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I Need a Nap!

 

I just fell asleep all of a sudden and about knocked myself out on the edge of the table. #needanap

— SocaMom (@SocaMomDC) October 9, 2012

 

I get so jealous sometimes when I see the kids sleeping peacefully.

Duet by Weird Al Yankovic and Kate Winslet on Sandra Boynton's "Dog Train"

I couldn't wait to grow up. If I knew I'd be leaving that good, peaceful, carefree sleep behind, I would have savored each and every second.

Whenever one of the five of us is cranky, someone breaks into "I Need a Nap!" Love this song.

Weird Al: Well, the sun is still high in the afternoon sky, but the morning seems so long ago. I was happy before and I'm not anymore, though why there's a change, I don't know.

Kate: I'm so tired of this day, and I don't want to play, and I don't want a story to read. But I look in your eyes, and at once realize, that I know what it is-

Weird Al: Yes I know what it is

My life is now a blur of 5 hour energy, tea, and coffee.  When I finally do fall asleep, I jump up in a panic like I may have missed an appointment, forgotten something on the stove, or overslept.

Both: Now I know what it is that I need... I need a nap!

Back in January, I wrote about taking more naps for health reasons - I need to get back to that plan.

Kate: I just can't take anymore

Both: I need a nap!

Weird Al: Can't stay awake anymore

Both: No more running around I just need to lie down and sleep.

I admit it, I am always moving and doing something.  If I am not doing anything, I feel like I am being useless. Sometimes when I am doing something, I feel like I could be doing more.  Crazy, right?  Meanwhile, my body is like, 'Really woman? Are you kidding me?'

Weird Al: I don't know what to do, I just can’t make it through, I want something or nothing right now.

Kate: I am mad and upset. What I want I don't get. I don't know what I want, anyhow.

Weird Al: I've been doing my best, now I just want to rest. On the rug, on the floor, I don't care.

Right this very minute, the hubby is passed out face down on the floor in the middle of the living room.  He doesn't play with his sleep.  If he needs it, he gets it.  Sleep is not a game.

Me?  I am here writing a blog post and helping baby girl make a greeting card out of foam shapes, glue, construction paper, and crayons.  The boys are hiding because they know any minute I will say that it is time for them to go to their bed.  Now, I don't play with their bedtime.  I homeschool, so I NEED for them to be quiet and asleep at a certain time to maintain my sanity.

Kate: Now the feeling's so strong, but this song is too long, it's the wrong kind of song and it seems to be going nowhere.

Both: Nowhere! Oh, I need a nap! I just can't take anymore! I need a nap! Can't stay awake anymore! No more running around I just need to lie down and sleep. Let me sleep! There are times in the day when the going gets tough. When you just have to say you've done more than enough.

Everybody has full bellies, clean underwear, and all is right in their worlds - should be enough right? Nope.  I am never done. I don't think I'll ever truly believe that I have done "more than enough".

Weird Al: I can't think of more stuff that will rhyme with enough.

Me neither Al.  Matter of fact - I can't think.

Both: So enough is enough. Is enough is enough. Is enough is enough is enough is enough is enough is enough is-- I need a nap!

Weird Al: Why does this song go on?

Both: I need a nap!

Weird Al: When all my strength is gone?

Both: I need a nap!

Kate: Please let me close my eyes.

Both: I need a nap! I don't wanna-- harmonize-- with you-- with me--

Weird Al: Change key!!

(Kate: Make him stop!!)

Both: I need a nap! I just can't take anymore. I need a nap!

Weird Al: Can't stay awake anymore!! (Kate: Aaaugh!)

Both: You can follow my lead as this song loses speed, now I need an immediate nap!

You can get this song by Weird Al Yankovic and Kate Winslet and others here: Dog Train CD: And 16 Other Improbable Songs

Good night all!

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Pin It: Keep Calm and Wine...

Moms - kids stressing you out?

Graphics by Eva Greene Wilson for SocaMom.com

Wine: (noun or verb) form of dance, involves gyration of hips, can be slow or fast must always be sexy. performed to mainly west indian music like reggae, calypso and soca. - Urbandictionary.com

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10 by 10: Blogs YOU should check out today - @blkweblogawards Edition

Baby girl and I earlier this year...

What an amazing weekend! I was waiting in the car with baby girl while the men folk were in Wal-Mart, going through my Twitter timeline and listening out for lyrics that may not be age appropriate for a 6 year old on Radio Disney (my attempt at not being the fun police is turning on Radio Disney).  I have to pay attention to stuff like that – she takes lyrics to songs literally which leads to terribly uncomfortable, albeit necessary, conversations between the two of us. Canadian-Jamaican blogger, @beesince83 was happy about being a finalist in the Black Weblog Awards. Wait – finals, already?

Baby girl was behind the wheel singing some sugary sweet, autotuned pop song at the top of her lungs, but it was quickly drowned out by the sound of my heart beating in my ears. SocaMom.com was up for two awards… I clutched my imaginary pearls, held my breath, and clicked on the link.

Scrolling…. Scrolling… then, there it was. Wait – there it was again!

*faint*

I plucked baby girl out of the driver’s seat, turned down the radio, and said to her, “I have some great news.”

“What is it Mommy?” she said.  I could see her eyes glowing a little. Usually, if it was just the two of us like this, the news was that I had some secret piece of candy to share, or a game on my phone for her to play. The glow was at the possibility of getting something sweet that she didn’t have to share with the boys… and the reflection of the light from the radio display.

“I am a finalist in the Black Weblog Awards,” I answered.  She didn’t deflate like I expected her to. She hugged me tight around my neck and said, “Wow, Mommy!” with enthusiasm that was usually reserved for the receipt of special treats.

“You have no idea what I’m talking about do you.”

“Nope!” she said with a smile.

I laughed.  Not sure if it was because she was genuinely happy for me even though she had no clue what had just happened, or if it was because I always laugh a little now that her two front teeth are missing.  That whistle when she talks is hilarious.

“That’s okay. You know SocaMom.com, right? Well, people liked it enough to vote for it to win an award.”

“So you won?” she asked.

“No, they have to vote again, but this time, there are less people to choose from.”

As she struggled to maintain her level of excitement for something she didn’t fully understand, I turned back up the radio, and we danced in our seats to “Justin Beaver” and a couple of his clones until the boys returned to the car.

I told them, and they were excited for me, but I was really happy that I had the chance to share that moment with my baby girl.  I remember when my mom would have an amazing moment in her career, she would always want to share it with me first.  I can remember when she was going to have the first office that was all hers, not rented, and she spread the blueprints out on the hood of the car to show me how her long nights of scribbling in her notebooks had developed into this ideal building that was about to be real.

Like baby girl, I didn’t know all of what she was doing, but I knew that it was important to her, and that was all I needed to know to genuinely celebrate with her.

Today’s 10 by 10 challenge is to visit 10 of the finalists so that you can make an informed decision and cast your ballot. It would be fair for me to visit every single blog and write about each of them on the same day - and I like to be fair.  Since that will be near impossible, you won't see my usual list of blogs to visit.  I’ll just say to go to http://www.blackweblogawards.com and click on the links that lead you to the sites that are in the finals.

SocaMom.com is up for Best Parenting Blog and Best New Blog. You don’t have to vote in every category in order to complete the ballot.  You can only vote once per computer.  To vote for SocaMom.com, go to http://www.blackweblogawards.com/vote-here/.  I appreciate your vote in the semi-final round, and your continued support in the finals!

Press? Download the press release:

Caribbean Parenting Website SocaMom.com is Chosen as a Finalist for Best Parenting Blog and Best New Blog in the Black Weblog Awards 2012

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Wordless Wednesday

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"Maybe I Was Born to Be a Regular Person" - So Maybe It IS the Cosby Show.

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Need some background? Read my post: It Ain't the Cosby Show

Photo by Eva Wilson for Socamom.com - Yes... I really did see this on a trip to the playground with the kids.

My boy wants to be average. To a child of Caribbean immigrants - not okay.  I don't understand it.  For most of us who are first generation Caribbean Americans, we have been taught that just to appear average, you have to be ABOVE average. To be considered above average, you have to be exceptional.  To be seen as exceptional, you have to be more talented than anyone else in the running. My boy tells me he wants to be regular, and I just don't get it.

The problem for me is - he's not regular. He can look at a picture, and draw it with stunning precision.  He reads a book, and can repeat what he read to you almost word for word.  He was performing at a post high school level on standardized tests when it came to anything that had to do with the humanities.  He has a crazy knowledge of animals, and can look at two animals that look identical to me, and tell me why they are two totally different animals and why.

From the Cosby Show:

Theo: You're a doctor and Mom's a lawyer, and you're both successful in everything and that's great! But maybe I was born to be a regular person and have a regular life. If you weren't a doctor, I wouldn't love you less, because you're my dad. So rather than feeling disappointed because I'm not like you, maybe you should accept who I am and love me anyway, because I'm your son.

Cliff: Theo... that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard in my life! No wonder you get D's in everything! You're afraid to try because you're afraid your brain is going to explode and it's going to ooze out of your ears. Now I'm telling you, you are going to try as hard as you can. And you're going to do it because I said so. I am your father. I brought you into this world, and I'll take you out!

I could really relate to Theo when I was younger. Not about bringing home a D - that wouldn't have worked out.  With my mom being a doctor, and my dad a lawyer, everyone's expectations were very high for my brother and I.  Great thing was, neither of my parents expected us to follow in their footsteps.  They just expected us to be the best at whatever was to be our chosen field.  If I chose to be a fisherman, I'd better be the best one.  Not the best black one, not the best female one, the best one.

Now I relate to Cliff. I am pretty sure we have had this EXACT conversation.

When the boy's math scores came up almost 2 grade levels behind, we figured - if you are good at something, you are probably not so hot at something else, so it was expected.  Not okay, but expected.  So he came home to be homeschooled and catch up.  He caught up and then some from 5th grade math to testing into Algebra 1 - but it has been a constant battle.  He doesn't want to be special... but I know he is, and when he hides his talents by not doing his best... it almost brings me to tears just to type it.

I feel about him like most moms feel about their kids - my boy is awesome. What do you do when he doesn't want to be awesome, he just wants to blend in?  Here's are three things I have resolved to do...

1. Resist the urge to choke him out. That is first and foremost.  Even though my Caribbean upbringing encourages certain and swift "correction" when unacceptable attitude is detected - this new fangled American parenting frowns upon it.  I guess I can go with that.

2. Pray. I don't want him to be like the person who hid their talents under a rock.  I have to pray that God reveals to him how truly special he is, and that his normal should be what God has intended for his normal to be, not what the world says is normal.

3. Share stories with him of people who made their own normal. If standing out is painful for him - that's okay - It gets better.  One of my favorite shows is Biography. I need to introduce him to that and start saving some episodes in the DVR.

As long as his normal is the same as God's normal FOR HIM, that includes using the talents God gave him to contribute to his community and advance God's plan, then being that kind of "regular people" is fine with me.

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11 Years Later - Do You Remember Where You Were on 9/11/01?

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Back then, it was just the two of us.

At the wedding of one of my best friends. Circa 2001.

As I write this, I am snuggled up on a friend's couch between my two youngest 2 kids.  Eleven years ago, I didn't have these friends, these two kids, this life.  11 years ago today, I was in a very different place.

September 11, 2001, I was late for work, and when I got into our small office of four people, I saw my three co-workers huddled around a small TV set.  “Looks like someone in a little plane got off course and hit a building in New York,” one said.  I remember thinking – that that was crazy, and that people should get way more training before being allowed to fly those little planes.  Then I settled into my desk, and a second co-worker shouts, “What?! Another one? Now this is just strange.” So then I start thinking, well, maybe it was some kind of air traffic control issue – someone is getting fired.

Everything after that was a blur.  I lived in Maryland, but worked in downtown DC back then.  Eventually the reports of the Pentagon being hit came in, and quiet panic set in.  At the time, I was a single mother of a toddler, and all I could think of was how I was going to get to him.

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Wordless Wednesday

 

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