Spouse guilt and the stay-at-home mom

I have been a stay-at-home mom for 17 years. I admit that I take my mothering gig overboard at times. I do a lot for my children..after all I am a stay-at-home MOM. Last night Dwayne took me out for dinner and drinks. It had been a few months since we went out on a date night so we were very much overdue for one. It was a great evening except for the couple times that I was looked at with a tad bit disgust because I was having discussions about the kids. I was not trying to talk about them that much...it just sort of happens. I am with 1 or more of my children for almost 24 hours of every day. Isn't it only natural for me to mention them to their dad? Well after last night I realized that I need to watch that when it comes time to having that alone time with the husband. I feel so badly for not making our evening enough about him...about us. I really have to work on that. We do plan on making date night a regular event so we stay connected.

If you are a stay-at-home parent, have you encountered the same issue we have? Do you go out on dates regularly?

Meet Puppy

Little William has a best friend named Puppy. Puppy is.... a puppy. He got Puppy when he was a newborn from our neighbor. Of course Will had no interest in toys or stuffed animals for quite some time. About 6 months ago he really started to to show an interest in wanting to play with Puppy. Now Puppy gets included with all of his day-to-day activities. He travels in the car, he goes to the playground, he goes to the store and even into the bathroom.

 Yep, Puppy had been EVERYWHERE! Puppy became so filthy it wasn't even right. Every time I asked Will if I could give Puppy a bath he would say "Um, no thanks". He does not like parting with Puppy for any reason. Of course I was getting tired of seeing a blue puppy turn gray.

I had to be sneaky and throw Puppy in the washing machine when Will was watching Caillou. Of course he noticed that Puppy was missing after about 5 minutes. He searched high and low and called for Puppy throughout the house. It was so cute and funny at the same time. After about an hour I was able to reunite the two of them. I told Will to smell Puppy and he was all smiles :)

Is your little one attached to a particular toy or item?

Being like dad

Every time Dwayne is around William tends to want to hang around him and in some cases imitate his daddy. This can be a great thing and other times... it can be a very bad thing! Thankfully the good outweighs the bad and Will gets to learn a lot of things from his dad. Dwayne has taught him how to cast a line out in the water, catch a fish, take out the trash, throw a football and so many other neat things. I love when he sees his dad reading and wants to do the same. When I see the two of them together I realize how important a father's role is most especially for boys. After all, a boy can only learn how to be a man from a man.
Now some days Will takes his manliness too far. Yesterday I caught him pulling the cushions off the couch and destroying the family room so I asked him why he was doing that. He responds with "Go back in the kitchen and wash the dishes!" I tell you what, he is lucky he is so adorable or else.... Now you know Dwayne was proud and pulled the old "That's my boy!" Men!!!

Go Dwayne!!

I just had to share that Dwayne won some trophies in a recent Toastmasters speaking contest that was held locally. He took home 2nd place for Humorous Speaking Contest & 2nd place in Evaluation Contest Division D. He also won 2 first place trophies in the same categories last week! He has made it to the finals that will be held in Charleston, South Carolina next month. My hubby certainly has the gift of gab! We are all so proud of him!! :-)

Raising teen girls

I was having a phone conversation with a good friend the other day and the main topic of discussion was raising teenagers. Having 2 teenage girls at one time has been quite interesting to say the least. Lucky for them I remember very well what it was like to be a teenage girl. I would never want to go back to those years! So far so good with my girls though. They do go through all the emotional stuff and you watch their eating habits flip flop regularly. It is funny how when you are a teenager you think even the littlest thing is the BIGGEST thing in the world. It's as if life is going to end as you know it. I have to constantly remind them that obviously life goes on (I'm still alive and kicking!) They will look back at their teenage years many years from now and wonder why they were so worried over the most insignificant things. History truly repeats itself doesn't it? Some days I feel like choking them but most days I am beyond grateful to have such extraordinary girls! I often wonder what it will be like when William is a teenager. Then again, I can wait! Just let me get through the next few years...