This + That + The Other Thing= A Great Night, well deserved

Take a little of THIS.

Throw in a bit of THAT.

And don’t forget the OTHER THING.

With just a smidge of THIS, because it makes everything taste better.

Mix everything up well, and you have the makings for a well-deserved GIRLS NIGHT.    And by girls, I mean my oldest daughter, three of her friends, and ME.  

So we’re going HERE.  Exactly one month from today.

Yes, we’re playing hooky from school and work and making a trip to see a concert we have both been dying to see.

Casting Crowns, undoubtedly our favorite Christian group EVER.

Best part?   ROW SIX, baby!   ROW SIX!

I am not sure who is more excited– her or ME!

The Real Game of Life

Sunday night, after a particularly long weekend of kids’ sporting events, the girls and I decided to have another Family Game Night. Husband had homework to do (darn him for being such a good student!) so it was just me and the girls.

Rather than playing another game of Mexican Train Dominos, we opted for Life. And for the record, can I just say how hard it can be to find a board game that a 36-year old, a a 14-year old and a 9-year old can play together? And ENJOY IT?

I digress.

While we sat at the kitchen table and played this board game, I noticed how similar the game really can be to REAL LIFE. Or at least depending on the players.

Take my 9-year old for example. Her attitude in the game was like me in my twenties. She was immediately willing to borrow $100,000 from the bank to fund her college education. She wanted the biggest and the best house possible, irregardless of what she could afford. She would borrow more money from the bank, simply because she could. She was basically willing to beg, borrow and steal to get more money (or more credit). She didn’t think she would need insurance, so she passed up the auto and homeowners insurance at every opportunity. There was no urgency to get her debt paid off throughout the game, even though she knew it would hurt her at “retirement.” When she retired, she still had some student loan money to pay back.

Then there’s my 14-year old. She represents me in my early thirties. She took a little safer route. She looked at the two choices at the beginning of the game– college education or going straight to work. In the game, the college education requires a $100,000 loan from the bank, but can mean a higher salary later on when you choose your career. She took the loan, but she was hesitant. She paid attention throughout the game to how much money she had, but again was not concerned when she had to go the bank for a loan. She waited for a couple catastrophes to happen before finally ponying up the money for the insurance. She didn’t purchase any stock, but tried to keep a cushion of money in case of emergencies. She paid off some of her debt at the beginning, but made it pretty close to the end of the game before getting it all paid off.

And then there’s me. The 36-year old who realizes what credit and debt and overspending can do, even in a board game. I also reluctantly opted for the $100,000 student loan, but only after carefully reading each space on the board until I could “start my career” so I knew exactly what could happen. Upon choosing my career (I was a doctor!), I chose to begin paying off my debt to the bank immediately. Within my first few turns, I was out of debt and remained debt-free through retirement. I had homeowners insurance and auto insurance, and I even was able to purchase some stock. I played it safe by choosing a house that I could pay cash for, without borrowing any money from the bank. When I would come to a crossroads in the game, and needed to decide which way to go next, I would look not for where the next payday was, but also what obstacles were in my path. I planned ahead.

Care to guess which one of us won?

Why is MOM the bad guy?

Why is MOM the one taking things away? Why can’t it be DAD?

I must be doing something right

Colicky babies, projectile spitting-up, and babies on a wonky sleep schedule ain’t got nothin’ on raising a teenage girl.  I know we can all share parenting horror stories regardless of the age or gender of our children, but raising the teenage girl is a whole different dragon to slay.

There’s the eye-rolling, the attitude, the “ohmygoshmomyouaresoembarrassing” glances, and there’s the tears after a break-up. The crabbiness after a friendship has tanked. It’s tough, and makes you wonder when the hell they will ever be old enough to move out and live on their own.

Then there’s days like the one I had Sunday that make it all worthwhile.

My oldest daughter came up to me Sunday morning and said she had something to ask me. I was worried, because sometimes with teenagers you just never can tell what’s going to come out of their mouth– or how much it’s going to cost you.

“Mom, I want to know if I can get a purity ring.”

Well folks, I didn’t know whether to cry or hug her, or both. Either would have been equally embarrassing for her, I’m sure. Although I knew exactly what a purity ring is, I went ahead and decided to use this as a talking point for a heart-to heart discussion.

Me: “What made you decide you want a purity ring?”

Daughter: “Well, my friends and I have been talking, and we decided we all want to get one.”

(Forgive me while I grab a Kleenex, because that just makes me tear up.)

Me: “OK, do you know what they are for?”

Daughter: “JEEZ, Mom. They are (*whispering*) for showing people that I want to wait until I get married to have sex.I have been looking at them on the internet, and I found some I like, and I will even pay for it with my own money.”

Me: “OK, then. I think that a purity ring would be a great idea.”

Daughter: “So, uh, Mom? Did you wait until you were married before you had sex?”

Me: (coughing and sputtering and not sure what to say) “Uh, no. I didn’t wait.”

Daughter: “Well, I want to wait. And that ring will remind me I want to wait.”

I cannot even begin to tell you how proud I am of this child. My heart just bursts with pride knowing that not only is she deciding to wait, but her friends are all making the same pledge. She won’t be going this alone. I always hope and pray that she will make good choices — better choices than I ever made.

Sunday afternoon, we decided to go look at the jewelry store (this was also the day I found out I had fat fingers.) She spent a lot of time picking out just the right ring for herself.  One of the women shopping in the store even donated her $50 gift certificate to my daughter towards the purchase of her ring. She tried on several rings, and finally decided on this one.

I think it’s beautiful, and knowing the reason she is wearing it makes it even more beautiful.  And NO, I didn’t make her pay for the ring herself.  Even though she offered, Husband and I picked up the tab on this, simply because she deserved it.

When she was done picking out her ring, I sat down and started looking for a new ring for myself (Hubby wants to buy me a ring for our 10-year anniversary coming up.). My daughter killed time by texting all of her friends, excitedly telling them about her new ring. She’s the second one in her group of friends to get one, so apparently it was BIG NEWS. She was very proud to get that ring, and could hardly stand to wait the few days it would take to get it re-sized. Now she proudly wears it, and is very eager to tell anyone and everyone what the ring is for.

I must be doing something right.

Wham-Bam, Turkey & Ham!

Another winter storm hit our area Monday night. Only about 6 inches of snow this time, but the huge gusts of wind lasting several hours made for some big snow drifts, and some treacherous driving. With that also brought the cancellation of all of our activities. No school for the kids, no school for hubby, and no basketball practice or gymnastics lessons.

What’s a family of four to do on a wintery Monday night stuck at home?

It started out as four of us sitting in various spots of the house battling each other in several games of Words With Friends on our iPods. Mark brought up the suggestion to move the game to the kitchen table for an actual game of Scrabble, where we proceeded to get spanked by Courtney, our 9-year old. (I helped a little with her first few plays, but in the end, the win was all hers!)

Deciding that Scrabble was getting boring (and because we didn’t want to get our butts beat again by a third grader), we decided to get out the Mexican Train Dominoes. If you haven’t played this before, this is simply a must-have for any family. It’s inexpensive, and it’s fun and easy to learn. I think the set we bought was purchased at Toys R Us for less than $20, and it’s our most favorite in our game clsoet. We weren’t sure how quickly Courtney would pick up on it, but she assured us she didn’t want a partner, and she wanted to do it herself.

Apparently, she is now a Mexican Train PROFESSIONAL as she whipped down her last domino, yelling out, “WHAM BAM, TURKEY AND HAM!!” and excitedly winning the round. My sides hurt from laughing so hard, and it was the highlight of my week! Best thing, the kids weren’t fighting, the dogs were behaving, and it was FUN in our house.

We ended up staying up later than usual, with the kids having yet another 2-hour delay yesterday morning. It was the most fun we’d had in a long time. As Mark & I laid in bed that night, we laughed about how much fun it was having Family Game Night, and how we definitely needed to do this more often. It was nice to not be rushing around to a million different activities, eating dinner on the go, and hardly having the time to have a conversation with each other.

Family game night rocks, and I can’t wait to do it again. Hopefully it won’t take another snowstorm to make it happen.

Best. Night. Ever.

Disclosure: The games are mine, and the opinions are mine. So there.