Revised...already

After some thoughtful consideration, and thinking about this blog that I have ventured out to be so dedicated to, I've decided that I'm not going to concentrate so much on the muddles in my life (that could get depressing), but instead write about perfect imperfections that happen everyday.

There are so many blogs out there; some unique, some mundane. I don't think this blog is going to be anything out of the ordinary. Mommy blogs are kind of the "it" thing to do, especially when you are a stay at home mom, and especially when you have a desire to write and this is one of the few outlets to do so.

I have some friends that use their blog as a documentation of their child's life. I think that's amazing and often find myself envying their dedication to chronicling their child's first day of school, first words or cute things they've said. I long to be that organized, to do those things. I tend to gauge my mothering ability on things like that, but as I enter my fourth year of mothering, I remind myself that that could just make me go crazy. Besides, I have boys and they won't care about those things. Right?

I'm looking forward to this week. My first full week of taking on this blogging thing. Last week was a rough one. My spirited 3-year-old gave me a run for my money, but I'll leave that to another post.

I hope that with each entry I will grow as a blogger. That this exercise I am venturing out on will develop into something more organized -- an adjective that some would describe me as, but I know the truth.

Right now I have no direction to where this will go. Simply another mommy blog to enter the blogosphere, but maybe  the things that I will write will inspire, encourage or give hope to other mommies out there. And I hope will bring out a few laughs from time to time.

What I really worry about is the daily inspiration I'm going to need to write everyday.

"Find inspiration in your children."

Sure, easier said than done. It sounds nice and warm and fuzzy, but let's be real here. There are only so many "life lessons" I can obtain from them. I mean, I hope they give me ideas to muse over and think about, but I don't plan on relying on them alone to help me with this blog.

So for today's post, I admit this is a bit of a rambling one, and I must regretfully inform you that you'll probably read many rambling posts. I tend to be a rambler.

I'll need to be held accountable too, but for that I need readers. And to get readers, I need to announce to friends and family that I've started a blog.

I don't think I'm ready, yet.

Maybe in a few more posts.

Having "To Go" With No Place "To Go"

My oldest son Evan is 3. He's what you would call pee pee potty trained.

Like most toddler boys I've heard about, he refuses to go poop in the potty. We've had a few victories here and there, but nothing consistent. Frustrating to me and to my husband.

It just so happened that I was driving the boys around one Saturday morning a few weeks ago, trying to keep them entertained while Ryan and a friend moved us to our new house one town over.

Suddenly, Evan announces from the back seat, "Mommy, I really have to go poo poo!"

My initial reaction was, "This is fantastic news! He never tells me when he has to go poo poo. He holds it until nap time or bed time when he has his pull up on. Maybe we're making progress?"

I smiled to myself and glanced at him in the rear view mirror and said, "That's wonderful, sweetie. We're almost home and we'll go poo poo on the potty!" I tried to make it sound as exciting as possible.

"No, mommy! I need my Diego pull-up now! I don't want to go on the potty. I have to go. It's coming!" Which he then proceeded to squirm erratically in his car seat.

I looked at the road ahead of me and had to think fast. I didn't have a pull-up with me, I only had my one-year-old son Oliver's diapers with me in the diaper bag. They are a Size 5, but I thought it just might work.

There was a movie theater ahead, so I pulled into the parking lot and parked toward the back where there weren't many cars. I raced out of the car, got Evan out of his car seat and opened up the trunk. We drive an SUV, so the trunk is open in the back.

Before he could say anything or protest, I pulled down his pants and underwear and put him in a size 5 Elmo diaper.

"OK, honey. You're going to have to go poo poo now."

"I need privacy mommy. Go away!"

Instead of being concerned about his lack of manners and telling me to go away, I nervously shut the trunk door and got back into the drivers seat and waited. And waited, and waited, and waited.

I frantically looked around hoping no one would be suspicious of a 3-year-old pooping in the trunk of our vehicle.

Soon my worries were overwhelmed by a terrible smell. He was done, he had to be.

"Evan, are you all done now? Let mommy take it off and let's get home. OK?"

"No, I'm not done mommy. I need to go some more."

He seemed like he was in some pain, so I let it go. Finally, the smell was just too much and I got out of the car and opened up the trunk. Like an animal cornered and praying for its life, Evan was scrunched into the corner trying to get as far away from me as possible.

"Evan, we need to get you out of that diaper now. We have to get home!"

"No!"

"No is not an answer to your mommy. Get over here!"

This went on for a few minutes. I was so nervous and paranoid that someone was going to wonder what we were doing, that I just wanted to get out of that movie theater parking lot.

Finally, I got a hold of him and got to change him back into his clothes and got rid of that diaper fast.

As we were driving home, I thought how in the world did I end  up in a parking lot with my three-year-old pooping in the trunk?

I then began to realize all of the other options I could have had, but rationalized my decision with the fact that I would have had to deal with both boys somewhere with Evan wanting privacy while pooping.

An embarrassing story to me a the time and especially now as I read back over it because there were so many other things I could have done; however, when you find yourself in a mommy muddle, sometime you just don't think clearly. You do the first thing that comes to mind whether it be logical or not.

What would you have done?

Introduction

Here it goes.

I'm starting on my blog quest again. Blame it on trying to keep my sanity, wanting to exercise my writing skills more or looking for an outlet to confess to anyone out there willing to listen that being a mom is not always a picture perfect situation.

I want this blog to be honest. I want this blog to make moms realize that they're not alone in the muddled messes they find themselves in. I want moms to send their stories in of funny situations they have found themselves in to simply survive -- we've all been there.

I'm going to share some stories on here that hopefully will make you laugh and not judge because if you can't find the humor in being a mom, it's hard to make it day to day. At least that's what I've found out in the 3+ years I've been doing it.

The story of how this blog came about isn't so glamorous, as motherhood rarely is. But I found myself multitasking one morning, last week actually, and I realized that I only had 5 minutes to "get ready" for the day (we were going to a playdate) before my husband had to get to work.

I ran upstairs debating whether I should pee first or flat iron my hair or attempt to put make-up on (a rarity in my daily routine). When I got to the top of the stairs, I realized that I could do two things at once. My flat iron was already plugged in and had a very long chord. So I took my trusty flat iron and stretched it across the bathroom while I peed.

Gross? Maybe. Necessary? Absolutely!

So as I was sitting on the potty, frantically flat ironing my hair without a mirror, I stopped. I looked at the flat iron in my hand and realized what desperate measures I had come to and wondered how many other moms out there had done something similar, or perhaps the very same thing.

I started laughing at myself, something I do daily, because I started to recount the numerous stories of things I've had to do for "survival" in my motherhood journey.

That's when I started to write this blog and share my story, and hopefully at some point, some of your crazy stories. Whether you want it to be anonymous or not, I'm hoping that as I share my mommy muddles, you will be comforted that you are not alone in the great lengths you've had to go to in order to keep your family moving along.

A diary of sorts, as I suppose most blogs are, I hope you find laughter, love, joy and solace in my musings on my muddles in motherhood and life in general.