CafeKel

Hi!  Remember me?  Nah?!  Well, that’s ok.  I know I’ve been a little slackerish (ok, a LOT) slackerish lately and I apologize.

But now that we’ve got all that out of the way I have a very important topic to discuss.  That’s right people….it’s POTTY TRAINING  TIME!  For those of you without little ones running around, well here’s a big fat ‘I don’t like you much right now’ moment and I’ll be back to the pleasantries soon. *wink* for the rest of us out there…HELP!

No, this is not my first go at this … apparently I succeeded once before in the realm of potty training with DQ, but OMG…I seem to have misplaced those memories and for the life of me I can’t seem to remember how or what or anything of any significance relating to that momentous event, so now…now I just try and fail and try again. 

Little Miss is definitely something else.  I tried really hard to do the whole ‘potty train’ thing with pullups…you know the kind of mom who gets her kid to keep them dry and then puts them in panties and ‘voila’ no accidents.

Umm…yeah….that didn’t work out so well.  Suffice it to say that a pullup she fully believed she could pee in and it was no big deal.  Panties (I’m hoping) will be a big deal.

I tried suckers (her favorite) and stickers (quickly becoming favorite #2) but no…still I have a child who will waddle in and say ‘Momma, I made a mess in my pants….I peepee’d on myself.’  Actually, if the truth were told, she does really well….AT DAY SCHOOL.  She’s had a few accidents, but not too many.  At home however, I swear it’s like she knows it drives me batty – or perhaps she finds it amusing to watch her mamma crawling around scrubbing the most recent wet spot because I can never be too sure.

So, in short…if anyone out there has any suggestions….I’m all ears.  I mean, if I could just manage this one little thing I promise I’ll do something good for someone else…like not let my 2 year old pee on their couch?!

Tuesday was National Pancake Day and IHOP offered up ‘free’ short stacks in hopes that people would donate to the Children’s Miracle Network.  In my true ‘never pass up anything free’ self *wink* the hubs and I jumped in the car with DQ and Little Miss and headed to our local IHOP for dinner.

After we were seated in a booth, crowded next to a packed house of strangers DQ decided to share with us (and our neighbors to the left and right) the little “fill in the blank” story on the back of the kids menu…only this wasn’t going to be a typical story.  *note, the blanks to be filled in on the menu are underlined below allowing each kid to fill in their own*

DQ and Lizzy are astronauts who fly into space.  Three…two…one…cock as the rocket blasted into space.  DQ opened chickin and ate a tube.  Then off in the distance Lizzy noticed a milky planet with a pink spot and said “That’s where we’re going.”  The two friends landed on the soft surface and played frog hop with the purple aliens.

When I asked what sound ‘cock’ was she said…“it’s a funny sound mom, duh!”

And people wonder why I’m losing my hair!?

Happy HUMP day!

I had been tossing around an idea for a post about stress.  It seems my world is filled with it  more so lately than usual, but as I sit here and write these words it strikes me that stress is everywhere.  Mondays are the start of the week and yes, rarely is there anyone I meet who is overly exstatic to start the work week again…but I have to wonder somewhere if perhaps my attitude towards all of this isn’t somehow setting a tone?

Last week ended on a rather sour note and I struggled to find the silver lining in anything.  I proceeded to spend the weekend drowing my stress in the kitchen in preparation for ‘Monday,’ but here it is, early on a Monday morning and I can easily see my stress meter pegging in the red.  I am feeling frustrated and aggrivated  and it’s way too early for this, knowing this is just the start of the week.  I see the problems, I see the things I cannot change and the ‘brick wall’ I continually beat my head against in my effort to do my job as a mother, wife and worker bee – things that are always there, but today make me stop and think “why am I doing this?”  These are the things that make me want to throw in the towel  and look the other way without caring.

But…..

I am not a QUITTER.

I’ve never been one to go out quietly.  I’ve never been one to bury my head in the sand and pretend it doesn’t exist.  I’m the type of person who finds a way or makes one.  Apparently my current state of mind is clouded and I’ve been thinking this for some time…perhaps it’s time for a new pair of glasses.  Perhaps it’s time for a new view of the situation.  Perhaps it’s time for a reassessment of Mondays. 

I’m not saying any of this will be easy, but it’s time to challenge ourselves and find away to make Monday a little brighter.  Believe in the power of thought and anything is possible…..

I am giving up on making passes and
I am giving up on half empty glasses and
I am giving up on greener grasses
I am giving up
“Giving up” by Ingrid Michaelson

I pull on my jeans and buckle the belt around my waist.  I pull the shirt over my head  and smooth it down in just the right places.  Brush runs through my hair as I attempt to put each strand in place, an image I know will be short lived.  A wave of a wand to the left and right, a flick of a wrist over my lashes and a smudge of lipstick puts the finishing touches over what I hope is the perfect image of calm.

I arrive, smile firmly in place and begin the ruse of politeness.  A friendly hand shake or a ‘familiar’ hug…”how have you been” and “You look great” flow freely from my lips with each encounter I make.  Slowly the pieces fall into place and I find my footing amongst the activities of the day, only slightly obscured by the camera I shielded myself with.  Always present and yet never really ‘at home’ in my surrounding.  The hours tick by with each click of my camera as individual moments are captured, frozen by an outsider, in time.

This is not my story.  This is not my doing.  I am merely an observer to the life happening around me in this brief instant of time.  I cannot however, remove myself from this story because despite my obvious separation, my path has criss crossed this one before and now the two are entangled together.  I smiled through the day, I did what I do best and held on to my sanity through understated involvement and walked away knowing I had cloaked myself in a personality reserved for my most uncomfortable moments.

That night, I reviewed the photographs that depicted happiness and family of a different kind noticing the only face missing was mine.  Of all that had been captured, how odd (and slightly amusing) the only one not in an image was the one cloaked in fear of not belonging.

How do you handle uncomfortable situations?

**This is not meant as a ‘poor me’ reflection, but rather an observation at the coping mechanisms I use in different situations.  I have always wanted to fit in, find my place.  I like to joke ‘If I were any other woman…’ but the truth is I am not.  I am merely a woman who does not like to see people sad and sometimes that means I willingly accept uncomfortable situations for the sake of those I love.  **