Writing to Sanity

See all of our Silicon Valley Moms Group Book Club participants in action for January:

• Michele from DC Metro Moms Blog leads us off as she runs in place: from pregnancy pounds to weight loss
• Jennifer from Connect with your Teens determines that Erma Bombeck has nothing on the women included in this book
• Julie from Just Precious (a subject in the book) ponders “if I were a beautiful diamond ring, where would I be?” and also says “yes, I’m still a cry baby“
• Heidi from Coast 2 Coast Mom relates her story of how they couldn’t deliver the flowers because the house was a crime scene
• Kim from I’m Not the Nanny reveals her secret mom talent
• April from It’s All About Balance admits she is one of those mothers
• Caitlin from A Hen and Three Chicks makes the point that none of us is alone in this whole motherhood thing
• Desiree from Writing to Sanity advises her kids on committing forgery
• Christie from The Traveling Circus re-lives some of her crazy mom moments
• Cindy from We All Fall Down entertains her kids with stories of immature digestive systems
• Melanie from Tales from the Crib tells a story of if you give a harried mom a job to do…
• Rox from Rox and Roll remembers the old adage when life gives you suppositories
• Lisa from Hannemaniacs‘ former life flashed before my eyes as she realized she had poop under her nails
• Amy from Occupation Mommy determined that magic is everywhere
• Dannie from Dannie Speaks asks “What did you just say?“
• Meg from Meg’s Idle Chatter tells the truth about mommy
• Janelle from Mama Daisy wants a sign that says “no cleavage allowed“
• Linsey from Me Too You decided there are no short cuts in parenting
• Heather from MILF Alert talks about the mess and smell of parenthood

January 2010

Raising my children. All I can say is WOW. And, for those of you who are parents, I know you understand! Oh, sure, it’s rainbows and butterflies most days: the hugs and kisses at night as I tuck them into bed, the high-fives I give them after a job well-done, the memories we make visiting different people in different places.

But, with all that “good” going on in the house, there’s been a balance of “icky”, too. There was the time that Ethan puked in the car on the way up to Coal Creek Canyon – yeah, he missed the bag completely and spewed all over the faux suede car interior. Did I mention he had no extra clothes? And, let’s not forget the “two-ended messes” after a bad batch of spinach lasagna – let’s suffice it to say all three of us slept in the bathroom that night and I washed a lot of clothes and towels the next day.

Something else (and I can’t say I’m quite surprised by this one): I’m completely certain that they think they’re smarter than me. One example came to mind as I was reading See Mom Run: Side-Splitting Essays From the World’s Most Harried Moms (yes, some of you remember the story well): the time Ethan’s teacher contacted me at work regarding an incident with forgery. He was in second grade at the time.

I wanted to remember the thoughts in my head forever, so I wrote it in a short faux-letter to my son via my blog:

Dear Ethan,

Paybacks. Fun. I just got a call from your literacy teacher saying you forged my signature for the reading log you didn’t complete last night because you misplaced your backpack. I started cracking up, not because I wasn’t upset… but because the teacher told me you signed it “Dez”. Looks like I need to have another talk with you about lying.

((((Pray for him that he’s able to live another day.))))

Oh, it was a thing of beauty, this “Dez” signature! But, how does a second-grader think to do that?? I can recall my own days in junior high school and beyond. Coming home every Friday with a progress report from my teachers when my grades were less-than-stellar (okay, they totally sucked eggs) and forging my mom’s signature, pretending that she had seen the paper so I didn’t get my block knocked off. I know, I was a bad, bad kid. But, hey! At least I got the name right.

So long as I, Desiree (aka Dez), am not helping my son dodge the forgery authorities by moving from one state to another, I can be found here at Writing to Sanity, as well as New Jersey Moms Blog.