rules of the road

Like many of you out there, Memorial Day weekend marked our first little trip out of town. (It was actually really spontaneous, fueled mostly by my jealously of those that had real weekend plans, any who). Car trips, staying over in a hotel, eating out... all of that reminded me that I need mental notes, little rules on how to prepare myself for next time.

1) Bribery is fair game. My kids drug of choice is Sour Skittles. (Stop screaming at me and pointing to *that* dental chart that says Sour Skittle are worse than eating battery acid, some things are worth my sanity).

2) Never order a kid's meal for both children; buy one, split it and call it a day.

3) Try to request that their meal is split before they bring it out. Some waitress are great at this, they can interrupt the mommy sign for 'making it 2' perfectly without it being spoken aloud, others may benefit from drawing on a napkin. If they failed to do the above, you're screwed. Neither of them will eat because they didn't have 'their own' meal. They will refuse anything but chocolate milk, water, Sprite...

4) Bring along extra underwear, because a diet of Sour Skittles and chocolate milk only is just a disaster waiting to happen.

5) Point out the restrooms in the pool area, again because of the quality of eating, there many be a rush to get to said bathroom.

6) Do not yell at your child about nearly going poop in the pool, at least, avoid using the terminology 'shocking the pool', because this only makes the idea sound interesting to that of a 7 year old boy.

7) Encourage jumping on the bed, because it's *not* happening when they get home.

8) Remember your earplugs, who ever came up with the phrase 'sleeping like a baby' was an idiot. My kids sleep like 747s coming in for a landing, there is nothing quiet about them sleeping.

9) If they do get up 17 times or so in the middle of the night to blow their nose, rip the Kleenex box out from the wall and bring it over to their bed.

10) Don't walk over to your son's bed in the middle of the night, in a dark, strange hotel room and whisper-scream 'stop moving, close your eyes or else'. It just might cause some anxiety.

Cirque du Soleil OVO tickets giveaway!

I'm pretty certain that I don't have to say anything more than Cirque du Soleil and you already know that it's going to be awesome. The other thing that is awesome... that I get to say: free tickets. (Insert screams here!)

Under the big top, next to the biggest mall in America, seeing one of the biggest shows ever!

What people have said about OVO: "It was by far one of the most amazing things I have seen!" "...the show has so much charisma and character, it was amazing!" "Definitely worth every penny!"

One lucky winner of mine will win a 4 pack of tickets to the June 1, 8pm show of Cirque du Soleil OVO!

(more screams)

1) leave me a comment, you don't have to be a blogger, just make sure you leave your email address in the comment.
For additional entries:
2) Tweet about this: #Cirque du Soleil OVO 4-pack of tickets #giveaway from @antisupermom, http://www.antisupermom.com/ #twincities - leave another comment about this tweet
and/or
3) Publicly follow my blog or subscribe to my blog- leave another comment.

The winner will be picked Monday, May 30. Good luck!

And I was lucky to be gifted 2 tickets, thank you! I'll post back here after I see the show on Thursday evening.

longing the non-long lawn

I have to admit that I'm jealous. I peek through my blinds at the neighbor's gorgeous green lawn, half tempted to run out there, shouting at the Chem Lawn guy when he's there 'hey, you've got the wrong house... it's over here', waving him over to my yard.

When we are on walks, my kids point out nice lawns to me (yes, I'm hanging my head in shame). 'Mom, that's a nice green one!' 'Can we touch it?'

I snap back with a quick 'No!', touching it would ruin it's lines. I especially like it when they are mowed in a diagonal direction.

But my husband is one of those all-natural guys. All-natural and trimmed long.

At least dandelions add some pop.

Somewhere in this post should be a crack about my husband liking his lawn like he likes his women, natural and untrimmed, but that wouldn't necessarily be true.

sharing

It's like when you get married, when you meet people after taking on your husband's last name. They only know the new you... the new last name... you, as a married woman.

But you want to stand there with them and talk to them about who you use to be. It seems silly though, frivolous that you need to tell them something so insignificant like your maiden name. To declare to them that I have past identity!

It's how I feel about being a surrogate. I want to tell people that meet me about being a surrogate, that I delivered this baby. That he is out there in the world. He was part of me and part of who I use to be. He's part of my identity.

So, please, I'm not flaunting it. It is just part of me.

It's the part that I rarely talk about. The part that people that meet me now have no idea about. But sometimes I need to share it.

Today is my surrogate son's 5th birthday and I just wanted to share that.


I just needed to share it.

ài bǐ lù

the Pinyin translation for love notes.


I keep my little jar of love notes next to my bed on the nightstand. I opened it up again last night, the first time since Mother's day. Why? Because... well, I don't know... I need the reminder this week.

I can join the masses and say that these last few weeks of May are crazy. Every organization, club, school... wants to finish with a bang and do it with every member of my family.

I love it.
I hate it.

So, I need this little note that telling I'm so lucky to have you to be my mom!
Because when I'm spread this thin, it's doesn't always feel like luck, and I hate that too.

Wordful Wednesday and
More Wordful Wednesday

on being a little sister

My brother use to pin me down to the ground, my arms stuck with his legs, his body straddled mine, him just above me. I prepared myself for either two things; he was going to snort some snot then dangle it above my head or he was going to fart in my face.

Pick your favorite, they're equally as good.

I'm had to laugh when I saw this. The poor thing doesn't know what she has coming.

Wordful Wednesday and
More Wordful Wednesday

click

My eyes opened to a plate of Ritz peanut butter sandwiches and a kids' sized cup of soy milk. My breakfast in bed.

*click*

I wished then that I had my camera, that I could take a picture of their creation, before their eyes eagerly waited for me to take my first bite and resound with a 'yum!'.

I had to remind myself that it doesn't matter, I'm in the moment, enjoying just being pampered on my Mother's day. No matter, I'll remember this moment for the rest of my life.

Henry shrugged off giving me my present, once again, at the restaurant. It was only until Wyatt climbed under the table and grabbed it from him to give to me, that I got to see what was in the bag. Little love note from Henry to me, written in Chinese on one side, English on the other. His eyes, I want to remember his eyes as he read them both to me, that look of pride and a little bit of what's the big deal.

*click*

At my pedicure, Wyatt sat on my lap relaxing in the massage chair, turning around every once and awhile to see if someone was there kicking the back of the chair to make it move so much. When it came time to put color on mine, she asked if 'he wanted some too'. His smile, when I took off his socks and shoes, him then realizing that he was getting his toes painted too, I must remember that smile.

*click*

At the tiny diner, the kind with only 5 or so tables, smashed together, somewhere past lunchtime. Wyatt and I climbing up the stairs after using the restroom, both of us giggle about him forgetting to put underwear on this morning, because he was just too darn excited about wearing shorts, finally. He ran up to the table, announced to Dad that he 'forgot to wear underwear' and just like that, he dropped his shorts.

*click*

The woman right next to us bursting out laughing, thanking us... it made her Mother's day.

*click*

I wouldn't have forgotten it anyway.

thought bubble

I feel like I'm on this bubble, this thought bubble... a bubble of desire. Where I would give anything to be able to take my lunch hour and run to Target or to pop into Caribou to get a coffee before I settle into my desk; absorbing myself in emails, to-do lists and voice mails. Living a life where I drop off my children, turn around, and sit behind the wheel of my car and suddenly... I have time that's mine.

Me and my adult life.

Where I get praised for a job well done; where I get raises, where I have peers, where I have people that communicate with me, like adults.

Then the bubble pops.


What am I in a hurry for?

I close my eyes for just a second and they've changed.

I'm not a stay-at-home mom, they have this freedom to go where they need to go that I don't have. They don't understand me.

I don't work outside the home either, I don't have to say goodbye to my child every day. They don't understand me.

I'm an outsider,

on this bubble.

or

in this bubble.

I haven't decided yet.

Wordful Wednesday and
More Wordful Wednesday

abyss

I'm in this abyss.

It goes something like this... Wyatt wakes up in the morning exhausted because he didn't go to sleep until 10 o'clock or so, then of course, he needs a nap because he didn't sleep long enough the previous night, but then since he takes a nap, he doesn't fall asleep until 10 o'clock.

Can you see this circle of hell that I'm in?

And I know that this is common, but seriously, this is some sort of hell, right?!
(Please tell me that it will end soon.)

So needless to say, Wyatt comes out of his room fairly often to let me know this or that.

Last night's conversation:

"Mom, I need to go pee"

(even though he just went to the bathroom 23 minutes ago).

He giggles from the toilet, "I guess I didn't have to go".

No surprise.

He comes out to the living room doing this little side step dance, sashaying over to me on the couch.

He smiles at me while pulling his pajama shirt up to his chin exposing his belly "I thought I had to go poo-poo, but I told my brain that it was too late".

I nod, while trying to ignore him, and told him to "now get back into bed".

He heads towards his room but not before telling me

"it was easy, I just sucked it back into my brain."

Ah, poop talk and bad sleep, make that two circles of hell.

Do all children do this or am I just that lucky?