Therapy at my fingertips

To complete my incredibly exciting (sarcasm) semester of college Algebra I will now *DELETE* my most unfavorite favorites folder entitled "Jamie Algebra"...not to be confused with "Ashley Pre-Algebra".

For future reference, because really, I will probably need these links once again when Ashley develops a matching mommy bald spot from pulling her hair out with Algebra, here are the links that I'm tired of looking at in the left hand column of my screen:

Quadradic Solver...awesome site

I don't remember what was so good about this one, but it must be helpful since I did save it

Why Purple?

Lots of good stuff that I hope to never see again

Speechless once again

Last night we sat down to read, as we do most everynight. This night, Alex picked an Aurthur book to read to me. Aurthur and his buddy take a bus to swim lessons and end up getting lost after falling asleep and missing their stop.
After realizing that they're lost, and don't have a clue where they are, the following dialogue went on between the 6 year old and I:

Mom: "Awww, Aurthur's poor momma...she must be so worried about her little boy! I would be so worried if that were you!"

Alex: "OH-COME-ON momma, it's obviously JUST a book...I mean they're talking dogs and rabbits dressed up in CLOTHES!"

Ticky tacky

Recently, I had a conversation with an older child of mine about my choice to "thrift". You see, said older child of mine is growing up, and while she's enjoying the added bonuses of freedom, she's had a bit of a struggle lately. Confession: I BUY USED CLOTHES. Yeah, so it's out there whooptey doo. I don't see the hang up, and why it's so important that I buy a neatly hung, chemical filled garment, that will look just like the one down the street at the xxxx thrift shop in two washes. So, back to the struggle. It seems we have kiddos that are extremely fixated on "where" Ashley gets her clothes. Keep in mind, she goes to school each day looking just like everyone else, the name brands, the stylish outfits, the accessories, you name it. She's happy with her selection of some 60 shirts and countless pants, capris and shorts. The problem: she hates lying. When someone asks her where she gets a particular outfit, she gets uncomfortable. She doesn't want to lie, but she also doesn't want to confess. Sure there are ways around the questions, "my mom bought it", "it CAME from xxxx", whatever. But why oh why is it so imporant to these kids that she bought something at a particular overpriced store? What I would love is for her to respond truthfully and tell them to suck it if they don't like it, but that's not reality. Reality is that she's growing up in a time when stupid crap like this matters.

So how do you teach a child not care what everyone else thinks, and to do their own thing, without other little bratty children shafting their self esteem? I don't know. All I could do was tell her that what she's feeling is normal and that while she doesn't need to care what people might think, it's ok to feel the way she's feeling. And mind you, this is not a little girl that is struggling to make friends, in fact, I believe most of her friends look up to her. I also gently reminded her that I'd be happy to forego the used clothes if it mattered that much to her, but I did tell her to kiss the name brands goodbye. Get use to Wal Mart and Target, because this momma is not going to get sucked in paying top dollar for clothes, just so you can look like everyone else. She stopped me and said no, no, no, she doesn't want me to stop, she loves the things I buy, she's just torn between wanting to be that little girl with no worries, yet at the same time wanting to grow up...which brings on a whole new set of worries. She hates caring what everyone else thinks. And for that I am GLAD. I'm glad she's going through the process of sorting out what's really important to her and what's not. It sucks that she has to struggle, but really, if she wasn't uncomfortable caring what people think, I think we'd have a bigger problem.

My poor sweetie, how do you tell her that this is just the beginning, but that someday, all of this will seem so, so trivial. I hope it will, because that will mean she's grown in to a confident young woman whose comfortable in her own skin and take on anything that comes her way.

If anyone has any pre-teen words of wisdom on the subject, I'd love to hear it.

Adolescence is when girls experience social pressure to put aside their authentic selves and to display only a small portion of their gifts. -Mary Pipher

Happy Mother's Day to meee

And my gift to myself, this handy dandy wall fountain, that I just couldn't live without. $189.95 here....but for me, $35 on Craigslist. *brand new* teehee!

Back in Black

So, now that school is over, and I have time on my hands, I decided to tackle the master bath cabinets. It's funny, our bathroom remodel has been complete for quite some time now, but in our minds it hasn't been 'complete'. It's incredible what a little bit of paint can do. Our cabinets were all 80's and the rest of the bathroom up to date. Something had to be done. Sooo, after half a quart of Sherwin Williams Black, a nice little sanding block to antique a few edges here and there, and some bronzy spray paint to cover the ugly 1984 brassy handles, we have a kick ass bathroom. Next is the powder room cabinets and then I'm on to the kitchen. Somebody stop me!!!

Happy Mother's Day

I hope everyone had a fantastical-icious Mother's Day!

I wanted to share my special gifts from the kiddos.

Alex made me several masterpieces at school, one of which is a tie dyed butterfly magnet that reads:

Butterfly hover
near my mother.
Tell her that
I really LOVE her.

This already has a special place on the fridge and has done it's job of warming my heart time and time again.

Another handmade gift from my sweetness is hand print lilys with a sweet poem and a picture of the handsome little man himself.

And the most precious of all his hand made gifts, a card, written by Alex:

My mom does not have a job
but she still works hard.

Moms are special. I love you.
Moms are sweet because they give hugs.

I love my mom because you sometimes
let me sleep with you.

Love,
Alex

And sweet Ashley wrote me a letter that I have to share. This one had me completely choked up.

Mothers are a special gift.
When you're sad, moms let you cry
but make you feel better,

Moms will always laugh at your jokes even when they're bad.

Even though at times they don't like it,
moms watch you grow up.

Moms cook you wonderful meals.
Moms are there when you get home.

Sometimes moms hit a bump in the road
but moms NEVER give up.

Moms are your worst enemy,
and your best friend.

Moms have big jobs
and even bigger hearts.

But most importantly they'll always love you.

Love,

Sissy

These are the best mother's day gifts a mom could EVER ask for, and I feel so, so fortunate to have two of the best kids around to share my life with.