The prompt from Mama Kat is to list 10 things you never knew until you were mom.  In no particular order…

1.     Love at first sight is possible.  As Tim brought James to me, and I looked at him for the first time, I felt overwhelmed by how much I loved him.  All it took was a second, it was a fierce  and scary.  I know that this isn’t uncommon, but it still surprises me how quickly and thoroughly he had me wrapped around those tiny little fingers of his.  I think my husband would say the same.

2. My life revolves around body fluids, sometimes coming out of multiple orifices simultaneously.  James was about 8 weeks old, and at the stage that every time the diaper came off there’d be a shower.  I wasn’t quite quick enough, and my shirt and the wall got wet.  This wasn’t new, and not terribly shocking, so I calmly wiped off the wall, and put on a fresh diaper which…..he promptly filled.  I put on another diaper and he unloaded immediately, again!  We did this dance 5 more times.  Once he finally stopped pooping, I gathered him in my arms, and he spit up, filling the hood of my sweatshirt to the hem.  I cried.

3.  I swore I wouldn’t be, but I am one of those parents with toys creeping across the living room floor.  Toys keep James entertained.  An entertained James is a happy James.  I have very little shame when it comes to keeping James happy.  See #7

4. Kids hear everything and forget nothing.   I walked in to the kitchen one morning, not to long ago, to find James standing at the sliding glass door muttering under his breath.  He was saying “Fucking door, won’t open.  This is bullshit!”  Yeah…I wonder where he picked that up, probably school, sure that’s it.

5.   We tried to hard not to be one of those families that everyone wanted to smother with a crappy airplane pillow.  As much as it kills me to admit it we were “one of those parents” ;  James screamed from the moment we took off to the moment we landed.  We tried everything, nothing worked, and it sucked for us and everyone else.  I think it is a right of passage. 

6.  Even though they don’t do much at first, infants can fascinate Dads. James would make eye contact with Tim and they’d stare at each other, like they were trying to memorize each other’s faces.  Seeing all the physical and mental changes that James went through was interesting to Tim.     

7.  Being a parent means that you get to be like a kid again. You get to roll around on the floor, have tickle fights, splash in the bath, make art with PlayDough, run around the yard shrieking.  Your kids will love you for it.  See #3

8.  I thought that I was done with school when I graduated.  But now I get to  experience school all over again starting with pre-school.   There’s homework and drama over someone else not sharing a toy…..sigh.

9.  Christmas is exciting again.  Making the holiday magical for James has brought back the joy for me.  Hauling out the decorations, cooking the dinner, isn’t a chore anymore. 

10.  Being a mom is hard.  I knew it would be, but living the reality is another matter, I’ve never been so exhausted, even now that James is 4.  But seeing him run towards me at the end of the day beaming and calling for me makes every minute worth it.

I haven’t been feeling super good the past few days.  I was hoping to get a lot of rest over the weekend.  But perhaps my expectations were a little out of line, considering that I have a four-year-old.  I mean, what was I thinking?

I was hoping that I could take a nap or two, but no, James just wouldn’t…stop…talking!  He hasn’t taken a real nap in a while, but since Mom is old and needs mental and physical breaks, he has quiet time in his room for at least an hour most afternoons.  He can have music, a toy, books to look at, whatever…he just has to settle down. 

This weekend, James decided that quiet time meant laying in his bed and yelling “Mama, I’m awake, when is nap done” over, and over, at the top of his lungs.  I tried to tough it out, hoping that he’d give it up,  After he started slamming dresser drawers along with yelling, I gave it up.   

I know I was giving in and therefore re-enforcing some crappy behaviour.  But 45 flippin’ minutes….yerg!  He took one look at my face when I opened his bedroom door and burst in to tears, and asked to visit Daddy in the shop.  I didn’t think I looked that pissed.  Sigh….

This picture is a happy accident, I forgot to turn on the flash, but managed to capture James in flight.  He’s a busy boy theses days.

Notice the PJs paired with shin guards?  He is also a snappy dresser.

James is watching  “Wall-E”, and he’s been talking….a lot.  Here’s a sample:

J: (After Eve shoots at Walle; sounding like a snotty teenager) !WhoAH!
J:  (As Walle passes by the sun)  Mom we don’t want to be in the wava, it’s dangerwus.
M: It isn’t lava, it is the Sun.  It’s dangerous but it is very beautiful too.
J:  No it’s handsome Mom.  Maybe we can call it handsome pwetty.
J:  What’s that wobot’s name?
M:  I don’t know, what would you like to name it?
J:  Maybe (long ponder) Captain Solo.
J:  This is all make bewieve wight?
M:  Yes
J:  No mom, you say that’s cowekt.

It is discussions like this, that hope I never forget.

He is fierce, and willing to defend hearth and home at all costs.  He hides under the cover of darkness and his image can only be captured using infra-red technology.  He is Viking, Knight, Pointy Hat Wearing Dude or whatever! 

Sir James

 The “helmut” is of his own design, he only had a little help from Mom.

Here are the prompts courtesy of Mama Kat.

1.) I recently read all about the importance of us bloggers developing an “Elevator Pitch” via one of my new favorite blogs. According Wikipedia an Elevator Pitch is “an overview of an idea for a product, service, or project. The name reflects the fact that an elevator pitch can be delivered in the time span of an elevator ride (for example, thirty seconds or 100-150 words).” Create one short (a sentence long) and one longer (100 – 150 words) Elevator Pitch describing what your blog is about.

The Short Version:  My blog is like me, a work in progress.

The Long Version:  The the purpose of my blog is somewhat muddled, and therefore a work in progress.  I think that I don’t want a lot of attention, I blog for me, to relieve stress, document life as a working Mom, practice writing to improve my skills….etc..  The problem is, I find myself checking stats more than I’d like to admit, hoping that maybe this week I’ll get a few more comments than the last.  I’m a closet comment whore. 

2.) The strangest dream ever…

Talking about dreams is not super easy for me.  As I’ve gotten more (ahem) mature, and being a high-stress kind of gal, I’ve been had some real doozies lately.  I can’t decide, you pick. 

1.  I’ve been trapped in a house full of endless rooms and hallways,  I’m frantically trying to find my way out but, Frankenstein is chasing me and waving a semi-automatic.  Frankenstein is purple.

2.  A creature oozes out of a light socket in Technicolor, and solidifies into a creature that looks like a carrot with arms and legs.  It drives my son’s toy car around the house.  

3.  I’ve had endless dreams where I’m at work and all my teeth start to fall out and I can’t hide it.  My teeth usually stick out at all sorts of odd angles, or turn really awful colors before falling out. 

4.  I was visiting my friends in Canada recently, I dreamt that a complete stranger was stooped low over the bed, yelling loudly for me to get up and get out.  Our friends’ home is rumored to be haunted, so that one I’m not so sure about one. 

5.   The dream opens with me heading to my childhood home, arriving to an empty house joyfully realizing that Mom is not only alive, but healthy.  Given that the house is empty, I’m not sure how I know this.  I wander about, most of the furniture is missing, random scraps of paper are blowing around in the breeze, which isn’t possible because all the doors and windows are closed.  A few cardboard boxes are scattered here and there.  I realize, without talking to anyone, that my parents have packed up and moved without telling me.  I have no idea where they have gone, and have no hope of finding them. 

3.) Write a list of 10 things that can be done to stave off boredom.

In no particular order:  write, run, read, garden, call a friend, pick zits, paint toenails, shop, draw, play Farmville. 

4.) “How many homes have you had? Write a journal entry about ALL the places you’ve called ‘home’ in your life.”

I’ve lived in 4 houses that I call home. 

• My parents built their first and only home when I was about 2.  I moved out when I was 18.  My Dad still lives there, and I visit as often as I can.
• My husband and I purchased our fist home, when we’d been married for about 3 years.  It was small, and dated.  We quickly discovered a mutual love and ability to renovate.  Unfortunately our neighbors weren’t so great, one of them had a habit of beating up his girlfriend and may have been dealing pot.  He ran through our back yard to evade the police one night.  We moved soon after.
• We moved into a much larger, brand new home that had zero personality, a box with windows.  It was a blank slate, perfect for putting our own touches on, and for filling with kids.  The kids idea turned in to one kid, one of our neighbors was completely bonkers, our houses were much to close for comfort.  We also lived on a busy street.  I had visions of James dashing in to oncoming traffic, only to be kidnapped by our loony neighbor.  Up the For Sale Sign went.  We sold in a week, and came out quite nicely.
• Our last, and hopefully final house, is smaller than the last, and sits on 5 wooded acres.  Is loaded with personality; funky but not over the top and has wonderful views.   We have lots of privacy and regularly see lots of critters, coyote, deer, racoon, eagles.  The only noise is the neighborhood goat who regularly ‘talks’ to a turkey- loudly.  We’ve traded a busy street for predators of the Wild Kingdom variety, but I love it here.   

5.) “Why wouldn’t they just start over? Write a story where a character refuses to go back to square one.”

I’ve run out of steam and this post is long enough.  I’m going to bed to have a good dream tonight.

James’s going-to-bed routine now includes singing.  He usually starts with ABCs, then segues into Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.  To round out the evening’s entertainment, he prefers do a little improvisation,  usually Star Wars themed, to commemorate his blossoming love for the franchise. 

(to the tune of  Rudolph…but only in the loosest sense of the word)

• Luke Skywalker is a good Jedi…What’s that round thing Mom?
• Death Star………He only had one chance…to destroy the Death Star
• an he didn miss!…..what are those straight things Mom?
• an the Imperial Walkers were walking……..on der feats!
• an they fell on the snow…
• an they layed there…
• an Darth Vader……is really, really bad…
• an Luke stopped him…
• Millenium Falcon….
• hmm….hmmm…..mmm….
• Sand People
• mmm…..mm..mmmmmmmm
• Pod Racer!

I’m so proud, it brings a tear.

This is twice now.  I’m writing a post, prompted by Mama Kat’s weekly writer’s workshop, and I’m also watching a really weird horror movie.  This week it  is “Ginger Snaps”.  I like horror movies, but I’m not a fan of werewolves, these movies usually stink.  But the main characters are not the insipid, overly sexy, teenage girls typically depicted in horror movies these days, and I can’t stop watching.   The special effects are aweful….wait, darn you IFC, I’m off topic! 

The prompt- 3.) What’s in YOUR name? What does it mean? Why was it given to you? etc..

Elizabeth:   mother of John the Baptist and kinswoman of Mary, Queen of Romania (1881-191) and poet, Queen of England (1558 - 1603), daughter of Henry VIII,  a city in New Jersey, south of Newark, population 126,000. Elizabeth (-lz-bth)  devout or reverent…yeah…not so much.     

I’ve been Elizabeth Davis for so long, that it seems really odd to write that I was born Elizabeth Hart.  Notice something missing?  Maybe a middle initial perhaps?  All the other kids had middle initials and pestered me about why I didn’t have one.  When I asked why Dad, he told me that when I was born I was too small for a long name, with lots of letters, Elizabeth was long enough without the last name tacked on.  I didn’t buy it.   

I didn’t like my name for a long time.  It can be shortened in to a lot of nicknames, which I generally didn’t find amusing.  My parents called me Liz, Lizgiz, Lizbizz, Lizzy, and  Lizgizzy, in front of PEOPLE…embarrassing.    In elementary school, the boys called me Lizard…ugh.  I was tauned with the Lizzy Borden Had and Ax chant which is kind of ok, once or twice but over, and over showed a lack of imagination…please.  In high-school, things were even less imaginative, and whole lot meaner.   Liz turned in to Lezzy, then evolved in to Lezzybitch.  Kids mistook shyness for  bitchiness.   College was a fresh start, I avoided names starting with L, and insisted on being called Beth.  But I’m just not a Beth, so it didn’t stick. 

If you ask my Dad, he would say that I’m named after my grandmother on his side.  Mom would have towed the party line and said the same.  But I also know that Mom was a huge Jane Austen fan.  Her favorite story was “Pride and Prejudice”.   She loved the Marlon Brando film adaptation and we spent many Summer vacation afternoons watching the Masterpiece Theater version on PBS.  For 10 points, guess who her favorite character was, and for a bonus 50, list that character’s nickname.  Thank’s to Mom, I love the story, but I’m still not a fan of the nickname.  Hint, hint.

Here’s a name I do love,  and it has multiple variations depending the context including: Mom (for casual conversation), Mommy (for bumps, scrapes, and the dark), Mama (feeling goofy or sad), Moooommmmmy (come here ), and  MomMomMomMomMomMOM (pay attention).

Here’s another version that I love- Mrs. Elizabeth H. Davis.  I got that middle initial after all, and I learned to love Lizgizzy.

James is one lucky kid.  He got to go to soccer two days in a row.   James did a great job again, could quite possibly have a crush on his coach, and had so much fun the he decided to move out and live at Arena Sports.  Luckily for us,  James is cheap, Tim promised him pizza, and he agreed to move back home , if temporarily.  During dinner, James was a wild ball of energy and wolfed down half a large piece of pizza, like I said cheap, then asleep in less than a second, after being buckled into his car seat.  If James’s soccer coach let’s him play soccer with a “light shaver” while wearing a Darth Vader cape, then we’d probably never see him again.

James went to his very first soccer class tonight, and I think he really liked it, at least his head exploding repeatedly made it seem like he did.

He did a good job in class too, he sat on his soccer ball and listened quietly, and ran around like a maniac on cue. He hugged his coach at the end, I’m not sure how the coach felt about it, but James was thrilled. He probably would have  followed his coach home if we’d let him.  He has a serious case of hero worship;  Tim and I might as well be chopped liver now.