Sunday, August 14, 2011

Adventures In Parenthood...


We had a major ordeal last night over Mac & Cheese. What kid doesn't love Mac & Cheese? Our 10 y/o apparently doesn't and his father made him sit at the table until he had eaten everything on his plate. Needless to say, it turned into an hour long ordeal; a lot of whining, complaining and drama. In the end, he ate it and we got on with the night.

Becoming a Step-Mom to 4 kiddos has made me realize a lot I had 'assumed' about parenting or thought about parenting might have been completely off. However, I'm also learning that I'm pretty good at parts of it too. So, it's all a learning curve. We will get there.

School starts on Aug. 22 and I'm not ashamed to say I'm counting down the days. I think life will fall into a much easier pattern once we are on a school schedule.

I thought it might be fun to share some things I've had to deal with/encountered/said that I never in my wildest dreams would have imagined - all being part of my newest adventure into Parenthood!

  • "If you will behave while we are here, we will eat/buy/do" (insert something fun here)
  • "Were you going to tell anyone you were bleeding"
  • That statement was promptly followed by cleaning up a large puddle of blood from a bloody nose
  • Getting beaned in the head with a baseball while playing catch
  • Reading a text message from our son to a girl stating "no, my parents are strict"
  • Reading a text message from our son to a girl asking "so, are we going out???"
  • Having a 10 y/o boy who constantly runs around in his underwear and then does dances for you in the underwear
  • Attempting to teach a 16 y/o how to drive and the sheer horror of actually letting her drive you around
  • Being told, when they don't like something, "I'll just go live with my Mom when I can"
  • Bra and pantie shopping with two teenage girls - enough said
  • Home run derby in the front yard
  • Moody teenagers (3 of them)
  • Whining and complaining - constantly
  • Dirty rooms and the daily struggle to clean them up
  • "If you don't eat that, you're not eating again until dinner"
  • "Sit down and don't move again until I tell you to"

The Mister told me the other day that I sounded like an old pro - like I had been doing this forever. This was after I had gone to the front door and screamed "If nobody wants to pick it up, I will pick it up. And if I have to pick it up, you won't get it back." Yeah, it's an adventure here.

But, all it takes is me looking out the front windows while I'm cooking dinner and seeing this, and it makes it all worth it:


The boys playing some baseball in the front yard. Always makes me happy to watch.

I never thought it was going to be easy, but I never knew how hard it could really be. On the flip side, I also didn't know I could love and care for 4 little people so much. So much in fact, I think of them as my very own and would do anything in the world for them. So, I guess it's a little give and take.

So, we are headed out to do some swimming and cooking out today. Sunday is the only day that my sweetie doesn't work - so we try to relax and hang out as a family.

Hope everyone has had a beautiful weekend!


Lots of Love...

~Manda Jane~

6 comments:

  1. Aww a great post :) i can relate on so many levels.....
    You doing a great job :)
    Hope you enjoy the rest of the weekend!
    Claire xo

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  2. Hi Amanda Jane,
    I Love reading your blog, and have awarded you the versatile blogger award.... please visit my blog for more information... www.polkadot-petties.blogspot..com Claire x

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  3. Awe, it's so cool to know you're raising 4 kids successfully ;). Have a great week!

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  4. Man oh Man!! You are brave. I have four pets. I could not imagine 4 children. Sounds like you're getting the hang of it. I love your haircut! Very cute!

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  5. You are rocking it out like an old pro indeed! Ohhhhh those little mac and cheese moments of life! :)
    Nice post! XOX Tracie

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  6. LMBO! Your life will never be dull!

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