A Grandma's Advice

For reasons unknown my thought have been drifting to my Grandma Hamper lately. Grandma has a tendency to pop into my head when I'm having a particularly challenging parenting time, and let me tell you S has been a doosy lately! Grandma always gave me great advice on child rearing and life in general. Although it is hard to pick the best thing she ever said to me, what she told me the day before my wedding is definitely a front runner. Here's the story:

My grandma and I were at the church preparing for my rehearsal. Now I think Grandma was slightly worried about me given that I was so young, 22, and the fact that I was pregnant. (If you really want you could figure out my age with that information) I know my grandma adored R and was very happy for both of us, but she still was my grandma and grandma was nothing if not a realist. So anyway, Grandma and I are sitting in the church, me in all of my pre-wedding glory and Grandma filled with all of her life experience ready to impart some wisdom on me.

She turned and looked at me and said, "Laura, do you really want to marry R?" This, of course, was an easy yes for me.

Grandma in all seriousness said, "Good, then before you get married I want you to categorize all of his faults." At this point I'm thinking, "Whaaa? Why would I want to think of all of the faults of my future husband right before my wedding?" Believe me I knew there were faults there, we had been together for six years, but I just didn't want to focus on them!

Grandma continued, oblivious to what was happening in my head,"You need to think of all of his faults, decided if you can live with them, and then forget them all. You will never be able to change R and you need to accept that now if you want to love him for the rest of your life."

This advice time and again has been proven true. I did what Grandma said and attempted to forget what I perceived as R's faults. In the six years we have been married I have not changed my husband and I don't even attempt to fool myself that I ever will. Believe me, the fault are still there but, thanks to Grandma, I accepted that they are going to be around for the rest of our lives and I love him anyway.

All of you spring brides/newlyweds take heed, Grandma was married for over fifty years, I think she knew what she was talking about.

Those Cheeky Teeth

You will have to excuse my poor photography, take a look at this picture of my darling daughters mouth.....



The extra white line behind all the beautifully straight, perfectly intact baby teeth is an adult tooth. This tooth, which is now about half way out, has taken it upon itself to grow behind all of her baby teeth. Not just behind mind you, but behind and at an angle...all I can hear is the cha-ching of the orthodontist's cash register....braces here we come...crap!

The Snack Discussion

R and I have an ongoing discussion on the snack habits of our children. R thinks they snack too much leading to their lack of appetite at meal time and an increased amount spent at the grocery store. I don't think they have a snack issue, sure they like their fruit and granola bars, but who doesn't? I generally let them snack when they ask for something but don't give them anything for about an hour before meals. R thinks I should start a scheduled snack time and if they want anything more make them wait for the next meal. This goes a little against my grain. I'm believer in the theory that kids know when they are hungry and know when they are full.

As a side note, I belive as people go through life we have a tendency to lose the abilty to recognize when we are full and that the inability of people to understand when their bodies are telling them they have had enough food is a big contributor to the obesity epidemic in our society. As parents I think it is very important to teach our children the concept of listening to our bodies and eating when we are hungry and not when we aren't, regardless of the scheduled eating times. Sorry about that, I'll get off my soap box now.

Back to my kids and their snacking. Following my whole theory, if they want a snack, as long as it is healthy and it's not too close to a meal, why not give it too them. So, after that long drawn out story, here is my question; How do you handle snack time and why? I'm sending this issue out to all of you in cyber space in the hopes of getting some advice and ending this ongoing "discussion" in my marriage. (In reality I'm hoping all of you will prove me right!)

A Hidden Jem

I was just perusing my old pictures and found this....



Seriously, have you ever seen anything so cute as a naked baby bum. I think the years between the ages of zero and three are really the only times when some one's naked bottom is cute, but that's just me. This picture will probably be at the forefront of S's senior picture board! It might scar him for life, but I do think it is my job as his mother to document just how cute his naked heine was.

LaLa's Rules of Life

1. Cleaning my house is a lesson in futility. No matter what room I clean the kids will find it and make a mess with in five minutes.

2. It takes one adult to watch A and J and about three to watch S.

3. I'm a much happier person if I get to sweat a little in the morning.

4. I'm a much happier person if I get to eat chocolate during the day. You need something to combat all of that exercise!

5. Children will live up to the expectations you set for them. Whether positive or negative expectations, they will never fail to disappoint.

6. A girls night out with good conversation and possibly a few glasses of wine can do wonders for your mental health, marriage and parenting.

7. Laundry is a vicious, vicious cycle!

8. Raising children is a team sport where everyone involved takes a turn playing every position. It generally is a bad day when S fills in as coach.

9. Try to listen to your children, their take on life is amazing and hilarious.

10. In a house full of children too much quiet is never a good thing.

11. Whenever I think I'm getting the hang of parenting my children change the rules. They like to keep me in my place!

Are You There God, It's Me A

This morning A was sitting on my lap in church. The church was moderately full, but there was a tall girl in front of us blocking A's view of the altar and pulpit. We went through the welcome, first songs, and prayer with everything normal then the lay person started to read the gospel. This particular lay person had a very deep, manly voice. As he began to read A started to swing her head back and forth, looking in all directions. Being so little she could only see the backs of the family in front of us. Finally she looked at me with huge, incredulous eyes,in an amazed whisper she said, "Mama, it's God!"

Newest Addition.....

Since we all are finally healthy, R and I decided to celebrate by adding a new member to our family.

Here he is, the newest W.....



Dadadadadadadada (this is drumming, in case you didn't know)



Please welcome....




Greenie Irish Welsh!!!!!

I know you all are very excited for our family. Our trip to Petco was definitely an event for the record books. Greenie's name was chosen by J and A, but only after J informed everyone that she would not tolerate any of the "weird ugly names A usually picks." (A has a penchant for names she makes up herself like "Langa", "Raynga", or my personal favorite "Majaynga") R and I fully support choice of both a first and middle name. He is a member of the family after all.