What would I do?

A friend and I were having a political discussion which quickly turned into a discussion about our kids (don't ask how that happened). He had made an observation about how people that are have no children are more selfish and unwilling to compromise and can be difficult to deal with.

I got to thinking about the conversation later and I am not sure I could function without my kids. Sure there are times when I think geez if I didn't have children I could have a nice big house, that BMW I want, a vacation house on the beach, I could travel all over and not have to worry about anything. I could even hire a maid to clean up the house, although I would probably need to make a mess first so I felt like I was getting my monies worth.

But then I go back to finding my daughter in her underwear outside in front of the house, with no supervision as I am arriving home, and she helped guide me car in the driveway like she was the parking attendant. Or the day she was on the front lawn in her purple princess nightgown, with a bamboo stick, playing kung foo by herself, with noises and all. Or watching my son make a complete mess of his new t-shirt while he made a square bowl from modeling clay and then filled it with water proclaming that it works. Or watching the look on my older boys face when he just played his first full game as the starting left guard for the freshman football team and lost but that didn't matter to him. He was more concerned with me knowing that he started and that he played the whole game (like I wasn't there filming the whole thing). Or my other son when he comes home with a good grade and still (in the 8th grade) puts it on the fridge for everyone to see.

Why would anyone want to give up on experiences like that for cars, houses, toys, etc. It's not worth it to me. I can live in my messy house with no maid, with sidewalk paint and chalk all over the front walkway, tip-toeing around the numerous bikes by the front porch.I wouldn't have it any other way.

New Haircuts

So the hubby and I went out last week and left the 15 year old in charge. He is and always has been a good babysitter, but lately he is more inclined to lay on his bed in his room watching TV rather then watching the kids. (The life of a teenager.) But this time, he didn't notice that it got rather quiet and he no longer heard Jessica roaming the house playing. She instead had found a pair of scissors and decided to give herself a haircut. This is not the first time she has done this. The last time it wasn't too bad and it was easily repaired with a shorter version of her current haircut. Not this time. This time she butchered it. Of course none of the kids called to say anything was wrong, but little did I know they sent text messages to the hubby warning him. He also didn't say anything. So the minute I got home the boys warned Jessica that I was there and she hid. She knew mommy was gonna be mad, and I was. When she finally showed herself, she could only say "Sorry mommy." So off to Supercuts to get it fixed, not that there was much left to work with. For a moment I contemplated shaving it all off, and doing the same to mine. Just for an excuse not to have to deal with it for awhile, but that moment passed quickly. Well here is the end result from our trip to Supercuts.

Needless to say the boys all call her a boy, and yes she looks like it. It is a good thing all her clothes are pink. I had to teach her to tell them I am not a boy, I'm a girl.

No one ever said what happened to the hair she cut off. I assumed the boys cleaned it all up and threw it away before I got home. Come to find out I found it in my bathroom behind Jessica's basket of shoes a couple of days later. Needless to say no more ponytails or hairbows for awhile. I guess it makes it easier for Daddy on Sunday, when he has to do her hair. Last week she came out of the bathroom with it call combed to the side, mommy had to quickly fix it.