There's A New Rule In This House .....

"THERE'S A NEW RULE IN THIS HOUSE," I found myself saying (okay, yelling) last night. " YOUR FATHER AND I WILL MAKE ONE DINNER AND IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT, DON'T EAT IT. I'M NOT MAKING THREE DIFFERENT MEALS EVERY NIGHT!!!"

I know I'm not alone when I say it frustrates me to no end when my kids won't eat what I make for dinner. Parents for years have dealt with this dilemma. It's how we react to this annoyance that sets us apart. I could yell and get angry and put them in their rooms OR I could calmly tell them that sometimes we don't get choices in life and we have to live with our decisions. i.e. Not eating now = being hungry at bedtime.

This latest outburst came about after my daughter said she didn't want soup for dinner. Who doesn't like tomato soup? Okay, my 8-year old daughter and six-year old son don't like tomato soup. But I also offered to make chicken noodle soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. It was then, after I pleaded with my daughter to make a decision that I felt foolish. "What was I doing," I said to myself. "This is crazy," I told her. "Soup is what's for dinner. Take it or leave it."

She left it.

As a child, I remember my mother making ONE meal every night. There were never any options. Even when she opened a can of salmon (It's like tuna in a can), mixed it with mayo and slopped a spoonful on my plate I ate it. It wasn't my favorite, although it always came with baked frozen french fries (yum) and peas (gross).

Don't get me wrong, like anyone else, I always had my favorites and looked forward to spaghetti and taco nights. But I don't remember complaining. I just remember eating. My mother might remember differently but for the sake of this story I was a perfect child who always ate what I was supposed to. :)

I realize this little tirade is laced with a bit of anger. But every night, it's a different child .. so I'm laying down the law. In the future, I won't react in an angry manner. I'll just look at whichever beautiful child is scrunching up their face and pushing away their plate and say sweetly, "Sorry. I can't help you. Remember, there's a new rule in this house ... "

A First For Everything ...

I experienced something for the first time last night. My first car accident. I was taking my six-year old son, Logan, to basketball and driving along Willow Knolls in Peoria. As I crossed the intersection at Allen Road someone in a BIG SUV turned into my little Honda Civic. It was a young kid, maybe he was 16 or 17. The SUV smashed into the side of the car, shattering the driver's side window. Fortunately, we were not injured. My six-year old son was in the back playing with a video game and didn't see it coming. I did, though, and that was one of the scariest moments.

I consider myself to be a defensive driver, always checking intersections to make sure cars are stopped at the red lights. I saw the guy sitting there waiting to turn. Then , as I made my way through the intersection, he just turned and I knew he was going to hit me and I knew I couldn't do anything about it. I couldn't stop it from happening and that was frightening. The first thing that went through my mind was "Oh my God, I don't know what's going to happen here. Oh my God, Logan could get hurt. Oh my God, I could be really hurt" The kid wasn't going very fast because he was turning but "what if?" Of course, all the "what ifs" started going through my head later on when I returned home safely. I saw Logan's little blue blanket on my bed and I started to tear up, thinking about how the night could've gone had this guy been going faster. I know you can't live like that but I couldn't help it. Anyway, it was a frightening experience.

I could go on about how this made me realize I need to appreciate every moment I have with the people I love, but I already do that. Have a safe day!

Less ... Is More in 2010

I have too much stuff.

Too many clothes are in my closet (I haven't worn many of them in a year). Too many pairs of workout shoes sit on the rack (My husband tries to throw them out when I'm not looking). Too many papers clutter my desk at home. (I can't even sit down and work.) Too many small, plastic toys fill our closets and cover our basement floor. (You know what I'm talking about.)

Clutter will be the end of me.

I've got so much crap I'm at the point where it's stressing me out .. everyday.

And I know I'm not alone. Many of you reading this are saying to yourselves, "Argh .. it's so frustrating." Nearly everyone, at some point in their lives, has this problem. The question is how can we get rid of all the stuff.

I do try. Everyday I go into my office and throw away papers, move things around, and put items in drawers that are already full. I preach to the children that every one of their belongings should have a "home." I invest in advice that tells me to declutter one room at a time for five minutes. I watch expert organizer Peter Walsh on Oprah so he can advise me to get rid of an old item every time I buy a new one. I even got on flylady.com. I especially like this one. She told me to take a garbage bag, walk through the house and throw away 27 items. I don't know where the number 27 came from but I'm willing to try. After I do that, I'm supposed to take another bag and fill it with 27 items I want to donate.

Okay.

I'll do that today.

I'm also making other strides. I'm not renewing any of my magazine subsciptions. I, at one point, was getting 10 magazines a month (yeah, it got a little out of hand). I don't have time to read them all right away so they just sit there collecting dust. i.e. LOTS OF CLUTTER!

It's a start. So I'm hoping that once I create order in my office and in my home than I can create more order in my life. I'll let ya know how it goes.

Reaching Milestones ...

I love being a mom but I'm torn over how fast my three children are growing up. They're 9, 7 and 6 and, as the saying goes, time is flying by. Before my eyes, they are creating their own unique personalities and becoming more independent. Lucas is my peacemaker/pleaser while Lauren, my artist, is always ready to stir things up. Logan, my youngest, is a bit shy and loves to play any and all sports. They still need me, of course, but not as much as they used to, which is good and bad.

I miss the days when they were babies and would snuggle up and fall asleep on my chest. I fondly remember the way they wobbled across the room with their first steps as they made their way from mommy to daddy. And I still cherish some of their first words. One of my favorites is when Lucas, my oldest, would say "ya ya" as his way of saying thank you.

While I do sometimes wish for those sweeter, innocent days, I've also learned to embrace new milestones in our family. Just recently, my two oldest children reached a new one. And when I say reached, I mean it, literally. They can now reach the lower tiers of our upper kitchen cabinets which is where the plates, bowls and cups are stored. And so, there is our milestone.

Lucas and Lauren have now been granted the tedious job of unloading the dishwasher. Ahhhh. Let's me take a moment right now to celebrate. Ahhhh. I don't know if you realize how happy this makes me. I know it only takes 3-5 minutes but, as a child, it was my job and it was never-ending, just as it is today. I grew to despise it and I still do. So I'm celebrating the fact that it's NOT my job anymore.

Ahhh (By the way, I'm smiling) :)

And now, I wait for the inevitable .. for my youngest child to grow big enough to also share the job.

What comes to mind is the list of other jobs they can start taking over ... folding laundry .. sweeping the kitchen floor. The list will eventually grow endless. It's a fact, I realize, that will make me happy and sad.

Have a great day!

Post Oprah ... Holidays

It's been a while since I've blogged, but can you blame me? I've been very busy with my Oprah visit and appearance on her show. :) What an exciting month it's been. In case you missed it, a few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to score tickets to sit in Oprah's audience. Mo'Nique, who starred in the new movie "Precious," and Anderson Cooper from CNN were the guests. The guests/topics were okay. Oprah, though, was great! She talked to the audience and was very gracious, thanking us for making special arrangements to come see the show. All in all, it was a wonderful experience. I didn't get on TV or anything .. on that visit. You could see the back of my head in the audience. Oh yeah, and we had great seats. I went with three of my friends and we were seated in the fourth row. Then, last Thursday, I WAS on the Oprah show. A little over a month ago I was shopping at Woodfield mall with those same friends when an Oprah show producer asked if she could ask us some questions, on camera, about men's fashions. My very short bit of interview aired last Thursday. It was VERY exciting. Really .. how many people can say they were on the Oprah Winfrey Show? I can. :)

Now that I've settled into my national celebrity .. hee hee .. it's time to think about the holidays. Our big dilemma this year is whether we want to wake up on Christmas morning at our house(which we never do) or travel to my parent's house. Initially, we decided to begin our own family tradition by staying home, but then my 10-year old son said he wanted to wake up at Nana and Poppy's house because he wanted to be near all of his family, including his cousins. Aww. I was touched that he understands how important it is to spend special moments with family. Then again, I was looking forward to NOT having to pack up the van and the car topper with presents. It's still under consideration. First, we have to get through Thanksgiving. :)

Have a great holiday.

The Oprah Story - Part Two

Have I kept you waiting long enough? I know. That really wasn't fair. But I rarely get a chance to be dramatic and suspensful so I had to play it up. Okay here's the rest of the Oprah story :

On Tuesday, my friend Gretchen called to tell me the "The Oprah Show" called her regarding her weekend interview. (We'd both been interviewed by an Oprah show producer about what drives us crazy about men's fashions.) Gretchen specifically talked about how she really dislikes it when men don't properly groom (manscape) themselves.

It so happens that during the interview she mentioned that her husband (who is super nice) is kind of a hairy guy. So, when producers called on Tuesday, they asked Gretchen to send pictures of her hairy husband. I laughed and laughed. And then I asked if she was going to do it. At that point, she hadn't talked to her husband and didn't know if he was going to agree. She also had reservations about putting her husband on the spot and didn't know if it was a good idea, either. Since then, he's come around but has asked her not to send one specific picture she found (I guess it's pretty bad).

I'm still not sure if she's going to do it. What they want to do is use her voice and show pictures of her husband.

I also haven't lost hope .. I could still make the cut. We'll see. I'll keep you posted.

My Aha" Moment

I'm home sick today so I finally have time to tell you about my exciting story from this past weekend. I'm calling it my "Aha" moment (in a tongue-and-cheek kind-of-way)and you'll know why in a moment.

You recognize the phrase, right? Oprah Winfrey uses it all the time on her talk show and in her magazine when she's talking about a defining moment in her life in which she gains a new understanding of her purpose and goals.

So my "Aha" moment came this past weekend when I was walking through Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg, Illinois. A friend and I were approached by a woman who said she was from "The Ober Show" and asked if she could ask us some questions on-camera about what drives us crazy about men's fashions. It was then I noticed the camera crew behind her. I asked her again, "What show are you from?" She said, "The Oprah Winfrey Show." I had obviously misunderstood her the first time. It was at that point that I had my "Aha" moment. My purpose and goal, at this point in time, was to get my mug on national TV. THE OPRAH WINFREY SHOW!! Yeah!!

So my friend Gretchen and I stood side-by-side and answered questions about what drives us crazy about our husband's fashion sense. I think the term is "We threw our husbands under the bus" so we could get on Oprah. Yep, during the interview, I ripped on my husband's favorite fishing hat and all his hole-y TV-shirts. Gretchen talked about how it drives her crazy when men didn't properly groom (manscape) themselves. (Her hubby has a lot of hair.) Sorry, Mark. :)

Because I felt a little guilty about my comments, I immediately called my husband after the interview and told him what I had done. He told me "That's okay, honey." What a great husband!!!

Anyway, Gretchen and I thought we gave pretty witty and smart comments so we were thinking we'd make the cut. :) If we did make it on the show, it would just be a quick sound bite, but still ... it's national TV.

Then, yesterday, Gretchen calls me to tell me "The Oprah Show" called. I think I screamed a happy scream. "What did they say?" I asked.

And I'll tell you about that tomorrow ....