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Theta Mom®

Redefining Motherhood

Time Out For Theta Mom Thursday

It’s Time Out for Theta Mom Thursday! For those of you visiting for the first time, the goal is to grab one hour of time within one week to do whatever you want…without the kids. It’s such an amazing proposition, I know! On Thursdays, post how you spent your “time out” (add my button from the right side bar or link to me) and be sure to stop here to link up and meet other Theta Moms to see how they spent their time out!

Well, my two kids have a birthday coming up. My son will be four next week and my daughter will be turning one. Although they are three years apart, their birth dates are only four days apart.

I will let you in on a little secret…

I may be a smart woman. But, I am a brilliant Theta Mom. Why? Because I will do ONE birthday party.

Two cakes + one party = less drama.

I think many of you know I hate to cook, so pizza is on the menu for the big bash. Since there is such little preparation needed in the food department, I like to go all out on the decorating. I mean, after all, it is their birthday.

So, I spent my one hour in my second favorite store. My all time favorite store is Target. I mean, who doesn’t LOVE that place? The problem is, I always go into Target with a list and end up buying way more things than I really need. I could spend hours there. But because I am planning for the “one big” birthday party, I needed to go to the real deal…Party City.

There’s something about Party City that gets me totally excited when I walk through that door. Maybe it’s all the fun and cheerful decorations beaming from every aisle or perhaps it’s the spooky Halloween music that just put me in the mood to have a rockin’ P-A-R-T-Y!

I must admit, I had the BEST time browsing through every aisle, looking at the fun Halloween decorations, costumes and birthday stuff. So much to look at and so little time!

But ladies, the beauty of this time out was the fact that I didn’t have to worry about a screaming baby in the shopping cart. Isn’t that the worst? And I didn’t have to chase after my almost four year-old running through the aisles, wanting me to buy every-single-stinking-thing.

Nope, it was just me, my cart, and the lovely decorations. I was able to take my time and make careful, important decisions. You know, like deciding between which Princess plates I should purchase.

I didn’t even have the party yet… and I had a blast!

How did you spend your one hour?

If you are participating in Time Out For Theta Mom Thursday, link up and share your time out with other Theta Moms!

These Are Days

It all started because two people fell in love…

After my hubby and I were married for a couple of years, we began to start a family of our own. The moment we became parents, the Earth shifted a little and our lives were forever changed.

Our beautiful baby boy was born in September of 2005. Why am I writing about this now?

Well, I am getting a little nostalgic because not only does my son have a birthday coming up, my little guy officially started Pre-school. You see, before I was lucky enough to be a WAHM, I was working full-time as an elementary school teacher and my son began attending day-care at ten months old. So I’ve already been through that whole experience, including the crazy change that comes with the territory of letting go. The transition back then was a huge adjustment for both of us. As I wrote about it in the past, this was one of the hardest things I ever had to do in my life. So it’s not the fact that he’s out of the home that’s affecting me right now, because I’ve gone through all that…

It’s for the single reason that my little boy is, well, growing up.

4 months…

Turned to 34 months…

Turned to almost 4 years….

…in a flash.

At this time in my life, I look at my son with his ‘big boy’ backpack and killer smile…and I realize these really are days to remember.

Because 4 months turned to 4 years…and somehow, it feels like 4 minutes.

Time Out for Theta Mom Thursday!

It’s Time Out for Theta Mom Thursday! For those of you visiting for the first time, the goal is to grab one hour of time within one week to do whatever you want…without the kids. It’s such an amazing proposition, I know! On Thursdays, post how you spent your “time out” (add my button from the right side bar or link to me) and be sure to stop here to link up and meet other Theta Moms to see how they spent their time out!

So this week, I did it.

I really did it.

Honestly, I must to tell you though, I was dreading it. When I was first married, doing it was such a part of my life. It became routine and I was able to fit it into my schedule without fail. I actually looked forward to it because it was something I was doing for myself. It felt good for my body and spirit, and at the time, I was so addicted to it that when I didn’t do it two days in a row I would feel guilty. And so ladies, I decided I needed to start doing it again…

I put one foot in front of the other, took a deep breath and slowly pressed START…

That’s right Theta Moms. For the first time in ages, I spent time with Mr. Tread Mill.

When I had Baby #1, I was back in my skinny jeans within 6 months. It’s been almost a year and I am nowhere near my skinny jeans right now. Since the birth of Baby #2 almost one year ago, I haven’t spent much time with Mr. Tread Mill. Hence, I still have some unwanted pounds that have stuck around since delivery, or should say pregnancy?

This whole “time out” thing has really inspired me. It certainly has proven one thing to me; although I do not enjoy running (I was never a runner nor do I ever have aspirations to be one), when I used to go to the gym daily, I looked great and felt great. Now at this point in my life, this is where I want to be again. Especially after having children, I want to feel good about my body again.

For me, it really isn’t about the skinny jeans anymore. It’s about feeling great in my own skin within a pair of jeans.

Having said that, I spent my one hour with Mr. Tread Mill, sweating, gasping, and yet totally invigorated because this was something I was doing for myself and nobody else. Not for my husband, not for my kids, just-for-me. Was it hard work? Absolutely. Will it continue to be? You bet. Is it worth the pay-off? You better believe it.

Ultimately, my goal is not to lose a million pounds. Right now, it’s just about feeling good about my body, every inch of it. It’s about getting healthy, toning up and feeling stronger.

This time out was just the beginning for me. Spending some QT with Mr. Tread Mill will help me get there, and ladies I must say, it’s a damn good start.

How did you spend your one hour? Link up and share your time out with other Theta Moms! Also, if you haven’t done so, don’t forget to enter my Bummas Giveaway which ends Sunday. You can enter here.

Mowing the Lawn and a Blue Bunny

It started out to be just another ordinary day. I was doing laundry, my daughter was napping in her crib and my husband was mowing the lawn while my son was playing in the backyard. However, this turned out to be much more than an ordinary day…

I was inside the house cleaning up (as usual) when I heard the lawn mower shut off. My husband yelled to me inside. “Is he with you?”

I ran out onto the deck. “What?”

He repeated, “Is he with you?”

I had a pit in the bottom of my stomach. I knew the answer to this and it was no. He was supposed to be playing in the backyard while my husband was in the backyard mowing, just likes he’s done a million other times. Clearly, he was missing. Without any other exchange, my husband ran through the yard and I ran through the house to the front as we were both screaming his name.

I opened the front door and saw a school bus dropping off the neighborhood kids. I looked in every direction and I had the horrific feeling like I could see everyone else’s kid, but couldn’t find my own.

Where was he? Was he hurt? Was he taken? Was he safe? I had a vision of myself on Dateline explaining to Ann Curry that we never thought this could happen to us…

And then my husband saw him walking from our neighbor’s house. We immediately hugged him and asked him if he was alright.

But, things were not alright…

You see, my son was holding an ice-cream cone that he got from our neighbor’s house and it was full of NUTS. For those of you who do not know, our son has a severe peanut allergy and he will go into anaphylactic shock if he ingests a nut. We immediately began to ask him if he ate any of the nuts. From the onset, it looked like he hadn’t, but we didn’t know for sure.

My son began to cry, in part because I think he realized this was very serious.

“I don’t know mommy. I think I just licked it, but I don’t know.”

With my heart racing a mile a minute, we brought him into the house and sat him down. We then said a few prayers and just waited. Within minutes, it started happening.

His lips began to blow up and hives began to appear around his mouth. Even if he didn’t ingest one of those nuts, he obviously placed the cone to his lips.
Frantically, I grabbed the Benadryl and my husband grabbed the EpiPen…

Through these intense minutes and all of the drama, there is a happy ending. My son responded well to the meds and we never had to call 911. BUT, if he had eaten one of those nuts, there is no QUESTION in my mind that he would have been in the hospital fighting for his life.

Moral of the story Theta Moms?

Never let your husband watch your child when he mows the lawn… Never assume that your child cannot open the “near impossible” gate from the back yard to the front… Never think that your child isn’t shy enough to ring your neighbor’s doorbell and ask for an ice-cream cone…Never forget to remind your child (that has a food allergy) of the things he/she cannot eat…And never forget to let your neighbors know about your child’s allergy. It could save a life.

I never said I was a perfect mother. In fact, I pride myself on being true and authentic, which in essence is what I stand for as a Theta Mom. I make mistakes, I learn from them and I strive to be a better parent throughout the process.

As for the Blue Bunny cone? Well, I threw it out and reached for a couple of beers instead.