Ok, so Dee, Mary and I are headed off to Colorado tomorrow to go rafting with my brother (YAY!).  We will be out in the middle of nowhere on the San Juan River, with no access to cell phones or bathrooms.  This got me thinking that maybe we ought to get a FUD (Feminine Urinating Device) to make the whole bathroom situation a little easier.
Jumped online and saw that the Evil Empire had the Go Girl so last night I grabbed Levi and headed over to get one to surprise Mary and Dee.  The sales clerk, who was a little socially awkward, showed me where they would be on the shelf but they were sold out.  I asked if he could call to the Bremerton store to check if they had any and he reluctantly made the call.  That was awkward.  They were sold out as well and this sweet man was trying hard to give me other options.  I told him we couldn’t order online because we were leaving in a day, he asked if we could stop at a Walmart in Seattle or perhaps drive around and hit Cabella’s and get one.  Or maybe we could get one at the place where we were flying into.  As he was listing off my options, and I kept gracefully trying to get out of the conversation, I realized he was truly horrified and worried.  I told him it wasn’t a huge deal if I didn’t get one and he said, “Well, I would hate for you to not be able to pee for 4 days.”  Seriously?!  Did he think I wasn’t going to pee for 4 days?!  I told him not to stress, that I had managed for 43 years to pee when I needed to.
Oh and don’t forget that all this time, poor Levi was standing there absolutely mortified that I was talking about bathroom stuff with this man in the middle of a store. Ha ha ha, I know.  What 12 year old boy wants to hear that #1 their mom uses the bathroom  #2 is talking about it in public!
We left Walmart and headed to Big 5, where Levi’s embarrassment continued.  The clerks there tried to help but their only solutions were me taking a portable toilet on the plane (nope but tempted) and these weird bag things that catch the pee (hell no)
I had called REI earlier in the day and they, of course, didn’t hesitate to tell me they had Freshette in stock.  Levi and I headed there to get it.  He fell in love with REI and almost forgot why we were there.  I discreetly found what I was looking for plus a few extras, paid and as we were headed out he offered to carry the sack.  I was about to hand it to him when he reeled back and said “Holy cow, no way, I almost forgot what was in that thing!”
I haven’t laughed that hard in a long time.  My sweet boy.  We talked a little about it on the car ride home and he was perplexed about why on Earth I would even want such a product.   I told him how it worked and he said “I could have saved you a lot of money there, mom, and got you a funnel”  His other main concern was that we would want to start using the men’s bathrooms.  Yuck, no.
So now we have our FUD and are packed and ready for the trip.  Not sure how it will work, but glad it provided some comic relief and a nice bonding time with my oldest boy.
If you want to read more about FUDs, click this link!

One of my BIGGEST pet peeves is lying.  I seriously hate it.  We tell our kids “Truth Builds Trust” and live by that.  They ask us hard questions, we tell them the truth.  It may be padded a bit to be age appropriate, but never a lie. (well, besides Santa and all but that doesn’t really count).  If you tell the truth the first time, no consequence.  If you fess up after a bit then a lesser consequence.  If you never do, ya it’s not good.
This morning, I put bread into the toaster and let everyone know that they could grab their piece and make it as part of their breakfast while I got other things done.  Things got busy, of course, and Dee asked who hadn’t eaten.  I had seen two kids sit down at the table with me, the other I hadn’t seen.  I asked him point blank “did you eat breakfast?”  The answer was “yes, I had toast with jam on it.  I remember because I spilled jam down the front of my shirt.”  Too many details, this kid was lying!  I asked again with the same response.  I asked him to please go get the shirt that was covered in jelly as proof of his story.  He came down with the shirt he had been wearing the night before, with a big water spot on it.   I then asked, “So, I’m supposed to believe that you ate the toast, spilled jam on the shirt and then CLEANED the shirt?” The answer this time was, “”ok, I didn’t want toast for breakfast so I made all that up” UGH!

So we all have “those weeks” where it’s hectic and you are trying to get things done and everyone seems a little more on edge and stressed out, right?  Meltdowns are more common, both kids and parents.  That’s been this week for us.  It’s hard.
Many resentful feelings on my end because the kids are too old to be entitled freeloaders and should be helping more around the house.  Feeling that they should be grateful for the mom taxi taking them everywhere, doing their laundry and making their lunches.  But that’s not the reality, they aren’t even aware that I feel this way sometimes and if I tell them they shrug it off.  It’s not that they don’t care, I have to remember that they are kids and so all consumed with their own reality that its always a shocker to them when I get fed up.  Instead of a “thank you, mom” it’s a “you put WHAT in my lunch? Gross” and when you ask them to take their clean, sorted, folded laundry to their room you would think you asked them to scrub the kitchen floor with a toothbrush.  I should probably be asking them to do more, but with the resistance I get with the few things we do ask it seems easier sometimes to just do it myself.  Truth be told, I’m a control freak and they aren’t the best at cleaning to my expectations and I have to do it again so it’s easier for me to just do it myself.
We have a lot of kids (7 in the home right now, ages 12, 11, 10, 4, 2, 1 and 5 months) and that equals a lot of pure maintenance work for the parents.  Lots of dishes, laundry, taxiing, listening, playing, tucking in, feeding, etc.  This is a choice and I’m not complaining, just tired.
I love a big family and I wouldn’t change it for the world but there are days when I wonder how life would be different with just one child.  Would we be always hanging out and talking about our feelings?  We connect with our kids daily, sit with them through their struggles and do our best to empathize and help resolve issues.  We make family time and read with them after we put the babies to bed.  We support each other but life is rushing by.
I am being very intentional to the things I say YES to lately.  Honoring time and togetherness.  We are surely missing out on amazing events, but we are becoming stronger as a family.
This I must remember this week as things seem to be in chaos mode.  Take time to sit down and breathe it in.  These days that our kids (the boys especially) want to spend their time with us is rapidly passing and I don’t want to miss a minute.