Night Terrors…What goes bump in the night…

There is nothing like being woken up one hour after falling asleep by a “heart attack” due to  some of your children barging into your bedroom screaming….

In hind sight it was comical if you take away the “OMG someone broke in” instant cold fear that makes your heart stop until you establish  that was not the case. I am amazed of the capacity my brain had to do so many things at once in a few seconds, while seeing my two oldest daughters getting stuck on the doorway in their efforts to get into my bedroom while screaming like banshees as I am struggling to make sense of it, remove the covers so I can get out of bed, counting how many  kids are actually tripping over each other (where are the other two? Are they hiding as they have been taught, are they ok?) calculating how fast I can reach the iron crowbar I keep hidden in the room, and jump over the kids to defend ourselves and finally after assessing the situation and surroundings realizing that, thank goodness, I don’t need the crowbar and there is no crazy person in the house, just us…

So what prompted this hysteria? My oldest went to the bathroom and unknown to her her sister also woke up needing to go the the bathroom.  As she was going in it she startled her older sister who screamed, in turn scaring the potty urge out of the younger one, who in return screamed causing them both to go into a frenzy. As I mentioned the scene was comical. Even with just being woken up in this circumstances, my eyesight being all fuzzy from sleep and not having my eye glasses on and my brain and instincts going a thousand miles an hour I could see them totally disregarding each other on the door frame, cartoon like bumping into each other, in their urge to come into the bedroom.  I don’t think either one was aware of the other.

By the time they had tripped all over themselves and I had been able to discern that there was no real danger and was jumping out of bed, the oldest had already gone past me into the bed and I caught the younger one as she dived into the bed. Mind you both are still screaming and crying and my heart is going like a manic drum. With my mami super body I manage to hold the youngest and still put a comforting hand over my oldest while comforting them and sushing them at the same time looking across into their bedroom watching for my other two kids.. As they calm down the oldest tells me between sobs what happened. So I tell them to stay put and after  a quick check of the house (just in case) I go to check on the other kids.

Well, my youngest boy can sleep through an apocalypse…. so much for teaching them to hide …. He was not faking sleep in a paralyzing fear, he was sound asleep and the youngest  girl who is about to turn 4 peeks over the loft bed and says “hi mami” like it’s morning time and she just woke up by the birds happily chirping away…. so I get up there, tell her everything is ok and give her a kiss, in response she kisses me back and says, “ it’s still dark, I’m going back to sleep, I’m tired” Wow I wish I had her nerves of steel!!!

By the time I return to my bedroom the other two girls are now calmed down and apologizing to each other for scaring each other. I take them back to bed and tuck them in thinking “Well played universe, way to bring April’s fool!”  I case you are wondering all this did happen and no, the girls didn’t do it on purpose.

So here I am totally wide awake, considering if I should get hair dye to cover the white hairs I am sure are now on my head now or should I keep the  Rogue look ….                                                  

The Melting Pot

The scope of my parenting world has been expanded to the role of “step mom” . No, I have not re-married but I am in a committed relationship now, which is now combining our territories into one.  This summer has been  busier with 2 more kids added in the mix. My poor son is the only male in this group of 6. He has adapted reasonably well, perhaps because he was the only boy in a group of 4 already lol . Yes, I have 2 other boys but being that they are men already they do not live with me.
This could be considered a new experience for me in a way but it really is not. I have been raising kids for 23 years now…shhhhhh don’t even think of doing the math here lol. Not only that but I have worked with children in different environments as a dance teacher and as a substitute teacher in the public school district.  I know how it is when you have numerous children with different personalities, tastes etc. together and how to deal with all that comes with that. Heck my own original tribe makes a basketball team lol.
The most important rule when it comes to blended families is equality. I don’t like to differentiate between children. As a matter of fact when out and about with all of them I often get asked if they are all mine. I say yes. Why? Well first off I love the look people get lol That second when they are actually thinking “Boy did she knows how babies are made, that she kept having them?” and then they smile politely and say something like “Boy you have your hands full for sure!” And that’s when I add, “Oh I have two more, it’s a blast!” LOL At this point some can’t hide their jaw dropping. Its really amusing.
Second and most importantly, I love them all. It doesn’t matter if I gave birth to them or not. My partner’s kids are a precious part of him, not to mention they are children, so how would I not love them equally? And of course I expect my children to be loved and treated in the same manner. If it wasn’t so I would never had become involved. 

So to be clear and not to confuse anybody, it is not about becoming their mother or dad as the case might be. The children have their respective mother and dad and I would never try to assume that position, nor would I allow someone to do that with my kids. What it is about is being loving to them, making it a home for all of them, so they feel safe and loved no matter which one of us they came from. And for them to learn not only respect for others but also to know that love comes from all sorts of sources, to learn to cohabitated under different circumstances and with different people, learn consideration and compromise, learn to have an open heart. After all they will be out in the world one day and will need this skills.
Some step parents are so concerned with being liked by their step children, or their own children feeling threatened, that they, without malice, treat them differently. It’s not easy when you first start to blend a family but it is important to not bend the rules for some kids and not others. It’s also imperative that both adults have open communication between them and agree on rules and consequences and have an united front, just like regular parents.
With this will come difficult tiring times as with any kids, really. But you will also get the fun times and the unexpected hugs and smiles and the sweet sound of silly laughter.
Raising kids is not easy if you are trying to do it right and you honestly love them and care. It doesn’t matter where the kids came from, when kids are in my home, I don’t care if they are mine, my partner’s, my neighbors, they all get treated the same. I grew up in a time when the whole neighborhood was your family. Any parent could “tear you a new one” if you acted up and all doors were welcoming. That’s how I want  kids to feel about my home. That yes, we have rules and we expect them to follow them and when they don’t there are consequences but that is also a place where they are loved unconditionally and where we foster relationships.
Whether or not you have “step children” (I hate those labels, like step brother/sister, half sibling, blah blah, family is family no matter if by blood or not) treat all kids with the same, be patient, be firm and be loving and see how your world gets filled with many wonderful moments worth any headaches you had along the way

Our blended tribe during our family mini vacation trip to the beach #makingmemories

Supermarket Adventure….

I went to the supermarket today to grab a few basics for the long weekend. While there my 5 yr. old had to go potty so my 11 yr. old too her to the bathroom. I see them coming back and then they disappear… My 11 yr. old is a responsible child when it comes to things like this. This is our neighborhood supermarket. Most employees have seen me and my kids a hundred times. Still I’m always very cautious  when it comes to children. Meantime I have my 3 yr. old in the cart and my 7 yr. old walking alongside me. A few minutes go by and the girls are still nowhere that I can see. So I proceed to go down the middle horizontal isle looking for them and can’t see them anywhere. I start calling out to my oldest and finally hear her calling out to her sister. Now is when I start to panic, why is she calling out to her, they were supposed to be together. Then what do I see but my 5 yr. old run by like a ghost by one of the isles so I called out her name and there goes my oldest running after her. Now I’m going from panic to becoming angry that the 5 yr. old is behaving like this when they have been trained and told over and over not to for all the obvious reasons.

So I’m trying to  cut her off while her sister is chasing her, but remember I got a cart with groceries and a 3 yr. old in it plus my 7 yr. old who would had gladly joined the chase and whom I firmly grabbed by the hand preventing him from disappearing too. Now this has nothing to do with being embarrassed because I couldn’t care less what people think. This is about their safety. Yeah I’m paranoid and it wasn’t until very recently that I even let them go to the bathroom together without me. At some point you have to  stretch that umbilical  cord but this are my kids and I have the right to be over protective.

So long story short finally I catch her and of course I am not happy with her and I start scolding her. So what does she do? Start acting like a 2 yr. old who missed her nap and is having a melt down. (disclaimer: this is not my child, this is some other poor mother’s child lol)

She now proceeds to try to get loose from my hand hold, tries to throw herself on the floor etc. If you are a parent or have ever taken care of a child you know exactly what I’m talking about. Thankfully I had acquired all I needed by this point and even if I hadn't I was ready to leave. She was not screaming yet, just kept pulling away trying to get loose and saying let me go. We get to the cashier (I know, I’ll be dammed if I had to leave without the food and go back later, even though I have done it before due to a different child) The whole time I'm putting my items on the belt she is pulling and squiggling and crying and protesting but not being loud.  I get my wallet out to get to my card and she takes advantaged that I loosened my grip and tries harder. In the process it jerks me and makes me loose my purse from my shoulder. My purse of course was open since I had just taken my wallet out and everything comes out all over. Now being the super mom I am, using my invisible to  normal people arms I manage to grab my belongings while still holding on to her, pay for my groceries and as soon as I tried to get out of there she starts getting loud and going limp. You know the old “I’ll just let myself be a wet spaghetti and fall to the floor so that mami can’t walk with me” trick. Except my children know better, too bad she still tried. I have no qualms about picking her up and throwing her over my shoulder. Hey I workout, my arms are strong and not finding what they are doing adorable gives you an extra boost.

This sure what not the picture we made…

For starters my daughter is 5. Second neither one of us is blond. Third she was not smiling and neither was I….Fourth she was literally over my shoulder, butt pointing up, legs trying to kick, screaming her little otherwise quiet voice out with cries of let me go and put me down quite loud…. I’m sure they could hear her across the whole parking lot…

Meantime my other kids are walking by my side . My son following the rule of having his hand on the buggy (He wants to make sure he is allowed to play video games and go swimming this weekend), The 3 yr. old sitting in it laughing thinking all this is pretty funny and my 11 yr. old looking miserable, complaining that now she is nauseous because her sister made her run after her all over the store.  I’m walking thinking someone is going to call the cops or at least come say something to make sure I am not some crazy woman trying to steal this child…..

Well nobody batted a lash….which brings the question, what if I was a crazy woman  taking a child that wasn’t mine? I mean the people in the parking lot  didn’t even look at us. They just went about their business, rushing to whatever, in their own little world…. makes you wonder what sort of society we live in.  Don’t get me wrong I didn’t want to have to explain all this story to the police and have them ask my other kids if I was their mother etc. but I would like to think that if someone is trying to take my child and they are screaming the way my daughter was that someone would do something about it. At least take a closer look, write down a tag number, something. So far the cops have not come knocking down my door so it’s safe to assume nobody did a thing. My daughter never said mami let me go, mami  put me down, she simply kept screaming put me down, let me go. I would had at least reported the disturbance and taken notice of the tag number, seeing that the other children seem not to be affected, but then again you never know what sort of control someone might have over them. That  would at least given a point to go from in the awful case that it was in fact someone taking a child.

What would you have done?

Now the fun for me and my other 3 children did not end there. My daughter decided she had to be put in her booster sit still screaming bloody murder and screamed as loud as she could all the way home. I cranked the radio  up and sort of drowned her screeches. So we still got a head ache but at least we could sing  while we got it.

Not my daughter either although she is a brunette.
Amazingly through all this noise my 3 Yr. old fell asleep like nothing…Wow I envy that!

We got home and after a while seeing that everybody else was getting a snack and a glass of juice she finally calmed down, asked to hug me and we made peace. I explained to her why I was so upset about her running away from her sister like she did and why her behavior afterwards was unacceptable. And then I hugged her with all my mami love and gave her a kiss and told her she is grounded and will not be playing video games. She did not complained or had another melt down. As long as children understand what they did wrong and feel your love for them and know they will be forgiven, they will thrive and learn there are consequences for their behavior but feel safe that  their parents and love ones will never stop loving them. Is our job to teach them how to make the right decisions, how to cope with emotions and that even when we make mistakes we are still loved but we also have to deal with the consequences of our actions.

I love my rugrats and they drive me insane on occasion and sometimes I have to be the bad mami but I know my kids know how much I love them and one day when they get older they will feel the way I feel about my mom.Thankful that she was my mom while I was growing up and that she made me mad with her “unfairness” , grounding me, making demands on my actions and expectations of me. If it wasn’t for all that I wouldn’t be the woman that I am or the mami that I am and so far even though some times I stumble and make mistakes with my kids myself, I believe I’m doing a pretty good job!

My precious rugrats. My two oldest are not in this pic and they are 10 yrs older than this crew and one of this days I will tell you about some of the things they put this mami through lol

Super mom to the rescue

                    
I wonder how long can a person go on functioning  within normal parameters before malfunctioning. Can you tell I am a Star Trek Generations geek? LOL

My son Noel came down with a fever Sunday night and by Monday it was clear he has the flu and his asthma of course is aggravated. I spent Monday night vigilantly watching over him. Between the fever and the albuterol used to treat his asthma he was very restless and agitated. I managed to sleep for 1 hr. Tuesday  morning.

Surprisingly I was able to stay coherent and active all through Tuesday taking care of him, my 2 youngest daughters, a neighbors kid and get some work done.  I attribute this to several things. I’m a parent, we do what must be done. I have super human powers….Ha! My kids believe so but we know that is not it. I truly believe that  the changes in lifestyle I had implemented in the last year or so have given me an edge. Eating  better and making healthier choices, getting much more active with an exercise routine have all contributed to a better me.

With this changes I have managed to get the virtual super mom outfit on.  I have come to a point where I decided is time to add the cape and really take off with it. Not just for me but for my children too. Time to become “The  Incredibles”

So which magic potion am I going to use? Really, it’s simple. Going back to basics, the way God had designed things worked just fine for thousands of years. So I am slowly introducing more and more organic and natural products to our diet and reducing the amount of processed foods quite a  lot. Using natural ingredients for household cleaning purposes to diminish exposure and contact with harmful chemicals.

Last year my son was so sick during the winter that we were at the doctor’s office every other week for 6 weeks straight at some point. This year he has only been sick 3 times all winter. Even though he has complications from being asthmatic, the actual flu has been mild  in comparison. My other kids have only had a mild stuffy nose along the way and I stayed without getting it also. It’s obvious this changes we have been making have had a positive effect.
Now I am ready to go farther with it.

The “drawback” to making the whole family healthier and stronger? There is  none, unless you consider the fact that Ms force of nature Coral, is going to have even more energy and clearer mind to cause more mischief than she already does!!! 

By the way, I managed to sleep for 3.5 hrs from Tuesday to today.  Obviously not enough, but hey , it’s moving in the right direction! Lets hope I don’t fall asleep sometime during the day or I am sure I am going to wake up to some type of “disaster caused by hurricane Coral!
                     
I would love to hear from my  fellow Parentland dwellers. What are you doing to improve and take care of the health of your family? Do you believe there are better ways? What do you prefer?

Drama or comedy, it boils down to the same result!

Sometimes I feel like my life is a Shakespearean comedy with all the trimmings.  Being a single mom with 4 kids between 11 and 3 still left at home makes for a lot of comedy. Of course that is only one aspect of my life, but it’s the angle that affects everything else in my life. 

Try having a romantic life, Ha! For a while there, it actually looked like it was going to work until it all came crumbling down. Of course that is not my kids fault but having kids does limits your ability to do things, go places and find out stuff quicker. That’s all I am going to say about that. The fact remains that  I’m single and I plan on  staying single for a long time LOL

Now I’m also an entrepreneur.  Have you ever been on the phone with a friend or family member and your kids left you alone? Nope, it does not happen. They have the innate ability of totally ignoring you all day long and as soon as you get on the phone all of a sudden they urgently need your attention!

I remember one time I was on a conference call and I could had sworn I had muted my phone…..  Well, obviously I hadn’t because when my 11 yr old daughter started to argue with me about something and I quickly lost patience with her I was kindly asked to mute my phone. I do not blush but my face turns really hot when I am terribly embarrassed. You could had fried an egg on my face!!!!

How about having to hide in the bathroom to talk to a client while some of your kids are screaming ninja sounds in the background and another is sticking their little hands underneath the bathroom door saying “mami, mami,mami,mami”.  You get so creative covering the mouth piece just enough to allow your words to seep through!
But the best is when a kid grabs your other phone and out of nowhere butts into your conversation “Mami Coral took her diaper off and she is poopy”….Nice   :/

That is  just a very small fraction of the bumps I run into while conducting my business.

What was the last embarrassing thing that happened to you , kid related, while you were talking on the phone?  I would love to hear from you, go ahead, leave me a comment.

If only I knew….Who would I be?

      "If only I knew then what I know now" Is a phrase I have heard a lot through life and that even I have spoken quite a few times... But, as I reflect on that today, I come to the conclusion that if I knew then what I know now I wouldn't be who I am today. I would had not walked the same path that brought me here.

    There are things I am not proud of, like everybody, I am far from perfect. And then there are things of which I am really proud.  Would I had accomplished those things I am proud off without going through the tribulations?  Probably  yes on some and maybe not in others. There is much to be learned from our mistakes , our struggles, our falls, our failures. Is all about what we take away from them and what we do from then on. 

    I’m pretty much halfway through my life and I find myself going through a re-birth of sorts. The last 3 years have been extraordinary in both a very difficult , painful way and amazingly positive growth of faith, , discovery of strength I didn’t think I had in me, blessings from unexpected places and slowly  (and still ongoing) discovering who am I and what is my calling.

    One thing has always been clear through all my adult life. The day I became a mother I knew that would be my  #1 reason for everything in my life if not for ever, for a very long time. My why. As I grew older I surprised myself with how much happiness I derived from being a mother to my children. It is not that  I didn’t think I would, I just didn’t think I would so much I would end up having 6 children. Getting through the pain and fear of miscarriage, to have 3 more kids after the loss of Arena.
 

     Of course there are other things that motivate me and drive me. My passions, the part of me that remains an individual with dreams and desires. This things have always revolved around some form of fitness and healthy ways of living both  physically and spiritually,  that are tied to creativity and expression. Dancing, photography, working out, eating right, feeding the soul with positive reinforcement, feeling great energy flow through the moves in freedom to the music, the view through the camera lens, the ink on to the paper.

     At times my purpose has been clear and I am happy that I had the opportunity to live those dreams and to bring happiness to people’s lives by teaching them and helping them realize one of their dreams. For helping them come out of their shell, increase their confidence, add some spark, beauty and fun to their lives . I am grateful for what they brought into my life, their trust in me, the friendships, the laughs, the applause, their support, their love.

     Now I find myself still very much in line with my purpose as a mother but not totally clear in what it is I am supposed to do in the world otherwise. I’m in the cocoon stage, looking on the inside, designing, shaping, growing. I’m not sure what the butterfly is going to look like or where it is going to fly to yet, but I know it is in the process of finding it’s master plan.  This is my re-birth and I am looking forward to the second half of my life with hope, enthusiasm, a positive outlook, lots of energy, plenty of love, and leaving a trail of sunshine in the world!

                              

Sleeping Beauties

The kiddos had a 5 day weekend due to teachers work days and MLK day being observed today. They spent this time with their dad.

It’s amazing how just a few days can make such a difference in how you see children.  When you see them  day in and day out it’s easy to not noticed the sublime changes that occur every day. Every time the kids go away for a few days, I am amazed at the things I see on their return.

Estrella, my oldest girl, has been transforming into a young “lady” and that I have not missed…I see it often and it always takes me by surprise, even though I know very well that it was due and that it would happen. Some days I just want to hold her and put some sort of magical spell on her. One to protect her from the pains of growing up, from her first  broken heart etc. but I know that’s futile and not fair. Without experiencing all aspects of life how can she grow ready to live it to the fullest?

Every night that they are with me, I kiss them goodnight and tuck them in. Every night I check
on them through the night once or twice. Even on my oldest boys when they are around.

Have you ever noticed that looking at your sleeping children, no matter what age they are, is like looking at time without order or boundaries. You see past, present and future all at once. At least I do. I see my babies smiling at me in all innocence, arms out asking to be picked up. I ‘feel” the warmth  and magic of their hug and hear their wonderful little giggles.

I see who and how they are at this moment. Their smiles so proud when they accomplish something, their quick footsteps, running around interacting with each other. I hear their sweet voices saying  “I love you mami”.  In the case of my older boys I see the men they have become. I hear their grown up laughter, joking with me now more like a friend but still their mami. I see how much and how little  they have traveled in life, the beginning of their adult journey.

And then I see glimpses of the future, in their relaxed state of sleep.  A moment when the walls of time and physics appear to crumble and allow me a peek at their future self's. And many times my eyes get all watery and sometimes I almost weep. not in sorrow because they are growing up, even though it’s bitter sweet, but in awe and gratefulness of having them in my life.

And that was the sentimental part.  Now here comes another reality. And that is that my bed has been taken over by  a coup of the two oldest princesses

              
I looked at them and thought “I’m too tired to move them” Good night , sleeping beauties.

A parent's worst nightmare. Dec 15, 2012

Where do I even start!!! I can’t believe it has been about 10 months since I last wrote a post. What a crazy year it has been!
December has been an emotional roller coaster month since 2005 due to the loss of my daughter Arena that year and her EDD of Dec 28th 2005. Christmas has always been my favorite time of the year but the last 4 yrs or so have been particularly difficult, not only because of the mixed emotions of missing my baby girl but due to many other factors too.

Copyright of Michael Cry. Thank you my dear friend for allowing me to use this beautiful image.

What prompted me to write today though is something that happened yesterday. A very sick man (how else could you do such atrocity) killed his mother in her residence and then went on a killing spree at the Elementary School where she was a teacher, shooting to death 20 children and several adults before killing himself. Ironically I had decided to keep my kids at home yesterday since it was the last day of school before Christmas break, it was half a day and they had already had their Christmas party.  Now I think of those parents who kissed their kids goodbye yesterday morning, not knowing it would be the last time they would see their children healthy and smiling, alive…… The loss of any child is a hard thing to accept and to cope with no matter at what stage of their life they were lost to us. No pain is bigger from one parent to another they are just different. Some people might think that loosing a child that you have shared years with is more painful than loosing one as an infant or during pregnancy. To those that think that, they have not experience the loos of a child and I hope they never have to.

Loosing a child to death, no matter the reason or at what age is always unexpected, always a shock and never something you get over….you just learn to live with it over time, you learn how to cope with the loss, you never stop hurting or mourning it. You learn to go on, and you are even able to experience happiness and enjoy life as you go but there will always be ache in your heart, there will always be that part of you that keeps it in check and rather unexpectedly lets the pain and sorrow come to the surface, and it feels as fresh and hurtful as the day it first happened. And this might happen less often as time goes by but it never ceases to exist.

There was one day not too long ago when my 11 yr. old daughter Estrella and I had an argument in the morning and through the time we were waiting for the school bus, she left the car in a cloud of anger without a kiss and a hug like we do every morning, leaving me frustrated and upset. This bothered me all day long! What if something happened to her and that was our last moment together? Or worst, what if something happened to me and that was our last moment together? Would she live with guilt, would she now it was just a moment that didn’t mean anything in the big picture, that I love her no matter what, that I would die for her, that she could never do anything that would make me not love her, that she brought so much happiness and blessings to my life, that she is one of the most amazing gifts God has ever given me.

I might have been considered over protective and paranoid at one time or another but the more that this types of events occur the more clear it is that I am neither. I’m simply a mami that loves her children with all her heart and wishes to protect them from evil acts that make no sense, that wants them to have a chance at a life, to have a chance to make mistakes, to learn from them, to grow, to build memories, to experience all sorts of things, to have their own family one day. And if that’s being over protective and paranoid then I am guilty of such and I have no shame for it!

I have suffered the loss of a child and I never held her, I never heard her laugh, I never heard her call me mami, I never got to put her to sleep in my arms, sing her a lullaby, tickle her, kiss her while she slept, play peek a boo, see her take a first step, go to her first day of school. I’ll never see her come out all dressed up as young woman for her Quincea~era (equivalent of Sweet sixteen tradition but the Latin version which happens at 15), I will never see her graduate High School, get her first job, learn how to drive…..her life was cut off so shortly after it had started, her tiny body never even made it into this earth… and as I think about this and about my living children, I know if anything happened to any of them I would loose my mind with grief at least for a while…. I did back when I lost Arena and it was my 2 sons Arturo and David and my daughter Estrella that eventually made me snap out of my state of madness. She left such a void in me…the thought of loosing any of my other kids terrifies me.

My heart is breaking for all those parents, that lost their children in such a horrific way. I pray to God that the children died without much pain, that they were shown mercy by not even knowing what happened and I pray for all the other children that thankfully are still alive but must be so traumatized by this experience. May God heal their little hearts and minds. May God give the parents and the siblings of those gone strength to deal with this…… just to think that one of my kids could be in this situation and maybe wounded, dying, feeling terrified and in pain and me not being there to hold them, for them to not be alone…the thought of it is enough to make cry and make my heart ache.

I also feel deep sorrow for the families of the adults that perished in this. someone lost their parent , or child, aunt, sister/brother, wife/husband …I do not know the particulars but this teachers were someone important to someone else and their loss is equally devastating.
It is a beautiful world, and there is much to be thankful for and to enjoy but there is also much darkness and this senseless things will continue to happen. It is our job to bring light into the world as darkness can not be fought with darkness, nor hate with hate, so be a beacon of light, spread love, teach the value of human life, help develop everyday coping skills, positive outlets to conflict and negative emotions. We can not eradicate all evil acts but we can sure try to minimize them. Pay attention, look beyond your own little bubble once in a while. And always tell your children you love them no matter how angry or irritated they are making you because you never know when it will be the last time you were able to tell them so.

It stinks!!!!

http://youtu.be/TIGUlIEnH1s

Go to sleep

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BDVvB7Xx1w&feature=youtu.be
I'm sentimental, my kids love Elmo and this scene is pretty much our bedtime routine in how the conversation goes. If only I sang that well lol