Sorry I haven't posted lately, I was sick :(. Feeling better now, thank God.
Well tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day and I am very excited. I've only made it to the parade in New York once in the last decade, and I'm going tomorrow. The forecast is 60 degrees and sunny YAY!!!!
My parents were both born and raised in Ireland, making me 1st generation American. For little girls whose parents are from Ireland, taking tap dance and ballet lessons aren't the norm, and frankly weren't on our radar either. Naturally, we all took Irish dancing, but we never gave it much thought, and thankfully, we really loved it.
I danced from the time I was 5 until I was 14. My mom tried to start me at 4, but I wasn't ready to stay in line and listen.... OMG, I'm still the same!
Anyway, this is a short one, but I'll follow up with a St. Pat's Day report.
Take apeak at this.... very cool
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxQrWey4Qsw
nils lofgren on accordion, gets the crowd singing “fields of athenry”
just prior to bruce springsteen beginning “no surrender”
july 12, 2009 LIVE in dublin
If you have an extra minute, check out youtube Stavros Flatly Audition Britain's Got Talent. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Tu0PAbW75A
TOO FUNNY.
Have a great day,
Sheila
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Always, a Mom
I'm finally beginning to understand my mom. I mean really understand her. Well she's matured alot since I was a teenager, so it's easier for us to communicate now.
Often I tease her that she could find something to worry about, if nothing too troubling was already going on. That's a tall order for our family, nothing to worry about that is, there's 21 of us.
My mom was blessed (or cursed I suppose, ha ha) with 6 children. The girls were all born 1st; 5 of them. You read right... 5 baby girls in a row!!! Now, if you were paying attention when I said she had 6 children, then you got it... the baby was a boy. We (my siblings & I) claim that's why there's 6 of us, not 7. But, she swears it had nothing to do with finally "getting that boy".
Well, the first 5 of us were born in less than 7 years! That's alot of teenage girls to be raising in the '70s and '80s. Now put your calculator away.... I am 29 years old and so are all my sisters..... in fact my mom is 29 too.
Oh, now there are grandchildren too, which to her delight allows more opportunity for worry... you know what I mean.
RELAX! I'm just kidding...
Truth be told, I'm turning out to be alot more like her than I thought I would....but that's a blog of a different color... or for a different time.
OK, so where was I? Oh yes, I'm finally beginning to understand my mom.
You see, it's easier when they are babies. We don't believe it, but it is. I used to look at older women like they were nuts when they would see me with my little ones and say things like "enjoy them, these are the easy times, wait till they're older... then you'll really have your hands full." I figured they were glorifying the cute stuff and forgetting the vomit, sleepless nights, cutting teeth.... etc. Back then I thought life would be great, after diapers, formula, etc. So silly of me.
Nanas, as she's lovingly called by children, grandchildren and now loads of family friends, is still a mom. My older kids are now in their 20s, and of course I'm still a mom, and surprise... a worrier. Nothing over-the-top, and it turns out my mom's worry isn't over-the-top either, just the usual. It's sometimes the same as when they were little, yet somehow very different. I know that doesn't make any sense, and I kind of think that's the point.
When they are little we make sure their food isn't too hot, their shoes aren't too big (don't want them to trip), dress them warmly, see that they get their homework done, study for tests, make good choices, respect others, respect themselves, get proper rest, and so on. We take care of them when they are sick, hurt, sad, lonely......we worry whether or not they are happy.
It's no different when they are older, except now their problems can't be fixed with a popsicle.
Well, in spite of the good, the bad and the ugly, I'm so glad I'm a mom. There has never been a job that has given me 1% of the job satisfaction I have from being a mom. I'm sure my kids don't always feel that way, like when my halo is in the bottom of a closet (rusted and dinged), or when my "Mom of the Year" subscription doesn't reach the mailbox cause I've been deleted from their list.
The good news is, when needed, the red cape still comes out, & SUPER MOM gets to work.
Thankfully I've been trained by the best, Super Nanas.
And let's face it, I'm nothing without my sidekick, SUPER DAD.
Chris, Brian, Bill & Joe, thanks for making me Mom.
xoxoxoxoxoxo
Often I tease her that she could find something to worry about, if nothing too troubling was already going on. That's a tall order for our family, nothing to worry about that is, there's 21 of us.
My mom was blessed (or cursed I suppose, ha ha) with 6 children. The girls were all born 1st; 5 of them. You read right... 5 baby girls in a row!!! Now, if you were paying attention when I said she had 6 children, then you got it... the baby was a boy. We (my siblings & I) claim that's why there's 6 of us, not 7. But, she swears it had nothing to do with finally "getting that boy".
Well, the first 5 of us were born in less than 7 years! That's alot of teenage girls to be raising in the '70s and '80s. Now put your calculator away.... I am 29 years old and so are all my sisters..... in fact my mom is 29 too.
Oh, now there are grandchildren too, which to her delight allows more opportunity for worry... you know what I mean.
RELAX! I'm just kidding...
Truth be told, I'm turning out to be alot more like her than I thought I would....but that's a blog of a different color... or for a different time.
OK, so where was I? Oh yes, I'm finally beginning to understand my mom.
You see, it's easier when they are babies. We don't believe it, but it is. I used to look at older women like they were nuts when they would see me with my little ones and say things like "enjoy them, these are the easy times, wait till they're older... then you'll really have your hands full." I figured they were glorifying the cute stuff and forgetting the vomit, sleepless nights, cutting teeth.... etc. Back then I thought life would be great, after diapers, formula, etc. So silly of me.
Nanas, as she's lovingly called by children, grandchildren and now loads of family friends, is still a mom. My older kids are now in their 20s, and of course I'm still a mom, and surprise... a worrier. Nothing over-the-top, and it turns out my mom's worry isn't over-the-top either, just the usual. It's sometimes the same as when they were little, yet somehow very different. I know that doesn't make any sense, and I kind of think that's the point.
When they are little we make sure their food isn't too hot, their shoes aren't too big (don't want them to trip), dress them warmly, see that they get their homework done, study for tests, make good choices, respect others, respect themselves, get proper rest, and so on. We take care of them when they are sick, hurt, sad, lonely......we worry whether or not they are happy.
It's no different when they are older, except now their problems can't be fixed with a popsicle.
Well, in spite of the good, the bad and the ugly, I'm so glad I'm a mom. There has never been a job that has given me 1% of the job satisfaction I have from being a mom. I'm sure my kids don't always feel that way, like when my halo is in the bottom of a closet (rusted and dinged), or when my "Mom of the Year" subscription doesn't reach the mailbox cause I've been deleted from their list.
The good news is, when needed, the red cape still comes out, & SUPER MOM gets to work.
Thankfully I've been trained by the best, Super Nanas.
And let's face it, I'm nothing without my sidekick, SUPER DAD.
Chris, Brian, Bill & Joe, thanks for making me Mom.
xoxoxoxoxoxo
Monday, March 8, 2010
Technology.... don't even get me started!
Sometimes I wonder how I would get by without my cell phone or laptop....
and sometimes I long for the days of my youth when my friends tried to call me and got a busy signal.
A decade ago when my kids first started instant messaging during homework I thought, "wow, my mother wouldn't let me talk on the phone during homework, except to check the assignment or something". Pretty quickly it went from one or two "im's" to having a dozen or so bubbles at the bottom of the screen representing different conversations. Well, you could hardly call them conversations, sometimes they were the typed versions of various grunts... things like yo, yeah, whatup, nuttin. Then came the secret code like gtg - which meant "got to go" or pos - which meant "parent over shoulder". Still seemed sorta harmless. Then we were lol and rofl and who could forget idk... soon to gain notoriety when used by a grannie in a cell phone commercial. Oh, did I neglect to mention that this language was also being used on cell phones too? Sorry, technology... I told you, "Don't even get me started".
Now I'm guessing most parents have had the talk... you know the one, where we mostly say things like "really?" and "are you kidding me?" especially after learning some of the more distateful abbreviations..... let's just leave it at that.
I'll tell you what concerns me the most is the SPEED at which things happen. Gone is the opportunity to think before doing.... or is it?
Maybe young people need to perfectly tanned, have pearly white teeth, wear the latest trends, apply their make-up with high quality products because their lives are a photo shoot!
Maybe we've got it all wrong. Young girls aren't worried about trying looking like a model, just looking better than the people next to you. Come on, kids (ages 12-30; I can say that because I am 100) have over 1,000 friends on their social network pages and at least that many photos as well.
Idon't know how we got so far off track. Now with SEXTING, I wonder, can't we all slow down a little?
I nearly gagged when Barbara Walters said a couple of weeks ago that schools should be teaching that if you forward a SEXT, in this case a nude picture of your ex who is a minor, you have to be carefule because you could end up on being charged as a Sex Offender and listed on the registry.
Sadly, she wasn't worried about the self esteem of a young lady who felt she needed to send her boyfriend a picture of her nude.
Pretty soon you won't wait with nervous anticipation for your child's first steps or first words..... they'll be in school when they take them. How else will there be enough time to teach the 3 R's as well as what society expects them to teach?
So maybe in the future when a mother's maternity leave is over, the baby will start school.
Why not?
Some people think they should learn to tie their shoes at school, really, I swear.
Let's see....they should learn the alphabet at school...... learn to write their name..... learn their address..... stop, drop & roll......and then one day, teach them how to buy groceries...... balance a checkbook.....apply for a credit card..... fill out a job application....... have sex, or not........ use birth control, or not...... love..... abstinence....... self esteem...... fair fighting, etc.
Well, I suppose the next thing will be a course in how to book travel reservations.
Anyway, back to technology.
I find myself saying the same thing over and over....."Just because we can does not mean we should".
Is there someone you can talk to about making better choices .... with the technology they have?
Just a thought.
Sheila
and sometimes I long for the days of my youth when my friends tried to call me and got a busy signal.
A decade ago when my kids first started instant messaging during homework I thought, "wow, my mother wouldn't let me talk on the phone during homework, except to check the assignment or something". Pretty quickly it went from one or two "im's" to having a dozen or so bubbles at the bottom of the screen representing different conversations. Well, you could hardly call them conversations, sometimes they were the typed versions of various grunts... things like yo, yeah, whatup, nuttin. Then came the secret code like gtg - which meant "got to go" or pos - which meant "parent over shoulder". Still seemed sorta harmless. Then we were lol and rofl and who could forget idk... soon to gain notoriety when used by a grannie in a cell phone commercial. Oh, did I neglect to mention that this language was also being used on cell phones too? Sorry, technology... I told you, "Don't even get me started".
Now I'm guessing most parents have had the talk... you know the one, where we mostly say things like "really?" and "are you kidding me?" especially after learning some of the more distateful abbreviations..... let's just leave it at that.
I'll tell you what concerns me the most is the SPEED at which things happen. Gone is the opportunity to think before doing.... or is it?
Maybe young people need to perfectly tanned, have pearly white teeth, wear the latest trends, apply their make-up with high quality products because their lives are a photo shoot!
Maybe we've got it all wrong. Young girls aren't worried about trying looking like a model, just looking better than the people next to you. Come on, kids (ages 12-30; I can say that because I am 100) have over 1,000 friends on their social network pages and at least that many photos as well.
Idon't know how we got so far off track. Now with SEXTING, I wonder, can't we all slow down a little?
I nearly gagged when Barbara Walters said a couple of weeks ago that schools should be teaching that if you forward a SEXT, in this case a nude picture of your ex who is a minor, you have to be carefule because you could end up on being charged as a Sex Offender and listed on the registry.
Sadly, she wasn't worried about the self esteem of a young lady who felt she needed to send her boyfriend a picture of her nude.
Pretty soon you won't wait with nervous anticipation for your child's first steps or first words..... they'll be in school when they take them. How else will there be enough time to teach the 3 R's as well as what society expects them to teach?
So maybe in the future when a mother's maternity leave is over, the baby will start school.
Why not?
Some people think they should learn to tie their shoes at school, really, I swear.
Let's see....they should learn the alphabet at school...... learn to write their name..... learn their address..... stop, drop & roll......and then one day, teach them how to buy groceries...... balance a checkbook.....apply for a credit card..... fill out a job application....... have sex, or not........ use birth control, or not...... love..... abstinence....... self esteem...... fair fighting, etc.
Well, I suppose the next thing will be a course in how to book travel reservations.
Anyway, back to technology.
I find myself saying the same thing over and over....."Just because we can does not mean we should".
Is there someone you can talk to about making better choices .... with the technology they have?
Just a thought.
Sheila
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