Mean People Suck **updated

What is it with me and psychos? Remember this incident? Or this one? Today another one went off on me in the school parking lot of all places. It happened after school. I was corralling all my kids plus the neighbor boy into the van. I went around to the other side to buckle Little Miss in and the boys were all filing in on the other side. Little Man got kind of shoved to the back of the pack and in the process, got pushed up against the Explorer's driver side door that was parked in the space next to us (a handicap space, I might add, even though no one in the car was handicapped). His backpack rubbed on the door (he had been at speech therapy so that is why he had it). The next thing I know I see the lady inside pushing open her door and kind of reaching out kind of swatting at Little Man (she didn't touch him - that would have been a whole new ballgame) and yelling to get off her car. This all happened in about 3 seconds.

I look up and she has gotten out of her car and is literally yelling at me through the other side of the van, "YOU NEED TO WATCH YOUR KIDS! HE WAS SCRATCHING MY CAR ALL UP! GIVE ME YOUR NAME AND NUMBER! GIVE ME YOUR NAME AND NUMBER!!!" I was shocked and I was pissed. I snapped the last part of Little Miss' car seat in, told the boys to finish getting in the van, looked at her and said, "You can talk to me in a civil manner." She yelled again, "GIVE ME YOUR NAME AND NUMBER!!"  I said still calmly but, shall we say, firmly, "You better get out of my face and when you can talk to me civilly I will talk to you."

She huffed off across the cross walk to get her daughter. I considered just leaving, but she was such a psycho I was scared she would stalk my kids at school or something to track me down. So I found a notebook and pen in my car and waited for her. I was seriously biting my tongue and trying to be the civilized one, especially since I had a car load of kids with me. I was so shocked she was acting that way that I wasn't really thinking straight.

She got her daughter and put her in the Explorer and then comes around the side of it and yells again, "GIVE ME YOUR NAME AND NUMBER RIGHT NOW!" I said, "You need to calm down. First of all, he is four years old. Don't you start yelling at him and then get all in my face. IF there is any damage (*which there wasn't - I looked), I will be happy to discuss things with you from that point on and take responsibility for it, but the way you are handling things is way out of line."

"GIVE ME YOUR NAME AND NUMBER!"
"You can talk to me with some manners."
"GIVE ME YOUR NAME AND NUMBER!!!"
"You calm down or we WILL handle this a different way."
"I will report that you are harassing me."
"(slight laugh) What is your problem?"
"What is YOUR problem?"
"I told you I will give you my information and take care of it if needs be so why are you still yelling at me? What is your name?"  She just stood there glaring at me.  I go, "Because what are you going to do? Call me up and say, "hi, I'm the lady that bitched you out in the school parking lot?" What is your name?"
She finally told me and I handed her the paper with my name and number on it. I said, "If there is damage you can send the estimates to me. But don't you ever yell at me or my son again. It is a car. He is a 4 year old child that made a mistake."

She grabbed the paper and screeched out of the parking lot. As I was pulling out a man flagged me down and handed me a piece of paper and said, "Here is MY name and number and I am happy to be a witness for you. I saw it all from the beginning." I thought that was really nice of him and was extremely appreciative. I'm sure there are other witnesses, like the teachers that were serving as the crossing guards and anyone else within a 1/2 mile radius that heard her screaming.

After I left I started thinking of all the things I should have done (like take a picture of the door with my cell phone or say, "Fine. Let's call the police and settle it right now. I'm sure they would be happy to note you are parked illegally in a handicap spot.") But I was so taken back I couldn't really think of anything except that I didn't want her to go crazy and start shooting me and everyone else in the school parking lot - because she really was THAT kind of crazy.

I guess I will see if I ever see or hear anything from her again. I'm still pretty shaken up about it. My boys were appalled. And I feel really bad for her daughter. I wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt, but when she came back and was STILL yelling at me like a psycho that kind of went out the window.

**Update: Tonight there was a message on my voice mail from the lady. This is word for word what she said:

 "This is the lady who you talked to in the parking lot. Um, I didn't mean to yell at your son. I'm sorry I did that and I didn't mean for it to go as...um, for it to escalate. But, uh, I can, uh...I checked out my car... um, um, and it all ... um, uh ...don't worry about it. Bye."

I guess I can rest easy that I am not going to get stabbed in my sleep tonight. Or maybe it's a ploy to make me take my guard down?? Hmmm... jk. I'm glad I wasn't here to get the phone call, but I am also glad she owned up and called to apologize. Hopefully this is truly the end of it.

Fall Is Here

Little Man's Birthday Bash

Big J and Little Man's birthdays are 11 days apart, so we have had yet another week of birthday celebrations. Does anyone else have weeks of celebration as opposed to a day? Little Man brought some cookies to his speech therapy class (which is just him and two other kids), then he took a cookie cake for his preschool class, plus we had cupcakes on his actual birthday here at home. Then he had his birthday party. All during the week presents were arriving from out-of-towners and so he basically ate treats and opened presents for a week. What a life!

We had his birthday party on Saturday. It was quite the feat to arrive at a party theme, mainly because Little Man is so easy going and happy with whatever he would change what he wanted to do with every suggestion. When asked what he wanted (as in a present) for his birthday, he said, "Oh, I think I would just like to have some ice cream at my birthday party!" He has told me on more than one occasion that he is going to be a construction worker when he grows up, so eventually he got excited about having a construction birthday party, so that is what we did.


I think it turned out way better than I thought it would, because most of the things were ideas floating around in my head that just kind of came out on the day of in some form or another.  Little Man had fun, though, and told me, "I want that same birthday party every year!"

For decorations, I made lots of different signs that said things like "Fun Zone" or "Yield Party Ahead", things like that, and hung them around the yard with lots of balloons. His "cake" was a dump truck full or brownies (so it looked like dirt). I found these really cute little construction vehicle candles we used, too. We also had some caution tape around that said "Birthday Zone" up in various places.

Then we had a few activities. As the kids arrived, they got to decorate their own construction hat with stickers. Then we had a game where I had hidden little construction vehicles in the sandpit, and they had to dig in the sand to find them all. We played an obstacle course type game where they ran in and out of cones and then at the end got to hammer in four "nails" (golf tees into styrofoam) before running back to the line. And of course we had a pinata shaped like a dump truck. Then we ate and opened presents!

 

 

 

Happy Birthday, Little Man!

Big J's Big Bash

Big J had his 10th, yes, 10th! birthday last week.  He wanted to have a Rock Band party, so rock and party is what we did. We sent out invitations that looked like concert tickets and told everyone to dress as a rock star. I totally dressed up but didn't get any good pictures of it. I will be doing the same thing for Halloween, so I will get some then. When the guests came, everyone got a VIP backstage all access pass, chose a rocker bandanna, a rubber spiked bracelet, temporary tattoos, and a blow up electric guitar.

It was interesting to see how at first they were all a little shy about it, and would only pick zero, one or two tattoos, and maybe or maybe not get any of the other stuff, but by the end they were all tatted up with bandannas.  It was so simple to throw together because they all just played Rock Band in the basement while hanging out and eating snacks, then we sang Happy Birthday and had the cake and then opened presents. Decorations were a snap because I used rock star posters and some balloons, and then at the end they all got to take a poster home with their other things, too. Easiest party ever and Big J said all his friends were talking about how awesome it was at school. It was really fun!


Here are a few pictures and a fun clip from the big day:

  

 

Happy Birthday, Big J!

Let's Talk Scivvies

This week I happened to see Little J in his underwear after his shower. He had on briefs. Briefs that looked like a Speedo! They were so little and tight! I was like, "Little J! Your underwear is too small! Why didn't you tell me? Aren't they uncomfortable?" And he said that, yes, they were and that he would like some new underwear and to get him the same kind Big J has (which are boxer briefs).

So I go to the store the next day and get him some new underwear. Poor guy - he had size 6 underwear and according to the boxer brief package, he should be in size 10!  I get home and wash them, etc., and when I am putting them away I start to wonder about Big J's underwear. It's just not something I pay that much attention to. I mean, I wash them and put them away with a 1000 other things and that's it. I figured they would tell me about something essential like their underwear not fitting anymore. So I go look at what size his are. His were all size 10! According to the package, he should be in a 14!!

So I go back to the store and get some new underwear for Big J. That night when he put on his new boxer briefs, I started laughing so hard I was crying. Because how those looked on him compared to his old ones was like a pair of boyshorts compared to a pair of swim trunks. His old ones were so little on him that there really wasn't any "boxer" part to them. It was hilarious!

My poor, poor kids. I hope they can still have children after this.

I Am Smitten

Do you ever just look at your kids and feel totally in love with them? I mean, I know I love them and (usually) enjoy them every day, but some days I am just totally smitten with them. So, as the lucky readers of my blog, you get to hear why. Besides the fact that I think they are some of the most beautiful creatures on the planet, this is why I adore them at the present moment:
 

Big J always makes me proud. He is just good. He has a really kind, pure heart and a sensitive spirit. He is smart and good-natured. He is respectful. He is the one who the first thing he does when he gets up every morning is come and give me a hug. He is also the first to give me a hug after school. He is the type that still drops by to visit his past elementary teachers and give them a hug! He is my only kid with a tiny smattering of freckles across his nose and the top of his cheeks that I think are adorable.

                                         
 Little J is my beautiful (and only) hazel-eyed little boy. He is the passionate one on all accounts. He is the one that will excitedly, in detail, tell me about his day or his story or his cool move he did on the playground. His mind amazes me the way it works. He just has a really unique way of seeing things. He is a smart guy who is constantly creating - whether it be new Lego creations, drawings, or entrepreneurial adventures. Whatever it is, he throws himself into it. And I love how he dotes on his little sister.                                   

     
Little Man is my sweetheart. I hate to say this, but he pretty much is the perfect kid. He is so pleasant and good-natured. He is the first to want to help. He is obedient. He is kind and happy. He always looks at the bright side of things and rarely complains.We have always said ever since he was a baby that he was just happy to be here! He and his little sister have a really special relationship. Whenever they wake up in the morning they immediately go to each other and give each other a hug and a kiss and it melts my heart everytime. He tells me, "I love you every morning and every night!"

Little Miss is my very own personal Little Miss Sunshine. She is sweet and sassy all rolled up into one. She is the perfect balance of being a girly-girl - she loves to accessorize with bracelets and purses and is often found wearing someone else's shoes - but she can definitely hold her own with the boys and jumps right into the wrestling match with her brothers, dumps dirt on top of her head, crawls and climbs up onto anything, plays cars and Legos and swords. She loves to give kisses and will be the first to go and console someone if they are upset - she'll sit right down next to them and start patting their head. Sometimes I just look at her chubby, adorable face and wide, alert eyes and just love that I have another chance to see the world through brand new eyes.


So there you have it. I am completely smitten with my children. They are all so different and unique in their own way and I love being able to take this journey with them! It really is such a humbling thing to realize that only four little beings in the entire world and in the entire history of the world will be able to call me mama. It makes me want to do my best to make sure I am worthy of that title!

Little Miss' Delight Part 2

Here is another short clip of Little Miss enjoying the squirrels. Although this time she sees a spider on the outside of the window she is looking out. Between it and the squirrels she is beside herself. Until the end when she decides she doesn't like that spider much anymore.