Weight Watchers Weeks 5 & 6

I'm combining two weeks in one here -- got a lot of blogging to catch up on. I lost 2 more pounds week 5 and when I weighed in this morning, I'd lost another 2 pounds. I'm now up to 10 lbs. total. All I can say is Weight Watchers rocks!! The girls and I spent two days at my sister Martha's, so of course, I used up some of my extra points allowance on some yummy desserts. And I didn't exercise those two days, except for running after the kids. Even with that, I still lost 2 pounds. This is without a doubt the easiest "diet" I've ever done and I am losing more weight than I ever did on any of the many fad/starvation plans I tried in the past. 10 pounds down, 20 to go!

Happy Birthday Matthew

My nephew Matthew turned 29 yesterday. Sometimes it's hard to believe he is a grown-up with a little son of his own.

We were very close when he was growing up. Matthew was a special kid. I loved playing with his He-Man and Skeletor action figures with him, watching rasslin' on TV with him and just hanging out with him.

One of my favorite memories was when I spent the night at Sandy's on Christmas Eve. Matthew wanted his parents to get up super early with him so he could open his presents. When that didn't work, he decided to try and talk me into getting up, so he could at least open the present I got him. I am the very antithesis of a "morning person," but I'd do just about anything for a cute little person that I love. When I asked him what time it was, instead of saying it was 6:15, he said it was "45 till 7:00." Smart kid -- that made it sound a little later . . . I did get up with him and Miranda and we watched his present from me -- a video of Weird Al's movie, "UHF." We had a hoot and I forgot about how early it was!!

Happy Birthday, Matthew! You're still special, and you'll always be a "kid" to your old auntie!!

Tessa's Sanjaya Mohawk

Everybody's hatin' on American Idol contestant Sanjaya Malakar, but you gotta admit the hair is happening!! Last night, he sported a fab faux mohawk. I wanted badly to copy the 'do, but my hair is too long. So, I did the next-best thing. I gave Tessa the Sanjaya hairdo. Before anyone calls DFACS, she really did want me to do it and likes it, so this doesn't qualify as child abuse.

I think it is really ironic that the "judges" on a show called American Idol are so distraught that Sanjaya is still on the show. Sanjaya is the very definition of teen idol. A nice, non-threatening, good-looking guy who appeals to pre-teens. His voice isn't the greatest, but he's no William Hung. I actually think he can sing if he would put some more power behind his vocals. When he sang a capella for his audition, I actually thought he was pretty good. I think his voice gets lost behind the big band and back-up singers. Maybe he can get his mojo back. And if his voice isn't the greatest . . . well, that didn't stop Shaun Cassidy, my pre-teen idol back in the day.

Sanjaya seems like a nice kid. I hope he doesn't let the haters get to him like young John Stevens did a few seasons back. I felt so sorry for that kid; he once even apologized for still being on the show when people got mad that "better" singers were voted out and he was still there. He's probably in therapy now. I was hoping Sanjaya would get voted out a few weeks ago because I didn't want him to be traumatized by all the hate -- he's only 17, after all. But, he seems to be taking it in stride and having fun with it. And I do want to see him stay on the show, so long as he keeps the funky haridos coming.

Weight Watchers Week 4

FYI, I lost one more pound this past week; that's six in all. I am so glad that I can once again wear last summer's shorts because it has been mighty hot around here this week and I don't have money to buy any new ones. Sugar-free popsicles are keeping me satisfied lately. I eat one after exercising as a cool-off treat. They only have 15 calories, so they are ZERO points on Weight Watchers. So nice to have a "free" food that isn't a vegetable.

"Go Play"

I read a very interesting article online today. It was written by Hara Estroff Marano and was titled, “A Nation of Wimps?” Its premise is “Parental hyperconcern may be why kids can't cope.” It detailed the plight of many current college students, who don't know what to do when they go away to school and mom and dad aren't there to tell them what to do 24/7. In a way, it made me feel vindicated as a parent. At least once a day, when there is something I need or want to do, I’ll tell my girls to “go play.” Now, my mama told me to “go play” any number of times and I don’t recall being traumatized by the statement. So, how come I feel guilty when I say it?

Before we adopted our two daughters, I had always worked full-time. When I left my job to stay home with them, being their mom became my full-time job. And I went at it with all the enthusiasm and diligence I could muster. For almost the first full year they were home with us, I spent my days entertaining them. I’d do an hour of “school time” with them, teaching them numbers and ABCs, I read to them, I watched TV shows with them and above all, I played with them. I had wanted kids to play with for so long that I really, really enjoyed that part of parenting. After that first year, the girls started to play more by themselves, which was a good thing because, and I never thought I’d say this, I got tired of playing all day.

Let’s face it, as much as I love kids and like to be a big kid myself sometimes, adult fun and kid fun are two different things. And I had woefully neglected my house. Now, I’m no Stepford Wife and never will be, but I do need to keep some semblance of orderliness in my house. When the house is a wreck, it really stresses me out. I also began to get more freelance work (I work from home), so that meant that I spent less time entertaining the kids. They seemed to take it in stride, but I still felt, and feel, guilty about not spending every possible minute with them. But, maybe I should let go of this guilt.

“A Nation of Wimps” suggests that today’s parents micromanage their children to an unhealthy degree. This quote hit home for me: “Or perhaps it's today's playground, all-rubber-cushioned surface where kids used to skin their knees. And... wait a minute... those aren't little kids playing. Their mommies -- and especially their daddies -- are in there with them, coplaying or play-by-play coaching. Few take it half-easy on the perimeter benches, as parents used to do, letting the kids figure things out for themselves.” The article stresses that learning is not limited to academics and that children learn by playing on their own or with other kids, rather than with parents who tell them how to play. Yeah, what’s so wrong with sitting on a bench and letting the kids play?

My mom never “played” with me. Was she neglectful? Absolutely not. She read books to me, she colored with me, she took care of me in every important way, and was always, always there to listen to me. But, she didn’t spend her days entertaining me. She spent them taking care of our house, tending our vegetable garden, cooking our meals, and, yes (gasp!) actually taking time out to watch some afternoon soaps! The horror! I feel absolutely sinful if I spend a little time watching videos on You Tube.

She didn’t feel the need to micromanage my days. She wasn’t strict with me about trivial things. If I didn’t like what was for dinner, she’d make me something else. She didn’t make me go to bed at any particular time, even on school nights. She didn’t limit the amount of hours I spent watching TV. She didn’t play food police and monitor every morsel of snack food I ate. She didn’t check to make sure I did my school homework or tell me when to do it – that was my responsibility -- but she helped me with it when I asked. Outside of one well-deserved spanking, she never punished me – she just made threats that were never acted upon or gave me very heartfelt lectures when needed. Everything she did flies in the face of all the parenting books I’ve read and try to follow. The experts would say she didn’t set enough limits, that she endangered my health by not forcing me to eat vegetables, that she didn’t make sure I got adequate sleep so I could achieve at school, that she didn’t even make sure I got my homework done before I watched TV, that her lectures fell on deaf ears and that she should have given me “consequences” when I misbehaved. The experts would all predict a dire future for me based upon my upbringing. And they would be wrong. I grew up to be an independent, responsible adult because my mom gave me some space to breathe and expected me to take care of my own responsibilities. I wasn’t her full-time “job,” but her much-loved child. She and my dad were too busy trying to keep a roof over our heads and food in our bellies to overanalyze every move they made as parents.

Maybe I’ve been taking this parenting thing too seriously . . .

Disclaimer: Lest one of my siblngs read this post and think, "Who was this permissive parent? Not my mama," I will add that my mama was very strict and overprotective about any activities outside the home. That said, she did give me a lot of freedom at home.

Weight Watchers Week 3

I lost one more pound this week. I got an online "reward" for reaching the 5-lb. milestone. What might that reward be? A gift certificate for weight watchers snacks? An autographed photo of Sarah, Duchess of York? No! All I got was the illustration shown here -- a star with a five in it. Online users don't get keychains or pins or stuff at weight loss milestones because we are not being weighed in at meetings and could be dishonest about how much we've lost. I can't imagine why anyone would want to pay to join weight watchers online to post fictitious weight information. Can you?

Anyway, I was happy with losing one pound since it's that ever so lovely time of the month and I used just about all my extra allowance points last week due to a raging case of the munchies.

Mama, There's a Frog in My Stomach

A couple of weeks ago, Tessa told me she had a frog in her throat. I think she had heard her Aunt Sandy use this phrase. I also think she took it literally. She first used this phrase to inform me that she wasn’t feeling well because she “had a frog in her throat.” The next day when she did something naughty, she told me the frog in her throat made her do it. Pretty crafty, eh? Early last week, the little darling was jonesing for a Pepto tablet in a bad way. After going potty, she informed me that she needed a Pepto because that frog went down her throat into her stomach and gave her diarreah.

It gets better. At the end of last week, she told me she was feeling really tired because a frog and a bunny were both in her throat. Sunday morning, she came and got in bed with us when she woke. She started thrashing her head around and head-butted me in the chin. OUCH! I said, “Be still. Why are you doing that?” She replied, “Noga bunny rabbits are in my throat playing ring around the rosie. That’s why my head was moving.”

The kid has a truly bizarre imagination sometimes. Since we’re not related by blood, I can’t say she physically inherited it from me. Is it an inborn trait? Or have I corrupted her little mind with too many psychedelic 70s kid shows? Or is my weirdness rubbing off on her a little bit? One can only hope.