Seriously Dog

A friend forwarded this in an email in honor of Mother's Day.  I love the ideas that run through kids' heads!  I hope none of these answers were from my kids (especially the one about plastic surgery or eating a lot)!!
Answers given by 2nd grade school children to the following questions:



Why did God make mothers?

1. She's the only one who knows where the scotch tape is.
2. Mostly to clean the house.
3. To help us out of there when we were getting born.

How did God make mothers?

1. He used dirt, just like for the rest of us.
2. Magic plus super powers and a lot of stirring.
3. God made my mom just the same like he made me. He just used bigger parts.

What ingredients are mothers made of?
1. God makes mothers out of clouds and angel hair and everything nice in the world and one dab of mean.
2. They had to get their start from men's bones. Then they mostly use string, I think.

Why did God give you your mother and not some other mom?
1. We're related.
2. God knew she likes me a lot more than other people's mom like me.
What kind of a little girl was your mom?
1. My mom has always been my mom and none of that other stuff.
2. I don't know because I wasn't there, but my guess would be pretty bossy.
3. They say she used to be nice.

What did mom need to know about dad before she married him?
1. His last name.
2. She had to know his background. Like is he a crook? Does he get drunk on beer?
3. Does he make at least $800 a year? Did he say NO to drugs and YES to chores?
Why did your mom marry your dad?
1. My dad makes the best spaghetti in the world. And my mom eats a lot.
2. She got too old to do anything else with him.
3. My grandma says that mom didn't have her thinking cap on.
Who's the boss at your house?
1. Mom doesn't want to be boss, but she has to because dad's such a goof ball.
2. Mom. You can tell by room inspection. She sees the stuff under the bed.
3. I guess mom is, but only because she has a lot more to do than dad.
What's the difference between moms and dads?
1. Moms work at work and work at home and dads just go to work at work.
2. Moms know how to talk to teachers without scaring them.
3. Dads are taller and stronger, but moms have all the real power 'cause that's who you got to ask if you want to sleep over at your friends.
4. Moms have magic, they make you feel better without medicine.

What does your mom do in her spare time?
1. Mothers don't do spare time.
2. To hear her tell it, she pays bills all day long.

What would it take to make your mom perfect?
1. On the inside she's already perfect. Outside, I think some kind of plastic surgery.
2. Diet. You know, her hair. I'd diet, maybe blue.

If you could change one thing about your mom, what would it be?
1. She has this weird thing about me keeping my room clean. I'd get rid of that.
2. I'd make my mom smarter. Then she would know it was my sister who did it not me.
3. I would like for her to get rid of those invisible eyes on the back of her head.

Wow - what a long week! It is amazing the amount of work that goes into being a full time SAHM.




I am a newly retired Working mom (just sold a business) and am getting used to not having clients to answer to and deadlines to meet. Ever since my oldest was born (he is now 8) I have been able to work from home with a flexible schedule but this can be both a luxury and a curse. Being at home allowed me to be with my kids and pick them up from school, allowed me to take care of my home and get dinner on the table each night, and allowed me to do the things that need to be done each week (groceries, clothes, sports practices, dry-cleaning) without having to designate the entire weekend to it.




The curse is that work never stops. Your office is in the next room so when something is on your mind about work insomnia sets in and inevitably you end up doing some work when others have left that at the office for the next day. There is always one more task, email, project that you think you can squeeze in while the kids are finishing their homework or while they are watching their favorite show. There is never a time that you can see the stack on your desk and think of all the things you should be doing for work.




The added pressure comes from the fact that, while you can do all of the motherly/housewifey things mentioned above, you can't do any of them well. There have been plenty of moments when my husband has discovered that there is no clean underwear in the house for him that day, multiple occasions when my kid's lunches have been less than spectacular because I haven't been to the store in 2 weeks, and plenty of times we have had hot dogs for dinner because I just didn't plan ahead.




I thought switching gears to being a SAHM would have allowed me to find a little more peace in the house but, sadly that is not the case. Now, instead of being irritated with a client's email or an unreasonable request, I find myself getting irritated that I spent an hour cleaning the downstairs of our house and come back to it 30 minutes later to find it trashed. I can't tell you how frustrating it is to clean all the bathrooms in the house (which is the WORST job in the world) only to find the blob of toothpaste left in the sink after your children brush their teeth. Even the animals chip in on the mess making - the cat with his errant cat litter scatterings and the dog with her incessant need to destroy something in my house each day.




I have decided that it doesn't matter if you are a SAHM or a working mom, no one has it all. There are ups and downs to both and that both jobs are challenging - each in its own way. Each of us juggles different daily responsibilities and no one is sitting around eating bon bons and watching movies all day (despite what some of our husbands think).




I have experienced both sides of the fence and love and hate different aspects of each. Eventually I will most likely go back to work as my kids get a little older but right now I am enjoying discovering new activities like blogging, twittering, deep cleaning the house, organizing, etc, etc. I also enjoy that I can stop and actually take in the world around me. This week I have discovered:

• That a Starbucks Chai Tea Latte a day is a requirement for me to function each day (I am on my way there right now to fill the quota)
• That an 8 year old has the memory of a gnat and will walk out the door for a baseball game right past the baseball hat needed to complete his uniform (even after several reminders not to forget the hat)
• That there is a woman in my neighborhood who chooses as her work-out closes and long sleeve t-shirt and an ankle length skirt
• That it doesn't matter that your kids have been in school for 8 months now they will inevitably walk out the door and get in the car without their book bag an average of 3 days a week (see above - gnat memory)
• That your 4 year old will rat you out to the girl driving carpool and tell everyone that his mom runs red lights (which is totally untrue) and that she talks mean to cars when they won't get out of her way (which I categorically deny).
• There truly is a phobia of clowns (this post by The Blogess chronicals what I image to be my 4 years old's worst nightmare when he is grown and married)
• There is never a time where someone in the house (and that includes the animals) doesn't have a grievance to share with you
• There are days when you truly are over the driving and prep for the kid's activities and you just pray for rain so that everything is cancelled.
• That no matter how much you complain about how your kid's activities are taking over your life that in the end you truly enjoy being there with them.

Here's to the start of a new week - hope it is a great one!