Parenting Sucks (Sometimes)!

Being a parent is ……

Laying awake listening for the door to open

Knowing you can’t truly rest until the other part of your heart returns

Being a parent is ……

Setting a curfew for your teenager

Knowing at some point that your child will test the limit and forget how to tell time

Being a parent is ……

Allowing your child to mess up

In the safe cocoon of your home

Hoping they learn how to be a responsible adult

By enforcing consequences for their actions

Being a parent is ……

Having faith in a higher being to protect your heart

And releasing the breath you didn’t know you were holding

When you hear, “Mom, I’m home.”

 

2014 Michelle Rayford

 

NBA Playoffs 2014 – First Round

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Noticeably absent from the playoffs this year is my favorite team, the Lakers.   This season was terrible.  For a lot of reasons.  It makes me tired to think of everything that went wrong this year.  The best coping mechanism is denial.  We are going to pretend this season never happened.

Since I don’t have a rooting interest in this  years playoffs,  I have decided to look at things objectively and make predictions.  ‘Cause I don’t care who wins.  Here we go for the first round:

EAST

(1) Pacers vs. (8) Hawks – My prediction:  Pacers in 7

(2) Heat vs. (7) Bobcats – My prediction:  Heat in 4

(3) Raptors vs. (6) Nets – My prediction:  Nets in 6

(4) Bulls vs. (5) Wizards – My prediction:  Wizards in 6

 

WEST

(1) Spurs vs. (8) Mavericks – My prediction: Spurs in 4

(2) Thunder vs. (7) Grizzlies – My prediction:  Thunder in 7

(3) Clippers vs. (6) Warriors – My prediction: Clippers in 7

(4) Rockers vs. (5) Trailblazers – My prediction: Trailblazers in 7

 

We’ll check back in when the next round begins to see how I did.

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My Daughter Got Her Navel Pierced so Why Does My Stomach Hurt?

Not a navel piercing.
Not a navel piercing.

My daughter, Princess, got her navel pierced about a month ago.  It’s taken this long to analyze my feelings about it.  Was I surprised?  Yes and no.  She has been rambling about wanting to get one for some time.

Princess:  “Mon, I think I want to get my navel pierced.”

Me:  “Why?”

P:  “I like them.”

M:  (again) “Why?”

P:  “I just do.”

Some variation of this conservation continued at random intervals for months.  And then she turned 18.  That means she didn’t need my permission to have it done.  Then she came  home with one.

Clip-on belly jewelry
Clip-on belly jewelry (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

My reaction was mixed.  I  believe in giving my girls the confidence to make decisions about their own bodies once they reach a certain age.  They have to make decisions for themselves.  It can be as simple as considering a new hair cut or the complex decision of whether or not to have sex.  I tell them the decision is theirs.  It is not left up to peer pressure or to win the affection of some boy.  I want them to be comfortable in their own skins and learn to trust themselves.

I didn’t make a big deal about the piercing.  I told Princess I didn’t like it but it was her body.  I advised her to make sure to keep it clean.

The world kept spinning.  But I can’t help but  notice that my baby is growing up and inching closed to adulthood.  She is becoming more and more independent.  I am at times proud and terrified.

 

The other day Princess started a random conversation.

Princess:  “Mom, would you be mad if I got a tattoo?”

Me:  (deep breath)

Somebody pass me the antacid.

 

 

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