Did you know that once upon a time I actually had to maintain employment for money to find its way into my bank account twice a month? It's true.
Back then, I had two cute little twenty-something file clerks that shared a cubicle not too far from mine. Joel and Debra were my work-kids. I would remind them to quit partying so much, tell them to take their college classes more seriously and to eat their vegetables. In turn, they would school me in music, current fashion, and Debra taught me how to use an eyebrow pencil.
Like most of the people that I liked at work, Joel and Debra's names soon disappeared into silly nicknames. Joel was Mexican and because I had lived in SoCal for nearly 5 years I was just gangster enough to pronounce the 'J' as an 'H'. 'Hoel' turned into 'Hoel-ito' then just straight up 'Lito'. (Which incidentally has become my actual son's nickname.) Debra was a itty-bitty one and my creativity led me to 'Little Deb'.
Lito and Little Deb could not stand each other - at first. Day by day I saw her start to laugh at his jokes and him listen intently as she complained about her boyfriend. Soon the boyfriend was history and these two little file clerks were taking lunch breaks together and laughing as they passed each other in the hallway. Being their work mom, it was my job to provide advice and as Valentine's Day approached Joel was in desperate need of my opinion. He called me over while Deb was away on an errand and showed me a picture on his computer screen of a vase of red roses, baby's breath and a bunch of fern. "I think this is what I'm getting Deb for Valentines Day. What do you think?"
"They're really nice...but what about something a little more....unexpected? Everyone gets red roses, what about something like this?", as I pulled up a colorful tropical number on the same website. I left him to make his own choice, but not without providing him a few options.
A few days later the delivery guy showed up at Little Deb's desk. He presented a beautiful arrangement full of exotic rainbow hued blossoms. I was so proud. It was amazing. My little Lito had done well.
I picked myself up and walked straight over to Deb, "Oh my gosh! They're incredible!" I gushed.
She smiled, trying to hide her disappointment, but it didn't last long. "I just really like red roses."
"Your birthday's right around the corner. Maybe you could have someone clue him in?", was all I could bring myself to say as I rushed back to my desk to finish an 'important' file.
***I ran into my work-kids a few months ago at the mall and nearly fell over when they told me they were coming up on their 7th anniversary and finally talking about getting married. Luckily, my meddling didn't screw things up too terribly.***
Happy Valentines Day!
Monday, February 13, 2012
Monday, February 6, 2012
Kids These Days
We've heard the stories from our parents and grandparents: Walking uphill in the snow both ways to school, getting up to do 3 hours of chores before school, or spending every Saturday out in the 3 acre yard weeding by hand. Whatever the story is/was it seemed so lame and redundant. Fast forward to having kids that don't know how good they have it. The story I tell my kids most? I didn't get in an airplane until I was a Junior in High School and only then because I had a cheerleading competition in California and we worked REALLY hard to get there. My brother Taft? I think his first flight was to leave on his mission. (But don't feel too bad for him, he currently has more stamps on his passport than I care to list.)
Here's what I'm saying: Where did my kids and their expectations come from? Although we have been blessed to travel a decent amount, I swear we have been conscious to remind them that this is not what REAL life is like. We remind them that we work hard, sacrifice and save all the while appreciating the beautiful things that we are privileged to experience. But bring up a mom-and-dad-only trip and Cal acts like we've cut off his right hand. "What!? You're not taking ME?" It's taken me a year and a half of reminding him that he's the one that made the trip to Chicago and Notre Dame with Kirt (not me) and he's finally showing some restraint. He still cries, "What? Not Me?" - but nervous laughter follows and he says he's just kidding.
A few examples of our current entitlement issues...Cal was not entirely happy with our low-key Super Bowl plans yesterday. Once he received a better offer he asked if he could, "...just take a taxi" to the other party. He claims he was also "just kidding" but I've got a Benjamin that says if we would've agreed he would have jumped in the backseat of some skeevy driver's car without a glance back.
However, Cal isn't the only one in the family without realistic expectations...Tessa was very distraught on Friday afternoon, crying real tears. She was finally able to pull herself together enough to speak about her issue, "The green paint on the walls in here make me really nervous. I think it would be better if you would paint them pink." At first it was funny and I chalked it up to an overly-emotional-just-got-her-tonsils-out little girl but we are currently on day 4 of paint negotiations. She has backed down from her original position and is willing to settle for red if the pink cannot be accomplished. And I swear to you she is serious.
Anybody got any good stories about how hard life was when we were kids? I can use all the help I can get with these adorable punks!
Here's what I'm saying: Where did my kids and their expectations come from? Although we have been blessed to travel a decent amount, I swear we have been conscious to remind them that this is not what REAL life is like. We remind them that we work hard, sacrifice and save all the while appreciating the beautiful things that we are privileged to experience. But bring up a mom-and-dad-only trip and Cal acts like we've cut off his right hand. "What!? You're not taking ME?" It's taken me a year and a half of reminding him that he's the one that made the trip to Chicago and Notre Dame with Kirt (not me) and he's finally showing some restraint. He still cries, "What? Not Me?" - but nervous laughter follows and he says he's just kidding.
A few examples of our current entitlement issues...Cal was not entirely happy with our low-key Super Bowl plans yesterday. Once he received a better offer he asked if he could, "...just take a taxi" to the other party. He claims he was also "just kidding" but I've got a Benjamin that says if we would've agreed he would have jumped in the backseat of some skeevy driver's car without a glance back.
However, Cal isn't the only one in the family without realistic expectations...Tessa was very distraught on Friday afternoon, crying real tears. She was finally able to pull herself together enough to speak about her issue, "The green paint on the walls in here make me really nervous. I think it would be better if you would paint them pink." At first it was funny and I chalked it up to an overly-emotional-just-got-her-tonsils-out little girl but we are currently on day 4 of paint negotiations. She has backed down from her original position and is willing to settle for red if the pink cannot be accomplished. And I swear to you she is serious.
Anybody got any good stories about how hard life was when we were kids? I can use all the help I can get with these adorable punks!
Friday, February 3, 2012
S#!T my family says...
It's been awhile. I know. Let's skip all that excuse garbage and cut right to the meat.
Remember last post when I talked about Kirt's birthday wishes? Ya, he got none of them...for his birthday. Actually, I did get him a garbage can and it wasn't exactly what he was looking for. Yes I'm serious. That Kirt is a funny one and you know what? I knew when I bought the dang thing that I'd be taking it back, but I wasn't willing to pay the $100+ for what he really wanted and I had to at least show some effort. So 2 weeks ago while perusing the aisles of Home Goods I stumbled upon Kirt's dream can for $30 - he was very pleased. Cut to 1 week later and I can't stand the thing. I hate having to walk over and step on the pedal to throw something away. I mean, it's called "throwing" something away. I can't toss it from the other end of the kitchen with a lid on it! The other night in what I imagine is one of his favorite conversations ever, I told him that I don't like the new one and that he's so lucky to have a wife that will put up with such inconvenience in her life just to make him happy. I start with my list of complaints and mention that it fills up so much quicker than our old trash and that I find myself having to empty it much more frequently. To which he says, "That's not it. It's just so much more fun to throw things away now that everyone is finding excuses to put things in the trash and THAT is why it fills up so much quicker." (Wow, that was a lot of buildup for a little S#!t my husband said.)
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You know your kids live in Southern California when... Owen woke up the other morning and asked if school was canceled because there were so many clouds in the sky. I wish my boy, I wish.
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Tessa has become increasingly critical of the clothes I wear and the way I present myself. The other day as we shuffled out the door she casually mentioned, "Mom, you kind of wear those shoes a lot. I know you want your friends to see them but you can wear other shoes sometimes too, okay?"
----
Just in case you wanted to know where I got my title...
Remember last post when I talked about Kirt's birthday wishes? Ya, he got none of them...for his birthday. Actually, I did get him a garbage can and it wasn't exactly what he was looking for. Yes I'm serious. That Kirt is a funny one and you know what? I knew when I bought the dang thing that I'd be taking it back, but I wasn't willing to pay the $100+ for what he really wanted and I had to at least show some effort. So 2 weeks ago while perusing the aisles of Home Goods I stumbled upon Kirt's dream can for $30 - he was very pleased. Cut to 1 week later and I can't stand the thing. I hate having to walk over and step on the pedal to throw something away. I mean, it's called "throwing" something away. I can't toss it from the other end of the kitchen with a lid on it! The other night in what I imagine is one of his favorite conversations ever, I told him that I don't like the new one and that he's so lucky to have a wife that will put up with such inconvenience in her life just to make him happy. I start with my list of complaints and mention that it fills up so much quicker than our old trash and that I find myself having to empty it much more frequently. To which he says, "That's not it. It's just so much more fun to throw things away now that everyone is finding excuses to put things in the trash and THAT is why it fills up so much quicker." (Wow, that was a lot of buildup for a little S#!t my husband said.)
----
You know your kids live in Southern California when... Owen woke up the other morning and asked if school was canceled because there were so many clouds in the sky. I wish my boy, I wish.
----
Tessa has become increasingly critical of the clothes I wear and the way I present myself. The other day as we shuffled out the door she casually mentioned, "Mom, you kind of wear those shoes a lot. I know you want your friends to see them but you can wear other shoes sometimes too, okay?"
----
Just in case you wanted to know where I got my title...
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