Does it get better?

I need a moment to rant!

I was watching the wee lad play field lacrosse this past weekend and was shocked at the behaviour of the parents of both teams.

The boys were playing the game and piled up in front of the net. Admittedly a couple of shots were given after the whistle but the boys all got up to walk away. At that point a mother from the other team stepped onto the field and yelled "you little f*cker", after she said that her son turned around and took a two hander across our players back. Of course all hell broke loose and parents were all screaming for their own version of punishment. Meanwhile the classy mom from the other team yells down the field at our end for us to "shut the f*ck up".

As good parents are encouraged to do a father on our team asked her to watch her mouth...more back and forth and she ends her performance with a "f*cking FAGGOT". I admit up until this point I was sitting there just taking it all in, but in that instant I could feel my adrenaline surge and jumped up yelling "SERIOUSLY?". Fortunately it was at that moment the ref's came over and calmed everyone down.

The 8 year olds went on to play the game ~ WE WON ~ best revenge ever!

My anger had everything to do with the fact that I thought that we as a society had evolved beyond the point of name calling and especially using someones sexual orientation as a derogatory term.

Here I am trying to raise my children to believe that it's not okay to bully someone based on their race, religion, or sexual orientation.  

It's not okay to bully anyone PERIOD!  

I am very disheartened that this is the example that some people are setting for their own children. 

After the game I asked my little guy what had happened and he said "it was bad that kid was aspended". Out of the mouths of babes!

 Does it get better?  I wonder?

PROM

As most parents who have teenagers that are seniors know it's getting close to PROM ~ I'm using CAPS because unbeknownst to me this is a REALLY BIG DEAL! This is also a very tough, emotional time for our children...who am I kidding? This is a tough time for us, not only tough but really, really expensive ;-)

When my boys went to prom all we had to do was rent a tux, and find out what colour their girl was wearing and pick an appropriate colour of corsage and done!

It is a very different story when helping a girl prepare. I have dealt with the "OMG we have to get my dress NOW!" this was just after Christmas. I know that you all know PROM isn't until June. Then we had to find the 'perfect shoes', very sparkly high heels. When you are 5'10" how high can you go? I was under the misguided assumption that because we had the dress and shoes we just had to wait for the big day to have 'our' hair and makeup done. I thought that was it, but silly me, I forgot that you have to have the 'perfect' clutch, the 'perfect' limo and so many other things that I feel as if I'm planning a wedding. lol

The other morning my daughter's friend pulled up to our house to pick her up for school. On the outside of his car he had taped in great big orange (her favourite colour) cut out letters P R O M ? I thought I was going to cry...what a sweet guy! Most of her friend's have received there invite either verbally or via text message but this young man put some thought into his invite and really stunned us both. Although she says they are 'just friends' I'm not so sure ;-)

Chivalry is NOT dead.

Oh by the way, we have to find a new pair of 'perfect shoes' as her date is only an inch taller than her and she is once again freaking out.

My nest is closer to being empty

My daughter has achieved an amazing accomplishment and we are so very PROUD of her. She received her letter of acceptance to Queen's University...her 1st choice and it was an early acceptance at that :D

Why then am I feeling so sad? I'm happy that she is about to embark on her life's journey but sad that my time with her is coming to an end. I know we will always have a close bond but it will never be the same.

I have pushed her all her life to try harder, be the best that she can be and now that she has I feel like I'm losing her.

I guess after already sending my oldest two on their way to adulthood, I realize that once they finish high school the next logical step is leaving home and growing up. Foolishly I feel like my time with her (being her mama, closest confidante) is coming to an abrupt end.

This feeling will pass but I can't help starting the count down until she leaves...149 days lol

Life is always changing and I have to change with it...I will put on my big girl pants and make sure that I'm always postitive with her and as the penguins from Madagascar say "smile and wave, just smile and wave" :)

Pinnyy Cinnyy

Okay I have a confession to make...I started spending a lot of time reading blogs and finding great ideas for decorating. It started around Christmas, I was looking for ideas to decorate my mantle. This has led to an all out addiction to PINTEREST. I am now spending an insane amount of time 'pinning' things. The good news is that I am actually learning and creating.
When I began this blog (I use the term loosely ~ as I haven't done anything with my blog in a long time) it was a way to try and be more creative. I thought writing was what I was interested in but I think I am much more interested in decorating.

Through reading other blogs I have discovered SUBWAY art in a big way and have been creating to my hearts content. I am always interested in redecorating and changing things up in my home. I thought it was time to give wee lad's room a makeover, however, I was torn about changing things as his room is really cute and still relevent. He is a crazy sports nut so we compromised by adding some subway art to reflect his obsession (and mine). His favourite sports are hockey, lacrosse, soccer, and football. I came up with words that reflected each of these sports and made four 8 x 10 pictures. I picked up frames for less than $10.00 from the Superstore and framed them. I also came across a quote that I loved and printed it out. I embellished it with stickers from my scrapbooking supplies and framed it. I organized them on the wall and have now incorporated his favourite sports into his room. I think it looks great. What do you think??

Seriously...does it get cuter than this?

While we were in the car driving to one of Blake's hockey games we started discussing our upcoming family birthday's, I mentioned that after mine is the baby Jesus' birthday. Blake thought about it for a couple of minutes and asked "who is baby Jesus?". When we didn't answer right away he again pipes up "I'm guessing it's ME!".

Now don't judge me because my son doesn't have the first clue about religion. I was adamant that I would raise my children to appreciate both perspectives regarding religion and evolution. When the boys were younger we read bible stories together and found them to be rather disturbing. To the point where Joshua then 5 or 6 yrs old asked me why GOD would kill people as he had in many of the stories (ie: Noah's Ark). I stopped reading and have given them the freedom to explore their spiritual side on their own.

For the record Blake does know who Baby Jesus is...we have the Fisher Price Nativity and he adores the baby Jesus!

This was just on of those P R I C E L E S S moments! :)

Today my baby graduates ~ Senior Kindergarten!

I can hardly believe that the time has passed so quickly...my baby is going to be going to school full time in 4 short weeks. I don't know about him but I am NOT ready for this milestone!

He hardly slept last night with excitment about his graduation ceremony today...
It's different with girls you find a beautiful dress, do their hair in their favourite style and they look like little princesses. With a boy you cut their hair, pick out a clean t-shirt and they are good to go.

I am feeling kind of meloncholy today!

Funny how inherently attached to our children we are. The pride we feel in their accomplishments is almost as if we are the one who achieved the goal. When they fail we experience the pain as much as they do, possibly more intensely.

I know that people think that I talk about my kids a lot, but they can't comprehend the depth of my pride in them. They don't realize where I came from or what challenges I faced to reach the person I have become. That my children are whole, healthy and highly functioning people is perhaps MY greatest triumph.

The youngest is about as sweet as they come, but he is also very competitive and very gifted athletically. He started lacrosse this May is really quite outstanding at the game. Not only does he play well he is also very fair minded and will stop and help someone up when they fall. He stands out during the games and has been awarded MVP in all of the games he has played in. He started soccer last night and once again dominated the field scored 3 of the 4 goals and was chosen Player of the Game. I was just about busting with pride!

Is it wrong that my identity is so tied to who they are and will become??