Ladies Night

Not so long ago I thought it was absolutely rediculous that women got together to go out for dinner or have ladies night.  I just didn't get it.  I remember telling my husband that if I was going to go out I would rather go out with him.  About a year ago I played volleyball on a church team and really enjoyed spending time with other moms.  They decided we should all go out for a combined birthday dinner as we'd had several birthdays (including mine) during our volleyball season.  I still had mixed emotions but liked that I had the excuse of a birthday to go anyway.  Little did I know what affect that would have.

Here are several reasons to organize a ladies' night:
1.  It's amazing how much better the conversation is when not inturrupted by children.
2.  You have an opportunity to gain some great wisdom from others' life expereinces.
3.  Sharing experiences of motherhood, family and life in general can be therapudic.
4.  Everyone needs to laugh and getting together with friends is a great way to unwind.
5.  Sharing conversations with friends on a good day leads to having someone to call on a bad day.

I went from being a sceptic to being an instigator!  I'm amazed at the strength I gain from having good friends and am always surprised when I have a conversation with someone and end up finding a solution to a persistant problem through their experiences.  A get together can be very simple or very elaborate.  Here are some ideas for planning a gathering:  Meet up at a restaurant, host an evening in your home and have everyone bring snacks to share, start a book club, plan a service related activity (making cards, sewing blankets), organize a sports team for a city league, host a game night, or even go second-hand shopping (thanks Melanie for this one).

I love my husband and my boys.  They are the world to me.  There are times when I need to socialize with women who understand what I'm experiencing as a wife and mother, it's in my blood.  I just got back from one tonight.  My husband is out of town so I got a babysitter, one mother had come from urgent care where her 3-year-old got staples in his head, another had been there earlier today to get stiches out of one of her kid's heads and we could all appreciate how crazy each other's lives are and laugh about it for a few minutes before returning to work at it some more.  So, don't feel like you're neglecting your family just plan a night and do some socializing.  You never know what will come of it.

Mohawk

My little one just turned two-years old.  He is a very busy boy.  I've made it a habit to give him a mohawk before cutting his hair each time and as a bonus you get to see me in my PJs.

One of this boy's favorite pasttimes is playing with the microwave.  My simple solution is unplugging it.  The other day I had plugged it in to warm something up in the morning and forgotten to unplug it.  About an hour later I heard a strange buzzing noise.  I ran in and unplugged it.  As soon as it was turned off I saw smoke coming out of the vent and looked to see a large nano bug on fire.  I grabbed the baking soda and threw half the box on the fire. 

This whole time my little one watched.  He looked very fascinated by what was happening and didn't react until after the fire was out at which point he started to cry.  I think he was only upset because he wanted to blow it out.  Here is the fried bug.

Batman Is In Charge

Apparently wearing a cape makes you "in-charge."  Atleast that's what my four-year old tells me.  I must admit it is a very powerful piece of suiting material sewn with black thread and attached with industrial strength velcro but I'm not sure if it is strong enough to shift the balance of power in this house.  If so, it's MY TURN TO WEAR THE CAPE!

My four-year-old just informed me that, "Batman is in charge."  We also had an indepth discussion about how super heros were pretend.  This was after he asked what the green stuff was in the spinach stuffed shells and I told him all superheros need to eat spinach to keep them strong and healthy.  (This was during lunch.)  Shouldn't I have been the one explaining superheros were just pretend?  He also just informed his younger brother that they are supposed to live together in the bat cave.  They are now riding tricycles around the house talking into blocks they have used to make phones to call their "super friends" and "the bad guys."  The most interesting part of all of this is my kids have never seen Batman.  I guess they did see one espisode of the Justice Legue when we visited my sister and played with their bat cave.  I guess that's all it took.  They were born to be super heros.  Oh yeah, I forgot, I am a Superhero (see previous post entitled "I Am A Superhero") so they must get it from me. :)