Follow Up to "I Should Be In Bed"

I want to thank you for all your wonderful advice and comments about a clean house.

As I was cleaning under the fridge I found this quote (that must have fallen off the fridge!) written by Phyllis Diller:

Cleaning your house while your kids are still growing;
Is like shoveling the walk before it stops snowing!

Isn't it true.

Of course you realize, that now I do have one place in my house that is clean (under the fridge!!) Too bad nobody can see it!

The Kids Are Fighting!!!

The kids are fighting. It drives me crazy. Carmi tells me to try to ignore it, but I can't. I feel like I'll go insane if I hear them yell one more time.

Zach is the tease. He'll do anything to get a reaction from his siblings. Dahlia is the shrieker. She will shatter glass one day. Noah is the righteous tattler. The cat's meowing to be fed. He doesn't want to be left out.

Sometimes I feel like I'm the ring master in a three ring circus with Carmi and Shadow as the side shows. Okay, so maybe it's a five ring circus.

One of my favourite pictures of Dahlia and Zach is one of them hugging...well it looks like they were hugging but in fact they both had their arms around each other and were squeezing the life out of each other. They stopped long enough to smile and then continued on until they were separated.

How do you handle it when the kids are fighting?

I should be in bed

I really should be in bed, I wrote this poem instead.

I really should be in bed,
I need to rest my weary head.
I have laundry and dishes to do.
but I'm on strike it's true!.
I didn't know it then,
All the responsibilities on my end
Being a wife and mother,
Sometimes I don't know why I bother.
As I finish and hang up my broom,
The mess is back in the room!
Okay, I give up, live like a pig,
when we want something we'll just dig!

If I don't do everything I need to do as soon as I get home from work or right after dinner, I just can't get it done. I decided to watch TV tonight instead. I have another full day of teaching tomorrow and then I have to come home to the mess. How do you train or retrain your family to pitch in?

Sorry, I just read this back and I sound so whinny and blue. Sometimes I just get so overwhelmed with all the responsibilities I have. Someone last week said to me that I always look so put together. All I could think of was she was nuts!! Sometimes I wonder if everyone thinks I am a scatterbrain. I certainly don't feel together. I would love to be this organized woman, with a constant clean house, no laundry waiting to be done and extra presents wrapped in the cupboard just waiting for an invitation to a party.

I think, I'll stop this rambling (and put all of you out of your misery) and go to bed.

On a happy note, Noah told me I was the bestest mommy. They always know how to make you smile.

Ugh...The Embarrassment

I was leaving a message on someone's voicemail when my 2 older children started to have a fight. They were screeching loud enough that I am positive some of you heard them from where you are.

I know I am not the only one this has ever happened to...am I? But I was so embarrassed. When the message gets picked up, their voices will reverberate over the phone. UGH!

For such little people they sure can yell very, very loud. Where does that huge voice come from? And why is it that it can be perfectly quiet, nobody needs my attention, and the minute I'm on the phone; boom they are attached at my side.

Do they have this hidden radar? Is it on the "Mommy on the Phone" setting? It's not as if I am constantly on the phone. I actually hate being on the phone. Carmi will attest that I often bribe him to call people back.

Maybe I shouldn't admit that! If any of you are reading this and you have left a message here in the past and Carmi has called you back instead of me...He got the message first. Yeah, that's my story and I am sticking to it!!

Back to my little bundles of joy...All I can say is that God makes them cute, so their parents will put up with them!

I'm Addicted!

I can't get over my new addiction to blogging. I always read Carmi's and when he suggested I start my own, to be truthful, I thought he was nuts.

What could I possibly have to say? Who would want to read what I have to say? Well my family is an endless source of humour, frustration and love. I could "talk" about them for hours. Don't panic...I won't! Well, maybe just a little bit at a time.

We had some lovely friends over for Shabbat (Jewish Sabbath) dinner. We were 4 adults and 6 kids. We were out numbered! What a scary thought.

It's amazing how the kids get along so well. They shed their coats and boots and were off, only stopping long enough to shove some food in their mouths and off they went again.

Anyway, I digress...I'm addicited. I run home to turn on the computer and I am humbled by your comments. I'm thrilled to "meet" so many new friends (parents and non-parents alike).

It doesn't seem to matter what part of the world we're from, we are all the same. It's nice to be going through this adventure with you!

A Mother's Guilt

Being a mother is one of the most wonderful and challenging jobs I have ever had and will ever have. But, nobody ever tells you how hard it really is.

When you bring home your newborn child, you're filled with such idealism. It's going to be a piece of cake, right? WRONG!

You become responsible for this little being and every action and decision you make directly affects those little people you have created.

Where does a mother's guilt come into this? I'm getting to it!! :-) I worry about all the decisions my husband and I make for our kids. What if they are not the right ones?

Having a full time job adds to those guilty feelings. As a teacher, it's not as easy just take the day off when one of the kids gets sick. It's not as if I can work from home!

We live in a city far from any family. We don't have a support system for when the kids are sick and sometimes we send them to school when they are not 100% . There are times when we don't always believe the kids when they say they don't feel well. When they really are, I feel terrible. Definitely mother's guilt!

When the kids want my time and I'm too tired because of work and life responsibilities. I really do want to read to Noah, but I can't right now. Zach wants me to play a game with him. Dahlia wants her nails painted. I snap at them because I'm tired. Definitely mother's guilt!

I guess that I have to take comfort in knowing that I care so much about them and their lives. I will accept the mother's guilt and perhaps even look at it as a mother's gift. Maybe it serves as a signal that I need to take a step back and regroup and perhaps be a better mother for my children.

Morah Mommy; How did I get my name?

I teach in a small private school here in London. Our children attend this school as well. When Dahlia was in kindergarten I became her teacher. It was a big deal, exciting and nerve racking at the same time. After all, she didn't always listen to me at home, would she in school?

What was she going to call me? The other children call me Morah Debbie. Morah being the Hebrew word for teacher and Debbie (self explanatory). We discussed this and she was going to try and call me Morah Debbie. Sometimes she would call me Morah Debbie, sometimes Mommy, but most of the time it evolved to Morah Mommy.

It was a wonderful experience (for the most part)! My teaching capacity grew this year, and now I am teaching grade 2 as well as kindergarten. I have the privilege to have Dahlia in my class, again. Now she calls me Morah Debbie (almost all the time), every once in a while she slips Mommy in first. To the irritation of her older brother, she sometimes calls me Morah Debbie at home.

As the year progresses so quickly, my time as Dahlia's classroom teacher moves on quickly (sometimes a good thing). I think overall, it was a great experience for both of us. I hope we will continue to learn from each for many years to come.

Noah moves up in the ranks next year. Yes, my little lovebug will start kindergarten next year. I wonder what name he will have for me?

It's so hard to say no!

It's so hard to say no to my kids. Well I can say it very well, but they don't listen to me when I do say it. I really have the best intentions. (Ready for the excuses?!) I am a mother of 3, an English teacher in kindergarten and grade 2, a wife, housekeeper, cook, chauffer, etc. Some days I am just so overwhelmed with everything I have to do. I am tired. More tired than I have ever been in my whole life. When it's 5 pm and I'm making supper and one of my munchkins come calling, my good intentions just fly out the window. It's easier to stick to my guns with the 2 older ones. Zach will stomp his feet, say a "No Fair!" (hey, who said life was fair!) and slam his door. Dahlia has a shriek that will shatter glass. I have to admit, I particularly enjoy how she watches herself crying in the mirror when she has a tantrum. Can you say Oscar Winner! Noah, my baby, gets away with murder!! I can't help it. That face is sooo cute, the tears are sooo real and at 4 you still can't reason with him. Or maybe you can and he knows that he has me right where he needs me...in the snack cupboard, at the computer or the official channel changer. I want to be strong, not only for myself, but also because I know that they will benefit from not always getting their own way. It's hard being a working mother. We are apart more than we are together during the week. It comes back to being stressed and tired. Is a cookie or two before dinner worth a battle or harmony? Does that make me a bad mother? What do you think?

How do I love them?

I'm always amazed how much I love my children. I have three wonderful, smart, creative, funny children who always seem to make me laugh. (Absolutely no prejudice here!) I remember just after my first son was born, I was looking down at his tiny face and I told my husband that we could never have anymore children. Perplexed and a little wary (after all, I was a mother of all of 4 days and my hormones were raging) he asked me "WHY?" Completely serious, told him that we couldn't have anymore children, because I could never love another baby the way I love Zach. Well children and love are an amazing thing. With each subsequent birth, my heart just grew a little bit more and this overwhelming love just poured in for this new little being.

Time has passed. Zach is 10, Dahlia is 7 and baby Noah is 4. Noah will tell anyone who will listen that he is not a baby. At times they will ask me, who I love best. I love them all the best. Zachary is my creative, smart (smart aleck, at times) inquisitve first born. I love him best because he if my first child. Dahlia is my creative, smart, (smart aleck, too) middle child. I love her her the best because she is my first girl and being the only two girls in a house of males(even the cat is a boy), we girls need to stick together. Noah is my lovebug. He gives the best 4 year old hugs. He is funny, creative, and smart. He asks the greatest questions. I love him the best because he is my baby.

Sometimes, it's hard to remember why I love them so much. They fight with each other, don't do what I ask. They don't care if I have a stressful day. The list can go on. But when I stop for a second and watch them interact with each other, with their father, grandparents and friends, I see why I love them so much. I am so lucky to have them in my life.

Welcome

This is my first post. Just want to see if this works.