TALKS...

There's a series of conversations that a parent must have with their child. It begins with simple ones, such as the "don't stick anything in that outlet", "don't play in the street" and "don't swing that toy or you could hit someone". These are the short and to-the-point talks.

As your child gets older, the conversations get longer and more important. When your child starts school, there's the talk about treating others as you want to be treated. That's a good one, chocked full of cliques. When that child is old enough to play outside and the boundaries in the neighborhood stretch, the stranger danger talk comes into play.

Sometimes it seems as if raising children is just a book of conversations and talks and speeches. But these are so important. This is how we, as parents, instill good morals and ethics into our children.

The responses from the children change over the years, too. When they're young, they simply don't do what you don't want them to do. Yes, they'll test you and try occasionally to do it again, but that's a stage they'll outgrow and hopefully, if you're a lucky parent, will not revisit. As they get older, you'll experience the "yes, mom, I know" response. You'll get the roll of the eyes. Sometimes, it's the "I'm not listening" response. This one is a tough one. More than likely, they are really listening. They are, once again, testing those boundaries.

You can only hope that over the years these words penetrate to the very depths of their beings. You want your voice to merge with that voice in their head that tells them what to do when all their buddies are planning to pull that prank or leave the place their supposed to be. This is the overall goal, the ultimate result.

The difficult part is trusting that this is the result. As you sit there on your couch while your child is at the skating rink with friends on a Friday night, you have to believe that the conversation you had in the car about not leaving the rink, being respectful to others, call if there's a problem, etc., sunk in. Thinking about it, you're heart races and your mind wanders to all the what-ifs. You find yourself holding your breath until your child is safely in his bed. These are the parental milestones that create grey hair.

For all you parents that have toddlers, be prepared. You have a lot of conversations ahead of you. For those that have school-age children, preteens, and teenagers, remember, you're not alone. Just keep in mind, you learned these conversations from someone else...your parent.

So, evidently, the process works.

GUACA-MONE!!...

A few nights ago, Bubba talked us into going to dinner at a local Mexican restaurant called Tortilla Flats. One of the neighborhood teenage girls works there. (Go figure, a girl had something to do with this request.)

We headed out the door, with Gooey sporting his Elmer Fudd hat. Daddeee tried to talk him into leaving it in the car at the restaurant but that was a no go.

Bubba's friend is the hostess at the restaurant so she greeted us at the door. She took us over to a booth in the corner and my first thought was "what a crappy place to seat us".

We settled into the booth and they served us our drinks along with chips and salsa. My opinion is that you can determine a good Mexican food restaurant by how good their salsa is. Tortilla Flats had very yummy salsa.

The waitress came over and we order our meals along with a small bowl of guacamole for me and Gooey. I like guacamole but Gooey hearts guacamole.

When the waitress brought the bowl to the table, Gooey's eyes lit up and he said, in a rather boisterous voice, "GUACA-MONE!!!!" She thought it was hilarious. This only encouraged him. Keep in mind that he's still wearing the Elmer Fudd hat so you can imagine what a funny sight he was.

Now, watching Gooey eat guacamole is a sight. He dips his chip into it and eats it off of the chip. He then double-dips it for more guacamole. This repeats until the chip no longer has the ability to hold the guacamole.

In the meantime, the waitress is bringing people over to the table to let them hear the little Elmer Fudd look-a-like say "GUACA-MONE!!"

They brought our food and it was really good. I had ordered the Mexican Lasagne and I loved it. And I'm a very picky eater when it comes to Mexican food.

Partially into the meal, I burped. It wasn't a loud, gross burp...just one of those oops burps that slip out when you least expect it. Gooey pipes up from across the table and says "Daddy farted!" One thing I will share with you about Gooey is he is not a quiet child. He has a very booming voice for a mere toddler. We all laughed at Daddeee getting blamed for my bad manners.

So remember me mentioning that I thought Bubba's friend seated us at a crappy table? Well, I'm so thankful that she sat us where she did or it would have been embarassing.

The entire meal, from the conversations to the food, was really enjoyable. I love family time and it's even better when we laugh through the whole meal.

FINALLY, SPRING...

Yes, hallelujah, spring has sprung! The weather warmed up this past week to a comfortable 70 degrees so out came the yard toys for the little boys, the motorcycle for the big boy, and the camera for Mommeee.



Gooey absolutely loves to play outside. Doesn't matter to him that the grass still hasn't turned green or that, at times, it's still a bit chilly. He just wants to be outside.


Could there be a future for my youngest as a plumber? Is it too soon to see the signs? Hey, plumbers make excellent money. Not only could he afford to support me in my old age but he can unclog my pipes, too.


Of course, sporting a mullet probably won't help him get a job doing anything else. For the record, the mullet is not my idea. Yes, I love his curls, but the whole thing is his dad's doing. I've tried to get his hair cut but Daddeee says no.

And, uh, speaking of bad hairdos. I don't even know what to say about Bubba's latest style. He allowed the neighborhood girls to give him a new do. Should I be worried that he's so influenced by the females around him? I won't even go into what color his fingernails are right now. Sigh.



Did I mention bad hairdos? I'm surrounded. This is my main man. He's decided to single-handedly bring back one of the worst styles ever worn by man. He, too, has a mullet. His isn't as long as Gooey's but it will be. I've threatened to cut it in his sleep.

This picture had to be included just because of the look on his face. I don't even know how to describe that look. I wonder what he was thinking.

(I'm proud to say this was a huge zoom in with my camera. I didn't expect it to turn out as well as it did, not that it's a spectacular photo, but as a zoom in, it's pretty darn good)

Every good spring day has it's end. Someone was getting a tad bit cranky for supper so we called it a day and headed into the house. Can't you tell from the drool on his face that he was absolutely starving?

Days until VACATION: 64