The Pumper's Wife

We all know that boys and girls are different.  This is no surprise or a gender equality issue – it’s just that boys and girls on the whole are different.  Even before Mother Goose said, “sugar and spice and everything nice” or “snips and snails and puppy-dog tails” moms and dads knew that their sons and daughters had more differences than just anatomy. As a mother of two boys, and pet owner of a dog, cat and Guinea pig who are all male – there have been many times in my married life where I have felt overwhelmed by the testosterone levels in my house.  Now, don’t get me wrong, I love being the mother of boys.  I love shooting rockets and guns, playing baseball, watching baseball, shooting water balloons, getting muddy and other such boyish games.  Having boys in my life, keeps things dirty and interesting on a daily basis.  But at the end of the day, I require a shower, where my male counterparts believe showering is optional.  More times than not, I get my fill of mess

We had an unexpected situation come upon us last Thursday after school.  As I was visiting with a close “mom” friend in the parking lot of the school, my youngest son (who will never cease to amaze me in how he can create problems where ere he roams…) went running to our car, crawled under it and pulled out a tiny gray kitten.  My friend and I were shocked.  We were actually standing in such a way as we could see the beneath our car and hadn’t noticed a thing.  Ol’ Junior who came bolting from the school was able to pinpoint the secret lying under the car in a half a second that went COMPLETELY unnoticed by my friend and I! Of course his first words were, “Mom! Look what I found! Can we take it home?” (and thus the problem was created…) My precious friend (who will remain nameless as to hide any horrible deed that might soon befall her…)said to me, “Oh look!  You get to take home a new kitty tonight!”  But, when I suggested she take the adorable feline with her, simply sta

I have to admit something to the world today – I am so unbelievably happy that my kids are back in school!!!  This feeling is new for me.  I have never been the parent who was excited about the school year starting because when I was teaching that meant MY summer was over too!!  However, (as I stated in a previous blog…) now that I am at home running a business it’s a little different.  I’m quite tired of stopping sibling fights every 15 minutes while trying to talk to a customer on the phone.  Or, trying to make out what a customer is saying with CRASH BOOM BANG taking place in the background. Or, locking myself in the office only to have children bang on the office door.  I think you get my point.  Still, the guilt I have felt from wanting school to start has messed with my mind a little bit, until last night… Our oldest had a class picnic to go to Sunday night.  His super fun teachers planned for the families to have both classes bring food and celebrate the start o

Ever hear the saying, “cleaning with kids in the house is like brushing your teeth while eating oreos”?  I feel like something similar could be said about running a home-based business during summer break. Here’s how I would phrase it though: “Running a home-based business while your kids are out on summer vacation is like putting together an atomic bomb during an elephant stampede.” Honestly, I am really okay with the distractions and craziness kids bring to an environment.  Having once taught in a junior high science classroom, I understand a certain amount of chaos is to be expected when you have kids around.  But, in the classroom there was always a sense of order and structure that surrounded lab experiments or daily work.  The summer life for elementary aged children can struggle to stay structured no matter what type of order parents try to put into place.  My kids have chores and duties throughout the day, but there is always that inevitable “down-time” --  and that is