It's morning again...?

Morning...ugh, I am not a morning person..at all!  I could be getting up to go on a trip to Paris (which I would LOVE to do) but I would still be grouchy.  Make my flight for mid-afternoon thank you very much!


This morning, as with most mornings, I am tiptoeing through the house trying to get the older children up for school without disturbing the younger children. Hoping to catch a cup of coffee and a little bit of Fox News before I have to take on the responsibility of the day. We live in a big old farm house, which is great in a lot of ways, but it's biggest downfall is that you can hear every little creak throughout the house.  


So, it was no surprise as I tiptoed down the hall to be greeted by Carter, swinging the hallway door wide and announcing, 'HI!  I AWAKE!' I type it in all caps because Carter has one volume...LOUD! (He also has a switch...ON or OFF, no middle ground there!)


I bite my lip, trying not to be angry because this of course means that, this greeting, as sweet as it may seem coming from my blonde, curly-headed little guy, woke up his baby sister Abigail...who is much like her mom, NOT a morning person!  She begins to wail and my day has officially begun, before I was ready.


Carter of course immediately ran to her rescue, consoling her and telling her, 'Don't cwy Abbie, momma comin'.  Aaah!  So cute!  How could I be mad?  Well...I'm working on it!


Each of our kids seems to have, not only a distinct personality, but a distinct roll in our family.  I raised them all the same.  How do they each turn out so different from each other?

My oldest Cooper is my joker and a clown!  There are some stories I could tell, but he would kill me! He is always, and I mean ALWAYS, playing tricks on his brother's and sisters.  If I hear one of the kids crying, yelling, or upset I can almost guarantee that Coop had something to do with it. Now, he usually means it in fun, he just forgets that he is much older than the rest of the crew! He does help us all to remember to stop working and have some fun. (Oh, and he has a very soft spot for Abigail, the baby! She has him wrapped around her finger!)

Ashton, my daughter, is a life saver.  Beautiful and kind (she gets her sweet spirit from her father) she is a huge help to me.  She cooks and cleans (which she doesn't get from her father) and loves to take care of everyone in the family.  A true servants heart.  She likes to laugh, but also takes her responsibilities very seriously. She is creative and never seems to run out of ideas...or questions! Nothing is impossible to her.  We could repaint the entire house in a day and sew new curtains for all the windows with time to spare in her mind!

Caleb, is 5.  He looks like his daddy.  Dark brown curly hair and deep chocolate eyes.  Quiet and sweet most of the time, but also a joker.  He loves to play with his baby brother and sister and is very caring.  He has an occasional awnry streak in him, but for the most part is a great kid!

Carter...well Carter is a wild child. I guess everyone has to have one! He will try to do the opposite of what you ask him to do, almost every time.  He names every project he makes, be it a worm or fish or star, "Bean".  We don't know why, there really is no explanation for most of what he does! He spends a lot of time in what we call "The Ugly Chair".  He will even go crawl up in it himself if he knows he is being, well, 'ugly'!

Let me stop here and just say, don't you LOVE it when other adults, usually a little older than you, stop and tell you how to raise or discipline your child?!  I mean, it is exactly what you were hoping for when you were walking through the church lobby, dragging your uncooperative 2-year-old behind you kicking and screaming, wasn't it?


'Excuse me, Wendy? You know, when my little Tommy (names have been changed to protect the innocent) used to act like that, I would blah,blah blah, blah blah...  You really should try it!' Obviously you can fill in the blank, but you get the picture!


What am I supposed to say?  'Oh, I just take mine to the bathroom and spank them with a big wooden spoon, but thanks!' 


Of course everyone knows I can't say that, because of course it is completely unacceptable to discipline your child these days...what do they say, it's not 'PC-Politially Correct' ...and people wonder why we have so many problems with discipline and respect in our schools!


Okay, back on track...sorry I got off on a tangent! Back to the whole raising kids the same and them turning out differently.


Last but not least is miss Abigail.  I call her my little 'peanut'.  She is a smiley, joyful fun baby.  I think I cherish every little thing she does because I know she is my last.  I try to soak in every moment I can. She is loved on constantly by Carter and I think they could just be the best of friends. (When he isn't trying to pull her around by the back of her pants or take away her cookies!)


A Note on Raising Kids (I'm not trying to tell you how to raise your kids...just telling you what I used!): 


When my kids were babies I used the Baby Wise books to help me get them into a routine and make my life, and theirs, a little more sane!  I love these books.  They were a life saver for me.  I had no one to really give me help because we lived so far from our family so I needed good kids!  Kids that I could take places if I needed to and didn't have to worry about how they would adjust to their surroundings.


People would say (and still do) 'You're so lucky! Your kids sleep through the night, you don't have to rock them to sleep, etc., etc., etc.' I would get so mad because I worked hard to help my babies learn to sleep through the night and be on a schedule and lay down in bed wide awake and go to sleep on their own!  Each of them was sleeping through the night (6-7 hours) by 8 weeks of age and sleeping 12 hours a night by the time they were 3 months.  I'm telling you this book saved my life!  I need my sleep! (Just ask my husband how I am if I don't get at least 8 hours...it is NOT pretty!)
Here is a link to the books if you want to check them out:


  














I hope you enjoy all the little people in your life today! Nap time is almost over so I had better go savor the last of my cup of coffee before the craziness begins again!


Thanks for stopping by.


Crazy Mom, Crazy Wife, Crazy Life


Wendy Jo

   The whole gang!