There Was A Challenge??

Ok so the mom challenge ended up a flop. While I did begin the challenge with good intentions, I just got too busy. Yes, too busy to stop and look at the 8x10 sheet that was posted on my refrigerator door. I'd glance at it while opening the fridge and say to myself, "Oh yeah, I need to focus on that today" but as soon as I'd walk away from fridge I'd forget. It came up on the end of May and I removed the pretty mom challenge sheet from my fridge. It ended up on my desk. Now is lost amongst the piles of unopened mail and junk on the floor surrounding my desk. Yes, I know I need to clean this area around my desk, but who has time for that?

The mom challenge was good. It reminded me to laugh with my boys, do something fun with them (no, we never did make it to Chuck E Cheese), and to have some patience. That patience thing is a toughie. I know I need to practice that without the reminder from a challenge. So now I am moving on to something else. What's that, you ask? It's nothing. I have no other challenge lined up, unless you consider every day parenting a challenge. Some days I do. My focus for the remainder of the summer is to have fun.

Let the fun begin!

Brotherly Love

There is a song that comes to mind when I think of brotherly love. There is a line in that song that talks about two brothers fighting like tigers over a red bike. That song makes me cry because it reminds me of my boys. Fighting like tigers is something they are doing a lot of...over everything. So much so that I think I am going to lose my mind. Read on...

My boys are fighting/arguing constantly lately. And when I say constantly, I mean literally from sun up 'til sun down. They wake up arguing - over what to have for breakfast, what to watch on television, who's going to brush their teeth first, and they pick up the bickering right where they left off the minute we pick Jase up from school. IT IS NEVER ENDING. Exaggerating much, you ask? No, I am not.

Today was a breaking point for me. After an altercation between the boys that involved one aggravating the other and the other kicking the one in the face, I had to take a moment and have a little breakdown of my own. Yes, I did it behind a closed door, in the privacy of my bedroom. I had to cry otherwise I was going to scream and yell, and well I am doing my best to not do that. I realize boys, brothers, are going to fight. But what I don't understand is is it like this all the time?? Once I gathered myself, I talked and pleaded with them that they must get along. I think I even asked at one point if they liked one another and what would they do if they didn't have each other. Dramatic, Crissy? Yes, yes I am. But with tears in my eyes I told them to show the love they have for one another, laugh and play together, and to please (for the love of your mother!) quit fighting.

After some time away from one another, they eventually found their way back to each other and began playing. Jase even found the time to apologize to me for their fighting. That apology meant so much to me. So maybe, just maybe some of what I said did and will continue to sink into the minds of my boys.

The song I was talking about mentions how the brothers fought but how they looked out for each other, you know with brotherly love. My prayer is that my boys will be there for each other, look out for each other, and have a bond that grows as they grow. In the meantime, this whole fussing and fighting part of this brotherly love stuff is going to make me a crazy old woman, and fast!

Mom Challenge: Day 20

Today's focus: Patience.

I don't have patience. Today was hard.

Need to focus on patience everyday.

Mom Challenge: Day 19

Teach your child one thing he can do on his own today.

This morning I taught the boys to make their beds. I'll see if they use this learned skill everyday. I'm sure they will if I remind them everyday. I don't make my bed everyday so I don't see the daily reminder happening. But on a positive note, I did teach them something new today!

Mom Challenge: Day 18

Who is a mom you admire? What quality of hers can you live out today? 


Today's challenge was hard but yet it wasn't. See, I have a few different moms in my life and each have qualities that I admire so it was hard for me to narrow today's challenge down to just one mom. To list each mom I know and admire would take up a lot of space and time. Each mom I admire has touched my life and given me little tidbits of mothering that I keep with me. Strength, faith, determination, perseverance...just a few qualities from the moms in my life that I admire.

Mom Challenge: Day 17

Laugh with your child today. 


My boys make me laugh every single day. Today I laughed while they laughed at each other farting. Yes, farting. Gross I know but it's what I experience everyday, only today instead of letting it be known that I thought it was gross and stinky, I laughed with them. And then walked out of the room!

Mom Challenge: Days 1-16

I want to share with you a little from each day's challenge, so I thought I would just cram days 1-16 into a single post. Here we go.

1: Ask: "What is one thing we can do together, this month?" - When I asked the boys this question, both J & C immediately said "Go to Chuck E Cheese!" We have yet to make it. There are still 13 days left in the month.

2: Go the whole day without yelling at your children. - I say this with my head hanging and full of shame...this one was hard for me. I yell many times a day. I don't like it. Before this challenge I was already working on stopping the yelling. I am more aware of my  yelling since day 2. The yelling has yet to cease BUT I am doing it less often.

3: Hug your child three times a day. - I had no problem doing this. I hug the boys the second I see them in the mornings and hug them more than a few times when they go to bed. The one thing that stuck with me on this day is that my 6 year old boy is sometimes reluctant to give a hug or be hugged. I don't like this. Is it because he's getting older? I don't know but I am making a point to hug each child more often.

4: Kiss your child while they are sleeping. - This one was easy, and one I enjoyed.


5: Tell yourself, "He's only ___ years old. He's still a child."Then, treat him that way. - This challenge made me aware that I need to enjoy my 3 year old more. I need to quit treating him as if he is a 6 year old, although at times he does behave more like a 6 year old than a 3 year old.

6: Bake, make, or buy them their favorite food. - I made homemade chocolate chip cookies for them while they were at school. They came home to their favorite cookie, and said "Mom, you make the best chocolate chip cookies!" Melted this momma's heart!

7: Leave a sweet note for them. - I put a note in Jase's lunch box that read, "I love you. Hope you are having a great day!" After school, he did thank for me the note but then told me I needed to put an "I" in front of hope. I love how my kindergartner corrected my sweet note.

8: Calculate how many more weekends are left until your child graduates high school. - I did not do this one. I do not want to know. Knowing it will be here soon enough is enough for me, I do not need to see the number.

9: Picture yourself at your child's age. Try to remember how you felt.  - I don't (or try not to) remember much from when I was 6 years old. The best memory I have at this age is getting a baby sister for Christmas. I was happy, but then again, I wasn't. **I love you, Kaylee!** I imagine this is exactly how Jase would feel if he were to get a new little sibling now.

10: Today's mom focus: joy. - I just tried to find joy in (almost) every moment with the boys today.

11: Tell your child, "I am so glad you're my son/daughter." - Cole responded with a smile and a hug. Jase's response was a reminder I need hug him more often.

12: Pray for wisdom in mothering your child. - My everyday prayer.

13: Do not criticize your child today. - No name calling here. :)

14: Remember that being a mother is a gift. - Something I reminded myself of throughout the day while feeding animals and chasing boys around a dusty, dirty animal safari ride place.

15: Be firm when needed, but not harsh.  - Need to work on this.

16: Picture what you want your child to be like at age 25. Mother with that in mind today.  - When they are 25, I want my boys to know God, be respectful, and have been out from under mine and Jason's roof for at least 5 years!

On to tomorrow.

A Mom Challenge

I was a part of a MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) group in NY. I loved it. I loved the moms in the group and I loved the time we spent together in fellowship. Needless to say, I miss MOPS. I miss the moms. However, thanks to Facebook, I can still somewhat be a part of the group. The awesome leader posted this 30 Day Mom Challenge and it could not have come to me at a better time.

30 Day Mom Challenge is indeed a challenge. A challenge to help me be a better mom and to help me be better to myself. I started it April 1...and so far so good. I am going to try and blog about each day's challenge and how I did (or didn't do) with it. So bear with me as I play catch up. Hope you enjoy reading about how I overcome each challenge.

Take a look the 30 Day Mom Challenge and start a challenge of your own!

Growing Pains - Mother and Child

Last night I witnessed some children being mean to Jase. I sat back and watched how Jase would handle the situation. He didn't. He did not know they were being mean. Or did he? He laughed as they were telling him to go away and were moving away from him. The looks on the faces of these kids were the complete opposite of Jase, which was happy and laughing. Clearly, the kids did not want Jase around them. Clearly, Jase did not pick up on this or was just enjoying aggravating his friend. And clearly, I was getting mad.

Before I knew it, the friend came up to tattle on Jase. He tells me he and his other friends don't want Jase to sit by them and then tells me "Jase is freaking us out." Jase walks up and hears his friend say this and burst into tears. He just wanted to sit by his friend. The friend, satisfied with himself for what he's just done, walks away to join his other friends.

I had to make a choice at this moment. It had to be a mature choice, not the childish one I really wanted to do. The mean girl in me wanted to surface and say mean things to the child for being mean to my child. Clearly, this was the childish choice I fought off. The choice I made was to comfort my child and be honest with him. In my head I'd like to think this was the mature thing to do. From now on, I pray that Jase will remember what it feels like to have a friend be mean to him so that in the future he knows NOT to treat his friends like that. My honesty with Jase was that not everyone is going to be your friend but that doesn't give you the right to mean to that person. Then with that said, I thought to myself how do I teach my child kindness but yet not to take any crap??? Sigh.

My heart hurt last night, and still does as I type this. I wanted to burst into tears as I comforted my child. This was the first experience like this for us - Jase dealing with friends and me dealing with the hurt feelings of my child. I pray there aren't many more.