Since life is beyond crazy I am taking 5 minutes out of my day to write. Just write with a one word prompt: Truth

Ready, set, go….

We teach our children to tell the truth and then we promptly lie to them. We tell them to believe in  the Tooth Fairy, Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and the Great Pumpkin.

We tell our children that everyone is accepting. We tell them that they are not supposed make fun of people. And then we chuckle as we watch a person with CP stumble.

We tell our children to be grateful for what they have and then strive to keep up with the neighbors.

We tell our children to hurry up already and mature. And then we cry when they no longer believe.

We tell our children to dream big and forget to tell them that it takes more than just wishes to make dreams come true.

We let our children believe that their parents are perfect and then they watch us fail at keeping the truth.

The truth is difficult and hard to do. As a parent I find I stumble, a lot, with truth. I want my girls to believe for as long as possible in their dreams. I want to be that perfect parent, the one that doesn’t fail.

And I am so sorry that it takes having a child of your own to learn how to forgive your parents for their mistakes in trying to teach you truth.

End.

I have been hungry.

I have been homeless. Not once or twice.

I am so incredibly lucky because now I am in a place in my life that I know that unless the world goes completely askew my children will never know what it is like to go without M&M’s.

It sounds stupid. But unless you have ever been hungry or homeless M&M’s on the counter mean you are safe and secure.

I have good parents. Not great. They are human. My mom did the best she could for us. She made sacrifices even to this day I might not know about. But I remember being young and scared and wondering why I was in this hell hole. I blamed her for things that were beyond her control.

As a mom I now know she did the very best she could. God, I hope she isn’t reading this post. Seriously I love her and she was awesome. I just didn’t appreciate it at 12 and homeless.

I remember thinking life wasn’t worth living. I am so glad I was wrong. I am so freaking glad that my mom was strong and kept our family together despite all odds.

Today there are over 600,000 people who are homeless. There are so many people who are hungry. Scary Mommy has started a program called “The Thanksgiving Project“. Her goal is that no family should go Thanksgiving without a meal. Our Church is doing a food drive to the same end. But this is real and timely and more importantly needed.

Have you ever forgone a meal so your child could eat? My mom did. I did so my siblings could. Being hungry, frankly sucks.

Today you have a choice. To give to a family in need. 100% of the proceeds directly goes to a family. Your donation is 100% tax-deductible. If you don’t do this, do something locally. I know times are tough. This economy is awful, we are without jobs and scrimping our pennies to get by. Look through your cabinets and decide what you can give to your local food pantry.

We are not hungry. At least I am not. So I am sponsoring a family this year. It is not even November 6th and they have more families than donors. Currently there are 238 families on the wait list.

What are you eating this Thanksgiving?

Remember I wrote about Abby and David doing a word problem? It went like this:

Bob has 3 apples. Susan has 9 more apples than Bob. If Susan has 20 apples how many does Bob have?

David: 3
Abby: I have no idea.
Me: 11

David: No, he has 3 it says it right THERE. This is a trick question!

Last night we watched the movie Little Big League. For all you suffering from 4th grade math homework (or heck any homework) this one’s for you!

Boo is addicted to the movie Grease. It started out innocently enough. We were tired of listening to Disney Christmas Specials.  Then we realized she was fast forwarding to just the music parts.

David had the bright idea of Grease. We liked the music and we would be expanding her tastes. We did not take into account that Abby would be watching the movie or that we would have to explain a hickey from Kinicki.

Earlier this week Boo kept repeating the scene that featured Beauty School Dropout. After she shouted HOOKER I started listening to the lyrics. Yes, mom of the year probably should have done this BEFORE downloading the movie. In my defense, I recalled my mother taking me at age 7 to see the movie in the theater. I even remember that we went while on vacation on Cape Cod. How bad could it be?

For those unfamiliar with the movie, and God bless you, Frenchie wishes for a guardian angel to tell her what to do. Instead of getting the Fairy Godmother from Cinderella she ends up with the least supportive angel ever created: Frankie Avalon.

Here are some of his pearls of wisdom:

Most mixed-up non-delinquent on the block. (Um, I think he means that as a compliment)

Why keep your feeble hopes alive? (Yup, way to motivate)

If you go for your diploma, you can join a steno pool. (Okay, he is giving career advice.)

You think you are such a looker. No customer would go to you unless she was a hooker. (Boo’s favorite line)

(Wait it gets better)

You’re not cut out to hold a job. (Hey wait a second Frankie you said I could join the steno pool!)

His only advice that is still applicable to today’s teens:

Now friends, before I go boring you with the double entendres (and hey not so subtle references to a kitty cat wagon) of Grease Lightening help a mother out! I need a new movie for the girl. Based on Boo’s viewing habits, I believe these are the requirements:

1.  It has to be more music than dialogue.
2. It has to be live-action, not animated.
3. The music should be more upbeat than sad. She will watch Hopelessly Devoted (much to my mother’s dismay–she ruined Grandma’s favorite song) but loves We go Together.

David’s one request: something with a lot of pre-90’s music. He doesn’t believe there has been a true music since Journey, REO Speedwagon or the Who. Don’t get him started on boy bands.

Lastly,
It has to be something that won’t make me teach Abby sex-ed. That’s why she will take health class. Okay, not a Boo requirement but help a mother out.

My request is much more imperative than David’s in case you were wondering.