Ready for Flight! (and it's not me)

I'm so tired of kids- I really miss my days when they have a definite routine and are busy with school....it's my luck they will have nothing to do with overnight camp! Lately it's been like a brush fire of mess and within the smoldering of all this, they follow me around the house so it's hard to fully extinguish. I am absolutely perplexed how my sassy unpredictable teenage daughter can fully trash the kitchen just like a toddler! Because I don't want to deal with her before I've had at least 2 cups of coffee, I quietly clean it up. (I know it's wrong to do that- but you would too) Then I finally tippy toe downstairs with my first cup for some peace in my little hovel in the basement now called my 'studio' to recover, and yep, she found me ! They really do have radar! I often wonder about this idea of 'Empty Nest Syndrome' --HUH? whoever coined that phrase as a 'problem' didn't live with my kids. I'm already thinking about changing the locks when they finally leave for college if they don't go to prison first.

To Leak or Not to Leak

Thought I might get back to babbling to myself through this blog... it's been a tough week! I've been in leaky-basement-denial for months (or is it years) and because the weather is now fairly decent I decided the time was right to rip up the carpet & pad. I have suspected the water point-of-entry to be our no-drain window well. Through the years I've also learned this type of 'work' makes my children run like rats off a ship so after scrubbing the floor with Clorox myself and then putting the 2nd coat of epoxy paint down... I felt a sense of accomplishment. Even had a proud moment that my son 'agreed' to help me by rinsing out my large water vacuum with the hose in the front yard. Because he had also 'helped' the day before (for a bit) ...he was ready for 'pay-day' -- another DS game .....it's like putting quarters in a vending machine! We were gone several hours doing a million errands including his reward. It was a good time to leave because the fan was running to dry the newly painted floor. Then true to my mantra, of everything simple must be complicated by something stupid that usually involves my family, we returned to a flooded front yard compliments of the hose that had been left ON (by my helpful son) it then built up pressure and blew off the hose-wheel rack leaking into the window well and flooding the newly painted floor. So now my suspicion was confirmed! That my ADHD son was completely distracted and didn't finish his job.... oh I mean, that the water was coming in from that 'spot' ...... to be continued (unfortunately) !

An Exercise Hottie.....

There's nothing more motivating than being in an exercise class with a bunch of women talking about their 'periods' ... for me, that subject is past-tense, but there are still days when I just 'fake' it like I can relate. Well… I can relate to the mood swings and bloating- that’s for sure! In my ‘Boot Camp’ exercise class, I'm huffing and puffing talking myself out of a hot flash, practically killing myself, thinking if I can kinda keep up then they won't know how freak'n old I am. It’s a game I play with myself, a reality challenge.

In our family age-faking has been a tradition since my late 30's - my own mother has been lying about MY age for years so I have learned from the best. Because I birthed children at a more mature age, I can almost get away with it (and so can she) .....The problem is, when you do that- you’ve got to keep up the image while still seriously working off ‘baby fat’ in their teen years. That part sucks. I was a producer of a 10 lb baby that began with a full load of infertility drugs as the foundation. Not only is my metabolism f---ked, but my energy is lower which is a bit problematic in the weight-loss business. It's also survival for my, I have to work out to minimally keep up with an ADHD family.

It has been interesting to be at the opposite end of the child rearing spectrum- when my same-age best friend was on a college tour with her son, I was potty training my son! I know I’m not alone in this endeavor, I’ll just have to find some friends my own age to work out with, but one thing’s for sure, I will always keep lathering up on wrinkle cream- the kind with preservatives in it!

This life...in reflection

Don't get me wrong, I am very grateful to have the lifestyle we do and to be able (sometimes) to be home with the kids. This does have a price though in this home. There are regular high-impact times that I can assure you, know one in the world would want to be exposed to- you could never pay anyone either to take over. There are days that I've run away .... days that I have gone on 'strike' and days that I could only wish to get my ass fired from this difficult job. No such luck... :) Mothering is one of those things that unless you do it, you can't even imagine how hard it can be..... I certainly wasn't prepared....being an older Mom with 2 ADHD medicated kids is a challenge in the purest of forms. Never could I fathom this type of 'energy' - a menopausal mom (ME) and a hormonal teenager in the same room...and on the fringe of this; another ADHD medicated child and an unmedicated ADHD husband (the Good Sport) .... well, I'm beginning to think I'm the 'Good Sport' to put up with this crowd --- Keeping this 'energy' harnessed is a form of survival around here. :)

Timing is everything......

Around here it is so rare that I would ever sleep in so today when my son burst in at 6:30 to ask if the fresh white (never worn) turtleneck he had on would be 'OK' to wear for paint-ball camp at 8:30....all I could say was 'perfect'. I'm so sick of interruptions. For years, good-sport husband and I have been bewildered at their timing; our children have a precise sense of it.....it's as though they are 'behind-the-scenes' with fingers up...3-2-1 to come into a room at the exact time the network news is starting. Or when we are in the middle of (an even rarer occasion) a real conversation- to then be interrupted to never again remember what we were talking about. It happens all the time. Our kids have no sense of their surroundings -- like most kids, it's all about them and that moment. With ADHD in the mix...their whirling brains don't even realize what they've done...onto the next interruption! (until their meds kick-in, and even then, there is no magic pill). :)

A Hottie Not-ie

Menopause...now, that's a term... wish I COULD 'pause' ...but if I did, I would probably incinerate on the spot. We live in the midwest and the humidity is killing me. With the wild pace of having an ADHD family it's impossible to slow down and I'm finding myself breathless from this heat mixed with 'flashes'... I'm such a 'Hottie' .... NOTie. Aside from the weather, never thought I would find myself eye to eye with a hormonal teenager (14) in the very year that I was on my last gasp of my child-bearing years. OMG... we are a living WMD -- just waiting to go off! My good-sport husband and son know when to run for cover - this has been going on for a year now, and we still haven't been able to find common ground (or a foxhole)-- mix that with desperate humidity and we just need to take a 'pause' from each other.