Last night I was flipping through the channels and came across TLC's 'Toddlers and Tiaras' for the first time. I had heard of the show, but never watched it. And now I'm afraid I won't be able to look away from that train wreck. Here are just a couple short clips to familiarize yourself.
I'm sure my reaction was the same as many people. I think the audience of that show can probably break down into 2 groups: the ones who completely understand where these families are coming from and the families who think these parents are CRAZY. I fall into the latter category...for sure. In the first 2 minutes I was watching the show, one mom stated she had 2 girls competing in pageants, which meant if the entry fee was $1,800, she was spending $3,600. Whoa. Then she said she spent $10,000 the couple months on costumes for her girls. What?!
The next scene was a dad spraying tanning his 5 year old...with his paint sprayer...in their bathroom...while the girl was in her bathing suit. That's creepy dad.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Sunday, January 30, 2011
The Real Talent of LDS Women
As promised in my previous post, I am here to reveal what really keeps Mormon housewives busy. In this article (discussed in the previous post), I am left with the impression that the author and her friends think the majority of time in Mormon housewife's day is spent on herself and her family, doing things like upholstering her furniture, searching the stores for bargain deals, making her own designer-quality clothes, scrapbooking, and other crafty things. I do not know these women, but I know the culture of the Mormon woman and so I think I know what fills much our time: service.
Part of the misconception comes from the fact that we, as Mormon women, don't talk about all the service we do...as we shouldn't. We do what we do because we love, we have compassion, and we want to bring relief to others. We make dinners for family's going through a rough time or who just had a baby. We give rides to people who have no transportation. We lend a much needed ear to friends who just need to talk. We build hygiene kits, make blankets, and serve countless hours in our church callings (teaching Sunday School, sending emails, organizing the troops, etc).
Even when we are not outwardly serving, we consider what we do inside the home service, as well. Every time I make my husband and baby a homecooked meal that took more than 15 minutes to prepare, I look at that as service. When I fold and put everyone's laundry away, I see service. Why do I classify that as service? Because I do it because I love my family. Not because I particularly enjoy, but I do not (usually) grumble about it either. Maybe it's because for a while we lived in a way where I did not have the time to do these things but wanted to be able to do them, and I see it as one more way to express my love for my family. Any time we go to the temple, for our ancestors or others', we are serving.
Service is the expression of love and compassion we have for others and, as a group, I know no other group of women so dedicated to this mission. My days are not spent in a food shelter nor do most full-time mommies, but I also know that if I were ever to need ANYTHING, I could call on the good sisters of my ward. The hearts of the Mormon housewife (and most LDS women) are willing to help when and however they are able to. I'm afraid the Mormon housewife blogs make it seem we are totally focused on ourselves, when, really, we spend so much time on others (even if it's just our family).
Of course, I cannot speak for every LDS woman, but this is true for every active LDS woman I have met. Sure, many young mothers are not able to drop everything in the middle of the day to help someone move, but they will find a way to help in a different way if they can. We don't brag about all we do as a group or individually, but in and effort to combat the opinion that all Mormon housewives do is about improving their own situations, I wanted to point that much of our day is filled with service. Anyone who knows and LDS knows that there are few groups more organized, more willing, and more able to help because we believe that when we are in the service of our fellow man, we are in the service of our God.
Part of the misconception comes from the fact that we, as Mormon women, don't talk about all the service we do...as we shouldn't. We do what we do because we love, we have compassion, and we want to bring relief to others. We make dinners for family's going through a rough time or who just had a baby. We give rides to people who have no transportation. We lend a much needed ear to friends who just need to talk. We build hygiene kits, make blankets, and serve countless hours in our church callings (teaching Sunday School, sending emails, organizing the troops, etc).
Even when we are not outwardly serving, we consider what we do inside the home service, as well. Every time I make my husband and baby a homecooked meal that took more than 15 minutes to prepare, I look at that as service. When I fold and put everyone's laundry away, I see service. Why do I classify that as service? Because I do it because I love my family. Not because I particularly enjoy, but I do not (usually) grumble about it either. Maybe it's because for a while we lived in a way where I did not have the time to do these things but wanted to be able to do them, and I see it as one more way to express my love for my family. Any time we go to the temple, for our ancestors or others', we are serving.
Service is the expression of love and compassion we have for others and, as a group, I know no other group of women so dedicated to this mission. My days are not spent in a food shelter nor do most full-time mommies, but I also know that if I were ever to need ANYTHING, I could call on the good sisters of my ward. The hearts of the Mormon housewife (and most LDS women) are willing to help when and however they are able to. I'm afraid the Mormon housewife blogs make it seem we are totally focused on ourselves, when, really, we spend so much time on others (even if it's just our family).
Of course, I cannot speak for every LDS woman, but this is true for every active LDS woman I have met. Sure, many young mothers are not able to drop everything in the middle of the day to help someone move, but they will find a way to help in a different way if they can. We don't brag about all we do as a group or individually, but in and effort to combat the opinion that all Mormon housewives do is about improving their own situations, I wanted to point that much of our day is filled with service. Anyone who knows and LDS knows that there are few groups more organized, more willing, and more able to help because we believe that when we are in the service of our fellow man, we are in the service of our God.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Ladies, 'Just Do...You.'
I was fascinated by this article about a late twenty-something atheist woman with no children who is obsessed with reading Mormon housewife blogs. And, apparently, she is not the only non-Mormon who loves reading these 'uplifting' accounts of LDS homemaker/mommy-hood since many of her friends enjoy the 'escapism' of doting on your children, making bread of scratch, redecorating your house, spending the day making amazing discoveries in your family history, etc. These non-Mormon women like to temporarily escape from the pessimism of the world they live in. You know, the world with: divorce, high-pressure jobs, less-than-ideal living circumstances, staying together just for the kids, constantly worrying about the chemicals in your kids' food, money issues, love handles/saddle bags, etc.
Oh, wait. That's the same world Mormon housewives live in...right?
Oh, wait. That's the same world Mormon housewives live in...right?
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Threes
THEY say when it rains, it poors. THEY also say things come in threes. Why can't good things come in threes...why is always bad things?
This week was a really crappy week. Part of it was because I'm all hormotional (my word for hormonal and emotional). Partly because Vivi slept really poorly at the beginning of the week because of her stuffy nose (ie 5 hours of sleep one night and 4 hours of sleep the next). Partly because I got a speeding a ticket. Partly because we got Vivi's emergency room visit bill in the mail. Partly because our laptop is pooping out and we a) might need a new one, which we can't afford and b) meant I couldn't get done some of the very necessary things I needed to do (like edit Doug's BYU application essay and finish my work for the work). And partly because Vivi was super clingy, super needy all week, which wore my patience very thin.
At the worst point of the week I was beginning to rethink our decision to become parents. I wasn't feeling well and finally managed to doze off for a nap...when I awoke to find Vivi with Sharpie in hand. She scribbled all over her sheets, our sheets, my duvet cover, and her new shirt. All I wanted to do was just lay there and even that has now been denied me. I was raging. And good moms shouldn't rage, right? I mean, really it's not that big of a deal. And neither is the fact that both times we came home from work this week, Vivi smelled like coffee because she spilled someone's (cold) coffee all over her. But it still psissed me off. And good moms should get pissed, or rage, or scream at their toddlers right? My only conclusion was that I was not cut out to be a mom.
After a good day on Saturday, where I got to take a nap while Doug took Vivi to the park, I began to realize that I was just having a bad week. A really bad week. And moms are allowed to have bad weeks. It was a blessing to realize that Vivi doesn't just have me; she has her loving father (who she adores) to play with, wrestle, and 'put to night night.' I am so lucky.
I hope this week is better than last week. I still need to mail in my ticket and we need to pay our bills, but we are blessed. I am going to try to spend a little more time focusing on that than all the things I didn't get accomplished because Vivi wouldn't let go of my leg or all the clothes she permanently marked. Still, it helps to get a good night's sleep as we try to save the world...doesn't it moms :)
This week was a really crappy week. Part of it was because I'm all hormotional (my word for hormonal and emotional). Partly because Vivi slept really poorly at the beginning of the week because of her stuffy nose (ie 5 hours of sleep one night and 4 hours of sleep the next). Partly because I got a speeding a ticket. Partly because we got Vivi's emergency room visit bill in the mail. Partly because our laptop is pooping out and we a) might need a new one, which we can't afford and b) meant I couldn't get done some of the very necessary things I needed to do (like edit Doug's BYU application essay and finish my work for the work). And partly because Vivi was super clingy, super needy all week, which wore my patience very thin.
At the worst point of the week I was beginning to rethink our decision to become parents. I wasn't feeling well and finally managed to doze off for a nap...when I awoke to find Vivi with Sharpie in hand. She scribbled all over her sheets, our sheets, my duvet cover, and her new shirt. All I wanted to do was just lay there and even that has now been denied me. I was raging. And good moms shouldn't rage, right? I mean, really it's not that big of a deal. And neither is the fact that both times we came home from work this week, Vivi smelled like coffee because she spilled someone's (cold) coffee all over her. But it still psissed me off. And good moms should get pissed, or rage, or scream at their toddlers right? My only conclusion was that I was not cut out to be a mom.
After a good day on Saturday, where I got to take a nap while Doug took Vivi to the park, I began to realize that I was just having a bad week. A really bad week. And moms are allowed to have bad weeks. It was a blessing to realize that Vivi doesn't just have me; she has her loving father (who she adores) to play with, wrestle, and 'put to night night.' I am so lucky.
I hope this week is better than last week. I still need to mail in my ticket and we need to pay our bills, but we are blessed. I am going to try to spend a little more time focusing on that than all the things I didn't get accomplished because Vivi wouldn't let go of my leg or all the clothes she permanently marked. Still, it helps to get a good night's sleep as we try to save the world...doesn't it moms :)
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Speeding Ticket
Today I got my first speeding ticket. Ever.
Lame.
We had a wonderful Christmas and, dare I say, even better New Year's weekend. It was great to see family and celebrate everything that's important. This past weekend (New Year's) we went to bed early and slept great...two nights in a row.
Unfortunately, the next two days have been crappy. Sick baby means not very much sleep for me anyway, but it's also very cold in our basement apartment, which means I was more willing to keep her in bed next to me (her blankets rarely stay on her). So, she was cranky, super clingy, I got a ticket, I broke a glass, I am tired, and I am cranky...very short-tempered with her, in fact. In fact, she learned a new word yesterday: cranky.
I too tired to come up with some analogy between my speeding ticket and speeding through life, so I'll leave that up to you. But, there is a lot of stuff going on with Doug applying to grad school, jobs, and more. I've been a little blue despite the beautiful (and cold) weather we've been having...I was actually happy to see the gray clouds today. So, I wrote a little poem about clouds :) (I love writing and may be a closet poet, that's not very good). Here it is:
Today the clouds rolled in
And it was a relief.
They chased away the cold,
Enveloped me with their warmth.
The harsh sunlight was dimmed
And let me see the darker beauty of the garden.
The soft waves of rain soothed my tired mind
Temporarily washing away my inner angst
And welcomed my winter feelings.
Don't laugh, but it made me feel better to be a little creative.
Lame.
We had a wonderful Christmas and, dare I say, even better New Year's weekend. It was great to see family and celebrate everything that's important. This past weekend (New Year's) we went to bed early and slept great...two nights in a row.
Unfortunately, the next two days have been crappy. Sick baby means not very much sleep for me anyway, but it's also very cold in our basement apartment, which means I was more willing to keep her in bed next to me (her blankets rarely stay on her). So, she was cranky, super clingy, I got a ticket, I broke a glass, I am tired, and I am cranky...very short-tempered with her, in fact. In fact, she learned a new word yesterday: cranky.
I too tired to come up with some analogy between my speeding ticket and speeding through life, so I'll leave that up to you. But, there is a lot of stuff going on with Doug applying to grad school, jobs, and more. I've been a little blue despite the beautiful (and cold) weather we've been having...I was actually happy to see the gray clouds today. So, I wrote a little poem about clouds :) (I love writing and may be a closet poet, that's not very good). Here it is:
Today the clouds rolled in
And it was a relief.
They chased away the cold,
Enveloped me with their warmth.
The harsh sunlight was dimmed
And let me see the darker beauty of the garden.
The soft waves of rain soothed my tired mind
Temporarily washing away my inner angst
And welcomed my winter feelings.
Don't laugh, but it made me feel better to be a little creative.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
First Apple Cup & Visit to the ER
So this last weekend we took Vivi to a very cold Pullman for the Apple Cup. I think the average temperature while we were there was 25 degrees. Brrrrr! Vivi and I only stayed through the first half the game and then went to the CUB for the rest of the game (where they did NOT have the game on TV, are you kidding me?). We had a great weekend of spending waaay too much money on Cougar gear...mostly for Vivi.
On Monday, Vivi started throwing up. Uh oh. It actually didn't start out real bad, just normal flu-like stuff. But after she had vomited all her food and dry-heaving, she started vomiting yucky brown-ish stuff. I called the doctor after an hour or so of that, and the nurse said it could be blood and we need to get it tested. We took her to the Children's ER with a sample (she provided more sample on the way and in the ER), and sure enough, it was blood she was throwing up. They had to put an IV in her hand to give her some fluids (she was unsurprisingly dehydrated) and tube down her nose. They put the tube down her nose in order to flush saline into her stomach and then suck it back out. They were doing this to see if there was any more blood and, more importantly, the color of it. If there was bright red blood, that would mean she was actively bleeding. The brownish blood meant it was older. After 4.5 hours of her screaming and begging for juice (we couldn't give her any and I felt so bad), she looked much better with all the fluids and had a good time with the fishies in their fish tank while we waited for her prescriptions.
All in all, I think Doug and I handled the situation really well. I try to make my motto 'Don't panic until there's something to panic about,' and even the nurses noticed ('She's handling this really well...and so are you mom and dad.') They were also impressed with Vivi's strength as she resisted the IV, etc. 'atta girl.
Unfortunately, this week is also the first time we all got sick at the same time. Tuesday Vivi was ok, but I think that was mostly the anti-nausea medication because she didn't eat much. Unfortunately, today Doug and I got sick. Really bad diarrhea and some nausea. Luckily, Vivi is still recovering and needed a couple naps. Even better, Marie was willing to take Vivi for a couple hours so I could take a nap. I don't know what we will do when we don't have Marie and Bill right here. We are so lucky.
On Monday, Vivi started throwing up. Uh oh. It actually didn't start out real bad, just normal flu-like stuff. But after she had vomited all her food and dry-heaving, she started vomiting yucky brown-ish stuff. I called the doctor after an hour or so of that, and the nurse said it could be blood and we need to get it tested. We took her to the Children's ER with a sample (she provided more sample on the way and in the ER), and sure enough, it was blood she was throwing up. They had to put an IV in her hand to give her some fluids (she was unsurprisingly dehydrated) and tube down her nose. They put the tube down her nose in order to flush saline into her stomach and then suck it back out. They were doing this to see if there was any more blood and, more importantly, the color of it. If there was bright red blood, that would mean she was actively bleeding. The brownish blood meant it was older. After 4.5 hours of her screaming and begging for juice (we couldn't give her any and I felt so bad), she looked much better with all the fluids and had a good time with the fishies in their fish tank while we waited for her prescriptions.
All in all, I think Doug and I handled the situation really well. I try to make my motto 'Don't panic until there's something to panic about,' and even the nurses noticed ('She's handling this really well...and so are you mom and dad.') They were also impressed with Vivi's strength as she resisted the IV, etc. 'atta girl.
Unfortunately, this week is also the first time we all got sick at the same time. Tuesday Vivi was ok, but I think that was mostly the anti-nausea medication because she didn't eat much. Unfortunately, today Doug and I got sick. Really bad diarrhea and some nausea. Luckily, Vivi is still recovering and needed a couple naps. Even better, Marie was willing to take Vivi for a couple hours so I could take a nap. I don't know what we will do when we don't have Marie and Bill right here. We are so lucky.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
It's not all roses
This past week I got a cold. After 2 hours straight of talking on Saturday, that cold turned into a lost voice. No biggie. Kinda funny, actually. Having never lost my voice before, I thought it was funny, anyway. The only time it's a big inconvenience is when I'm trying to yell at Vivienne to put my china tea cup down, etc.
Anyway, not feeling too well, I haven't gotten a whole lot accomplished and frankly don't have the desire to, which doesn't really add to my short-term self-esteem, if you know what I mean. Well, it took another blow tonight the probably addition of a new scar...to my face.
Anyway, not feeling too well, I haven't gotten a whole lot accomplished and frankly don't have the desire to, which doesn't really add to my short-term self-esteem, if you know what I mean. Well, it took another blow tonight the probably addition of a new scar...to my face.
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