announcing

Other moms proudly blog about their children; announcing their adventures, accomplishments, and those "kids say the darndest things" moments. They post their pictures and announce their names yet I haven't written much about Boy Child since I started this blog because I've always been so nervous about subjecting my son to "the blogging world" so to speak.

Yet due to recent events I think I am going to change that.

I want everyone to know how amazing Boy Child is. How big his 9 year old heart really is. He has amazing compassion and passion for just about everything and anything his little hands and eyes come in contact with.

Boy Child loves to read and will converse with you about those books for as long as you will listen. His drawing ability is progressing day after day. He has a crazy love for numbers.

Words sometimes cannot describe him and words definitely cannot describe the love I have for this child. As much as I want to be selfish and keep him all to myself, I'm starting to feel this HUGE need to share him and his love with others.

Internet, I'd like to introduce you to my son...

Cole

vacation

Being that it is April vacation for the local school kids I am also on vacation.

Million dollar question: what are you doing during vacation?

NOTHING!

I don't have the funds to take Boy Child anywhere nice, warm, and/or fancy. One of these vacations we will go somewhere and that somewhere will take longer than 2 hours, or maybe even 4 to get there. We will see amazing things and do fantastic activities.

/dream.

I'm bored. What I really want to be doing is working. Working at school with the kids. Helping them with their learning. (not mine, because mine is no longer important, well it is, but I'm pretending otherwise)
I want to send Boy Child off to school so he can be learning, spending time with his friends, and appreciating the after school time with me more, because he misses me during the day of course!

I'm just bored.
Something is missing. I need some sparkle, spunk.. pizazz.

something.

ear worm

I was called yesterday to sub and it was a MUCH better day. I am so thankful for that because last time it was horrible.
Last time I was the Language Arts 'teacher' for 6, 7, and 8th graders! 8th graders were just miserable and disrespectful.

My favorite line from the day:
student: Are you married?
me: No
student: I can see why

Agggh!!

Back to the positive... yesterday I was called to sub for the music teacher at Boy Child's school!
Awesome. (make note: Boy Child's music day is today)

I get the call about 40 minutes before I have to be there. Talk about lighting a fire under my ass!
It was full speed ahead! Pack lunches, iron my clothes, finish my hair (flat iron died in the process)... chaos.
Get us out the door and off to school we go.
Once we get there I realize I have left my glasses at home and my tea. *sigh*
Boy Child and I go separate ways and there I am... all alone in my classroom staring at the lesson plan.

Now if you have never subbed before that lesson plan is intimidating as hell! You're going in there blind (in my case, literally- Ha!) then you have to interpret those plans to the best of your ability to keep those students engaged (and interested) for the entire time period you have them while keeping them UNDER CONTROL!

There in black in white was a plan that had 4 third grade classes, 1 first grade class and 5 kindergarten classes staring at me!

Long story short, I still have "Are You Sleeping" and "Brother John" stuck in my head, my throat is screaming, and I learned that I will not be teaching music after I finish college.
Why?
Because I CANNOT sing. At all.

Overall, it really was an awesome day!

speak up

The other day a commercial sparked a random thought in Boy Child's mind and then the conversation went something like this:

Boy Child: I wish I had a hearing aid so I could turn it all the way down
Me: (laughing) Why?
Boy Child: Because some people just annoy me!

Apparently he isn't aware of the selective hearing ability he already has!

chicken again?

Is a common question that Boy Child will ask.

I'm bored and food bores me. I've run out of ideas and options.
I just don't know what to cook anymore!

The vegetarian thing went out the window, but we still don't eat a lot of red meat. You definitely won't see us sitting down to a huge steak anytime soon ever.

I'm tired of plain chicken and pasta because it seems every time I turn around that's what I'm cooking.

I'd much rather bake.
The recipes are better, easier and really, let's be honest; they taste better too.

So my dear friends, here's where you come in. Please, please, please... email me some recipes. They can still be chicken and pasta, but with a twist! Something new and fresh!

...because I'm about to start eating cookies and cake for dinner!

hypocrite

I don't care to date guys with children.
Dating is complicated enough but once you add a child to the mix things become more complex.
Add another two or three and it's an impossible feat.

I think guys who won't date single moms are judgmental and shallow. If anything, becoming a parent has made me a better person. I am more understanding, patient, appreciative, open-minded, grounded, etc.

This new situation only Boy Child is involved. I can tell you that there is now a little less stress.
Why? ... well The Date has asked what works best for us. He didn't avoid the subject-- he approached it head on. The subject being the most important aspect of my life: Boy Child.

I have always tried to put off the introduction, but through the years I have learned there is no time that is the best.
And as for the introduction? There really is no proper method for that either.

What I have learned, is to be open and honest. Boy Child and I have that kind of relationship and I will not put that in jeopardy. Ever.
It will start as an introduction based on friendship.
I am allowed to have male friends just like he has female friends at school. When things progress, the introductions and invitations to events with us increase.

I don't know of any other way.

10 years

The past 10 years have been crazy insane. If I told you about them you would never believe it, not in a million years, but something came to me.
Something I guess I have blocked out of my mind.

10 years ago this week I met Boy Child's father, The Mailman. A man who is about 21 years my senior.

What was I thinking you're asking?
To this day I often ask myself that same question and I have yet to find the answer; even a therapist here and there hasn't been able to help me.

Four months later (April), I was packing up my VW and moving away from the family I loved and life I knew to be with this man.
Four months after THAT! (August) I found out I was pregnant with my incredibly awesome Boy Child.

I cannot even begin to tell you what a whirlwind of emotion and chaos the next few years, ok 10 years, would bring me but I will say this much, I am ready to start 2010 off with a bang and with some of the greatest friends a girl could ever ask for.

Thank you everyone for a great year, I'm looking forward to an even better 2010!

I give thanks

I’m not going home to visit my family this year, instead I’m spending it with my other family; my friends.
* I’m forever grateful for their friendship and their love.
* Boy Child is going to spend this holiday with his father and his family; this is a holiday we alternate. I’m thankful they are part of his life.
* The past month or so, my greatest guy friend has been super! I do not know what I would have done without him. I’m forever in debt to him.
* I baked my first cheesecake ever, it cracked but I tried and I’m not giving up.
* I’m thankful for my determination.
* My bestest girly friend: I’m thankful she’s home.
* I’m so thankful we adopted Baxter to add a little more craziness to our home.
* My mom and I getting along these past few months has been a nice change of pace. Her helping with the new car process has been a blessing also.
* Boy Child making an “I’m thankful for my Mom and Baxter” place mat at school.
* My electric toothbrush makes dentist visits much better. I love the dentist!
* School. I’m so close to getting to the end and it will be so worth it!
* I’m thankful that I passed my last science exam. It was a close call and damn scary towards the end.
* I’m thankful for Boy Child’s progress. He has come so far and has even surpassed expectations.
* I’ve been given a new medication and I cannot even begin to describe what it has done; I no longer sleep all day and my mood, wow! my mood has improved so much.
* My blog readers are amazing. I don’t have many but your comments are amazing, and even those that don’t comment your silence is okay too. I know you’re reading.
* I’ve been able to get sound sleep lately and that is definitely something to be thankful for!
* A little while back Boy Child and I spent a weekend with my Dad and his girlfriend of 11 years, and had a great time. It’s nice when we have quality time visits.
* I’m thankful that both my parents haven’t remarried just for the sake of remarrying to have a title and they know at the end of the day their love is all that matters.
* I’m thankful my mom has an understanding boyfriend; if it wasn’t for him she would not be here to celebrate birthdays and holidays.
* I’m thankful both my grandmothers are with us today.
* I’m thankful my Memere remarried and has showed us grandkids and the great-grandkids what love looks like; it’s a beautiful thing. Al is an amazing man and he’s blessed our family with something special.
…and most importantly I’m just thankful.

kinda low

I have a few things I expect Boy Child to do around the house to help out, they’re not hard or all that demanding, but they are important.
One of the most important would be feeding Baxter. Baby kitty is 4 months old now and food is rather important for this growing creature. With the feeding responsibility also comes the, “Mom, Baxter is running low on food” responsibility.

This weekend we were at a pet store and I thought to ask about the pet food status and Boy Child mentions, “he’s kinda low”. I took that as; we have enough to last the weekend. I was not paying close to $20 for a bag of Science Diet there when I pay about $10 at the Vet’s office.

Sooo… we get home and I peak into the bag and… what do you know but he has barely… I mean barely a scoop of food left! I guess that did fit the “he’s kinda low” criteria.

Dammit! The Vet’s office is closed, tomorrow is Sunday, and well, $20 is ridiculous! I love that little fur ball and all, but come on!

Sunday morning comes and I whip Baxter up some breakfast. Yes, I stood in my kitchen and cooked my cat breakfast. Scrambled eggs!

Don’t judge.

While standing at the stove, I started to realize, I’m turning into my mother. She makes dinner for herself and then makes up a plate of food for her pets. This cannot be happening!

After I made Boy Child his breakfast, Baxter even enjoyed himself a few pieces of bacon.

This stops RIGHT. NOW!

Half a bag will now officially mean “kinda low”.

Sundays

It's Sunday and I have so many things to be thankful for!

Now, I especially love this day because Boy Child comes home from his father's. I don't care for the whole getting him back on routine thing but we're adjusting better. I mean, he has been doing this for almost 7 years now.

My house doesn't have ramen noodles, soda, Chef Boyardee or what I call... 'shit in can' and ummm...oh yea, cigarette smoke!

BUT... I am thankful Boy Child has a father who loves him and is doing the best that he can.

***
Dear Sunday nights at 5pm,

I love you. You make my weekend complete.

Love,
The Crazy Neurotic Mom

blogging toast

I can't believe I missed it! I missed my one year blogiversary!
I haven't even hit 100 posts yet. Less than 100 posts in 365 days?
Woah! Bad blogger!

My blog needs a remodel. Like with our homes, after a while staring at the white walls becomes a little nauseating.
Thoughts? Ideas? My geek skills are unfortunately limited.

I haven't been feeling all that well but I'll save that for later. I just know that no human should still feel tired after sleeping all night then most of the day. That's all I do is sleep! But If I'm not sleeping, I'm in pain. Gah!

My new car is great. We're still getting to know each other. I'll admit, I've sworn at it a few times and I once wished I had my old car back. Giving up a V6 is tough.

**

Today I picked Boy Child up at school and one of our conversations went something like this....

"Hey Mom?! You know about fructose?"
Yes. What about it?
"Well... Z(boy at school) thought it was fruit on toast!"
Do you know what it is? Fructose?
"I know it's not fruit on toast!"

Go on! Say 'fructose' out loud. It sounds like fruit on toast!

I gave in

Many of you might remember when Boy Child and I moved, we also had to surrender our cats because our new place didn't 'allow' pets.
As time has passed we've had some crazy and chaotic moments.
We've also had some times of sadness. Sadness I haven't been able to blog about because I just cannot put the feelings into words; something very unusual for me.

August 26th, Boy Child's Grampie passed away, and this hasn't been an easy adjustment.
Of course, it never is. I think I've had a harder time than he has; I'm so emotional.

So between moving, the chaos, and Grampie passing, Boy Child has been having a hard time adjusting, common with SPD, he has been heard saying, "I wish I had a furry friend".

Now... if that doesn't pull at your heart strings!

I did some thinking, heavy thinking, talking to him about the responsibilities; this time would be different! I filled out the proper paperwork to allow us to have a pet here at the apartment and our search for a 'furry friend' began...

...and ended. I'd like to introduce you to Baxter, adopted from a local shelter.

I cannot even begin to describe the personality this kitten has. I've had many cats and so far, he really has been the best.
Sooo... last night, he was snuggled up in my lap while I was doing some school work and I noticed something, something that was too damn cute to pass up.
You'll have to excuse the quality, I used my blackberry to record him, it was all I had within reach.

(watch his mouth)

keepin' the doctor away

Being fall in Maine, this means it's time for apple picking. The hunt for those perfect apples; so much fun! Then eating that very first apple! Yum!

Here is Boy Child dragging out our treasure; 26 pounds of freshly picked apples!
26 POUNDS!!

So far I have made a crisp and 2 breads. One of those breads is going with him to school for his teacher.
Sadly, that has barely made a dent in our apple collection.

So there's crisp, pie, bread, muffins... (not big on sauce)

Oh... and not worry about my fiber intake that's for sure.

So, what's your favorite apple recipe?

sink or swim

I’m 29. I’m almost 20-10!
I have an 8 year old son.
Dating. It’s not easy. It’s hard. Ok, it fuckin’ sucks!
Add a child to the mix and it’s not easy, it’s hard and fuckin’ sucks X 10!!

I’m domesticated and I’m already settled down in the child department. I don’t go out and do the party thing. I rarely drink and I don’t smoke. I have a small group of friends but when it comes to social outings, we don’t have much in common. I like being home, doing home things.
Between my mom duties and school for both Boy Child and I, I’m really busy.
Would I want it any other way? NO!

Does it help with dating? ABSOLUTELY NOT!

When a guy asks, “what you did today?” and you tell him….” I packed Boy Child’s snack, filled out his book order, volunteered at the school for picture day, made dinner, did dishes, helped with homework, gave him a bath and had the normal night time routine.” you can already see him rolling his eyes.
Then there is the question I absolutely hate… I mean HATE! “What do you do for fun?” Well… I do all kinds of things that are fun and a huge majority of them involve my child.
Chances are this is going to bore a guy to death and be on his ‘the last thing I want to hear’ list.
Yet I wouldn’t have it any other way. Being a single mom is tough!
Am I exhausted? Sure.
Am I complaining? NO!

I don’t do week night dates, I can’t; I won’t. I don’t have a sitter. I won’t get a sitter. I don’t believe in it. That is one thing The Mailman and I did agree on.
Then the weekend comes and you’re thinking… “Now you’re alone! Use this time to get out there and date!”
Well my loves, wrong!
Whatever I didn’t get done during the week I need to do now! This is my time of quiet, peace, and solitude. Here is a chance to do homework without having to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. This is my time to clean the house and pick up toys without turning around and seeing those same legos back on the floor… again!

I can date and juggle all of this. I have done it before and I would happily do it again but this brings me to the problem. A lot of guys are not ready for this. They want to be eased into this.
Do I blame them? NO!
Guys have said they can do this. They can adjust into the domesticated lifestyle.
Newsflash: there is no adjustment period.
It’s either sink or swim.

I hope you brought your life preserver. Ya know, just in case.

see it to believe it

Have you seen this?
AwkwardFamilyPhotos.com is completely worth checking out!
I'm going to warn you though, once you start you will not stop. I repeat, WILL NOT STOP!

I have been looking at these photos and laughing. Literally laughing out loud because more often than not I've been familiar to some of those. If you haven't, you know someone who has!

After seeing a few pictures I have been heard saying the following:
"Oh my god! I had that shirt!
"Oh no! I've done that!"
"Sorry Boy Child, I think I have a picture of you doing that"
"What the fuck was my mother thinking?"

Go look! What are you waiting for? GO LOOK NOW!!

I want to hear your awkward photo stories! Have you done the arm shelf?

crazy-hectic

So much has happened since the last time I blogged I don’t even know where to start. So I’ll try to recap the best I can.

My best friend, Amanda, of 9 years is moving. To Massachusetts. That is an easy 5 hour drive from here. Yea, I’m sure this topic will be a future blog post. This is sudden, she didn’t give much warning.

Remember those concert tickets I received for Christmas? Well FINALLY! The time came to see Sugarland and Matt Nathanson perform. What a show! Amazing!!
Amanda and I took a weekend road trip to New Hampshire for the concert. The experience and memories will be with us forever.

On our way back home we stopped to meet fellow bloggers, Badass Geek and his wife The Boss. It was really nice to meet up with them for part of the afternoon. It’s refreshing to meet people whom you don’t have to explain what a “blog” is or why you do it. We had things to talk about since we already had some background information about each other; I mean we tell the world already about our lives. I hope to meet up with them again in the future, they’re a great couple.

My Dad figured out how to text message. To watch him show me his new phone, which takes pictures, was absolutely adorable, then to receive a text message from him several hours later was even better. This is amazing progress for the man who says, “he’s getting old.” He’s 55 today. Happy birthday Dad!

The American Red Cross called me, I’m going to try to donate blood tomorrow and hope that this doesn’t happen again. I’ve been trying to eat foods with lots of iron and drinking juice with calcium at the same time to help with absorption. Blood supplies are always low during summer months.

I had to make a phone call to the financial aid office about my award package which means school is too damn close, as in next week. Not excited. At all.

Boy Child starts school next week. I haven’t started school shopping for him yet because he won’t stop growing. He’s crazy tall for his age and I’m not buying clothes for 2 different sized kids when I only have one child.

I cannot wait for him to go back to school! His mind is turning to mush! Boy Child and his neighbor friend are constantly bickering and my house is literally an army battle field; toys everywhere! During the school year both kids are so busy during the week they don’t see each other often and on weekends mine is off visiting his dad. Looking forward to having routine, structure and at least some of my sanity back!

I received some blogging awards that I need to desperately catch up on. If it wasn’t for the last minute I wouldn’t get anything done.

I just recently started cruising etsy. Love it! I’m trying to find my Mom a piece of jewelry, just because.

I witnessed a car accident in front of The Compound yesterday. Helping the accident victims and waiting for those sirens just brought on a whole different feeling within me. I’m glad everybody is ok, especially the children.

Things have been crazy hectic but I really wouldn’t want it any other way. I hope everyone else is doing great. So tell me, anything crazy and hectic going on in your world?

a perfect day

has...
*sand between our toes
*cool ocean water, ok so maybe its more like, "damn that's cold!!"
*sand dollars and sea glass
*warm ocean breeze
*laughter
*the smell of sunscreen (mmm cocoa butter)
*no sunburns!


... a Boy Child covered in seaweed!

OOooo so scary!

... and a Momma that's feeling rejuvenated!

a day without sunscreen

As I type, I'm sitting here in bed watching my son finally sleep. It really isn't a peaceful sleep, the sleep I know he needs and deserves, but this is going to have to get us by for now.

You see... two days ago he went to the beach with 'camp' and his peers, an outing that we all enjoy as children and adults.
I sent him to camp with the requested necessary items for that day; swim trunks, towel and sunscreen.
Later that evening after our normal, "how was your day" discussion, he says, "I think I'm sunburned".
When I had him take his shirt off, I never imagined I would see my child's skin so sunburned!
Boy Child has such fair skin; he's so porcelain and now he shared the same red tone as a cooked lobster.
I am always so cautious when it comes to his skin. I am constantly putting sunscreen on him and keeping track of the time to make sure I don't forget to reapply it.
One application at the start of the day is never enough!

I then questioned him about sunscreen and he says it was never put on him.
I'm so upset. He was in the care of adults all day, at camp, and sunscreen was never put on him.

Wednesday night was hell, a cool tub was torture for him, burn jel wasn't soothing enough and sleeping was damn near impossible for this kid.

Thursday morning when I brought him to camp I questioned them about the sunscreen. They apologized and said the kids all had sunscreen applied, he must have been missed.

MISSED!?!

He stayed at camp for the rest of the day, being cautious about being bumped, touched or having more sun exposure.

That night I get his tub ready because his skin is still fairly warm to the touch and I wanted to get the old layer of burn jel washed off so I could apply a new layer.
Trying to get his shirt off was almost impossible! It was stuck in some places and he was just plain uncomfortable.
Finally able to get it off, I notice some skin has come off with his shirt and he has a small blister.

Friggin' great!

Finish the tub ordeal, which completely and totally sucked!!!
I then manage to get him into something as soft as I could find; his fleece pajama bottoms and one of my t-shirts.

I call the Emergency Room about the sunburn, chills, shakes, nausea and now blister, to make sure I'm not missing anything. I'm told what I'm doing is right, keep doing it.
Get him into bed for another long night of tossing and turning and because he is so miserable I share my bed with him so I can be miserable too.

Today we wake up to find that small tiny blister has grown! It is now HUGE! and the other shoulder that seemed to have had no signs of blisters now has, well MANY!!

I panic and call the ER again, and I'm told, "if you're concerned you can bring him in".

Gee thanks Captain Obvious! You're a fuckin' pal!

I call the family physician, get an appointment for later in the day but until then keep him comfortable.

Ha! They're fuckin' kidding right?
I have a child who has Sensory Processing Disorder, a severe sunburn on his back and shoulders and is an 8 year old boy.
He sits in one position for any amount of time and that begins to hurt, when it comes time to move, that also hurts and then I have to help him move.
Keep him comfortable my ass!!

Appointment time comes and guess what!?!

There isn't a damn thing they can do for this kid!! Keep giving him ibuprofen, cool compresses (if he'll let you), aloe, and all the other fancy shit I've been doing? Keep doing it.

These blisters?

These blisters (which are all even bigger now) are perfectly normal.

Bullshit!

He was going to get a prescription for Silvadene, which works amazingly well on burns, but because Dr. Mom is allergic to Sulfer, Boy Child can't reap the benefits of this.
Ya know, because I have to apply the cream and then snuggle this child, because it seems that's all he wants to do!
So instead, when those nasty bastards pop, its good ol' fashion triple antibiotic ointment. (Pssst...that has sulfer in it too, just a smaller percentage)

Boy Child will go back on Monday for a follow up and will not be going to camp next week.

*Sunscreen. Know it and use it.
*I swear. A lot
*When I talk about this, in real, I'll swear a LOT more
*When your child asks for a pb&j at 9am, make it for him
*A popsicle at 11am? Get 2, one for him- one for you!
*Oh yea... and SUNSCREEN!!! Use it!

quick conversation

Boy Child and I were sitting on the couch this afternoon when he randomly says, "Mom, I know how to do a squat."
Me: You do? Where did you learn how to do that?
BC: iCarly
Me: *blank stare*

iCarly is teaching my son how to do squats.
Why does that seem wrong to me?
Really wrong; in ohh soo many ways.

Apartment Living Wednesday