...Pinterest

Day 4
When I was younger, I thought about what I would be like as a mother. Would I be a stay at home mom? Would I be a business mom with a nanny? Would I be the PTO president? I always wanted to be a stay at home mom that would keep the house clean and make dinner every night. All the laundry would always be fresh, clean and put away. My children would always be put together and would call me "Mommy". I would head up the PTO meetings and have thousands of great ideas to make the school a fun place to be. I would be at every school party and do all sorts of crafts.

Now, here is my reality. I am not a stay at home mom, a business mom with a nanny or the PTO president. I am not a room mother and my house is always a mess. Most of the time the laundry seems to be done on an as needed basis meaning if you need to wear it tomorrow I will throw it in the wash tonight and hopefully remember to put it in the dryer. I do not cook and my children call me "Mom" which doesn't really have the same sweet ring to it as "Mommy".

What I have done is manage to be the best mom I can be and I feel like most of the time I do a pretty good job! While I do not preside over PTO meetings, I am present for every single one of them and we do participate in PTO sponsored events. I am not at every school party but I do manage to make it most of the time and I will assist in crafts if I'm asked.

I'm not a creative, crafty girl. I was always so bummed that I couldn't come up with cute things to do for my kids and new traditions to start. Then Pinterest entered my life. Oh, the day I joined Pinterest my life was changed! I spent weeks "pinning" items that I might want to try to cook or make, places I'd like to go, ways I could get my house clean in 15 minutes a day, etc. I can search for anything and ideas pop up from people all over the world and they can solve my problem.

Since I have become a "pinner" I have started to share the cooking role in the house. My husband has always been the cook and I've never had anything of his that I didn't like but I have started making dinner a couple of nights a week. I enjoy seeing the look on their faces when they love the meal that I prepared all on my own. I have attempted some of the cleaning suggestions and feel like they really do save time. And oh the ideas it has given me for Valentines, Christmas presents and Halloween goodies! This morning, I got up at 5 AM and drove to Krispy Kreme. I put vampire teeth in the hole of the doughnut and two little chocolate chips on the doughnut and made them into "Monster Doughnuts". My kids were so excited and the looks on their faces made it all worth it.

Pinterest has helped me become the Mom I always wanted to be and for that I am thankful.

Some of My Pinterest Experiments

supposed to be heart shaped muffins

valentine lollipop flower

balloon wreath for birthdays

using the chalkboard for captions

end of school teacher gifts

valentines

shirts and pillowcases for our Disney cruise

pilgrim hats for Thanksgiving

my all time favorite Pinterest Experiment was last year's Christmas card

...Halloween Memories

Day 3
I have so many great Halloween memories. I think it was one of my favorite times as a child. I loved dressing up and getting all of that candy! My friends and I had a system. Most of the time we would meet at my house and go through my neighborhood. Then we would head over to one of their neighborhoods. It was hours of fun. Our parents weren't with us and we probably walked MILES that night.

me and my brother, 1983

I had lots of different Halloween costumes growing up. I've been a jester, a Care Bear, a baby and many more that I can't even remember! One year, I was even a Saints fan! Once we got too old for trick or treating we had Halloween parties. One of my best friends growing up had a birthday two days before Halloween so she had a couple of costume parties. I just remember absolutely loving the holiday and I can't think of one bad experience with Halloween.

I really feel bad for my kids. They do not and will not ever have the same experience. We do not live in a neighborhood so they can't trick or treat. We do the trunk or treats and the fall festivals but they will never have that feeling of running from one house to the next wondering what kind of candy the next house will have. Or ringing the doorbell of a house and being bummed because no one answered. They will never get to walk up to a house that is fully decorated for the occasion and be spooked by something that jumps out at them. They will never have the excitement of getting home from trick or treating and dumping all the candy out, sorting it and then trading it with your friends so that you can get your favorite candy. It is just so sad to me.

These days it isn't safe. Parents everywhere worry about their kids getting snatched up or even getting candy that is tainted in some way. Fall festivals and trunk or treats have replaced the door to door trips. I really want my kids to be able to go door to door but when I asked friends what they do, they all say the same thing: "We don't trick or treat."

my mummy & ninja at target

The closest thing to trick or treating that my kids have is Sorority Row. We have been doing it ever since Mindy was a toddler and have always had such a great time. This year was crazy and I think the amount of participants tripled! Last night my kids walked away with about 15 pieces of candy each. I remember times when I would have to run home to dump some candy so I could make room for more! We ended up at Target last night and let them pick out whatever candy they wanted. They were okay with it because they really don't understand how much fun the trick or treating experience is!

I am so disappointed for my kids. The world is just not the same as it was 20-30 years ago. I am very thankful for all of my Halloween memories that I get to share with my kids.

...Mindy's Love of Reading

Day 2
My daughter loves to read. She keeps a book in each car so that she will always have something to read and she will always have about 3 books going at one time. I decided that this would be my thankful choice today

because of an experience I had with her yesterday.

We were in the car and she was reading. She stopped reading and started telling me about the book. It annoyed me! This has happened many times and I always sit through it but have you ever listened to a child try to tell you about a book? They start a sentence but then they realize they forgot to tell you something before that so they start all over. They never take a breath and they don't use punctuation when they are telling you so it is like this long string of words. I don't have a lot of patience either so that doesn't help.

I absolutely hate the fact that it annoys me.  I am so glad that she loves to read. She definitely gets that from me. When I finish a book, I put it down and pick up the next one with no rest in between. I can't have three books going at a time like she does but I do love a good book. I'm so thankful that I don't have to force her to read something for school. She and the librarian are tight and there have been times she has let Mindy check 10 books out at a time because she knows how hungry Mindy is for books.

So from now on, I am going to TRY to listen more attentively when she is telling me about what she is reading. I don't ever want to make her feel like reading is not important or that I don't care. I really should be very thankful that she enjoys it so much because that is not the case for many kids in our techno world these days.

This is one step in my journey on becoming more thankful, one day at a time.

...Mondays

Day 1
Wow! I'm starting off with quite a doozy! Yes, that's right. Today, I'm thankful for Mondays. I know that the majority of the world would disagree but I think Mondays are wonderful. Yes we are tired. Yes we have to
get up at a decent time and yes we are usually in a hurry on Monday mornings. But, to me, Mondays are about new beginnings! On Monday, everyone starts over.

Think about it. When do we start our diets? When do we plan out our week? On Mondays, I feel like last week, however good or bad it was, is over and I can start all over again. I chop my year up by Mondays. I was trained that way!

When I was younger, Mondays meant a new spelling list or the beginning of a new project. Things weren't due on Mondays, they were due on Fridays because Monday was the day that you started something. It was a new beginning. Over the years, I have just continued that thought process.

I had a horrible week last week. We were busy. My husband was working during the day and at night so I was in charge of getting the kids to soccer on one side of town and play practice on the other, feeding them, making sure homework got done and making sure they got baths and to bed at a decent time. I don't know how single moms do it! It was a rough week but when I woke up today, I got to start all over. Soccer is over and my husband will not be working at night this week. It's a new week and that week started with a Monday.

Other reasons I am thankful for Mondays?

1. I work at a school and on Mondays we get out at 2:15. That doesn't mean that I get to leave at that time but it does mean that we can get our afternoons started a little bit earlier. 
2. The majority of the time, there are no after school activities on Monday so it is a relaxing afternoon and evening for my family. 
3. Monday nights are my favorite TV nights. I don't watch a lot of TV (my family would argue with that). I do have certain shows that I MUST see and they all come on on Monday. Right now, Dancing with the Stars is on. When that ends, the new season of The Bachelor will start and when that ends another Dancing with the Stars begins and then the new season of The Bachelorette. I know it isn't exactly quality entertainment but it takes me away for a couple of hours at the beginning of every week. 

So when things get bad today, I'm going to try to remember how thankful I am for Mondays and for new beginnings.

Today, I'm Thankful For...

The idea for this blog came to me while I was trying to fall asleep the other night and I tried to dismiss it but since then I have done nothing but think about it. I am sick and tired of my attitude! I feel like all I do is complain about things so I decided to do something about it.
Everyday, I am going to think of one thing that I am thankful for and post it on this blog with the reasons why I am thankful for it. It's a simple concept really. I tried to get my kids to do it all the time but I never actually take the time to do it myself. I'm hoping that this little project will help my improve my attitude on life.
I'm committing to this little project of mine for 365 days. Hopefully, I can make it that long. See? I'm already thinking negatively about it :-(
As of today, I'm on my way to becoming thankful, one day at a time.