Reason #482 Why I am a Bad Mother

How am I a bad mother? Let me count the ways…every day I have a new reason to feel sorry for my kids because of the coo-coo nuts that is their mother. Here’s today’s reason: Every time I hear Joshua say, “Mama, watch this!” I want to KILL MYSELF. Now before you send me hate mail, I don’t really want to kill myself, and I think suicide is terrible. I’m just being overdramatic.

But seriously, if I hear him say it one more time today I am gonna drive ballpoint pen into my jugular like I saw Sydney Bristow do to so many bad guys on Alias.

Joshua is super-cute, smart, and funny, and he does a lot of cute things that I like to see. WHEN IT’S CONVENIENT. The problem is he only says those three little words when it is impossible or very inconvenient for me to pay attention to his particular feat. He nearly always says it when I’ve just told him that I need to leave the room. For example:

Me: Joshua, I’m going to go downstairs to put the laundry in the dryer. Ok? (I turn on my heel to leave.)

Joshua: Ok. Mama, watch this!

If I don’t come back and acknowledge his deed, (usually something dumb like jumping up and down), he gets very upset. And I’m already upset with him for purposefully stopping me – because he does do it on purpose. Apparently all the time we’ve spent together preceding my need to leave his side was not sufficient for his little ego. So it’s just a bad state of affairs.

Other situations in which he is fond of saying, “Mama, watch this!”, or my other favorite, “Watch this, Mama!” include while I am driving (I know, I’m a jerk. Why don’t I just pull over and watch whatever he wants to show me?), when I am elbow-deep in a Sophie stinky diaper, and when I am trying to clean up. I hear it constantly when I am going back and forth from the dining room to the kitchen, clearing the table. He’s like a broken record. It makes me…CRAZY!!!

Today I heard it so many times (I’m trying to clean for a Mommies’ Night In I am having at my house Friday) I had to hit Tim Horton’s for a café mocha and a cookie stress reliever (I agree with Kate) to keep from giving Joshua Shaken Preschooler Syndrome (No, I don’t abuse my children. No hate emails on that one either please! Get a sense of humor!!)

But seriously I was about to lose it. Day after day after day of hearing it 386 times in an afternoon, and I’m inching dangerously close to checking in at Club Nutjob.

And really, it’s when he doesn’t know I’m watching that he does the things worth remembering.

So anyways. There you have it. I need to start saving now for Joshua’s therapist. Thank God for BlogHerAds.

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WFMW: I need a sling!

Today’s Works for Me Wednesday is a little different… today, instead of offering tips, everyone is asking for one.

So here’s mine… I need help figuring out which sling would work best for me and the new baby.

I don’t know what kind of information you all need to make your recommendation, but here’s a few things… Being able to nurse in the sling is a must. It would be nice if it were something my husband could wear, too. The baby is going to be born in April, so something light weight and cool would be nice for the spring and summer. Price is a bit of an issue, but I don’t mind spending $ to get a quality sling, especially since our list of baby stuff to buy is significantly shorter than last time!

I don’t know anything other than that! If there’s crucial info you need that I haven’t supplied, leave a comment and let me know. I can’t wait to see what sling will ‘work for me!’ 🙂

Don’t forget to check out Rocks in my Dryer and share your knowledge this week!

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It’s our 100th Post!!!

It’s hard to believe, but this marks our 100th post on Mommin’ It Up! Woohoo! Since we are a couple of ding-dongs and already posted 100 things about ourselves, (because in our bloggy naievete we didn’t know that you’re supposed to wait until your 100th post to do so) we had to think long and hard for an appropriate way to mark this momentous occasion. So we’ve decided to give you, dear readers, a precious gift: two pictures of us together and ten things about US as a dynamic duo! Here’s the first pic:
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This is from the summer of 1981, when our whole family went on a vacation to Myrtle Beach together. That’s Emily on the left in t-shirt and diaper, at about 26 months, and me on the right in the HOTT two-piece – I was almost four.

Now for the top ten things you need to know about Emily & Jenny:
#1: My mom and Emily’s dad are siblings, which makes us first cousins.

#2: We are really more than that however, because our grandma and grandpa are THIRD COUSINS themselves. However, they never actually met each other and fell in love until high school, so we don’t think it counts as inbreeding (does it?)

#3: As young girls, we were members with Emily’s sister Anna, of a super-popular girls singing group called “the Unlimited.” Of course, “singing” meant lip-synching to Beach Boys songs. Our “big hit” was “Fun Fun Fun”. It was very popular with our parents and our Grandma. Like every girlie super-group we had amazing stage costumes. Ours were Emily’s dad’s white t-shirts with the words “The Unlimited” stenciled on them. You just don’t see class acts like that any more!

#4: We both graduated from college early. I got my bachelor’s in 3.5 years, and Emily got hers in just 3! (Such a show-off!)

#5: We both got married at the tender age of 22.

#6: We worked together for about two years for the local chapter of a national non-profit. We were often left unsupervised in the same office. It WAS FUN!! It was at this workplace that we revealed our first pregnancies to each other. And did a lot of other things I will not post here!

#7: While working for this non-profit, we went on several business trips together, where we shared not just a hotel room but a BED, all in the name of saving the agency money! After we did that once, it was pretty much expected every time. Good thing we had all that practice from spending many nights at our Grandma’s! We made Em’s sister sleep with Grandma. Which is why she is the favorite granddaughter now.

#8: We both became moms for the first time in 2004 – eight weeks apart.

#9: We share the same OB-GYN, who delivered all of our babies (and hopefully will deliver Em’s current Bun in the Oven!)

#10: We have alter-egos. Together with Emily’s sister Anna, we are the Supercousins. We don’t really do anything super, we just like the way it sounds.

And now, for a final pic: this is Emily (on the left) and I at her sister’s (and my cousin’s) wedding in June 2005. We are both VERY proud that we got our bridesmaid’s dresses for a song on ebay. Woot Woot!
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We just want to say, in this our 100th post, THANK YOU FOR READING! It is a privilege to write together and so much fun, and it’s just the icing on the cake that you all read it and leave us feedback. We LOVE your comments and thoughts and getting to know you all. So THANKS and we hope you’ll read the next 100 posts too!

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