Do you love 12-year olds?

My boy Carson is great. He has a sly, subtle sense of humor. He has a mischevious little smile that gives him away immediately. He is, for the most part, caring and considerate. Carson adores his cousins (well, he adores the girls, but I think he would object to me using the word "adore" when talking about Travis and the other boy cousins). But make no mistake, he is also a 12 year old boy! 12 year old boys do not always fully engage their prefrontal cortex when making decisions. Because of this it causes them to leave messages like this on the home answering machine: "Hey mom, I'm going to the gym with Chambo and some of the other guys. Shopping at about 5 tonight will work best for me. See you later." See if he would have fully engaged the executive functioning area of his brain he would have realized that in no way, shape, or form would it be okay to call and leave a message informing his mom that was changing the carefully-made afternoon plans. Hopefully he also would have thought through the consequences of not talking to an actual person--meaning NO ONE knew where he was because NO ONE was home to hear the message. This caused generally low-key dad to place a somewhat panicked (maybe just irritated because remember so mentioned dad is in the car with 5 teen-age girls on the way to Twilight) phone call to working mom, "Have you heard from Carson? Is he with you? I waited at the school and then I drove home. He is not at either place." Fortunately for the 12-year old boy, his mom was once a 12-year old and in middle school. She remembered herself pulling much the same stunt, although because mom was 12 in ancient days before cell phones, she didn't even call to inform parents that she was changing plans. So, so-mentioned working mom chuckled to herself about the situation and called grandma because working mom knew that grandma would appreciate the coming full circle. By the way, as soon as working mom heard the message you can bet she got right back in the car and retrieved so-said 12 year old boy from the gym AND took him on the previously planned shopping trip. Remembering that you were 12 once, and you also did not always fully engage your brain when making decisions, can help you love 12 year olds and even find the humor in their actions. Just remember to act very, very disappointed at first otherwise they might believe that their lack of good judgment is OK.

Father of the Year

Raising teen-agers can be tough. They get these ideas in their heads that to them seem like the perfect plan and they just don't seem to understand why other, more mature people, don't view them in the same light. When these ideas come up I usually just try to squash them right away. I always have a million reasons for "why this is not a good idea". Fortunately for my children, Heavenly Father lead me to a patient, loving man (who at times is still half-adolescent himself). His usual response is "Sure, why not" especially if the idea is not too far in left field. He even responds this way if the idea has a direct impact on him. For this reason, I believe my husband deserves Father of the Year. That and the fact that he agreed to take Katelyn and 4 of her closest friends to watch Twilight tomorrow afternoon. Yes, my dear readers you read that correctly. My very manly, macho husband will be accompanying 5 teen-age girls (between the ages of 14 and 15) to see a movie about a teen-age girl in love with a vampire and her best friend who happens to be a werewolf. How in the world did Katelyn talk him in to that you ask? Something about big, blue "doe" eyes and a dimpled smile. What will I be doing? It really is unfortunate that David insists on me being a working mom and I don't get off tomorrow until 3:40 and their show starts at 3:10. So sad. (Wa ha ha, evil laugh).

Focus on the Family

Thanksgiving was awesome! All of my brothers, sister, sisters-in-law, brother-in-law, nieces, nephews, and grandma were up to visit at my parent's home. I can't even think of the last time that all five of us kids were together. And the best part--no family drama, well at least not when I was visiting up at my parent's home. I really enjoyed being able to visit with everyone. A few highlights:

• Taking Charlotte to eat at McDonald's. She enjoyed every french fry and chicken nugget that we gave her. We then went back to my parent's house and Carson played with Charlotte (did I mention she is 20 months old) for another 2 hours!
• The Thanksgiving FEAST! My mom and dad really outdid themselves. The food was fabulous and eating at 3 long tables was great--somehow David and I managed to position ourselves at the far end of the table away from all the small children. Not to worry, Katelyn was strategically placed and was able to help all of the little cousins cut their food.
• The traditional movie on Friday night. We was Bolt. It was very funny.
• Visiting with everyone. I wish my brothers and sister didn't live so far away. I get such a kick out of my nieces and nephews, as does my husband (see below).
• David. There is just something about him. When he is around, the decibal level of all children seems to increase about 100 fold. One of the things that I love most about him--his ability to entertain and interact with kids.

I spent all weekend just reflectingand focusing on how grateful I am for my family and all of my blessings. This weekend was a wonderful way to start off the Christmas season.

DO NOT OPEN 'TIL CHRISTMAS

Dear Lands End: I enjoy your products and love the convenience of ordering on-line. However, I would like to make a suggestion regarding your mailing labels. When someone, let's say in Utah, is mailing a package to someone, let's say in Washington, and that said package is a CHRISTMAS present, PLEASE, P.L.E.A.S.E put in BIG writing DO NOT OPEN 'TIL CHRISTMAS. Because the person in Washington is probably busy doing Christmas shopping on-line and when the packages start arriving, well, it is very difficult to know exactly which one the person in Washington should or should not open unless there is written in LARGE PRINT...DO NOT OPEN 'TIL CHRISTMAS. Thanks, A disappointed customer

Where's Alice?

Wanted: Mother's Helper Job Description: Grocery shopping, laundry AND ironing for a family of four. That's it. Everything else is handled by either mom or dad, just need someone to keep food in the house and clean clothes for our bodies. Pay: Negotiable Start date: Immediately

Just plain tired

Whew! I am so ready to put an end to this busy week--and we even had a day off on Tuesday! This was one of those weeks when I found it particularly draining to be a working mom. Wednesday was especially bad--not returning home until 9:00 p.m. after starting the day at 4:30 a.m. So the 4:30 a.m. start is completely my choice, but if I don't get my workout done in the morning, it doesn't get done at all. I would give you a run down of the week, but everything but a few poignant moments are a blur. Moment #1: meeting on Wednesday when, in the presence of my supervisor, director, and director's director, I totally called out a colleague--this is not a great way to relieve tension in an already tense meeting, by the way. Moment #2: Sleeping in until 5:30 a.m. on Thursday morning. Wednesday was a really looonnngg day and I just couldn't drag myself out of bed on Thursday morning. And you know what? It was wonderful to sleep in one morning! And I hardly felt any guilt about missing my morning workout. Moment #3 and #4 wrestle-mania. Yes, Carson has started the junior high wrestling season and had two matches this week. One was on Wednesday and the other on Thursday. He won both, but I can't remember if both were won by pins. Thursday's definitely was and he pinned the guy 21 seconds into the 1st round. Video of these awesome matches soon to come (i have to find my cords for the camcorder cuz that is just the kind of week that it has been). Thank heaven for a wonderful, supportive husband who gently wakes me up from the family room floor and ushers me off to bed--can you imagine how stiff and cranky I would be if he left me there every night because every night this week I have been asleep there in front of the fireplace by 9:00 p.m. Here's to maybe a quieter week, next week.

My name is NOT Chef Graham

What do you get when you take peanut butter, rice krispies, and old marshmallows? Something completely inedible because it is hard as a rock. Didn't know you could screw up Rice Krispies, but I totally did and now the whole world (well at least the 5 people who read this blog) know that I am a failure at impromptu treats. I should never venture far from a recipe book--I was trying to improvise the peanut butter rice krispie treats David's great-grandma used to make, which he absolutely loves. She uses corn syrup instead of marshmallows, maybe that's the trick. Or maybe it's really important to not use marshmallows that have been in the pantry for awhile and are only marginally soft to begin with.