Hunt Update

It was PERFECT!  You may remember me mentioning planning a small Easter Egg Hunt for our neighborhood.  The best laid plans are usually accompanied by a few hiccups.  The thing is, our hiccups made this the absolute best hunt.  Ever.

It started raining on Friday.  Hunts around town were cancelling left and right.  

I was not going for it.  Our hunt was rain or shine baby.  After all, people had donated we eggs that I wasn't about to figure out returning and we had spent a few nights that week getting additional eggs stuffed. We were excited, the kids were excited, and after all, it was just a little rain.

It was still sprinkling when we got up on Saturday.  We headed to our hunt spot (a gorgeous little wooded area in our development) and began hiding the eggs.  By the time we were done, we were in a rain covered, brightly colored, magical little wonderland of Eater Eggs.  

Most of the kiddos showed up, a few let the rain keep them away.  The kids got baskets over filled with eggs and had a ton of fun.  

Hands down, the best hunt ever.  Pure Easter magic.  

My Wee Ones on Wednesdays

Our week in an Instagram.  Follow me @mandyskudler.

Love his hair after a cut.

4 for the last time!

Hiding eggs for our neighborhood Easter egg hunt.

My birthday girl and I celebrating at the American Girl Doll Cafe.

Pharrell's Happy brings out the best in us.  Clapping and jamming.  Even Woody was getting in on the action.

"Mommy.  I'm Iron Man."

My Sweet 5 Year Old

Oh my Charlotte girl.  How is it even possible?  This sweet, funny, endearing little being is now 5.  Five years old.  A whole hand full of years.

I spend most of my time wondering how on earth it has already been 5 years since she was born.  It seems absolutely impossible.

Yet with the same breath I am wondering what it was like when she wasn't here.  I know that time existed, but a bit of my heart feels like she has always been here.  Always part of our family.

There were a lot of things I was prepared for when I became a parent but understanding the tricks time was going to play was not one of them.

The crazy part is, we are only getting started.  Five years seems so long but we are just brinking on the bits of awesome this world will hold for her.

Oh Charlotte, you have so much to offer.  So much to give.  You are infectious in the best way possible.  Spreading smiles, happiness, joy, love and laughter.  

I am in the front seat my girl.  Ready to ride with you the whole way by your side.  Your loving Mama.

Happy 5th Birthday my Charlotte girl.  I love and adore every minute with you.  You have filled our hearts.  Thank you Char Char Binx. 

The Hunt for the Perfect Hunt

Being fairly new to Georgia I was on the hunt for a fun, age-appropriate hunt for my kiddos to do this weekend.  The local high school was advertising a hunt so I checked it out:

The additional description included things like:

"Last year we had 22,000 people in attendance and this year we are expecting even more!"

and

"the entire event will last from 10am to 5pm"

and

"In addition to thousands of eggs on the field, thousands more will be dropped from a helicopter. So bring the family and enjoy TONS of candy, inflatables, face-painting, pictures with the Easter Bunny, lots of vendors, and fun for all ages!"

Whoa.  Just whoa.  I kept looking and found this one at a local church.  It's description was:

"2,000 screaming kids running/scrambling out onto a field that a Helicopter has just flown in and dropped 20.000 Easter eggs stuffed with prizes. There will be a live critically acclaimed Latin band playing music, inflatable games, face painting, food, and more!"

My goodness what is going on here?  Somebody tell these people to take a chill pill.

I LOVE Easter.  Seriously love it.  It has been my favorite holiday for as long as I can remember.  I remember a community hunt we used to have at a local park and a little hunt at a small grocery store in town.  I remember hunting for real eggs at a family friends farm.  I remember the Easter bunny hiding our baskets on Easter morning and searching the house for them.

No helicopters.  No inflatables.  And certainly a lot fewer than 20,000 eggs.  But my goodness it was fun.  The absolute best memories.  I swear there are still days where I walk out in the morning and think  that it smells like Easter.

That is what I want my kiddos to remember.  The smell of an early spring morning.  Dew covered eggs in the grass.  Sun shine, spring blooms, happiness.

Needless to say I am now up to my ears in Easter eggs for a small neighborhood hunt I decided to plan myself.  100% worth it.

My Wee Ones on Wednesdays

Six Flags with the littles.

My girlie and I painted the signs coming into our neighborhood.

A special treat for helping Mommy paint in the scorching sun.

Morning sunshine.

Bear Claw Kid

I can not stop laughing.  It should not be funny but I can not stop laughing.  Please read. (By the way, when I copied this picture from the news website it was titled bear_claw_kid which I think is also hilarious.)

I want to be annoyed at this Mom.  All up on my pedestal preaching about how it should never be possible to not know where your child is, even for a second.  Unfortunately I can relate, in a much less hilarious and not nearly as serious way...and frankly I simply can not stop laughing.

There I was one afternoon, putting a basket of laundry away.  I happen to glance out the window in Oliver's room and there he is, heading up to the playhouse in the so-called woods in our backyard.  In the 62 seconds I was away from him off he went.  I can't even imagine what I would have thought if I came downstairs and couldn't find him.  I would have died.

So just imagine how relieved this mom was to find out her kid was in the claw machine.  I laugh every time I think about it.

Police:  "Mam we've found your son.  He is safe.  He is across the street stuck in a claw machine."

Mom:  "Oh thank God.  I am so relieved!"

Ok folks.  Your turn.  Share your kids wandering off stories.  Band together Mama's...we are not alone!

My Wee Ones on Wednesdays

Here are my Instagram moments from the last week.  Follow me on Instagram @mandyskudler.

Swinging

We absolutely could not leave the dollar store without this hat.

Driving back to Georgia.  How can they sleep like this?

Looking as good as can be.

This is the face he made when I told him to say cheese.

We All Win the Mompetition

Mom-pe-ti-tion: noun 

1. the act of competing, both knowingly and unknowingly, with other moms.  All the time.  In a super annoying way.  For no reason at all other than to boister your own self confidence. 
2. a contest for some prize, honor, or advantage that exists only in your head and that you will never actually win.
3. the rivalry that is offered by a competitor (re: another mom) who made a comment, posted a picture, or boasted about her child in a way that is actually pretty normal yet somehow gets twisted into a horrible game once sung gleefully about in a tune known as "Everything You Can Do I Can Do Better".

We live in a new day and age.  One so very different from the time we grew up that I think many of us have spent some time overwhelmed and confused about how to handle it.  Between Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram, and the numerous other forms of social media we are in a constant battle.

To compete or not to compete?  That is the question that way too many Mom's these days are asking themselves.  Let me make this easy and very clear.  The answer is always no.  Do not compete.  Mom-petitions are the thief of joy.  They make us crazy and they never make us better Moms.  Never.

I recently read an article titled "I'm Done Making My Kid's Childhood Magical".  The author went on and on about how we do too much to create magic for our kids.  How our mothers, grandmothers, and great-grandmothers would be appalled at all we do just to create a magic that inherently exists in childhood.  For the most part I think she is right but I think her frustration is misdirected.

The problem isn't what we do, the problem is why some Mom's are doing it in the first place.  The problem is that we have created a society without boundaries where we are constantly sharing every bit of our lives and subsequently feeling like we are being judged about every bit of our lives.

The fact that this author doesn't want to do elaborate pinterest crafts or over the top birthday parties truly has nothing to do with the fact that she doesn't want to make magic for her kids and has everything to do with the fact that she is done competeing.  Bravo.  Be done you strong mama you.  But let me tell you, stepping out of the mompetition ring doesn't mean the battle stops.

Some mom out there is going to turn her home into a castle and hire a small army of princesses to flood her daughters 2nd birthday party.  The battle is being ok with that.  Some mom is going to serve box cake mix cake and ice cream with refined sugar.  The battle is being ok with that.  Some mom is going to plan a week of crafts and elaborate activities during spring break while another is going to let her kids watch movies everyday.  The battle is being ok with that.

You see where I am going?  Being a good Mom, even a great Mom, means doing what you can do in a way that makes you happy and present for your children.  It doesn't mean winning an unannounced competition in your head between you and every other mom friend on Facebook, in your neighborhood or on the PTA.  If us moms spent as much time supporting each other as we did competing with each other my goodness we would be a force.  A wonderful but flawed group of moms supporting, encouraging, commiserating....whatever the moment calls for.

Here is a 'Do' in this world of parenting.  Be proud of your child.  Be consistently, openly, happily proud of your child.  While you're at it, be proud of your friend's child, your co-worker's child, the other child  at the park.  If we all win, the competition is over.  So let's win.

Toilet TMI

Please brace yourself for TMI.

You know how it is as a mom, rarely a moment to yourself.  They need you when you're sleeping, they know when we're awake; whether they've been bad or good its all our time they take.  Silly song aside, we all know even bathroom time becomes kid time. 

Last night after putting the kidlets to bed I took some time for myself...in the bathroom. Like I said, TMI. I fiddled around on my phone and generally enjoyed the quiet. As I finished my business I flushed and went to grab my phone which I then proceeded to hurl straight into the swirling pot of grossness.  Instinctively I reached in and grabbed it out.  Eww.  Cleaned it up.  Eww.  And stuck it in rice so I could pretend that would help. 

So here I am, phone-less with a new one set to be delivered before I head back to Georgia Saturday morning and all for a little me time. Well shit. Literally. 

I feel like we now have a community of all of us crazy moms banding together. In that spirit, let me hear your bathroom stories. I can not possibly be alone in this right?!

My Wee Ones on Wednesdays

A few blog posts in and I have been having some super positive feedback. Obviously I am not the only Mom out there going crazy, feeling twitchy, often succeeding but sometimes failing and loving every minute if it.  Thanks for joining me!

I am a pretty big instagrammer (is that a word?) and you can follow me @mandyskudler. On Wednesdays I will share some of my favorite Instagram moments from the past week.

Time out while shopping

Time out didn't work so well

Surprise birthday party for Charlotte and my 2 nephews!

Pretty, pretty princess

The incredible four-some