Cause I'm kind of mean!

Alright.
So at my work I regulary work with 3 other men.
One of the men has a deal with our head office that he can take a truck home at night. He lives 10 minutes outside of town.
So, trucks being trucks, ocassionally one needs to go into tthe shop for repairs. Yesterday morning there was scheduling confusion, and the a truck was in the shop. This person showed up for work, and another driver did not. So after looking at the schedule I moved some things around and let this guy know that what he was supposed to do at 12:30 has been cancelled, and that the other drivers responsibilities were being done as they were priority at the moment.
So he assumed he was taking it.
Ummmm.... No!
You're done for the day at 12. Cause the other driver missed almost a full day of work the day before, and he doesn't have a special deal worked out with head office the way the other guys does concerning his paychecks.
So he comes back at 12:30, met by a very angry me as he purposely made the other guy late. I informed him he was not being paid for the extra time he decided to add, and he was of course mad cause he's being sent home, and because he didn't get away with his little trick.
So he puts his coat on and sits at my desk and begins tapping his fingers glaring at me.
I ignore him and continue working away.
He goes into another room, sighing loudly every few seconds, loudly opening and closing drawers.
I continue to ignore him.
He goes into the kitchen and begins playing music loudly, pacing and looking out at me every few minutes glaring and throwing his hands into the air.
I continue to ignore him.
This goes on for 4.5 hours!
The reason for this. He expected me to drive him home.
Please note 3 things.
-The deal he has worked out with head office is great, but I don't get my gas reimbursed for my 20 minute trip, and it is not my responsibility to make time for this in my already hectic day.
-He could have jumped in the truck with another driver and gotten a lift, but refused to do so.
-AT NO POINT DID HE ASK FOR A DRIVE!

He just expected me to jump to make his life more convenient.
I'm sorry but not in my job description.
So that was my day yesterday, watching him pace, sigh, and throw his hands up in fustration cursing under his breath. And me trying really hard not to let him see me laughing.

Yup! I ate it.

Pretty dangly ear ornaments

When I was 11 for grading my aunt took me and my sister to get our ears pierced. We went to Shoppers Drug Mart, and had them pierced with the hole punch staple device at the cosmetics counter.
I got mine done, then my sister got 1 done, then after about 30 minutes of convincing, she tearfully agreed to get the other one done.
It was sad.
The moment you realize you have a higher pain tolerance then your older sister. So you sneak into her room when she's asleep at night flick her in her sore ears and run away!
No... I didn't actually do that. However considering the numerous times she tried to kill me as a child, I probably should have.
Just saying...
And to my sister who is probably reading this... LUV YUUUUUU!

So when I was 16 and able to legally walk into a store and get my ears pierced with the ear hole puncher of death, I went with my friend Miriam and got 2 more in each ear.
I did not want my parents to find out. Which was stupid, cause they were right there on my freakin head! And I had pretty short hair at the time.
So I showed them to Miriams mother and made her swear secrecy from my parents. Little did I know my mother and her mother were in a secret club of tattling mothers who looked out for each other and ratted out  innocent teenagers! So as I was climbing into my mothers car Miriams mom yelled out, "Tell Katie I love her new ear holes!"

YUP!


*Sigh*

So as I was slinking down in my seat probably turning numerous colors going from anger, to fear, to terror. My mother said "What did she say?"

PLEASE DON'T KILL ME MOM! I AM EVER SO SORRY!

No, that's not what I said. I showed her, she sighed, rolled her eyes and said "Don't tell your Dad until he notices." Which was approximately 6 months later.
Yup!
No joke!

Which is pretty good considering I had my belly button pierced for well over a year until my sister told them what I had done. In her defense it was not in a mean way, she was actually sticking up for me at the time.

Still with me?
Yeah, that's all. No real point.

That's my boy! The one beating up your kid...

So last night we got a very upsetting note home from my sons daycare.
My son. The little boy who is 3.5 years old. The one I love more then anything is... A bully!
The note did not say he was a bully, it did say he was beating up other kids at daycare, and unfortunately in the 3 months he's been there, it's the 2nd time we've gotten a note like this back.
This absolutely kills me! How can my son be a bully? After years of being bullied myself, I somehow am raising a bully?
So the first question, how do I explain to a 3.5 year old why this is bad?
Well, if there is one thing known by anyone who has ever met my son, he is a Momma's boy! He wants me around 24/7, he loves me more then he loves anyone else. When he is hurt, upset, sick, or even just wants to play, I am the one he wants next to him. Something I love, and try to discourage at the same time. Quite frankly I don't want him to be a 30 year old man that comes running to him Mommy every time someone upsets him. I want him to be a successful and capable adult. I deal with mommas boys at work everyday. It's not good.
So we had a chat. And I explained to him that when Mommy was a little girl people used to hit her and yell at her the same way he is doing to the kids at daycare. It made her very sad and she used to cry. Now finding out that he is doing that to other kids makes me very sad and want to cry.
He wrapped his arms around my neck and said "I'm really sorry Mommy."
So I thought, great, made a little headway.
Then moments later he kicked me when he got mad I wasn't feeding him candy for supper.
Hmmmmm...
May have to approach this differently...
So after he fought and refused to do his chores, which involves keeping his room and play area clean, and spent the night yelling at his father and I because we wouldn't let him watch cartoons, we fought with him for 30 minutes to get him to go to bed.
So... Some new rules are being implemented in my house.
Basically, at home we let things with him slide because we feel it's harmless. However perhaps us letting it slide is making him feel entitled around the kids at daycare.
We're taking a really hard look at ourselves, and although we feel that overall we're pretty good parents, we may be too relaxed in some of our rules.
So here it goes. I'll let you know how things are progressing in the future.

Parenting???

I was having a conversation with my husband last night and a question came to mind.
How do bad parents feel about good parents?

That sounds like a terrible question. But you hear all the time "She's an awful mother!"
And frankly there are just some bad parents out there, but who are we to judge what is good and what is bad.

I believe that what's social services is here for.
I could be wrong.
And why does the mother always get the blame?

I babysat for a friend for a short period.
Their child was the same age as mine. He came to me everyday smelling awful! His clothes wreaked of cigarette smoke, and at 2.5 years of age he had the worst case of cradle cap I had ever seen matting down his hair. They rarely sent diapers, and even his changes of clothes felt greasy and smelled bad.
He would pick up pencils and pens and smoke them. And he would take his sippy cups and hold it in the air and say "Cheers!" and take a shot.
Yeah, a 2 year old shouldn't know that.
Just my personal opinion.
He knew that, but he knew none of his colors, shapes, where his nose was on his face. Things I had been teaching my son, no one had ever taken the time to teach him.
So I began washing his clothes, bathing him, and trying to teach him things with my sons help.
To me, his parents were "Bad parents".
I guess it's all how we look at it though.
To them, they feed him and keep a roof over his head. I do the same. On the weekends, I'm still doing it. So are his parents, but they are also having parties and showing their 2 year old how to take a shot.
And trust me, it's not like I haven't left my son with a sitter and gone out and partied and acted stupid! We all need some time to remember who we used to be!
This question came to mind as friends of ours who are big partiers are about to have a baby, I think any day now. I asked if they knew about the big change that was about to happen. He said he thought they did, but then when we discussed it we realized that they have 3 friends with a kid. Us, and 2 others. The ones their around the most never stopped partying. You wouldn't even know they had a kid! The kid spends most of her time with a sitter, cause the 2 of them are always out partying. Mid day, you will most likely find them at a bar, not at home with the kid.
Now, I don't know this other couple well, I have met them a handful of times in passing, so I only had a basic idea of what they were like. Most of this was told to me last night.
The other 2 couples they know are us, and another couple that are actually even bigger home bodies them we are.
I know, who knew people could be worse then my husband and I?
It can be done. the mixture of who you are, and children. I have a friend who has found the perfect balance, and I really envy her, cause I have a hard time with it because I have spent so much time at home over mothering, that I have mommy guilt when I am not around.
However it brings to mind the question, the parents that would have to sit and think about it when trying to pick their child out in a crowd, how do they feel about us who wouldn't let our toddlers wander off into a big group of people by themselves?