About This Blog
Welcome to my blog. I'm Anne-Marie Nichols, a 40-something WAHM to Nathan, 6, and Lucie, 3. I've been married 12 years to their dad Paul, a scientist. When I'm not doing the mommy thing, I'm a freelance writer, and vice president of the board of directors for a Colorado public charter school. In my spare time I like to sleep, eat, read, and decorate cakes.
I created this online journal to share some entertaining and insightful stories from my own experiences as a writer, domestic engineer, and mom. I encourage you to share this blog with your friends, and hopefully it will spark some lively discussions on issues we can all relate to. Enjoy!
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Sep 12 2008
Welcome to this mama's army
Being a no-nonsense mama means I constantly order my kids around. Since Nathan is the older one who "should know better," he gets it most often. Here's the morning drill:
"It's late. Why aren't you dressed yet?"
"Pick up your pajamas and put 'em away!"
"Why are you up from the table? Finish your breakfast already!"
"For the third time, put your coat on! We gotta go!!"
"Nathan, please get your seatbelt buckled NOW!"
I'm not sure who it bothers more. Nathan must be tired of his mama yelling at him all the time. But I hate being such a nag. Still isn't that what parenting is all about? You make sure they're doing what they're supposed to be doing even if you have to act like a drill sergeant most of the time. It's a "shape up or ship out" kind of mentality.
Still I'm not a complete hard ass. I do let my guard down, like today. As usual, Nathan came home from school starving. Honestly, you'd think I sent him off with a couple of pretzels instead of a sandwich, a pudding pack, a juice box, two energy bars, and some cheese crackers. In addition, he gets an afternoon snack at school. But he's a growing, active boy and needs plenty of food. So when we got home he had a scrambled egg with cheese and ham, a big bowl of microwave popcorn, and two glasses of my diet soda.
I had considered the soda a special treat, so when he came in the kitchen asking for ice cream, I wanted to tell him no way. Instead, I caved in a little and gave him a big scoop of vanilla. After he finished, he gave me a cold, sticky, ice cream kiss, and told me that I was the best mom ever.
Putting Drill Sgt. Mama on momentary furlough can be very rewarding.
Sep 11 2008
Two teenagers in disguise
Now I know Lucie's smart and very verbal for her age. But her behavior seems so teen-like at times, that I wonder what's going on.
Just this week, she grabbed the bag of tortilla chips from the counter. She lay down on the couch munching away while she watched TV. Really, I expected her to grab the phone and start calling her girlfriends at school to gossip about cute boys. Then I realized this wasn't teen behavior, but copycat behavior.
Seems that there's a big person who loves to grab a bag of chips and lay down for a little couch surfing. Lucie, the teenager in training. And Paul, the overgrown teenager with a serious case of arrested development. What a pair.
Sep 10 2008
A future Hugh Hefner
To keep the rug rats at bay, most restaurants give out crayons and drawing paper to the kids when they're seated. As we waited for our meal one evening, Lucie was drawing potato people on her children's menu.
"What you drawing, Lucie?" I asked.
"That's daddy," she said, pointing to her paper. "And that's his wiener. That's you and your peepee."
Paul and I exchanged glances. Hoping that Nana was too busy entertaining Nathan to hear that, I looked at her drawings. Yep, the potato people had little circles on their nether regions disturbingly similar to the circles on their heads that symbolized hats and earrings. I handed it to Paul. At a loss for words, he just shook his head and wondered what creature had taken over our sweet baby girl's body.
Our daughter is turning into an amateur pornographer. We're so not amused.
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