Passing on Tradition (of OCD!!)

Sunday night, nothing would do Lane but to accompany me on my trip to conquer the grocery purchases. Knowing it was going to be a chore, not a zag thru the toy section, I did my best to encourage him to stay home but he REALLLLLY wanted "to go, Mom!" Off we went, list in hand. Hoping to ward off the dreaded experience of saying "No, we're not buying that" a zillion times during the trip, I warned Lane that he was to stay with me in the store, do his best to be helpful and to not, under any circumstance, lobby for cookies, ice cream or the latest kid-marketed product. He happily entered into this verbal contract, eager (whattt??) to be my helper for the evening. (Later I came to suspect that it might have been because he got to stay up well past his bedtime) He was, to my delight, an ENORMOUS help in the grocery store. So much so that I used the opportunity to teach him a bit about comparative shopping, store brands and all that jazz. He lapped it up eagerly.

It was also an opportunity for me to pass on something else to my precious offspring --- my OCD method of loading a shopping cart. I justify my obsession by saying that there is no way that we could force all the groceries we need into one cart if we simply chunked everything in. Truthfully, a random cart, makes me nuts. I took this picture of Lane just before we checked out. You can't quite appreciate the organization of the items with the last few resting on top, but trust me, there is no void space anywhere in the cart. In fact, this was $250 worth of purchases and we didn't purchase any meat other than lunch meat and hot dogs!

Before you ask, yes, indeed this obsession carries over to my pantry and fridge. Everything has its place and I cannot rest unless it is in the right place. No grocery run passes without my saying to my husband "you know I like to do it myself" if he attempts to put away the groceries. Of course, he knows where they go but it's not as important to him that they get there. Close is good enough. I've heard it said that men tend to do things poorly in order to get out of doing them at all. Hmmmmm..... What do you think, ladies? Care to defend yourselves, guys?

A Bump in the Road

Being a mom means your plans are changed for you quite frequently. I had planned on spending a bit of my day blogging, a bit of my day creating and a bit of my day in the pool. It seems instead that Lane and I will be going to see Dr. Ray in search of relief from his rash and itching. Perhaps we'll return in time for a little sunshine at least!

THAT Time of Day

It's undeniable. It's definitely that time of day. If you're a mom, you know exactly what I'm talking about. The time when it's painfully obvious that it's time for your toddler to take a nap. Your normally sweet, loving, obedient (well, at least for the most part) child morphs into a steamroller of destruction and defiance. It's enough to make even the most experienced of moms cringe. The slightest offense leads to total meltdown. Big brother locked him out of the bathroom. How dare he want privacy!! He's asked to walk 15 steps and throw his paper plate in the trash. "You DO IT!!" is his gentle response. Yep, no doubt. No other solution. The world will cease to exist unless this 3 year old gets a NAP. Then there's a tougher mom-choice to make --- nap with him or tackle the "to do list." It may not be an age-old struggle, but it certainly is one in my mind. Can you guess what normally wins??

What'd You Say?

After I've been blogging for a while, if you follow you're sure to make at least 2 observations. #1 -- I love photos and love to share them. #2 -- I'll probably have 3 pictures of Cohen for every 1 picture of Lane. I'm sure there's a name for the phenomenon, but there is some change that occurs in children (at least boys) around 6/7 years of age. They suddenly become too cool to be kissed/to kiss Mom, Grandma or any of those other icky girl-type people and they are also far too cool to be photographed unless they are making a face, holding rabbit ears behind someone else's head or playing some sport.

It is par for the course for me to delete 80% of the photos I take of Lane because he has contorted his face into some shape that makes him unrecognizable as the boy I gave birth to. Imagine my surprise this afternoon when I was outside taking photos of Cohen on the mower and heard from behind me "Hey, Mom take a picture of me!" Huh? What? I turned to find Lane standing, ready to be photographed with one hand propped on the basketball goal. Just when you think you have them figured out....

My Very First Post!

What on earth makes it so difficult to choose a "name" for your blog? Maybe I'm just waaaaaay too analytical, but the entire time, I'm thinking "Ooooh, what if I choose something that I realize is utterly stupid in a month?"

So, I settled upon "Mommy Magic." Nothing out-of-this-world, huh? I admit it, but as I'm thinking about what I'm most likely to blog about, it's no secret. I'll be blogging about my life --- which essentially is wrapped up in mommyhood. If you've ever been one of these mommy-people, you know that it is seldom pulled off without a little magic!

In my blogging, I hope to share those little tidbits that make mommyhood great. I cannot begin to tell you how much I love being called "mommy." Undoubtedly, my best times in life have resulting from those magical mommy moments! Sharing those moments along with tips and suggestions to make magical moments occur more frequently sounds like great fun to me!

My Family
(I treasure this photo! It was taken by Jane Hill of Veritas Photography and has been used with her permission. If you are in need of photography in South Arkansas, you will LOVE Jane)