Showing posts with label kids. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kids. Show all posts
Grandma Becky
Labels:
birthday,
grandchildren,
grandma,
kids,
me
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| My gorgeous granddaughter |
Becoming a grandmother at 43 was surreal to me, but as soon as I held the precious bundle, any weirdness and awkwardness disappeared. I truly understood why grandparents have a feeling that they can't quite describe. Since I became a grandmother, many of my friends from high school have had the pleasure as well. It's like a private, exclusive club with a membership what should be coveted, well, when the time is right! ;)
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| "S" and me, December 3, 2010 |
I had a set of wonderful maternal grandparents, and a sweet-as-pie paternal grandmother. My paternal grandfather was a bad man, however, so I will gloss over him. I also had some wonderful
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| Maternal grandma, grandpa, mom, and me (in the front). Grandpa holding my baby sister |
Times have changed, however, since I was a child. I visited my grandparents a few times a month, if not more. We rarely see our grandchildren, and they only live about an hour away. This is partly our fault, and partly theirs. Unfortunately for us, the grandkids are very close to their maternal grandparents, both figuratively and literally. This makes it hard for us to have the same bond with them. Also, our son and daughter in law work crazy hours, so them bringing the kids over just doesn't happen. It makes me sad, but right now, they are circumstances we can't control. It truly hurts my heart, though.
Sorry this turned out so "journal-ly", but that's partly the purpose of my blog.
Hey. At least I didn't get run over by a reindeer...yet... ;)
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Thanksgiving and Teenagers
Here's I sit, getting ready for Thanksgiving (and by "getting ready," I mean watching "Friends" on DVD, eating my 2nd Lunchable, and tweaking my blog), I am thinking about what I am thankful for this holiday season. Some of the things aren't very traditional, but I am thankful for them, nonetheless.
(for quick reference:)
D - 17 yr old autistic son
C- 16 year old son (junior)
A -15 yr old daughter (sophomore)
J - 15 yr old daughter (freshman)
- I am thankful that the kids are going to be off of school tomorrow, because their bathroom is really disgusting, and they need to clean it.
- I am thankful that for the next three days, I don't have to
- Get up at 5:30 am to wake up A, then go back to bed
- Get up again at 6 to wake up D and J, and wake C up for what will be the first of three to four more times
- Turn on the coffee pot, turn on the radio
- Start doing dishes that I left in the sink last night after I was too exhausted from making dinner
- Make J's lunch, because she can't be bothered with standing in the lunch line at school, even though all we have is stuff for a PBJ sandwich, and maybe 3 grapes.
- Wake up C again, because evidently the first two times were just warning shots
- Supervise D, and answer the question of "Where are all of my clothes I put in the washer last night?" To which I reply: "They are still there because you didn't tell anyone that you needed them washed." Dig out a pair of jeans that are only a day old, and start the washer, full of his clothes
- Go into C's room and lecture him about the fact that EVERY DAY I have to wake him up 3 or 4 times, and that I'm going to stop doing that (wait..that's what he'd want), and to "GET UP!"! To this, he rolls over and says "Did you wake me up before?"
- Help solve A's "issue of the day," usually something that hurts.
- Hug J, who has just gotten up and told me she's exhausted (yes, that happens every day), and gently nudge her back into her room to "get freakin' ready," to which she replies "But, I'm soooooo tiredddddd"
- See C walking around the house looking for a towel (there are 14 on the floor of his room...from the last 2 days), tell him there are some in his bathroom (where he never looked)
- Finish dishes
- Tell both girls that they look beautiful, because they ask. And compliment them on their hair, because even though it looks mostly the same each day, TODAY it "makes them crazy," and "it looks like crap" and they "can't even"
- Remind D that since he is ready 45 minutes before everyone else, to please take the trashes out of the can (yes, I have to remind him every day, even though he does it every day) and get them ready to take out. No need to remind him to put new bags in the trash, since nobody every does that but me.
- Tell C to stop walking around in his towel after his shower, barely covering everything from his belly down, because "the girls don't want to see that nonsense..." and to "get dressed, since we have 10 minutes before we have to leave," to which he yells "I AM!!!"
- Hear J tell me again that she's tired, her hair looks like crap, and she has a big zit.
- Finally have everyone ready, except C, when it's time to leave. Go ahead and start walking out, telling C we're leaving, to which he replies, "I'm COMING!!!" He's not coming.
- Finally leave the house at 7 am, and head to the high school.
- Chat - or not- with the kids, depending on their moods, about topics on the radio
- Arrive at school, only to have them sit in the vehicle until I am EXACTLY where they want to be let off, instead of them getting out farther back.
- Come back home, fully intending to get something done around the house, but taking a nap instead because....I have four teenagers.
- I am thankful that someone else is cooking most of the dinner I will be eating, and there are enough options that I don't have to deal with "I don't want that AGAIN!!"
- Most of all, I'm thankful that I have a family to love and complain about, and that we all get to spend Thanksgiving together. I love them all.
Happy Thanksgiving, friends!
"You Don't Understand High School Talk"
Speaking of slang, the other day, my 16 year old son sent me a picture on SnapChat (I hate that app, but will not soapbox it just yet!), with the caption "Chem squad feat bae and teach."
What the ever-loving hell was that?
It was a picture of him, a cute girl, and a teacher. I really had no idea what he was trying to say, but as a mom, we learn to decipher spelling-impared-and-or-lazy kids' writing. I gathered that it broke down as follows:
chem = chemistry class. Pretty self-explanatory
squad = I see no cheerleaders nor football players, so this must not mean the typical "squad." This son never proofreads anything, so I thought maybe he meant another word. "Squat?" No, nobody was squatting. "Square?" I suppose there might be a thing called chemistry square. I don't know...it's been a few years. I finally gave up, and moved onto context clues for the next words.
feat = Ok, again, he can't spell. I assumed he meant "feet," yet didn't see anything except torsos, since they are either sitting at, or standing up near a desk. Then I wondered if the cheerleaders' feet were there. Could there possibly be a "chemistry squad?" And where were their feet? I knew this son did not belong on any kind of academic squad (remember this description?), so I was baffled.
bae = I unfortunately know what this means. I have been properly schooled on that fact that "bae" refers to one's boyfriend, girlfriend, celeb crush, or any person the speakers finds attractive. In this case, I'm going to assume he meant the pretty girl, whose name I have never heard speak of in my house.
teach = Well, there's another girl standing at the table. I see a name badge, yet all of the high school kids wear one. She's looks a TAD bit older than the girl sitting down (previously assumed to be "Bae.") I'm going to assume this means teacher.
Now it's all as clear as mud.
Finally, when he got home, I said "What in God's Green Acres did you send me?"
He responded "WHAT?? It was me and my bae in Chemistry."
I said, "First of all, I wasn't aware that you had a "bae," and second, why didn't you just write that on the picture."
At this point, I must have become the most under-educated, un-hip, out-of-touch parent in my son's eyes. He gave me the most annoyed look and said "Because that's how we talk in HIGH SCHOOL, MOM! SORRY THAT YOU DON'T KNOW HIGH SCHOOL PEOPLE TALK!" The nerve of me.
Grated, growing up in the 80's, we had our own "high school slang." I can remember cringing any time my dad tried to be "hip" and used "peachy-keen" and "groovy" in place of the "awesome" and "bad" we used then. He had no idea how HIGH SCHOOL PEOPLE TALK!
My son informed me that his caption meant "This hot girl, me and [featuring]the teacher in Chemistry."
Ah, I see now. "Chem squad feat bae and teach."
THAT clears it up.
Things are totally hizzy up in the jizzy, my friends. Be cool with yo bad self, and hug all your "squad" tightly tonight. ;)
PS: Being the "hip" mother that I am, I decided to look up "squad" in Urban Dictionary. I'm telling you, if you need to know ANY kind of slang term, it's in there. Grated, it's written mostly by the people who use the terms, so the definitions are quite...colorful, but it works. Here is the definition of "squad:"
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..but why would they need to score "paper?" We have plenty left in the homework bucket at home? Oh...
Word.
Penises and Sugar Skulls
Labels:
dia de los muertes,
halloween,
kids
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Yesterday, I called our Autistic son, D into the kitchen. We had gotten a pumpkin shaped pizza from Papa Murphy's, and I wanted him to come and see it. I asked him what it looked like, and he said "OH! A PIZZA!"
I said "Well, yes, but what does it look like?"
He said "AHH! A HEART!!"
Finally, I said "Look again, what is it?"
His eyes glazed over, obviously not seeing anything, and said
"AHH. A PENIS."
I said "Really?! Really?! This big round thing looks like a penis to you?"
He just gave me a blank stare. Sometimes I get impatient with him, and probably shouldn't, but I can't even fathom how he came to the conclusion that it looked like a penis. That reminds me of a knock knock joke he told us once. We were all sitting around our bed laughing about something, and D interrupted and said
"Hey Beckymom! Knock, knock?"
I said "Who's there?"
He loudly proclaimed "PENIS!" That was the extent of his joke.
We all died laughing, and to this day, just say "penis" if we're trying to be funny.
We didn't have any of our kids trick-or-treating last night. They have finally outgrown it, I think. The sad thing is that they still want the candy!! We didn't have any trick-or-treaters in our complex, either, which seems odd. There are always lots of kids outside playing. I guess the did what we used to do...go hit up the rich neighborhoods for better candy! ;)
I wish I celebrated Dia de los Muertes. I love sugar skulls, and I think it is a great tradition to honor those people who have passed on in our lives. Here's to my mom, my dad, my former in-laws, my aunts and uncles, Lisa Bell, and all of the other important people in my life who died too soon.
Thanks for wading through my gobbly-goop of a post. All kinds of nonsense goes on in my mind constantly.
In the Beginning
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at night while everyone sleeps. Sometimes I think it's the comfort of having them all home that makes me feel more productive. In less than 4 years, most of them will be gone. I can't honestly say if I'll be thrilled or sad that our house, which has been chaotic and loud since 2002, will be quiet. Then again, the lack of ambition in most of the kids may result in them living here for much longer than I anticipate. At least then they will be working, and can worry about themselves. Still, I've been a mom with kids at home since 1988. 26 years. I don't know much else.
In less than a month, it will be 3 years since I lost my mom to cholangiocarcinoma (bile duct cancer). I documented it here. There seriously isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about her. In all essences, I'm glad she is relieved of all her ailments. She never really was very healthy after her 40's. Even if the cancer hadn't killed her, I think something else would have. She had also become very anxious, and was afraid to leave her comfort zone, mostly her home. Again, I think that eventually, something along those lines would have taken her. Still, it's hard to be without a mother. I miss my dad (who died suddenly in 2001), but dads are different, I suppose. I got to spend a lot more time with my dad, since he raised us, mostly.
I'm going to end for tonight/this morning. Welcome to my blog, I guess. :)
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