. She showed me how strong she was by getting the orange juice and milk for me (we go through a LOT of milk and orange juice, anyone else)?
This child continue to blow me away with her amazingness. She managed to eat VEGGIES tonight. You may not know this, but my daughter doesn't eat nearly as many veggies as I would like her to. She will eat the heck out of lettuce, and olives, and pickles, occasionally she'll eat the seeds out of the green beans, and sometimes corn. She loves navy beans too. So tonight we had salad with our spaghetti and I somehow connived her to heat cucumbers, tomatoes AND green peppers! I was shocked. Kams took a lettuce and rolled her veggies up inside of it, and ate it. I was impressed. She even ASKED for salad to go with her spaghetti (I would have given it to her anyway, but she actually ASKED FOR IT AND ATE IT)! I still didn't give her too much, didn't want to scare her away from veggies, but this is a good step. She doesn't eat unhealthy by ANY means, we have other methods of getting veggies down her (yay for fruit/veggie shakes and drinks, and for owning a juicer and letting your kids make their own juices to drink)!
So this kind of brings me to my next thing. The "I will nevers". I read a blog tonight that I found myself nodding in agreement to the entire time, and laughing so hard I nearly cried. Why? Because I'VE BEEN THERE, DONE THAT. Here's a link to the awesomeness if you want to check it out HERE: http://www.ivillage.com.au/when-i-have-kids-i-will-never/
It made me think about all of the "I WILL NEVERS" that I've found myself saying before I had kids thinking I "knew it all and would be the best and superior brand of mom", hahahahaha how jaded I was.
Top of MY "I will nevers"
1. My children will NEVER EVER EVER and I mean EVER sleep in my bed. They make cribs for a reason. That baby will sleep in that bed, my toddler will sleep in their bed, there is NO reason a child should ever sleep with their parents, blah blah blah. I never slept with MY mother and so therefore I'm never doing it ether. Haha. Yeh. Right. I mean sure, my daughter spent the first 2 and a half maybe 3 months of her life sleeping in her bassinet. Then we moved. She would NOT sleep in the new apartment. She hated it. I was drop dead tired, as was my husband, we both had to get up and work in the morning...sooo hubby hit the couch, daughter slipped in bed with Mommy. Lazy parenting? Maybe. Did we all sleep? Yes. This went on till about 2 and a half years ago. Yep. My daughter just 2 and a half years ago started sleeping in her own bed...does she stay there all night? Well, most nights she does. She still ends up in my room a few nights a week from a bad dream or something, but she's gotten better. However, her little brothers start out in their own beds and end up in mind. We are in fact, going on night #3 of Mommy getting woke up by some little darling son PEEING all over me while I TRY to sleep squeezed in between them. Thank goodness for plastic sheets protecting my bed, for a washer and dryer to wash my blankets and sheets in at 3 in the morning, and spare sets of blankets and sheets. (Daddy has issues remembering to cut off their liquids!! I remind him and remind him, but he'll slip up, and since Daddy puts the boys down to bed at the moment, he forgets to have them potty before bed, and then I get wet! Thanks).
2. This one is one my HUSBAND always said, upon seeing a friends 3 rambunctious little boys. "My kids will NEVER EVER act like wild little hooligans when we are out somewhere, and they won't disrespect our home and tear stuff up." Personally, I'd like to punch my husband in the throat for ever saying or thinking this one, because the Karman train was NOT kind to us. Granted our daughter isn't as bad, but our sons....OH MY GOSH. I still see that friend....and her sons have calmed down a LOT she's now in that coveted "sweet spot" with her kids. She just grins at me now, thankfully she's very understanding, ha! We laugh and joke about it and how it is all my husband's fault that we have wild sons who could demolish a whole city in 5 seconds. You know how Stitch felt on "Lilo and Stitch" where Lilo made that "bad meter" and said he was really full of naughty or something...well, that's my boys. They are like little science experiments gone wrong some days, just like Stitch. But they are still family. MY Family. I never find things to be amused, or confused about when it comes to them. Like...how did you get PEE on the ceiling? Or how did you get THAT stuck on your head? Or some of the many odd things that I've heard come out of my mouth when talking about my sons. You pause and think to yourself "What...I never thought I'd hear THOSE words coming out of my mouth!"
3. My kids will NOT drink soda. Nope. My husband and I weren't going to do it. Soda is so bad for kids. The causer of ADD/ADHD bad teeth, and obesity. They weren't getting soda. Especially NOT soda like Mt. Dew or anything. MAYBE Sprite if they had an upset tummy, or as a special treat at a restaurant, but not likely. WATER and milk is where it's AT in this house baby. That lasted 4 months. Seriously. Kams was 4 months old when she was sitting in her Daddy's lap as he was holding a can of soda and in one swoop she snatched up the can and brought it to her mouth getting her first taste of ... wait for it ... Mt. Dew. Her eyes instantly got huge and we thought she was going to turn into the Incredible HULK Baby. After that? Anytime she saw a soda bottle or can she was after it. Thankfully she never got another taste of soda until she was nearly 3. Now I'm lucky if I ever get to finish a drink. I set down my coveted sweet tea, or Pepsi to go chase a kid and come back to said drink (an hour later), and lo and behold...it's gone. OK WHO DRANK MY DRINK THIS TIME! It's never ending. I guess we could have done the whole "no soda in the house ever" thing, but if you knew my husband...you'd understand how that would NEVER happen. Mt. Dew is his coffee.
4. I would NEVER yell at my kids! It's an awful thing to do! What kind of mom loses her temper and just yells at her kids? Yeh well, I'm not ashamed. My kids have not just been yelled at...but they've seen Mommy flip her lid and straight up scream at them. NOT a moment I'm proud of. BUT I'm not ashamed to admit it either. Why? Because I'm human. I screw up. When your child has slap slap slap slapped you on the arm 50 $#%@(&@ times and you've looked at said child and said "yes dear" every SINGLE time and they KNOW they have your attention...and still keep slappity slap slapping on your already bruised arm where they ALWAYS "slap" you or "poke" you to get your attention....your eye twitches...and you snap. "WHAAAAT!!!! I SAID WHAT 50 TIMES NOW WHAT DO YOU WANT MY SWEET ANGELIC CHERUB THAT I LOVE WITH ALL MY SOUL BUT YOUR TINY HAND OF SEARING PAIN BEARING INTO MY ARM IS ABOUT TO MAKE ME LOSE MY EVER LOOFIN' MIND!!!!!!" Same with the whole "I'm thirsty, I'm thirsty, I'm thirsty, I'm thirsty, I'm thirsty,....." AAAAAAAH!!!!!!! I KNOOOOOOW!!!!!!!! I am wooooorking on it, where is your OFF BUTTON!!!! Cups do NOT fill themselves! As if saying "I'm thirsty" a bloody billion times in a row gets your cup filled any faster, it does not.
5. I won't shower/bathe with my kids or change a diaper. Another one of my husband's gems. He was insistent about this the ENTIRE time is pregnant with our daughter. "I'll NEVER change her diaper and I WILL NOT give her a bath or bathe with her" Our conversations, usually left me in hormonal tears. Funnily enough...after I had my daughter via emergency C section and she had her first poop and I obviously couldn't just jump and change her, my husband totally took over. He said I got this, don't worry! He ran to get a nurse and then had the nurse stand there and watch him with me to make sure he was changing her diaper right because he was afraid he might hurt her chunky little butt trying to change her diaper. It was so sweet. I cried. After that? He never had issues changing diapers. He's been craped all over, pee'd on (which he HATES being pee'd on haha), and one of our twins managed to poop IN their daddies MOUTH, now that...takes skill. We still aren't sure how he managed that one. As for the baths? Well, I breast fed our daughter and that was OUR bonding time. So he asked if he could do baths, of course you can. So he would fill up the tub and get in and then hold our newly born daughter on his chest and bathe her ever so carefully. He did great bathing the kids when they were babies/toddlers and I took over once they were older.
6. I will NEVER let my kids spend the night anywhere as babies, not until they are in school and talking. Well, to this I say, never say never. You never know what life is going to throw at you. My daughter was NEVER away from me, until her twin brothers were born, and I was in the hospital having them. Even then she was still home with her Daddy and Grandma came to visit. However when Keegan was in the hospital due to his cancer...we didn't have anyone who could help. So Kams and Marshall stayed with the Pastor of our Church and his wife, and they took WONDERFUL care of our children, but it was ROUGH not having all of my babies together, I sobbed and cried and was a broken down mess. If I would have had MY choice about it, my kids would have NEVER stayed the night anywhere, however things in life rarely ever go the way WE have planned. It's not about OUR plans it's about Gods plans.
7. "I will never, have a mess house!" Hahahaha. THAT is so funny. I've always said (yep I still say this). That having KIDS is NOT an excuse to have a messy house. Really? REALLY? Hahaha...yeh, well you know what I'm lucky if I keep the living room picked up MOST days. I spend my day chasing around THREE smallish dogs, a cat, three VERY busy curious children, a husband who apparently has amnesia and can't remember to ever clean up after himself or shut the cabinet doors and feels like he MUST cook a full course meal before he goes to bed at night and leave me a sink of dirty dishes to wash in the morning making me think I've lost my MIND because I KNOW that sink was EMPTY AND SHINY when I went to bed the night before. Sure, kids aren't an EXCUSE when it comes to having a less than PERFECT immaculate home...but they are a sure darn good reason WHY you will find stains on my carpet, why my WHITE linoleum NEVER looks like it has been mopped (specially under the kitchen table) why the WHITE seat in the bay window looks like anything BUT white, why their are finger smudges and nose prints all over EVER window in my home and I swear I just washed the windows last week. The trash looks like it always needs to be taken out even though it was just taken out that morning. Dog food or dog water spilled on the floor because my kids think it is the best site to play construction worker with their Hot Wheel Toys, you will even find CRAYON on my walls, where the heck did the crayons even COME FROM aren't those under lock and key with the scissors and markers? My kids must have mastered lock picking early. You will find a chewed up dog toy, or was that one a dog toy, I think it MIGHT have once been a child's toy? Thank you dear new puppy. Wait, what the dog needs to go out? Crap, too late it's by the door, don't...ooh...step in it. Didn't get the paper towel grabbed quick enough. Hose down kid, scrub up floor, forget dog still needed to go out. *sigh* It's never ending. No Keegan wait a minute and Mommy will help you poor the Kool aid I'm helping your brother...*splash* Ooops Mommy! Oh we need a towel...a towel...where the blood HECK is a TOWEL!!! The dryer (or washer) it never fails all the tails are in the wash. It's always pick up put away, turn around do it again. But I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. I love my chaotic little topsy turvy upside down world. One day all of this business will be gone...and I'll be lost without it.
Those are just 7 of the things we said we'd NEVER do as parents. Trust me, I'm sure there are more, but those were the 7 that stuck out in my mind.
If you read the article I posted above before MY "Never Evers" I'm sure you will nod and agree and laugh till you nearly cry write along with the iVillage blogger Amy Morrison if you didn't get a chance to read her blog, just click her name and you can check it out now.
Remember, you can say all of the "never evers" you want to, but chances are at least one of them will come back to bite you in the bum!
Mae
