My Very 1st Blog

This is the first blog that I published way back in July, of 2009.  
To date...it got a total of 41   views. (That's pretty sad). 
Well I've grown some since then.  My average post gets around 400 views. Some  get in the thousands.

Seems like a life time ago.  Look at the picture below.  How adorable and sweet Blue was back then.  This was before he turned into an angry, anxious teenager who talks back! He says, he didn't know there were so many things to worry about when he was only 9 years old!  Red was 13 at the time.  

I've been blogging for nearly 5 years! 

Saddest thing to see is how much things have changed, while somethings stayed the same.  I still hate the hot summers of Texas.  Yet, I am still here. 
Parenting with hubby has evolved as we have both matured, and accept our differences. 
 I think I love him more today than I did on this day, in 2009.  We continue to grow ...together.  

Enjoy! 

~Karen

Blue holding Harry

Writing down your thoughts is therapeutic and lord knows -I need therapy! How else can I cope with the ups and downs of my life? Honestly, the ups seem few and far between these days. Maybe it's all in my head...maybe it's not. All I know is that I'm working really hard to be nice to the people I live with and it's not easy. That would include my two sons, Red age 13 (need I say more) and Blue age 10. Then there's my big kid...Hubby, age -let's just say forty something.

I sit here in a local coffee shop -avoiding them. I just dropped off Blue to Art Camp, dropped the Harry (my cute little Maltese) off at the groomers. Red is probably still asleep. Hubby is working, and grumpy, so why should I rush home? 

We live in a suburb of Austin, TX where it is hot as hell right now. I'm sure it will be somewhere in the 100's today and guess what...the air conditioner went out this morning. So do I want to go sit in the heat until the repairman gets there? I do not.

There is always some form of controversy in our house. Last night it was Red bugging the crap out of me to get his dad to help him with something he screwed up on his computer. I am always an advocate...always a mom and always see my children differently than their father does. I guess that's why god created two parents. I am the peacekeeper, caregiver and life manager. 

My husband is the disciplinarian, nitpicker, hell-raiser. I also discipline, but in a much kinder, gentler way. My mother was a screamer.  I found that ineffective and irritating. The first time I speak, I use a calm voice. It's only when I have to continually repeat myself that I get much more audible. I am working really hard at keeping our differences in parenting styles quiet in front of the kids -but it isn't easy. We are often from different planets and speak different languages. That can make communication quite difficult.

Of course this is all my opinion. I'm sure if hubby had a blog -he would have a few choice words about my parenting habits. In fact, he shared them with me last night. "You always let them off the hook. You make too many excuses for them. You are a crutch!" and I could go on -but I won't. I heard more than I wanted to last night.

Last night was one of those nights that I asked myself -why did I get married? It looks so much better on t.v. and in the movies. Reality bites!