The Simple Wife

Instead of calling this blog “The Simple Wife” I briefly considered changing it to “The Simple Mother”…and I mean simple as in simple-minded. These last couple weeks have reminded of the true nobility of being a stay-at-home mom. Here’s what Robbie’s been up to try my patience, I mean, ahem, help me grow into a more loving, kind, patient mama.

Story # 1:

I was busy around the house and about to start cleaning up the front room when I was appalled to see that Robbie had taken the bathroom cleaner from the bathroom and was happily slathering himself in it. Maybe he liked the smell, maybe he was imitating me with body lotion, maybe he didn’t know WHAT he was doing, I don’t know, but I panicked. After a hysterical call to my husband, he sent me hunting for the number to poison control, and  I tried to pull myself together enough to call them. Riley, of course, chose that moment to wake up from his nap and start screaming which always flusters me when I’m on the phone. By the time a way-too-calm person finally answered the line and had me read him all the dangers posted on the bottle, I just knew I would be told to rush my baby to the ER, so while trying to sound like a calm, put-together mother (in actuality I wanted to start bawling), I began getting my things together, trying to change clothes, and listen to what the nice man was telling me I saw Robbie sitting on the couch going through my purse. Of all the things to choose from, what did he choose to pull out and start eating? Hand sanitizer, of course. I froze in paranoia. I was ON THE PHONE with poison control because I wasn’t sure if my son had been eating bathroom cleaner and there he was…eating hand sanitizer! I just about lost it right then while desperately trying to think of what to do next. Ask the man to call off the search on the bathroom cleaner and switch to one on hand sanitizer? Would he think I was incompetent? Crazy? Ahhhh…the joys of motherhood. Thankfully, all turned out well. I was instructed not to let Robbie eat or drink anything for the next 3 hours and watch signs…none of which appeared and another crises was successfully averted. Story #2 to follow…

What a difference a year makes! Last year at this time I was in the hospital looking at my four day-old baby hooked up to an IV underneath a blue light, and today he is a happy healthy one year-old. Praise God!
Last year at this time I never imagined the joy it would bring me when he crawls into my lap and lays his head on my shoulder, to see him gaze in wonder at an object and then reach his pudgy hand out to grasp it. To hear him laugh hysterically when mommy or daddy tickles him; to see a huge smile spread across his face when I walk into a room. Ahhhhhh…I love being Robbie’s mommy!
In honor of his first birthday he got scrambled eggs for breakfast, taco bell for lunch, birthday cake, presents, phone calls from family, and tons of attention from mommy and daddy (wait–he gets that all the time!).

July 14, 2008

July 10, 2009

I can’t say for certain the first time I saw a $100 bill, but one clear memory I have is when I was about seven years old and my family was going to Disneyland for the day. We had to go pick up the tickets at a friend’s house (they must have gotten a good deal on them or something), and I remember sitting next to my dad in the car while he held the $100 bill he would exchange for the tickets. Nowadays, it’s impossible for a family of five to go to Disneyland for $100, but at the time, I gazed in awe at the bill…humbled and amazed that my dad had that much money and we were going to use all of it to go to Disneyland.

Times have changed…I had to pay bills the other day. It’s a very bittersweet process. Bitter because I have to watch money leave our checking account (and hope that my horrid math skills will keep our checkbook somewhat balanced), but sweet because it means I’m on top of my duties as a housewife and we no longer owe anything (until the next month).  I dashed off checks for the house, credit card, power bill, etc., writing them out for a few hundred here, several hundred there. After everything was finally signed and stamped and I collapsed on the couch next to David, I thought of that time when I saw that $100 bill my dad held and wondered when $100 started to seem like so little. I wish I knew!

I am hoping that Robbie will inherit his granddad’s monetary skills, and he’ll always be a good steward of what the Lord has blessed him with…and be much better at math than his mommy!

When I was a little girl, and my sister Rachel was an even littler girl, mom had dad put child-proof locks on all of our kitchen cabinets because she got tired of dealing with the after-math that came from allowing Rachel to “explore her world”. I’m beginning to feel the same. However, Robbie has one-upped Auntie Rae…he can get into my kitchen cabinets that already have child-proof locks! I don’t mind being the mother of a genius, but somehow, this is not exactly what I had in mind. Here’s what my industrious little guy has been up to:

Hey, look what I can do!

Hmmm…what else can I pull out?

Yay! Now I got everything out!

At the ripe old age of ten months, Robbie has decided that sitting on his bottom while riding his motorcycle is much too blase. Here’s a clip of my little daredevil. I can’t imagine what he’ll be up to when he can actually walk!

“Cinderella Meets Her Fella” has been finished for over a day and so far, I don’t have any affects of stage-loss! Wow! Either I’m getting more mature, or I’ve just been so busy getting my house back in order that I haven’t had time to sit around and mope. Considering that my house had been suffering through my recovery/maintaining stage after a bunch of company and a trip, I think it’s the latter. Here’s some of my favorite pictures I got of the production.

Cinderella and Fella

Me as Head Fairy Godmother Gladys

Last night after my fourth performance of “Cinderella Meets Her Fella”, I rushed off-stage with the rest of the cast, feeling incredibly giddy. There is always an adrenaline rush after a performance that seems to come from the cheers and good-will of the audience during a curtain call. In college, as soon as production would finish we would exit the stage, rush out of the theater, down the hall, and wait in the lower art gallery for friends, family, and fans to come through the receiving line.

After I bounced off the stage last night with a bunch of screaming, giggly, little girls I realized that there was no one to meet after the play. It’s not that there was no one to congratulate me and tell me how well I did…there was just no family or friends to cluster around me, take pictures with, and share hugs. It was actually a sad feeling realizing that my parents, sisters, and husband had already all seen the play and now there was no one left I knew to come and see it. It made me realize how supportive my family has always been of my dreams, and how much it meant to me to know they were out there watching me, and would be waiting for me afterward. In college David would come to see me for almost (if not every) single performance and come through the receiving line upwards of ten times just to shake my hand…okay, he had an agenda, but STILL…I did like it!

Anyway, last night just made me love and appreciate them even more. You guys are part of what make my dreams mine. I love you and I’ll miss seeing you out there tonight!

David, Robbie, Mom, and Dad–my biggest fans

Days like today, I really love my life! I woke up, fed and dressed Robbie and I then headed to work, the bank, lunch with husband, to the newspaper office to get copies of my review, now I’m home resting, and looking forward to hitting the theater this evening. Ahhhh…the blissful life of a happy homemaker. The only thing I’m not looking forward to is getting off the couch and cleaning the house–it’s my own fault, though; it’s not like I haven’t had all week to clean it. That’s the one disadvantage of being a housewife–no one to blame but yourself! Anyway, I did some hunting and found the review of me. You can see it here. Now I had chubby-cheeked little boy who needs some attention along with my messy house.

Yesterday Sharathon 2008 started for WOAK 90.9 FM…also known as–David’s place of employment. I wouldn’t say that Sharathon is anybody’s favorite time of year (I think all the begging for money over the radio is a bit embarrassing), but it’s one of those things that comes and goes year after year. I’ll probably get used to it sometime down the road, but as it is now I look on it the same way Robbie looks on his shots (or rather, how he would reflect on them if he could): unpleasant, but necessary. Anyway, since this is Robbie’s first Sharathon, we went down to the station today to see his daddy and give him his first taste of live radio.

Robbie ready to DJ

He really liked the headphones.

My two favorite guys!

And here I am!

Today Robbie got his first shots! He also weighed in at 10 lbs. 6 oz. and is 23 inches longs. I almost cried while he got his shots, but he did pretty good. David held him (I didn’t think I would be able to handle it), and after the nurse stuck him, he let out a wail then cuddled up to his daddy while we both fussed over him. Before either of us had a chance to stop feeling shaky from the ordeal and the nurse got out the lollipops (for David and I, not Robbie), he was well on his way to sleep. Sometimes being a parent can be so traumatic!