Tag Archives: life lessons

Anniversary after divorce?

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Today, I felt like I was missing something. An appointment? A call to make? What did I forget??

And then, this afternoon I realized it was my anniversary!  Of my first wedding, way ,way, way back when I was TWENTY years old. It would have been twenty years today!

This didn’t make me sad, or angry, or bitter, but actually kind of nostalgic. How much time has gone by since that day, how much I have changed since that day.

wedding96

I love this picture, especially as I get older. I am currently watching my 19 year old navigate life and comparing where she is to what I was doing at her age.

I see this photo and remember how innocent, yet all-knowing I was. How very smart and yet stupid I was. How young I was, and yet-weirdly-how I continue to stay exceptionally young while my MIND alone continues to mature and age…. strange…..

I can’t say I regret this day 20 years ago. I don’t regret being the girl in this photo. Sure, I would have liked to avoid some of the difficulties that came later, but it all brought me to this spot. And that day was a day I will never forget, even if the marriage didn’t last.

Lately, when the oldest is panicking because she can’t figure out how to physically go into the post office and mail a package without hand-holding, I think about what I was doing at her age. Living with my fiancé already, buying our first home with the help of his mother…worrying about paying bills, making enough money, and learning how to grocery shop and planning a wedding.

I’m so GLAD she’s not ready for any of that. I’m not ready for her to be ready for that!! But I’m so thankful for her and her brother, and so also thankful to have had that wedding 20 years ago.

Feels like I should be doing something then, maybe to celebrate? Or acknowledge the date?? How about some low key photo fun, compliments of snapchat……

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Sweet Succss!!

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So I blogged about my daughters graduation invitations the other day.

It’s kind of funny. We got the invitations in the mail, super fast. It wasn’t until a few days later that someone was kind enough to tell me that I screwed them up.

Ironic, really. I am one of those people who can’t stand spelling mistakes, I always seem to find them. And yet, here is proof of my imperfect humanity.

How could I have missed this!!!!!

How could I have missed this!!!!!

My daughter graduated Summa Cum Laude, with a GPA over 4.3. I took full credit for this. Yet, I also now have to take full credit for telling the world that she succss!!!!

So I didn’t mail the invitations. Pondered what to do. Thought about sending them and hoping no one would notice. Couldn’t do it.

By the way, when I ordered these…I was forced to review the front and back of this invitation before I could finish, you have to click that you read and approve each side. I was so busy making sure I had spelled the back of it correctly, and worried about how to word the whole ‘me and the ex are throwing a party together’, I just didn’t pay enough attention to the front.

Well, I came up with a brilliant idea to save the day.

Labels!!! Because black permanent marker could not quite hide the fact that I was trying to cover something up, I decided to look into a sticker/label option.

Thank you vistaprint.com for also have extremely fast shipping, and adorable labels that can be personalized in any way a person could imagine.

A quick fix coupled with a little horn tooting...

A quick fix coupled with a little horn tooting…

So, I did think of another suggestion for cardstore.com, to make the experience there even more meaningful…..spellcheck!!!   You just can’t trust us to catch our own mistakes. 🙂

Guys aren’t strangers

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come on in guys!

come on in guys!

I came across a post recently that reminded me of how precarious our kids understanding of things like safety, danger, and strangers can be. You can find the post I’m talking about here. Go check it out, I’ll wait……..

Now, how do you think your kids would act in a stranger simulation???

I started talking about “stranger danger” as early as possible with the kids. It is one of those lurking fears we mothers have…

Right now, Sammy is 5, and we’ve been tossing scenarios back and forth with him for years now. We’ve talked about how his body is HIS body, and no one is allowed to touch it. We talk about strangers, and even people who aren’t strangers possibly making him feel uncomfortable. Always harping on the basics….

What do you do if someone tries to grab you?

His answer usually includes some form of ninja death chop….but then he remembers that he should really run away, screaming for help.

What do you do if someone DOES grab you?

Scream more, kick, bite, cry-loudly-, fight and struggle!!!

What do you do if a really nice little lady comes by to show you her cute puppy?

Run away. NEVER TOUCH THE PUPPY.

Even scenarios with neighbors or friends… if it doesn’t feel right…. it’s ok to NOT do it, and TELL TELL TELL!!!!!

We talk about it a LOT.

So… with that in mind……….

One day about 3 months ago, I was upstairs with the youngest. Sammy is downstairs, and the doorbell rings.

(I don’t hear it)

I happen to come downstairs right after, and find two young men standing in my foyer. Sammy had let them in.

Thankfully, they were not killers. (as far as I know)

Once they left, I didn’t yell at Sammy. I sat him down, and started talking about strangers. Why it could have been VERY dangerous to let those guys in. Why he should NEVER answer the door (which he already knew…I thought).

He listened to my impassioned lecture, letting me calm down before he responds.

“But mom, they weren’t strangers….. they were GUYS!”

Uh….

elevenwarriors.com

elevenwarriors.com