My Real Life

Real Men wear homemade, paper Father’s Day hats in restaurants because it makes their sons proud.

Happy Father’s Day to all the Real Men in your life.

I apologize, once again, for the frequent randomness of the blog, lately.  Lots going on, and my mind is scattered.

That being said, here are my thoughts for today.

1.  Someone posted this link on Facebook.

It’s meant to make you feel old.

It works.

Check it out, then come back for the rest of my randomness.

2.  School ends tomorrow.

Yes, we have to come back for graduation next Wednesday, but the day in, day out of school is over tomorrow.

I’m excited to spend the summer with my babies.

I’m so sad to say goodbye to my students.

Over 100 kids who have absolutely wormed their way into my heart.

I love them, I worry about them, I’ll miss them.

The hardest thing about being a teacher is that you fall in love with your kids year after year after year, and yet, they always leave you behind.

You are consistently saying goodbye.

You know they are destined for great things and that it’s the circle of life that you teach them what you can and then they move on, but it doesn’t make it any easier.

It’s just hard to say goodbye.

3.  Speaking of growing up, I’m finding that I’m liking this new stage we’re in, at home.

Monkey Girl is now old enough to watch Monkey in the Middle and Baby Monkey for a few minutes while I run to pick up Tiny or take Tiny with me to the bank.

It means that every trip out of the house doesn’t have to be a major production of 5 people in the car, out of the car, in the store, out of the store, in the car, out of the car.

It’s nice.

She’s not quite old enough to watch Tiny, but soon enough, soon enough.

And the boys love it when she is in charge for a few minutes.

And, apparently, they are angels for her.

All good stuff.

4.  If you blink, it all passes you by too quickly.

Two weeks ago, I was worried that Tiny wouldn’t be walking by the time we went to the beach this summer.

Today, you can’t slow the kid down.

He falls, but he walks everywhere.

One minute, he’s a baby.

The next, he’s a toddler.

The next, a little boy, going to school.

It’s June…you gotta forgive me all the “people growing up and making me weepy” talk.

It’s what June does to me.

5.  So, remember my quest for simplicity and purging?

It’s going well.

I’ve Freecycled an infant car seat, some books, have tossed some broken toys, given the kids grocery bags to fill up with trash from their rooms.

I’ve cleared off a counter that used to be a collection spot for things when they come in the door, and have set up some Rubbermaid drawers to collect the stuff, out of sight, to be gone through once a week, thus leaving the counter open and free.

I’ve donated some clothes, and plan on going through my closet next week and pruning that, too.

Also planning on moving Tiny from the highchair into a booster seat at the table, next week, so we can get the high chair out of here, also.

That one is sad, but I’m thrilled with the path through the kitchen that will be opened up with that particular piece of furniture removed.

6.  We recently bought Monkey Girl a laptop.

I know how much she will use it in middle school, next year, since I work there, and we decided we’d get it for her now so she could get familiar with it over the summer.

I guess that was silly, because she’s had it for a few days and she already works her Mac Book Pro better than I work mine.

I am consistently amazed at how easily kids pick up technology stuff.  I realize it’s because they’ve grown up in a tech world (digital natives) and it is just part of what they know, but it still amazes me.

It also makes me excited to see what they’ll all invent when they become adults.

7.  E-cards.

I kind of hate them.

They are everywhere.

Particularly Facebook.

And Pinterest.

But, some of them.

Funny.

Really funny.

So, I try really hard to hate the e-card.

But I really can’t.

Oh, how I absolutely love all these boys in my house.

Being a mommy of boys is awesome.

1.  I think I could be a competitive eater.

Whenever I watch tv shows about competitive eaters, I think to myself, “I could do that.”

I wouldn’t want to dip my hot dog buns in water before eating them, and I probably wouldn’t win any competitions, but I could totally be a competitive eater.

2.  Strange follow-up to number 1, but, more and more, I’m hearing about the “clique-ishness” in the Diabetic community from Type 1 diabetics toward Type 2 diabetics.

I’ve read three articles and heard one person on talk radio, in the past week, refer to Type 2 diabetics as “not real diabetics,” “diabetics who brought it on themselves,” and “the fat kind of diabetics.”

My assumption is that those of us who suffer from Type 2 diabetes haven’t been diabetic since birth, so clearly we brought it on ourselves.

Clique-ishness of any kind gets my ire up, but clique-ishness within a group of people all suffering from the same condition???

Seriously???

So, here I’ll make my stand and then let it go, because it ain’t worth it to stress about it:

a.  I am a real diabetic.

b.  I eat well, I exercise, and I take care of myself.  I stray, occasionally, but I’m also a human.

c.  I’m not even the slightest bit overweight.  I have some extra skin leftover from 4 monstrously sized babies, and that cold probably shave 5 pounds off my numbers, but even with it, I’m not overweight.

It’s genetic for me, and there’s nothing I could have done to prevent it.  Now that I have it, I’m doing what I can to stave off the insulin injections, through diet and exercise.

Not fat. Not lazy.

So there.

3.  We have one more week of school to go.

I know this in my head.

I see this on paper.

In my mind, it is summer.

These weekends have this summer feel to them.

Nights sitting on the deck, listening to music while the kids play.

Going hiking with Monkey Girl.

A feeling of peace and relaxation that has taken over me.

I don’t care what the calendar says.

Summer is here.

4.  Is it in the genetic DNA of every child to try to go up the slide backward?

I mean, I get it.

We all have a little salmon in us.

That desire to go against the flow, swim upstream, climb the slide.

But, is it actually genetically coded in us?

Because, I’ve never been to a playground where at least one child isn’t climbing up the slide.

And, as the picture shows, my own are no exception.

And I’m cool with that.

5.  We love parks.