Look, look, over there

I have a new goal for myself. I want to make more of an effort to look better. I am a SAHM, so I don't really feel the need to dress up every day, but I also don't want to look like I just rolled out of bed.

A few weeks ago I participated in a children's consignment event. I don't make a ton of money from this event, but I do make enough to treat myself. This time around, I wanted to put that money towards revamping my wardrobe.

I took my daughter with me to the mall. We walked around New York and Co. for what seemed like forever, wishing I had more money to spend. I finally chose three shirts - 2 tees that I instantly fell i love with and a dark purple, dressier shirt my daughter convinced me to buy. She swore up and down I look good in purple.




By the end of the week, I had also added a few pairs of shoes to my collection - 2 pairs of flats, cute and comfy tennis shoes, and those lovely boots you see in that picture.


Over the past weekend, my mom invited me to join her and my Grandma for some thrift store shopping. I was still on a high from my previous purchases, and I was hoping to find something else that would help improve my wardrobe. After much searching, I did manage to find a few nice shirts. I decided one of them would look nice under a black sweater or jacket. I walked towards the racks of jackets, where my high spirits were immediately crushed.

A tiny, old woman also browsing the jackets began to point and scream at me.

"Look! Look, Mildred! Here's a big woman"

Over and over she screamed, waving her bony finger in my face.

Mildred finally turned around to see what her friend was shouting about. Mildred was pulling tanks and lingerie off the rack to my right. She thought her friend was talking about clothes. Realizing Mildred didn't know what (or who) she was talking about, another round of pointing and screaming about the big woman began.


As you probably noticed in that picture above, I am not a big woman. But just because I'm little, doesn't mean I always like it. I was so excited over finding clothes that fit my body and here comes this little old woman to mock me. I was mortified! Everything in the store seemed to disappear and a spotlight was shining on me. All I wanted to do was run away, but my feet wouldn't move. My legs forgot how to move and my feet were blocks of ice.

Mildred finally caught on. "What are you talking about?! She's an itty bitty thing!"

And just like that, my feet thawed.

And yes, I went running back to my mom.

Chore Jar

When I was growing up, I had a list of chores. Some were only done on the weekends, while others were nightly jobs. Now that my midgets are older, I would like them to start pitching in around the house.

This is easier said than done!

A few months ago I thought I lucked out with having someone else wash the dishes. For almost a week, my daughter happily sang songs while she washed. However, she quickly realized this would be a nightly occurrence. Months later, I still require her to wash the dishes, but it's not without a fight.

My boy is the same way. He will do chores, but it has to be on his terms. Most times, having him do chores is not without a fight. I do not like doing everything around the house on my own. I would like the midgets to help out and teach them about responsibility. While browsing Pinterest, I came across a chore jar. I had every intention of making the same jar as in the picture, but walking around the craft store, I came up with a new idea.


Materials:

Glass or plastic jar
Wide craft sticks - amount needed depends on the number of chores
2 Small bottles of paint
Markers (I used Sharpies)
Sponge paint brush

1. Using the sponge brush and one of your paint colors,
dab paint and cover the outside of the jar.

2. Using the second paint color, paint half of each craft stick

3. When all of the paint has dried, label your jar and craft sticks

4. Place your completed craft sticks in the jar

As of now I have 6 chores, but I am working on a list of others to add to the jar. Variety is the spice of life, after all!

My plan for this jar is simple. Each Saturday, my midgets will each choose 2 sticks from the jar. Those are their chores for the day. The husband and I have talked about giving the midgets some sort of allowance for their chores. Ever hopeful me, I'd like to think that a sense of accomplishment will be enough to motivate the midgets to want to do their chores every week. However, I think money is going to be the best motivator!

A little consideration please

We all know what happens when we assume. Perhaps I am being an ass in this situation, but that doesn't mean I'm not upset.

Months ago, before summer, my mother-in-law informed me of an upcoming wedding. The husband's cousin was getting married in November. I'm not too familiar with his side of the family, but had every intention of attending. A few years prior we also attending this girl's sister's wedding. Our son didn't join us because he was still a teeny baby, but his older sister was with us.

Now that both of our kids are older and able to go to such events, my MIL was quite excited to buy them new outfits. A new dress for our daughter and an actual suit for our son. I was looking forward to seeing my little boy in a suit and later watching him cut it up on the dance floor.

My MIL and this girl's mother are close and talk quite often. This wedding has been the topic of their conversations for quite some time.

September 11th was the day of the bridal shower. I thought it was tacky, but not my decision to make. I went with my MIL and my daughter. My MIL even bought the bride-to-be a gift specifically from my daughter. We talked of some hassles that went into setting up the bridal shower, as well as conversations about the wedding itself.

Two weeks ago I finally received one of the fanciest wedding invitations I have ever seen. While looking over the RSVP card, I became confused. There were 3 options of what to choose for our main dinner course. I wasn't sure what to do when it came to the kids. Were they expected to eat one of those 3 options, or would there be child friendly meals at the reception?

I held off on filling out the card until I talked to my MIL. I was getting the impression our kids weren't invited to this wedding. My MIL called the bride's mom and asked her what I should do. The response we got - she didn't think children were invited to the wedding (even though there are children in the bridal party).

In all of the conversations my MIL had with the bride's mother, you think "no children allowed" would have been mentioned.

This wedding is on a Friday, at 5pm. Who am I going to find to babysit my kids since everyone I know works? But before I could even worry about that, my MIL told us to not even bother going to the wedding.

I should have assumed that not everyone wants children at their wedding and reception. However, this bride should also have taken into consideration how difficult it can be to find a babysitter on a weekday afternoon.

I'm relieved to not have to attend this wedding, especially since our daughter's birthday is the following day. But I'm upset that this little detail of no kids wasn't mentioned earlier than a month before the wedding.