Summer fun ... too much?

The summer has just flown by way too fast. We spent about 80% of it swimming, 10% eating, and another 10% watching TV. Something about being in the water just calms my nerves and just makes life better. I love the water. I love looking at it, hearing splashing, I love dipping my head under and shooting through the coolness. It's something I can't quite put my finger on, but I just love it. And I'm so glad the kids do, too. Last summer was the first time I put the kids on the swim team. It's a program they'll do until they graduate high school I think. Originally I put them on the team to make them stronger swimmers. I basically teach them to the level of letting play around easily, at least swim across the pool once, but seriously, their fodder for jelly fish. So I thought it'd be a good idea to introduce some friendly competition in the water to them to up their swimming skills. It's worked perfectly. Nothing like some good ol fashioned peer pressure and competition to push my kids. They're nailing their strokes, have beautiful form, and confident about themselves which lends itself over to contentment and all around cheerful attitude. This summer started out full of swim team. At the end of July, my in-laws came for about 10 days and got to see the kids compete in the championship meet. When they left, soccer started. Soccer will last all through fall, come winter I want to enroll them in the basketball program, Spring will be soccer again, then summer ... SWIMMING! My MIL thinks we're too busy and even Matt's wondered if we were, too. I've told both ... "nope! Wouldn't have it any other way!" Here's my take on it all. You can agree or you can disagree. But mind you, I'm pretty confident in my "arguments." (Who argues when they know they're wrong?? HELLO!) 1 family. 7 kids. 1 season. 1 activity. That's it. Sure, it's every season, but my argument is that it's good for the kids, good for the family. I'm totally against the "overscheduled family." I wouldn't support 7 kids going 2,3, 5 different ways. Sports, music, art. That's too crazy. However, this fall, every night, M-Th, something will be going on, so maybe I'm playing right into it? We'll have to see. Anyways, the reason I like the kids to be busy playing sports is this: prepares them for high school. Keeps them in shape. Gets them comfortable with competition. Make good friends. Bottom line, and I know I'm going everywhere with this, is I think a busy teenager is a productive teenager. An idle teenager is headed for trouble. iTouch. iPhone. Computer games. DS. TV. Texting. My gosh, there's so much out there that totally plays to the idle teenager and I really don't want my kids to be this. Already I see my kids with work out schedules taped above their beds. They're forever talking about swimming or soccer or whatever sport they're participating in or getting ready to participate in. When we're in the car, nearing the field, the kids are anxiously getting ready to jump out of the car to make it to practice on time. The other day, however, Ange goes, "Mom, I don't want to go to the pool tomorrow. I just want to stay home." I can appreciate this. With a large family, busy is gonna happen. And in my opinion, brakes aren't just for cars. It's OK to brake every once in a while and simply ... relax. So we did. The boys were mad, told Angela "you ruined our summer!" and of course, they got into trouble. I do think it's wise to stop and let the dust settle every now and then. Just don't stay stopped is all. The next day the boys asked if we were going to the pool and I turned to Angela and asked, "Do you feel up to it?" She answered, "uhhh, yeah I wanna go swimming!" (I wondered if she forgot she had bagged it the day before?) So yes, we went to the pool today, loved it, came home, and relaxed. The kids will play soccer in the fall, but there will be days that we won't show up to practice. Why? Well, simply because I'm a "soccer" mom, not an "Olympian" mom.

Old hag in the bathroom

Last Tuesday I drove my in-laws to C'ville so they could fly home. Whenever I make any type of trip to C'ville, about 35 minutes away, I like to do other things there, ie hit shops that I don't have here in the 'boro. So yeah, with 7 kids, we hit 6 different stores. And believe it or not, the kids were awesome. I don't know how it happened, but I sure was blessed with very easy, super obedient children. Must be all the nursing they get as infants. And as toddlers. And maybe as pre-schoolers, but we won't go there. Who need to use the bathroom all at the same time and usually at the most inconveninet of places! What irritates me is when you have a bunch of children or are 9 mos pregnant (no I am not pregnant, but just speaking from experience) and you ask to use the bathroom and they say, "we do not have public bathrooms." Meaning they do have bathrooms, just not for you. I wish I had the guts to drop my pants or my kids pants and let things go. I mean, especially when I BUY something. Anyways, the only bathroom I could use was at TJMaxx, so we went there. There were only 2 stalls and unfortunately, one of them was being used. I put Addi on the seat and as I was shutting her door, heard, "Little boy! Go away! Go away little boy!" She said it like she was the wicked witch of the north on crack. I look over and there's Owen, peeking under the stall to stare at Mrs. Sweet Sweet. It irritated me, but I kept my mouth shut. Owen got scared and scurried away, I told him not to do that, but that was it. She had punished him enough. She comes out, all rich, old, scrawny and proceeds to reprimand Owen in the most harsh, cruel manner ever. I got pissed. "Excuese me, I'm his mother and I'll take care of it. Not you." "Well, he shouldn't be looking under the stall!" "He's 3 and you can back off now." And then it escalated. She got crazier and I got madder to the point that we were in each other's faces, trying to be gangster. Finally she left, but then popped her head back in the bathroom to deliver the last and final blow. "Well, you need to do a better job at teaching him!" She left for good as I told her to have a nice day. The old hag. I feel bad, only because it made Angela nervous. I have to admit, I wondered how I would act if I saw her in the store. Part of me wanted to loudly teach my kids that old hags exist and are usually friendless spinsters. The other part of me wanted to go about as if I were a stepford mom, super on my game, just to prove to her that I was indeed doing an awesome job at teaching my kids and that she was over reacting, and yes, the other part of me wanted to apologize because yeah, she probably WAS a spinster, never had kids, and that's just sad. And I wouldn't have wanted to add to her sad life. Anyways, I never did see her and the kids who witnessed the whole thing seemed over it. So we went about our day. Which brings me to the point of this post. Why is it that old people think it's their right, almost their responsibility, to harshly tend to other people's children? I have NEVER had a young mother try and give me advice. I've never had teenagers complain to me that my children need to have shoes on their feet. I have never had a young man tell me, "you suck at motherhood!" (OK, no one HAS told me that, but old people stares are open books.) And the other point. How should a mom react when such old people reprimand her children? I won't sacrifice my children to them, sitting quietly and letting the onslaught run it's course, at the same time, you don't want to react as if you forgot your last few doses of Prozac either. I wish I was super witty. My friend Missy's witty. She seems to know how to conduct herself in those types of situations. She'd have made that old hag laugh, maybe even become FB friends later that day. What DO you say, or have you said, in like situations? Because I know I'm not the only one who's had to deal with the crotchity of society.