Truly Authentic

First, ahem, before I begin....New Moon was amazing. Totally worth the 3 hours I waited in line to get a good seat. And the lost sleep. I felt young and fun and I'm so glad I went. Go see it now!!

Did you ever watch JEM the cartoon from the 80's? My sister and I were obsessed with it. We watched it every Saturday. Now, watch this clip, but change the words "Truly Outrageous" to "Truly Authentic" and pretend I'm JEM. OK? Please? I've always wanted to be a 6 ft tall gorgeous blond secret rock star. JEM was Hannah Montana in the 80's but WAY cooler!!



This past week my blogirlfriend Tammy over at Keep in Touch with Mommakin tagged me with a really cool "title". It's Theta Mom---stands for The Truly Authentic Mom. Pretty cool, eh? Thanks, Mommakin. I'm glad you now there's no B.S. here. (Now the rest of the day you'll be singing "Tiff! She's truly authentic! Truly, truly, truly authentic! Whoah, TIFF!!!" I apologize for that.

Now, being tagged as a Theta Mom has some responsibilities and one of them is that I share five experiences that have shaped me as a true authentic mom. The other is that I tag five other goyles who I think bring a certain sense of authenticity to the title of mom. I really don't like having to pick out people because I think you're all pretty great. But them's the rules.

Now Tammy is way cooler than I am and had her kids help her decide what makes her a Theta Mom. I've been racking my brain all week trying to think of a creative way to do it. I got nothing. It's just gonna be plain old me talking.

So here are my 5 experiences that have shaped me as a Theta Mom....

1.) Shocked as you all will be...Olivia's diagnosis. How could that not shape me?? When you have a child with special needs, you have no choice but to be authentic. If you want to be a great Mom for them, that is. I guess you could be fake and pretend that it's all roses all the time...but it ain't. I think if I hadn't had her, and had her first, I would have been a "checklist Mom". Walking? Check. Talking? Check. ABCs? Check. But I had to throw all of that out the window and just be real. It sucks at times but it is the way it is.

2.) Having Gabriel 13 months later. I walked around for 3 days saying "Holy shit." How on Earth was I going to do this? I had to be real with myself that it was going to be tough. I was going to be exhausted. But these two kids needed me. So, I did it. But I can promise I was always real.

3.) Leaving my high school teaching position to work from home. I put my family first. I miss teaching in the classroom. I loved my job. But there was just no way that it was the right choice for our family at the time.

4.) My depression after having Matthew. I know now that I had depression after Olivia and Gabriel. But it was undiagnosed. With Matthew, I just couldn't ignore it anymore. I was embarrassed that I was depressed and needed meds at first. But then my doctor helped me realize that having dperession is just like having diabetes or some other medical condition that you have to take care of. It's not because I'm weak or just "can't get over it"...it's. a. medical. condition.

5.) Watching my kids in school and with their friends. Is there anything that makes you feel like you are doing a good job than to see your kids succeeding in school both socially and academically? To see them make good friends, make good choices and feel good about themselves makes me feel like I must be doing something right.

So there you have it. I'm a Theta Mom. Thank you so much, Tammy, for that title. It really means the world to me!! And you know I'm not B.S.ing!!

Now onto the tagging....here are the Moms I'm tagging as Theta Moms today...

1.) Laura at Kiddie Kaleidoscope
2.) Jenny Penny at Welcome to my Momplex
3.) Joyce at Class of 2008 (when Sarah lets her take over!)
4.) Lindy at Future Blackmail
5.) Gibby at Lost in Suburban Bliss
6.) Kristen at The Beautiful Cayman Cindy

To all the Theta Moms out there....keep it real! ;)

It's Official---I'm a Twihard

It's Official---I'm a Twihard.

I know there's a lot of Twihard haters out there...but stick with me.

My friend's then-11-year-old daughter told me to read Twilight.

"Mrs. Townsend, I just know you'll love it. You love Harry Potter. You'll love this."

"OK, A, I will read it. Thanks for thinking of me."

She gave me her only beloved copy.

I read the back cover about how it was a vampire love story. And how it was hundreds of pages. And didn't read it.

I don't like vampires.
I don't like love stories.
I don't like super long books.

"Mrs. Townsend, did you read it yet?"

"Uh, not yet."

"Mrs. Townsend, did you read it yet?"

"It's next on my list."

"Mrs. Townsend, please read it, you'll love it!"

OK, so I did.

And I loved it.

And couldn't wait to read the next 3. Boy did that little girl have my number.

I don't know what it is about them. They're very well-written. They're fantastical. They remind me of being a teenager again. The story is riveting. It's an amazing series.

So, yes, I'm a Twihard. I admit it. I'm even going to see New Moon at midnight tonight with some friends. I know I'm going to be exhausted tomorrow. I'm not even sure I can stay awake that long. But I'm going. Because I'm a Twihard. You can judge me if you want to...but only if you've read the books. You should give it a try.

You can always hide them in your purse. I did.

Team Edward, Baby!!!

Wordless Wednesday---It Pays to be Good

OK, you know I can't do a truly Wordless day...but Olivia's teacher sends Leo the Cheetah home when you've been good (I'm not sure what the exact requirements are??). Olivia's been able to bring him home twice...and it just lights her up!! You get to keep him overnight and you have to write about your adventure in the class journal. How cute is that?

Don't Be Stupid --- Tuesday Tunes

In honor of today's Tuesday Tunes, I'm going to tell you a funny story about one of my favorite singers. So sit back, relax and enjoy.

When Olivia was 2 and Gabriel was 1, we headed out for a 2 week trip to upstate New York and Maine. We stopped for one-night in Burlington, Vermont. (You want to go there...it's where Ben and Jerry live!)

Matt went to the grocery store and saw a poster that said Shania Twain was going to be performing in town that night.

Oh. My. God. I. Love. Shania. Twain.

And she was going to be in the town where we were staying. That night.

WHAT??? NO WAY!!

We called the bar...called The Rusty Nail...where she would be playing to double check that it was true.

Oh yeah. She's going to be here. Get here early for good seats.

Have I mentioned that, other than shopping, I hate going places by myself? But, damn it, it's SHANIA!! I'm in a different state, I don't know a soul, but I'm going.

So I put her CD in my purse and headed out around 10 to see Shania. Yes, I took the CD so she could sign it, ok? Just in case. Have you not figured out yet that I'm a total dork?

I get there early and get a good seat. I get a drink and settle in. I start talking to the woman next to me and she says "Are you looking forward to the show? This woman is so good."

Then she says...

"You'd never know she's not Shania."

WHAT????

So I don't want to seem like an idiot that came to see the real Shania, but I want to know what the heck she's talking about, so I'm all like "Really? She's that good? I'm from out of town and just wanted to get away from the fam for a bit" You know, playing it all casual....

The woman says "Yeah, this Shania Twin is amazing! She looks and sounds just like her!"

You heard it right.

Shania. TWIN.

I thought I would die of embarassment even though not one soul in that room knew that I thought it was the real Shania. I was embarassed just for me.

I stayed for quite a while and had a great time.

The best part was saved for when I got back to our camper and told Matt the whole story. We laughed so hard the camper shook.

And it's our number one favorite story of all time.


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Why are you so tired?

I think there's something wrong with me. I'm. Exhausted. All. The. Time. But there's nothing wrong with me, really, it's just motherhood.

The other night, as I was tucking in Gabe, after getting everyone ready for bed, reading stories and tucking the other two in, he said "Will you read another book with me?" I was so tired and just wanted to go to bed myself. So that's what I told him. He looked at me and said "Why are you always so tired, Mom?"

Let's see...

Wake up at 4:30 work out for 1.5 hours HARD shower/get ready get everyone out the door for school clean work play with Matthew run errands make lunch clean work some more get everyone home from school homework projects clean laundry play make dinner clean play/homework/projects baths books bed work some more talk to Dad sleep by 10

And that doesn't include all the other worries and incidentals that come up during the day...the forgotten lunch, the unexpected phone call...the person at the door...the birthday presents needed...

But how do you explain that to a 7-year-old who just wants a little more attention before he goes to sleep? When he's had to share it all day long with his brother and sister? He doesn't care that I'm tired...he just wants me and my attention.

I wish I could tell him why I'm so tired...but I don't. I just crawl in bed and read him another chapter.

Because that's what Moms do, right?

Must be doing something right

The kids didn't have school yesterday. I was so excited to have them home, spend some time together and do something fun.

It turned into one of those days where all I did was yell.

At Olivia for continuing to go in the bathroom and flood it.

At Matthew for throwing tantrums and whining. (He's been sick...but still.)

At Olivia for kicking the kids at story time.

At Matthew for acting like an ass at story time.

At Matthew for getting out of bed during his nap to let Olivia out of her room to....go into the bathroom and flood it.

Thank God Gabe recognized I was about to lose my mind and behaved himself. You know, it's fun to be the good one when everyone else is being a shit.

Of course they picked the day that Matt was gone until 9 p.m. Of course.

I was about to dive into a bottle/glass of wine when Matthew came downstairs because he needed a drink of water. And to pee. And would I please come up and tuck him in again and read another story? (I think I jinxed myself with my post yesterday. Hmmm....)

I was done. So I said no. Get a drink, go pee and go back to bed. I'll tuck you in again when I come up.

Gabe hears his brother crying, knows it's been a long day, goes in, gets under the covers with him, reads him two stories, makes him laugh and goes back to bed.

I must be doing something right.

It's Official -- I hate bedtime

It's Official --- I hate bedtime.

Hate it.

It pains me to admit that I hate it, but there it is, I do.

Trust me, I love it that it means I'm done being Mommy for the day and I can now have time to catch up on my DVRd shows, spend time with Matt, read a book, clean, fold laundry...whatever.

But I hate the whole process. Especially giving baths. I don't know if it's from all of those years when Matt was never home at bath time and I had to do it all myself. I also can't stand getting wet when I'm dressed...and Olivia splashes like a whale!! Then it's pjs...and brushing teeth...and brushing hair...and all that. It drives me nuts.

Then Dad comes up and gets them all wound up. That's when I want to lose it.

But then we read stories and that's my favorite part. Reading stories and cuddling under the covers before sleep. I do love that part.

I feel bad that I don't like putting the kids to bed. It's one of those things about being a Mom that I feel like I should like...but I don't. So my question to you today is...is there something about being a Mom that you don't like that you feel like you should?

Come on...share a secret with me today. It's official...it will make you feel better!