"The Superior Wife Syndrome"

I just read a newspaper article about Carin Rubenstein's book, The Superior Wife Syndrome. If you want to read the article, click on the title to this post and it will link you right to the article. While reading the article, I made a discovery. According to Rubenstein, I would fall into the category of, you got it, 'superior wife.' What? Really? I answered yes to 5 out of the 6 questions mentioned that help Rubenstein determine superiority. I multi-task, I keep track of the family schedule, I make a lot of the family decisions, etc, etc. I won't bore you with all the details. So yes, I guess I am a 'superior wife.'

But wait, what about attitude, necessity, and other factors? Each individual circumstance is going to be different. We cannot allow all women in charge of the household and family duties to be lumped into one category. Did Rubenstein really consider all the factors that determine distribution of responsibility within the home and family? I'm not sure. I can't make that call for sure. I haven't actually read the book. I am basing this off of the article in the newspaper.

I do not consider myself a superior wife by any means. When it comes right down to it, I would gladly let John take over the household chores. But, out of necessity I am responsible for the majority of the tasks in the home and family. John is gone between 12-14 hours most weekdays. Yeah, doesn't really facilitate giving him more responsibility at home does it? When he is home, guess who gets to change poopy diapers, clean the bathrooms, give the kids a bath, and more? Certainly not me! Yep, you guessed it. I step back and let John take over (with a little more prodding than he would care for).

What do you think about this superior wife syndrome? Read the article then tell me what you think. How do you relate to this? What are your thoughts? Please feel free to share any thoughts you may have.

Fairies in our Midst

As related by my oldest daughter yesterday:

Me and Natalie were looking for fairies today. Where there is a rainbow, there are fairies! If there is a butterfly, it will be a fairy.

[It has been raining, so lots of opportunities to find rainbows!]

We found a couple of butterflies. We followed them, but we didn't see the fairies.

[Today]
We looked for fairies again, and leprechauns. [I wonder how many she saw today! With all the rain, rainbows should be plenteous today!]

Ahhh . . . the imagination of a child. I love listening to her stories. Her imagination is not lacking in any way. I am glad to hear that she has found something to entertain her. It certainly brings back memories of my own childhood, the things I would come up with. These are the times that make all the bad times worth it! Her face is full of pure joy as she talks about her fairies. Just remember, there are fairies in our midst. Nobody really knows when a fairy will appear, but we will see one, if we are looking and believe! I will not destroy my daughter's belief in fairies, at least not right now! She is learning to have faith, and if she learns faith through believing in fairies, I will not complain. There are far worse things to believe in and to have faith in! I will gently urge her in the way of believing!

And so it begins . . .

Have you heard of the mother's curse? You will have children just like you? But I was never wild and crazy so I should have perfect kids, right? Ha, my whole life-- shattered-- by just a few simple acts. My dad says it is payback. When I try to get mad at my kids, he sits back and laughs until I can't help but laugh. I do see the humor now, I just didn't at the time. So, here's the beginning of the story (this time).
Last week Jaime and I had to attend a preschool orientation. We were told not to bring our children to this orientation. So we left our 4 kids at my house with a babysitter. Now keep in mind that this orientation was only about an hour and a half. We have never had problems leaving our kids together. They play nicely -- so we thought! We got back to my house and I heard banging noises. I didn't think anything of it, John was working on the leaky faucet in the upstairs bathroom. Emma, Brayden, and Timothy were downstairs. I looked down the stairs to let Emma know I was home. The light was on in the living room. I expected Emma to run around the corner. But no, I also saw the light on in the bathroom! --- You may think you know where this is going, but wait, it gets better, I think --- All of a sudden I see Brayden dart out of the bathroom to the alcove next to the bedroom. And then Timothy comes running out laughing, and then . . . (drumroll, please!) here comes Emma, sopping wet! Ugh, what had they been doing? I told her to get upstairs right then and change her clothes, thinking they had been playing in the sink! Then Timothy ran back into the bathroom. I went downstairs to close the door, when *gasp* my eyes beheld a sight I did not want to see! It was horrible. I yelled at Emma, "What did you do down here?" I was so mad I wanted to cry, but it was also so funny I wanted to laugh. I was just in shock that my children were a part of this! (I know, just tell you! I wasn't even in my right mind to take a picture of it all!) I had found the bathtub full of water. You may say, what it so horrible about that? But . . . not only was the bathtub full of water, it was also full of books! Precious books! I love books, what a disgrace that my children were part of this desecration! I think there were about 5 paper/board books and two cloth books in that bathtub. Not only were there books, but there was an open bottle of baby shampoo sunk to the bottom, an open bottle of conditioner sunk to the bottom, and an open bottle of my shampoo sunk to the bottom. Emma must have really had fun in the bath, fully clothed!

But these adventures didn't end with one incident. No, my children had to keep going. A couple of days later, I found Amber and Emma downstairs (of course it is always downstairs) where they were supposedly watching a movie. Supposedly is the key word. I should have learned from the earlier incident with the bathtub. No, this time there was no water, only a couple of small bottles of nail polish. Yikes. I had gone downstairs to do a load of laundry when a strong scent assaulted my senses. Ugh . . . I couldn't place it. That is until I walked into the living room, finding Emma with two open bottles of nail polish on my chair, and Amber with two open bottles of nail polish trying to hide from me! Emma spilled nail polish on the chair, Amber spilled on the air mattress that was folded up down there. Ugh. That's about all I can say. I just can't win.

I guess none of this compares to the Christmas cookies my husband tried to sneak when he was younger or the fireworks my husband lit on the bed. But when it comes to me, I was a perfect angel. I never did anything so egregious! :) I shouldn't be punished for my husband's misdeeds!

We survived!

We have officially survived the first week of school! It has been such an adjustment for Amber to be in school all day. She is so tired at the end of the day. Meltdowns have been the norm this week. All in all we have had a successful week.

So today Amber said that she played with Issac at recess today. She said they played dinosaurs. Hmmm . . . sounds interesting, my little girl was playing dinosaurs? She has a slight fascination with dinosaurs. So John asked her which dinosaur she was. She looked at him with one of those, duh dad looks and said, "the mom!" I couldn't stop laughing. She found a way to play house with the boys. She just called it dinosaurs, but she still got to be the mom! My child is creative.

Other adventures this week: I've been walking Amber to and from school with a couple other moms in the neighborhood. So once the kids go in to school, we let our other kids play out on the playground for a bit before heading home. I think it was Tuesday that Timothy fell off the playground equipment, screamed, and screamed louder when I picked him up. He was mad that I wasn't letting him run around. But I didn't want anyone to think I didn't care about my child, so I had run to see what was wrong. I guess he's too much like me. Let me assess what's wrong before anybody asks me if I'm okay!

I am slowly getting used to Amber being gone. I have a full day where the girls aren't fighting! Woohoo! I am loving the peace in my house, which is quickly shattered as soon as we get back from picking up Amber. The day sure flies by though. I didn't realize how fast time really would go. Ha, and I thought I would have lots of time to get stuff done!

"Into the Mind of Babes" Giveaway

For somebody who lets her children watch T.V. yet feels guilty about it, the book Into the Minds of Babes sounds like a wonderful book. I read a review of this book over on the blog Reading For Sanity. After reading the review of this book I really want to read the entire book. For anybody interested, she is giving away a copy of this book over on her blog. Check out the giveaway here.
I do let my kids watch T.V. Well, actually they watch a lot of Dora, Thomas, Blues Clues because we have the videos. Ever since the switch to digital T.V. we just don't get much of a signal. But, I still have plenty for the kids to watch. I never thought I would be the person to put them in front of the T.V. just so I can get a few moments of peace. It just sort of happened, and it got easier to do after the third child. So I really think this book would be an interesting read. Just let me turn on the T.V. and I can get to reading!

End of Summer Activities

My time- It just so happens this week that I have had the opportunity to have a bit of me time. How rejuvenating! John has been so willing (no complaining) to watch the kids while I go out! He has even allowed himself to be roped into watching six kids at the same time, all by himself. Tuesday afternoon, Wednesday afternoon, Wednesday evening, and Thursday evening! Okay, so he had the kids a lot this past week. My kids love having daddy around so much.

Swimming- The outdoor pools are closing! I am so sad. We have been able to go quite often this year compared to past years. Even Timothy has gotten comfortable in the pool. I love the outdoor pools. No more weekday outdoor pool trips for us. We did take advantage of the pool again this week though. We went on Thursday afternoon. What fun. We enjoyed being there. Timothy no longer clings to me. In fact, he tries to run into the water that is too deep for him! I have to keep a very close eye on that boy lest he tries something crazy and well . . . I just don't want to think of all the bad things that could happen right now!

Day at the Carnival- My kids have been so excited! A couple of months ago when we went to the dentist, they gave us a flier advertising their free carnival in August. Free food, free activities, lots of fun. All just for being a loyal patient! The carnival was from 11-2 at Sugarhouse Park. First off we got in line for food. The line was so long that John took the girls to get their hair colored! By the time they were done, I was almost to the food! Yay! Then we found out there was a separate line for the hotdogs. John went to wait for hotdogs, and I helped the girls get drinks, popcorn, nachos, cotton candy, and snow cones for everybody! 5 items for 5 people, not so bad. Oh, except the snow cones were difficult to carry while pushing a stroller and balancing the other food! But, I'm wonder woman and I did it. Okay, so Amber and Emma helped. I really only had to hold my own snow cone. I sent Amber to give John his while he waited in line for hotdogs! Then I gave Timothy his! Red snow cone drenched him by the time we found somewhere to sit and eat. Probably not the smartest choice, but hey, kids wash, at least I think so!
Then the girls were off to bowling, and the bounce houses! They could spend all day in those bounce play areas! One was a shark slide. Emma took a long time coming down the first time. I had just sent Amber back up to find her and here she comes, out from under the teeth! And she's off. Back for another round of the shark slide! Timothy was content to hang out in the stroller. I think he was just so tired. I hadn't given him a nap yet. So he watched the girls play. What a fun way to spend an afternoon.
The girls were so mad when it was time to go, but everyone was so tired. Timothy fell asleep on the way home after he dumped popcorn all over his lap! Oops, the things I do to keep the kids happy. Popcorn in the car, what a mess! But they were so good at the carnival. Almost no complaining.

Now it is time to buckle down and get in the school mode! School starts on Monday for Amber. She's so ready to start first grade. I'm not ready for summer to be over, but hey, I can still take Emma and Timothy and play for a few weeks while Amber is gone all day! Can I please drag summer out a little while? I'm not ready for it to end.

I didn't plant these!

Earlier this month John had said, "We have pumpkins growing in our front yard!" Ha, I thought. Here I go again, not believing him. After all, I didn't plant pumpkins! How do we now have pumpkins. I told him it was just part of the rhubarb that I cannot get rid of. But he looked up a picture online and compared the leaves. Okay, so I guess we have pumpkin growing in our front yard. And it is a lot of pumpkins! But I was still at a loss. How did I get this many pumpkin plants in my yard?

Then John reminded me. So this is what happened. Last year, we had a pumpkin on our porch for Halloween. It had a painted face, so it was a full pumpkin, not a carved pumpkin! Somehow it got knocked off the porch and I forgot about it. I never cleaned it up. The pumpkin rotted in the garden area just off the side of the porch. I never cleaned it up, it was very gross. All of a sudden it disappeared. I thought John had finally gotten sick of seeing the rotting pumpkin and had cleaned it up. Nope. No such luck. All of those seeds planted themselves right there by my porch. I have at least 20 flowers on these multiple plants! My very own little pumpkin patch.

I didn't intend on planting pumpkins this year. But of the 5 things I intended to plant, and the unintended pumpkins, the pumpkin plants are doing the best! They are thriving and I haven't done anything to help them thrive. I used to say I didn't have a green thumb. Maybe I do. But only when it comes to pumpkins that really want to grow in my yard!