Tweens!

Have you ever said to yourself "who are you and what have you done with my child"?  I seem to be saying that a lot lately, you see I have a tween.  A tween is a youngster between the ages of nine and 12 and considered too old to be a child and too young to be a teenager.

My ten year old, sorry I was just corrected.  My 10 1/2 year old and I have always had a good relationship.  I have always told my children that they can come talk to me anytime day or night.  There have been many 3 a.m. talk sessions (I would not trade those for anything).  Lately it seems as though we are doing more butting heads than talking.  When I ask my son to do anything from homework to completing his chores.  I am greeted with huffing and puffing, rolling of the eyes, talking under his breath, and my favorite "I hate this, why do I have to do everything" stomp stomp stomp.  Where is my sweet child who wants to curl up on the couch and read a book with me?  I know that he is trying to assert his independence, figure out who he is and what he likes and doesn't like, but sheesh I want my lovable little boy back.

I was talking to my mom on the phone and telling her about what we have been going through.  I could actually hear her SMILING, especially when she told me "I had one like that, no make that two".  I had better practice saying the Serenity Prayer because in a couple of years I will have a teenager and another tween.

I have noticed that there is a ton of information about tween girls, but there doesn't seem to be the same emphasis on tween boys.  Why is that?  Boy go through a lot of changes during this stage as well.

Feeling The Pressure

This year I decided that I really needed to challenge myself by stepping out of my comfort zone.  Comfort zone can be defined as feeling secure, comfortable or in control of the situation one is in.  The first thing I did was to tell my friends and family of my plans (gulp).  This was met mostly with "Hey, that is a great idea", a couple of people asked "Why do you want to do that".  My response each time was that I have gotten to comfortable in life and I don't take chances anymore. The second thing I did was to start this blog.  I thought this would be a great way to journal my journey with getting out of my comfort zone, with being a wife, mother to two boys and for anything that makes me stop and think.  So far it has been fun to blog.

Here is how I am starting to feel the pressure.  So far I have only done three things out of my comfort zone, and they have been to start blogging, eat at a Turkish restaurant and touch a shark.

Recently I took the boys to the Newport Aquarium in Kentucky.  After spending a wonderful time looking at everything we ended in the last area of the aquarium, the shark petting area.  I got really excited about doing this, since I had never done it before.  I spent a lot of time watching the sharks swim around before I decided that I could do this.  As I was reaching into the tank to touch a shark another patron started talking about some sharks not having teeth, the attendant quickly said "No, that isn't true" and then pointed out a sign that read "Sharks may bite".  So I chickened out, after standing there for a few minutes both of my boys told me that they thought I should touch the shark anyway especially since my motto this year is to "step out of your comfort zone".  That's it I am going to do it.  The second and third attempts end up the same way as my first attempt, pulling my hand away before touching the shark.  The attendant was great and helped me by giving me some guidance on how and when to touch the shark.  I finally did it!  The shark felt nothing like I figured it would.  The shark was very smooth and not rough at all.  Both of my boys decided that since their mom had touched a shark they should do it too.  After several attempts they also touched the shark.

A shark tooth necklace

Several days later my husband and I took the boys to Great Wolf Lodge.  If you have never been to Great Wolf Lodge, it is a hotel with an indoor water park.  We happened to be there with a lot of our friends and their children.  I am terrified of heights, so climbing up stairs to get up to the water slides, is not my idea of a good time.  I was trying to calm myself down and working up once again to step out of my comfort zone. Unfortunately it never happened.  I was completely happy in the wave pool, lazy river, and the lower watersides (that my six year old called boring).  I started to get very uncomfortable with the idea of stepping out of my comfort zone when I repeatedly declined to go on the slides with my friends and family.  At one point a friend called me a wet noodle because I would not go on the slides.  While I know that my friend was joking around it made me stop and think about whether or not I was really ready to take on this challenge. While I may not be ready to step out of my comfort zone in every situation, I am ready to at least try.  What makes you stop and think am I really ready for this?

Great Wolf Lodge 1

Great Wolf Lodge 2

Great Wolf Lodge 3

Great Wolf Lodge 4

Wrestling Mom

My ten year old loves to play soccer and baseball.  This past October he came home from school with a flier about the youth wrestling team and asked if he could try wrestling.  His father and I immediately said YES.  A day later it hit me that we had agreed to let him wrestle, YIKES!  So we go out and buy the required headgear and shoes.  He attends practice twice a week, never once did he say "I don't want to go today".

On December 12th we attend MJC's first wrestling tournament.  I had no idea what to expect and was overwhelmed, at times, by the experience.  When MJC stepped out on the mat for the first time to face his opponent, I was so nervous, I was shaking.  I was surprised by the skills that he had gained in just a short period of time.  MJC did lose his first match by a score of 18 to 9.  He came off the mat with the biggest smile on his face.  Two more matches to go.  In his second match he was pinned in 1:14 and his third match he was pinned in 0:15.  Every time he lost, he shook his opponent's coaches hand and still had the biggest smile on his face.

All smiles

The rest of the season went pretty much the same way, with every loss he would have the biggest smile on his face.  His coaches even commented that they had never seen any wrestler smile while being pinned.  On January 23rd we attended his last regular season tournament.  This was to be his time to shine.  MJC steps on to the mat for his first match, all I can say is WOW!  He did an amazing job winning the first match 12 to 8.  Before you ask, yes I was the mom screaming, yelling, crying, and jumping up and down in the bleachers.  I may have gone crazy, but come on this was his first win all season!  In his second match, he ended up winning again, but this time by forfeit, due to his opponent putting him in a Full Nelson.  His third match of the day ended when he was pinned in 1:36.  Next up regional.

Regionals, what can be said, other than that is a lot of boys with some sprinkling of girls.  I had never seen so many wrestlers in one tournament up to that point.  This tournament was more intense than any other we had been too.  What impressed me the most was the way the boys and girls would encourage each other.  One such example: While MJC was heading out to the mat to wrestle, the boy who was waiting to wrestle after him and a teammate of the boy MJC was wrestling wished him good luck.  After wrestling the boy, MJC sat down next to patted him on the back and told him it was a good try.  Just seeing this put a smile on my face.  We ended this tournament losing each match but MJC did it with a smile!  Next up Championships!

Championships at the Nutter Center

Forget everything I said about the regional tournament being intense and having a large numbers of wrestlers.  Championships was worse!  The tournament was held at the Nutter Center, there were so many wrestlers that they had to break down the tournament into a morning session and  an afternoon session.  MJC wrestled in the afternoon session.  When we arrived at the tournament the morning session was still in full swing.  After getting settled in our seats and watching the morning session finish, I started to get nervous for MJC.  There were 24 matches going on at the same time with whistles blowing non-stop.  MJC appeared to be calm, then his legs started to bounce up and down.  After a short break the afternoon session begins.  MJC has one of the first matches of the afternoon.  He ended up losing 16 to 2.  Oh boy this was going to be a long tournament.  The second round begins, MJC goes out to the mat, and his opponent has scratched.  So he heads on to the third round.  The longer we are at the tournament the more nervous I get.  No matter what the outcome of the tournament is, I just want MJC to be happy and know that I am proud of him.  During the third round MJC ended up getting pinned thus ending his wrestling season.  He is already looking forward to next year's wrestling season.  As a first time wrestling mom, I am so proud of my son and all that he has accomplished.  Wrestling was a great experience for MJC, it gave him the confidence that he needed to realize that he can do anything he puts his mind to.

Waiting in the stands for his wrestling match

Standing with his coach mat side before his match

Ready to wrestle

Girls Night Out

Ah, the long awaited Girls Night Out. The kids are home being cared for, we forget our diets and everything else going on around us. We spend the evening joking, laughing and enjoying each others company and conversations without being interrupted.

Recently several of my friends and I went out for such an evening. We had reservations at a local restaurant. Now, I am generally not an adventurous person especially when it comes to food. Imagine my surprise when I go to the restaurants website, the day before I am going, to check out their menu to discover that this restaurant is not Italian but Turkish. I have no idea why I thought it was an Italian restaurant. I am not a lover of onions or lamb. Actually I cannot stand either of them. After looking over the menu my first thought was I had better cancel on my friends, my second thought was I can do this, since my theme this year is to step out of my comfort zone.

I am the first to arrive at the restaurant for our reservation. I check in and am told it will be just, a few minutes, our table is not quite ready. No problem, except there is no place to sit or stand the restaurant is packed. This is a very good sign, at least for me who is still uncomfortable out of my comfort zone. When we get to our table and get settled, that is when all the fun truly happens. We had such a wonderful time talking, with a lot of laughing. The face of one of my friends was the best as she was eating her food. She took a bite of what she thought was yellow squash only to discover that she had just eaten a grilled piece of lemon, rind and all. Her face reminded me of a child who has tasted lemon for the first time. Now, what could be a better way to top off our evening than with a Belly Dancer making her rounds from table to table. There is not enough money in the world for me to do her job, which she did beautifully.

Valentine's Day

How does one celebrate Valentine’s Day?  In my house, I make homemade pizza and strawberry shortcake for dinner.  We sit down as a family to eat and my husband and I start laughing at our six year old, who is so tired he cannot stop crying because he has not gotten to play Chess with his dad.

After dinner I leave the boys to their chess game and head over to the hospital to visit a friend.  At the hospital, while talking with my friend the nurse aide that will be taking care of her overnight comes in to introduce himself.  My friend asks him for some crackers and Sprite.  When he returns with the crackers and Sprite, my friend asks if he wants a “kiss”, she is referring to the Hershey Kisses that are sitting on her table, but the look on his face was priceless.  My friend and I had a wonderful laugh over that question.

Right now is the best time to ........

Start blogging, at least for me.  Have you ever wondered what it would be like to write your own blog?  Who would want to read about my life?  I am a wife and mother to two boys ages 10 and 6.  I teach preschool, am an Assistant Cubmaster, and this year I decided to chair the Relay For Life event in my town.  There is nothing special about me, but I wanted to challenge myself to step out of my comfort zone.  When was the last time you stepped out of your comfort zone?