Write From Karen

Random thoughts that aren’t quite good long enough to devote an entire post to:

• We bought fireworks. And we spent $50.00, which isn’t as bad as last year when we spent $80.00. We spent nearly half of that on this fancy-schmancy “Dirty Dozen” package which are these cool balls you drop into a tube and then fire off and watch explode into the kind of explosion you see at the bigger fireworks show. We’ve bought the Dirty Dozen for the past three years now and have never been disappointed. Other than that, we stuck to fountains and roman candles. We tend to stay away from the spinning, shrieking crackers that are unpredictable and inevitably zero in on one of us so that we’re running and screaming down the street in an attempt to get away from it. We’ve had too many close calls these past years and we’ve learned our lesson.

  Also, word to the wise, even though it clearly says on the package, DO NOT HOLD ROMAN CANDLES IN YOUR HAND. Seriously, don’t be tempted to hold it in your hand. We have ignored that advice for years and last year, GD was holding a candle and nearly had his fingers blown off when it exploded in his hand. Heed the warnings folks, use a tube or some sort of bottle.

  When I was uploading a couple of videos to my YouTube account, I stumbled across this video, it’s GD holding a roman candle:

  
  AGAIN, DO NOT DO THIS! VERY DANGEROUS! VERY STUPID!!

  Not one of my more stellar parenting decisions, let me assure you.

• The boys and I tried to go swimming yesterday. Only when we got to the pool, it was closed – on a beautiful, sunny, not-a-cloud-in-the-sky, hot summer day. To say I was peeved would be putting it mildly. We walked up to the entrance to see what the heck was going on. Apparently, this particular pool wasn’t busy enough to warrant being open every day, so now, it’s only open Thursday through Sunday.

  Swell. I bought swim coupons, people. It works out to be ten swims for me and the boys. I haven’t had a chance to use one of those coupons yet because the weather has been too wet and cold to go swimming. And then we went on vacation. And now we’re back and ready to enjoy summer but our pool is closed. AAARGH. Oh sure, we could go to another public pool, but quite honestly, I hate every other public pool because A. they’re busier than snot (is snot busy?) and B. the kids are mean and I’m spending most of my time trying to get our balls back (because I usually end up throwing the balls at the boys so they can dive for them).

  To add insult to injury, I lathered myself up with Banana Boat sunscreen, which I’ve had for the past two years, and it must be bad or something because I didn’t smell like delicious coconut, oh no, I smelled like burnt plastic.

  UGH. I nearly gagged. But I endured the smell thinking, “Oh well. I’ll just sweat it off.” No biggie, right? Wrong. Since we didn’t get to go swimming, I had to wash it off when I got home because I couldn’t stand the smell of myself. Afterwards, I made a special trip up to Wally World (translation: Wal-Mart) and bought some fresh sunscreen. I never realized sunscreen went bad?

• I’m still working out to Turbo Jam. I think I’m going to insert the keywords Turbo Jam in nearly every one of my posts because that seems to be what’s bringing people to my blog. I love Turbo Jam. Turbo Jam is awesome! I wish I could do Turbo Jam everyday.

  I’m ESPECIALLY loving the “Punch, Kick and Jam” session. It’s 45 minutes long and a bit more athletic than the other workouts, but MAN. My arms feel like rubber after doing it. And I have to be honest, folks, you really CAN tell a difference in your body after a few sessions. If you can muster up the energy to do it (and remember, your energy comes from your MIND – as Chalene Johnson likes to remind us – love that woman), then by all means, do it.

  This reminds me of an analogy I was going to share with ya’ll: You know when you’re on the plane and getting ready to take off, the flight attendants do their spiel about if the cabin pressure drops, then an oxygen mask will drop from the compartment above and if you have a small child next to you, you should put your mask on first and then help the child? When I first heard this, I was horrified. What?! How selfish! I thought.

  But then I thought, wait. That’s smart. Because if you don’t take care of yourself first, then how can you expect to be CONSCIOUS enough to take care of the child? I mean, if you pass out, then who’s going to help the child, right?

  Well, the same can be said for taking care of YOU. Both physically and mentally. If you’re tired all the time, or feel blah, or ugly, or depressed, or stressed or yadda yadda yadda, then how can you expect to be in any condition to take care of your children to the best of your ability? You say you don’t have time to work out? Make time. Exercise. Not only are you clearing out the cobwebs, you’re giving your body an energy boost AND you’re setting a good example for your children. And just like anything else you don’t want to do, once you start exercising, I’m betting you start enjoying yourself and I can guarantee you’ll feel better about yourself when it’s over.

  And just don’t take care of your body, take care of your mental state, too. Take some time to slow down, relax, breathe, do something you enjoy doing without your kids around. Give yourself a mental break – we all need them. Stop beating yourself up and thinking, “but isn’t that selfish?” It’s selfish to ensure you’re functioning on all cylinders so you CAN take care of your children? Don’t you think they are benefiting from a rested, and more patient, parent?

  I don’t mean to be preaching at ya’ll, but I’m getting a bit tired of reading about how mothers all over the blog’o’sphere are feeling guilty for taking a little time to themselves. Just because you have children doesn’t mean your needs disappear. In fact, your needs magnify ten-fold. But we’re so conditioned to think we’re being selfish or bad parents if we take the time out to refresh and recharge …

  It just irritates me. Stop feeling guilty. Take some time for yourself. Your kids will survive (and in fact probably need time away from YOU, too) and the world will continue to revolve.

  Okay? Okay. Lecture over.

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