Fly on the Wall: Smart Kids

Posted on February 16, 2018 by Cathy O

Welcome to a Fly on the Wall group post. Today 6 bloggers are inviting you to catch a glimpse of what you’d see if you were a fly on the wall in our homes. Come on in and buzz around my house.

Here’s who you’ll be hearing from in my house:

Me, Mama O.
Daddy O.
Big Sister, age 8
Little Brother, age 6

Since I have been writing these blog posts since 2014, I have my own Fly Post Page. Check it out if you want to hear more craziness from my house.

The first day back to school after the holidays and I ask the kids how their day was.

Big Sister: Good

Little Brother: Annoying!

I could tell Little Brother was grumpy and tired, so I said later, “Well, maybe you should go to bed early. Sometimes after a bad day, a good night’s rest will make you feel better.”

Little Brother replied, “I didn’t say I had a bad day. It was a miserable day.”

Okay then…

Just Between Siblings

I can’t remember the exact context, but I heard the kids talking:

Little Brother: Me thinking only of myself.

Big Sister: If you do that, then you can’t be a Jedi.

Daddy O. has them well-trained on Star Wars.

Two Cute One-liners from Smart Kids

Big Sister’s friend said, “Don’t yuck someone else’s yum.”

Little Brother declared (as he asked me to read him a story), “A story will make a good snuggle even better.”

Future Blogger?

Little Brother brought home some journal entries from his kindergarten class, and they really are great. It’s adorable to see what stands out in his mind and what he chooses to draw and share. I think he could be a future blogger.

I played with my little blue thing a ma bob this morning.

I accidentally kicked my heel yesterday.

Riveting, right?!

I went to the beer gardens.

YES, this is true. We DID take the kids to a beer garden in town. There IS a playground and slide there, so it IS family-friendly. No, this isn’t a weekly thing. Of course, he writes about this in kindergarten!!

Grandma’s Got a New Job

My mom recently retired, and her schedule has been quite full. I was telling Daddy O., “Grandma is working the polls.”

And then I realized that it could be interpreted as “poles.” We just cracked up.

Grandma will be working as part of the primary election staff just doesn’t have the same ring to it.

The BEST for Last!

Big Sister: Mom is smart. She is raising two kids.

Amen, sister!

Now go read those other fantastic blogs for a peek into some other homes:

Baking In A Tornado http://www.BakingInATornado.com

Menopausal Mother http://www.menopausalmom.com/

Never Ever Give Up Hope https://batteredhope.blogspot.com

Bookworm in the Kitchen http://www.bookwormkitchen.com/

Spatulas on Parade https://spatulasonparade.blogspot.com

On Being Thankful

Posted on December 8, 2017 by Cathy O

Thanksgiving and the holidays really are a delightful time of year. My kids (ages six and eight) really are at a sweet age – old enough to start understanding more about the meaning of holidays we celebrate at church and with our families.

For Thanksgiving, they brought home numerous projects that shared what they were thankful for. It appeared that both kids made a similar project, so I just had to share them here:

Pictured on the top: my 8-year-old daughter’s picture, Bottom: my 6-year-old son

A few things that I love about these pictures: both include a cat. I am surprised she made it into the picture because she and the kids don’t have the best relationship. She’s a fat, old, grumpy, but cute kitty, who prefers us adults much more than the kids. Still, I’m glad they appreciate her.

Instead of family, my son is thankful for his tv. We only have one, and he doesn’t watch it that often, but I guess that tv time is precious to him. It’s good to know where his priorities are.

I think there’s an age difference reflected in these pictures. My daughter is very sweet, and while my son can be sweet too, he definitely has a more independent, stubborn side, sometimes acting as if he is an only child.

In all fairness, he did create other pictures that did say he was thankful for family, so all hope is not lost for him.

I’m grateful for teachers helping reinforce the importance of being thankful at school because it’s something we certainly talk about at home.

#SilentSunday Laundry by the Tree

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Signs your Kids are Growing Up

Posted on October 13, 2017 by Cathy O

I’ve been feeling like I’m an “old” or “older” parent this school year, especially with both of my kids in school full days now (kindergarten and 2nd grade).

This IS a big deal for our family.

Some may say it’s even life changing! And it is in so many ways, but that’s for another blog post.

One sign that the kids are growing up is the gear (or lack of baby gear) in our home. One of the last “baby items” that remains is our bike trailer. About five years ago it actually transported our little kids. It has been stored in our garage for some time, but over summer it was dusted off and used for this:

New use for an old bike trailer

We rode bikes to a cookout and brought our food along! On another occasion it’s carried beer! My hubs rode his bike to the grocery store and hauled home our groceries in it.

Forget a bike basket – we have a whole trailer!! 🙂

Fly on the Wall: Balancing Crazy & Awesome Days

Posted on July 21, 2017 by Cathy O

Welcome to a Fly on the Wall group post. Today 8 bloggers are inviting you to catch a glimpse of what you’d see if you were a fly on the wall in our homes. Come on in and buzz around my house.

Buzz around, see what you think, then click on these links for a peek into some other homes:

A Little Piece of Peace

Never Ever Give Up Hope

Bookworm in the Kitchen

Here’s who you’ll be hearing from:

Me, Mama O.
Daddy O.
Big Sister, age 7
Little Brother, age 5

For more Fly Posts, you can see my Fly on the Wall PAGE!

Yikes! This is only the third time this year that I’ve been part of this blogging challenge. A lot has been going on – major volunteering, launching my marketing business, but I did take some time to hang with my girls and see Boyz II Men and New Kids on the Block. Unfortunately, Paula Abdul wasn’t able to perform due to an injury. My dear BFF (who I knew back when these bands were around) warned me before the concert that we may hear, “Old voices.” I really didn’t know what she meant, so she went on, “You know, they may just sound old and different.” Well…here’s what they looked like:

New Kids on the Block rocking it in St. Paul, MN

Fireworks, lights, Joe getting up close & personal with the fans! They put on an entertaining show!

I didn’t think they sounded old. Boyz II Men still had it too! It was a very fun night!

After that week, it’s been a balancing act of summer school, sports, work, and fun with family & friends. All good things of course!

Fast forward to July 4th, and Daddy O had this to say:

“I feel unpatriotic drinking this beer.”

Some Expressions are Tough to Understand

Me: I need to balance my checkbook. Big sister: What are you balancing it on?

Me: We’ll be carpooling today with our neighbors. Big sister replies, “I hope the water’s warm.” Hmm…there’s no pool in the car.

Summer Grumpiness

Big Sister: Adults almost always ruin my mood especially you Mom.

This is what I get for laying down the law during summer! It’s funny because her comment reminds me of what they said last summer. I wrote about it in “You Might be Home with your Kids for Summer if…”

I was talking to Little Brother about getting along with friends, after hearing that he was name-calling. He went on to say, “those darn friends mess everything up sometimes.” For being five, he sure can sound like a grumpy old man sometimes!

Crazy Little Brother

Little Brother kept saying “subspicious” for several weeks.

Little Brother describing his two recess times at school: I play Ningajo in the morning and monster in the afternoon.

We ended up finding a love seat and two chairs for our living room. Once they were delivered, Little Brother referred to it as a “love couch.”

While helping with chores, I discovered that Little Brother loves to scrub with the toilet brush. “It’s kind of like stirring a big soup,” he said. Stir on, I say!

Me to Little Brother: Stop being crazy!
Big Sister explains: He was born crazy, mom.

Little Brother was sitting on my lap, and asked where my heart was. He guessed, “between those Rocky Mountains?” Yes, referring to my boobs! Ahh! Previously, he told us that, “boobs are enjoyable.” The gray hairs are coming already because of this kid!

Awesome has a New Meaning

Me at dinnertime: My day was productive.
Kids: What does that mean?
Little Brother: Like awesome?
Me: Yes, exactly!

I hope you all have an awesome rest of July! Cheers, my dear readers.

go mama o

balancing kids, life and work on the go

Tag Archives: parenting