thechickone

my interesting life

I know this lady who tells everyone who complains about not having enough patience “Don’t ask God for more patience. He will give you more opportunities to learn it!” When you ask God for more patience, things get put in your path that try & grow your patience. I met this lady when I was in jr. high, so I have never asked for patience. I have never asked God directly for my life to remain interesting, either, but I have told myself that all I ask for is that my life remains interesting. I have thetallone, and he most certainly keeps my life interesting. He’s a go-go-go type of person and is pretty busy most always. I am more of a homebody & always have been. That is one thing that is a bit different with being a stay @ home mom. After being in the house all day with the 2 kids & dog, I don’t mind going out! (cash on hand can sometimes prevent going out, though!) Family has always kept things interesting in our lives as well. My parents thetallone’s parents, and all 3 of our siblings plus their spouses & children. It’s not even that large of a group of people! Thetallone and I were married for 3 ½ years before theblondeone was born. Her personality is much like mine, with just enough of thetallone’s to keep things interesting. 4 years later theminione came along. The two of them together, definitely keep my life interesting. I am fairly certain that I will never lack for “interesting” in my life, ever again. I figure that’s what I get for thinking “I want my life to always remain interesting” Be careful what you ask for in your life. What you get is not always what you thought you would!

Almost 9 years later…

I like having 8 + years of marriage under my belt. It simplifies things in our family life, sometimes. Thetallone can certainly still surprise me, though, like last week when he brought me home some tulips, for no reason. It was nice. Very nice. Not a usual occurrence for us, either. He knows me & I know him. He has been my best friend for longer than we have been together as a couple. He encourages me with my life, with not being “just” a mom, with everything! I do my best to support him & raise his children in the way that we agree upon. I’m totally lousy with housework, though, but he hasn’t tried to upgrade me yet. I love his sense of humor. Geez. Now this is starting to sound like a love letter! What I really wanted to talk about it how simple it is to get things done in our lives when he & I work as a team. But, I realized that I really don’t tell him how much I appreciate him often enough. That is why this entry started to become a love letter to thetallone. My example of how we get things done is this, I am lousy with housework (as I mentioned. Though, I am trying to improve), and so I so I told the thetallone that he could move the laundry basket near the washer & dryer & that I would take that as a “gentle reminder” to get the things done that he needed me to get done. So, a couple of days ago, thetallone moved the vacuum cleaner into the middle of the living room to remind me that the living room was in some serious need of T.L.C. That kind of reminder is not loud, it’s simple & it works! Took us a few years to figure out a non-nagging way to let each other know what we need. Every year we keep working @ our love, @ our communication, and we become a better working, closer family.

movies that are too real

I enjoy movies. I like different kinds of movies, mostly the kind that have an ending where almost everyone ends up happy (or @ least content & resolved of issues!). But, movies that are too real… those I don’t enjoy as much. One I just watched it called “Motherhood” with Uma Thurman, Anthony Edwards, and Minnie Driver. It’s about a mother who tries to write a daily blog to keep her writing skills up to par & to keep herself from getting lost in “motherhood.” She & her husband work out a way for her to do both, @ the end of the movie. I have been thinking a lot recently about this very thing. I don’t think that it matters whether you are a stay @ home mom, or a working mom (both types of moms are full-time, anyway!), but it is very easy to get consumed by your children & all that must be done to take care of them. So, the problem is finding the balance between staying involved & having a non-child life as well. It’s a difficult thing. When I just had theblondeone I think that it was easier for me, because she has always been a very good independent player & it has always been a very simple child to entertain (mostly just putting something in front of her that interests her & she is content). I was still able to read many books & was able to keep up with some of my craft stuff. Now that theminione has arrived in our lives, I have much less free time to keep up with “just me” things. I read some books, but have barely any time for my crafts. I wouldn’t want my children to be gone, but the addition of any others requires some serious thought on my part! Continue reading “movies that are too real”

some people’s parents!

I really wonder about how people parent sometimes. I was @ a Mickey D’s playplace the other evening with thetallone, theblondeone (my 5 yr old daughter), theminione (my 1 yr old daughter) and my Brother’s family. Our 3 oldest girls (minus theminione) were trying to play on the play equipment and there were about 8 other kids there, 3 of whom were a few years older and only one of whom was younger than the youngest playing from our family. These other children were just sitting in the enclosed/tunnel slide, blocking it so that no other kids could go down! A couple of them were also sitting on top of the very end, kicking their feet. Where were their parents??! There was no adult who was there making sure the children were playing well together. No adult who was monitoring these children. We finally got so frustrated with these other children not playing well w/ our girls, that my SIL got up and sternly, but politely, asked those other children to move out of the way to let our girls through. Now, my SIL’s oldest was able to get through the boys sitting in the slide (she’s not above a bit of roughness), but theblondeone is NOT a rough player, except for occasionally, with our 3 year old Siberian Husky (Kaleb the dog). So theblondeone was stuck! Poor thing! Luckily my SIL has that “Black Momma Kat” kinda bearing (especially when the dear children need the help of a Momma Kat!), so the kids did let theblondeone through. We then proceed to leave & go to the park near our house before, as my SIL told her eldest “So, Momma doesn’t have to be in jail because of being violent!” Continue reading “some people’s parents!”

my blogger name

I really tried to put a lot of thought into my blogger name. I’m very big into names, sometimes a bit more than necessary! I even “collect” names, mostly “E” names & middle names. I’ve found that many people do put stock in their names & their names meanings. I considered “themomone” but that is NOT all that I am (even though it does feel like it some days!). “thewifeone” was definitely not an accurate description of who I am completely, either. thetallone is actually the one who came up with my name, & I have to say, he did a decent job! It’s not as limiting as the other names I considered. As for me, I’ve always really liked my given name. I know a number of people who like their first name, or their middle name, but not always both! I don’t always count a last name, since sometimes that can change…. 😉 I think a name is important, whether it’s the name your parents gave you @ birth, or one you find along the way. What do you think? Do you like your given name, or have a nickname you think suits you best?