Wednesday, March 7, 2012

I'm That Mom

We had three birthday parties last week. Three. How does that even happen? And what did I do to deserve that kind of torture? Just kidding. I actually enjoyed a couple of them. But being that I have three bambinos, under the age of 5, it's not easy to hit Target or Toys R Us without getting guilt-tripped into buying SOMETHING for them, as well as the birthday kids. I can barely afford the birthday gifts (especially when I have to buy THREE at a time!!), much less two more things for my kids. So....

I'm that Mom. The one that gives giftcards. To 4 year olds. 

Don't judge me. 

Gift cards are easy. AND! Wait a minute... When you think of it...they are brilliant. 

Chances are, the birthday kid is going to get a TON of gifts on party day. Weeks or months later, they will be tired of playing with said gifts and will most likely hit up mom or dad for something new and exciting to play. 

**(hear musical chimes)**
**(enter giftcard)**

Problem solved. 

You can thank me later =) 

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Playground Blues

As Baker gets older, I am brought back to my days as a child. He's now at the age where I can remember vivid of memories of things that happened to me. I always thought I was a normal kid (don't we all think that?), but truth be known- I have always...ALWAYS...had a hard time making friends. Even to this day, I find that I don't have more than a few close friends and  now that Baker is in school, I've never found myself in the middle of the preschool moms who hang around chit-chatting with their morning coffees. So when he comes home from school and says that no one will play with him on the playground, my heart breaks. Into a million pieces. Is he destined to feel like an outsider his whole life? Ugh. I mean, he has a few boys at school that he likes to have over for play dates and who he talks about incessantly. So when he says they don't want to play with him at school, I feel for him. I mean, I think my kid is the greatest! He's so creative. And funny. And outgoing. And inquisitive. And brave. And smart...and the list goes on. So why on Earth wouldn't other little people think he's great too? Who do these kids think they are? Don't they know what they are missing out on??? My protective instincts kick into overdrive. I want to march down to that school and tell those three foot somethings exactly what I think about them. But then I take a few yoga breaths and realize that this is just the first of many hurdles my little man is going to have to jump. I can't fight these kind of battles for him. I never want to sway his confidence. He can make friends on his own good time. For now, I'm more than a little stoked that he tells me that his best friend is his little brother =) 
-MK

What do you think? How would you (or have you) handle(d) this situation? I'd love to hear your comments!