To phone or not to phone...THAT is the question!

When the boy child was 2, his dad decided to purchase him an iPod. There were many opinions about the appropriateness of the gift. Some thought it was too expensive, some thought he was too young, some thought we were crazy…we thought "why not?"

At the time of the purchase…social media, text messaging, website monitoring, etc., wasn't on our radar. We downloaded a few apps and before long, he was downloading them himself. Life was good simple.

Fast forward to today…

He is now 9. And EVERY DAY is a fight!

“Mommy can I use your phone? Mommy can I use your iPad? Where is Daddy’s iPad? When can I have my own phone? ALL OF MY FRIENDS HAVE A PHONE! One of my friends have 2 phones. I’m the only one on earth without a phone!”

And the beat goes on and on and on and on…EVERY.DAY. <screams>

Hence the question:

When did you succumb to this parenting pain point and give your kid(s) a mobile device? Is it worth the headache...Hidden apps? Monitoring apps? If you have multiple kids, did each one earn the privilege at the same time? How has the privilege benefited you?

Do tell...

Look who's back!

For the nineteenth hundreth gazillionth time, I've decided to start blogging again <applause, applause>. I ran across a couple of my past blog posts Feeling Grateful and Sibling Rivalry and thought how cool would it be for my kids to have an "informal online diary" of my life <and theirs> to look back on and read. Call it wishful thinking. They will probably care less. Since writing is therapeutic for me though, at least SOMEBODY will ultimately benefit from me starting again LOL!

Feel free to comment and check back often. I won't make anymore empty promises about how often I'll post, but I do plan to stick with it this time.

As an aside...

I came across this Kid's Reading Challenge the other day and thought it would be something cool to follow and start this summer with the kids. The girl child loves to read and the boy child is coming around <kicking and screaming of course>. Hopefully, the challenge will generate enthusiasm and prove to be something that encourages more reading - for the whole family! If you get a chance, take a look.

Until next time...

Zero to Hero - What's your name?

My blog's name/title, I think, is a clear indication of the main content of my blog posts. It is actually a "spin-off" from my initial blog started after the birth of my son: Party of "3"...Daddy, Mommy and Me! I decided it would be easier to stay in that same vein, if you will, than actually trying to branch out and come up with something different - call me lazy if you must!

For this blog; however, I did try to come up with a "tagline" that would give readers an overview of what is being written - "Musings on Life, Wifeyhood and Motherhood!"

Keep it simple is my motto :-)

 

Zero to Hero - "Who I am and why I am here!"

I've decided to get back to some of the things that I enjoy this year. One of them - blogging! Thanks to one of my fellow PV alums, Tiffany (click here to check out her blog) for hipping me to a recent blog challenge. Feel free to read more about the challenge here: Zero to Hero: 30 days to a better blog!

I'm actually behind a few days, but there's no time like the present to try and play catch up!

Day 1's challenge was to introduce myself. So here goes...

In a nutshell...I am a wife and mother of two kids - ages six and two (Pray Saints lol!). I am a 1995 graduate of Prairie View A & M University and a member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc. (Fall 97 - Epsilon Lambda Zeta). I have been employed with the same company for 10 years (this year) - with no career change plans in the near future. Life is good and I'm totally grateful!

You will find that most of my posts will be about my family and other random things that I enjoy: food...friends and current events to name a few. I'm expecting to take on a few more blog challenges this year to help keep me on top of my blog game - we will see how it goes!

Someone once said that "life is more memorable when it is recorded..." and I totally agree! My kids and my kid's kids will be able to look back on my digital record of experiences and thank me - I hope.

So enjoy reading - feel free to hit me in comments!  Happy New Year!

Number 13...The LONG and the SHORT of it!

 
On September 2, the hubster and I celebrated 13 years of marriage; yep..."lucky" number 13! He comes from a two-parent home...while my parents divorced when I was very young. Neither of us "really" knew going in, the journey we were committing to, but vowed to stick it out nevertheless. It was understood early on that "Divorce" would never be an option for us - ever!

Since our wedding day, we've learned a lot about ourselves as individuals...as well as a lot about each other. Each day brings new ideas, new circumstances and new ways for us to strengthen our marriage; especially with two young children in the mix. Finding the balance that works for "everyone"; while being sure not to lose yourself (or each other) in the midst of it all becomes quite challenging to say the least. I'm not at all surprised that the average length of marriage in the US is only eight years -  (the struggle sometimes is REAL)! In lieu of those statistics, though, I couldn't agree more with the concept of: Our Marriages Needing a “Village” to Help Them Succeed and the importance of surrounding yourself with positive, authentic people.


I thank God everyday for the man He has blessed me with and for the life and legacy we are building as ONE. TOGETHER we are indeed - the perfect, imperfect pair.

Love you babe...I'm looking forward to another 13 + years :-)

Where's the rainbow?

Reminiscing on an early morning/late night conversation with my daughter while lying in bed:

Her: "Mommy, where's the rainbow?"

Me: <raising my head off of the pillow to see what time it is>: "There is no rainbow right now...it's dark outside."

Her: "Mommy, where's the sun?"

Me: <confused and almost irritated by the fact that it's so early and she's awake>: "The sun is not out right now...it's still dark outside, the sun will come out in the morning."

<she takes my arm into hers, wraps it around her neck and goes back to sleep>

I am not exactly sure why, so early in the morning, she felt the urge to question the presence of a rainbow and the sun, but after replaying the conversation over and over today it's brought me to this conclusion:

Despite the perceived stresses and negative things that may be going on, the rainbow reminds us of God's infinite mercy and promise that He would never again destroy the "earth" with a "flood"; and too...THE SUN WILL SHINE AGAIN!

I'm encouraged!

Thanks Chandler :-)

Apologies and WhatNot

So...

A couple of months ago I was very excited about blogging <again>. My plan was to post at a minimum of once a week...yep, I had high hopes! Anyway, for those of you who "follow" me and eagerly anticipate updates...ummm...well...please forgive me because honestly, I just haven't had the time.

<insert HUGE sigh here>

I have a running list of things that I want to talk about, but time always seems to get away from me...(Cue Mary J. Blige's "25/8" right here). This weekend, though, my plan is to play "blog catch up."

We'll see how it goes! Stay tuned :-)