Orange County Moms Blog

My Babies are Growing Up!

Being a Mom of two boys is a never-ending source of entertainment.  Ten years ago no one had heard of iPods, iPads, iPhones or other silly things, but now those words are common.   

We were out and about running errands in the car when I heard my oldest began to tell my youngest a joke:

Hey Kyle?

What?

How do you spell iCup?

It only took him a minute to start spelling out i...C...u...p... (Are you laughing yet?)

The car was suddenly full of laughter.  I was laughing so hard I had tears in my eyes.  Of course the same joke was re-told about 50 more times.  Yes, including to the couple in line behind us while waiting for Space Mountain at Disneyland last week.

My life has really changed being a mother of not just one, but two active boys.  No butterflies, Barbie's or pink anything around our house.  Instead it's roller coasters, Lego's and video games.  My boys have brought out the adventurous side in me and I love it.  But, my little babies aren't babies anymore and it is becoming harder to ignore every day. 

What is the value of a dollar anyway?

It was one of those moments as a mom that I found myself wondering if this is one of those battles I needed to pick.

I had trusted the boys to take $5 in cash to reload their lunch accounts that morning, something I had never let them do on their own before.  I was in a rush that morning and didn't have time to go by the school office myself and the boys reassured me it wasn't a problem.  I handed them each a $5 bill and watched as they tucked them deep in to their pockets.  As I dropped them off at the gate I reminded them to head straight to the office to put the money on their accounts.  "Yes, Mom, we know, we know" was repeated back to me over and over again. 

My mother's intuition was going off like no other.  I knew this wasn't going to go smoothly.

I Blame My Mom For Everything

It is all her fault.  She set the bar so high I seriously don't know how I can get there.  I'm trying, believe me, but lately I just feel like it is taking every ounce of sanity and energy I have just to be the Mom she was to me. 

Over a decade ago my Mom and I made this deal, my husband (boyfriend at the time) and I would buy a large house with an in-law cottage and she would live there.  I could go out and have the career I dreamed of while she helped out with daycare.  She'd help me be the SuperMom I wanted to be.  She was the only other person I really felt I could trust to "raise" my children while I would be working.  But you see, she broke the deal and I will never forgive her for it.

Now I am stuck sitting here missing my Mom, trying to juggle working full time, raising my boys, being a good wife and somehow trying to maintain my sanity.  I'm just trying to be as good of a Mom to my boys as she was to me.  Some days I wonder if I'm doing enough or missing some critical aspect of mothering that I won't realize was missing until it is far too late, but when I look in the beautiful, loving eyes of my boys... I know I have to be getting most of it right.

If You Can't Afford to Pay for it with Real Money...You Have No Business Getting it Done!

I wasn’t really trying to listen in on their conversation… but after a while it became hard to not listen to what they were saying.  Yes, the economic downturn has affected Orange County, CA in a major way.  I don’t know anyone whose family hasn’t been touched in some way, either by a layoff, a pay reduction or some other reduction in financial security.   It’s the topic on everyone’s minds these days so it’s not unusual to hear women talking about their home being foreclosed on while their kids play at the park or sip on a coffee at Starbucks.  It’s just reality around here and not just fodder for The Real Housewives of Orange County!

As I sat there pretending to be immersed in emails on my iPhone, I overheard one of the women mentioning that they didn’t have the money to pay the movers the remaining balance to get their furniture out of storage.  I heard her say over and over again how hard the past few months had been.  I couldn’t help but notice her perfectly manicured acrylic nails, salon perfect hair and obvious cosmetic surgery she’d had and wonder whether it was “real” money spent on those items or just paid for with equity lines and credit cards.  Don’t misunderstand me… I have absolutely nothing against those things.  My beef is with spending fake money for it.  If you can’t afford to pay for it with real money… you have no business getting it done!   If you can’t afford to pay a couple thousand dollars to get your furniture out of storage how can you rationalize manicures, expensive hairstylists and a shopping budget that would feed a small village?