Dear God, It's me Móna...

Dear God,

(I know, I know, I am a little too much of a heathen to be ranting off a bitching email to God, but bare with me please.)

I am asking you to 'stop time' for two years. I have always believed in telling it how it is and right now I just need to buy a little time. A few years ago, I had this brilliant idea. I found myself with all this free time on my hands and decided to enroll in college and get myself an education. Not a bad idea, TheMotherOne was thrilled to bits and offered her babysitting/taxi/after-school (and wooden-spoon) assistance. My handsome Chef (silently grumbling at the loss of his nurturing wife) went along with the plan - as he does. So, there I was with all the time in the world and what did I do, I gave it all away.

Now look here. See these beautiful babies that I left behind a few years ago. They are practically teenagers now and barely speak to me. Well, ok God, maybe that is a slight exaggeration but look! There they were, gathering pumpkins in Farmer Jons pumpkin patch with not a care in the world, with the exception of who got the biggest pumpkin. Why did I feel this urge to better myself and go to college? Why did I have such a selfish need to do something for myself causing me to abandon my husband and babies? 

Why did I not do what my Mammy told me when I was seventeen and 'go to college' THEN instead of waiting till I was close to my mid-life-crises age before deciding that the right college course had finally been written into the curriculum just for me and it was time to jump ship on my current 'life' and throw the whole family into a tailspin whilst chasing another 'life'.

So, that is all I am asking for today. I would like you to freeze time for a few (2 or 3) years so I get all wrapped up in college (aka 'finish what I started') and then we can go back to being a normal family.

Thank you for your consideration,

Best Regards,

WiseMóna

God's Response:  Ah Móna, relax. It is mid-semester and you are burdened with the stress of all those assignments you should be doing right now. Instead you are wasting your precious time (and word count) writing to me? I see you struggle with the day-to-day worries of family life. I see your husband and mother rallying around you helping in every way they can - because they love you and want you to succeed in what you have set out to do. 

I see that the children are no longer babies. I cannot make times stand still for you or them. Believe it or not, they need 'less of you' right now and more of their friends and teachers. Keep in mind, the teenage years are coming and by then you will have graduated (I hope). You will be soundly settled with your 'WiseWords career dreams' and have ample time to be with (or get the hell away from) those lovely children of yours.

The important thing to remember right now is that you are loved and you are most certainly not alone. Every mother out there deal with the feelings of being so overwhelmed that they just do not know how to cope. A lot of Mum's feel so under-appreciated and unloved, so much so they cannot get out of bed to face the day before them. 

Be thankful for what you have. A beautiful family and you all have your health. A lovely 'real' home with a door that is always open to feed whomever crosses the threshold. Life is too short to be so hung up on people 'want'. Stick to what you 'need' right now and you will be, as you already are, eternally happy.

Best Regards from a Cloudy Heaven,

God.

PS - there is no way you are getting an 'A' on these essays if you do not stop mucking around on FaceBook. That, is a total deal-breaker.

Ok - glad I got this off my chest, I can get back to my procrastinating about those assignments that are due next week ON MY BIRTHDAY!


Those are all the WiseWords I have for today. 


WiseMóna

Time trickles away...

Sometimes the words just don't come. They ramble around for hours, days, weeks and even months (eeek) before the urge to purge is so great I have to abandon all other very pressing matters and sit down and just WRITE. That, or the fact that it is fast approaching Sunday evening, the whole weekend is gone and there is a growing mountain of unorganized (but clean and dry) laundry making itself known by its sheer size and volume.

I always feel like looking at current or past photos of either food or family will help encourage the flapping of jaws but this time instead of the photos encouraging me to write or share, they just made me cry. The first photo with the kids at the cool old knobby tree was taken by my Mum (Catherine) on her shwanky new iPhone. I hate that she advanced to the 'technologically' kitted out MORE than me. BUT I love that she captured the sugar-high she gave them last week at Barna Woods. You can feel their  happiness looking at this photo.

Sigh..........

This is where the tears start. What on earth has happened to my baby girl. Was it not yesterday she was just a little 5lb bag of sugar in my hand, snuzzling in between the Chef and I and sleeping her days away in the bassinet under the bar at Rondo's? Now, Ms. Rory-Belle is almost 8 years old. She is turning into the cutest little lady. She is funny, book smart, spiritual and wants to be a Vet. And, I might as well mention that she is pretty darn gorgeous to boot.

Sam, Sam Sam............

Wow. I had to pull some old photos from when the girls came to stay with us last May (2010) and was just shocked at the compare and contrast. I have not uploaded the photos I took from their first day with us, because even for me to look at today it was a little daunting. Sam, we were told, would 'never progress academically'. She ended this past week getting all her Irish and English spellings tests 100% right and her Maths test 100% right. Her feet have not touched the ground since Friday. Needless to say, her confidence is improving and I am a firm believer that beauty comes from within. I am fearful for the teen-years when the above two get going and we will have a whole world of other problems to deal with. 

Jack the (only) Lad...

My little man will turn 6 years old in just a few weeks. I am filled with this horrible heartache when I think back to that first year with him. Oh, how he screamed and cried. He could not be held or put down. He could not eat, or go hungry. All he wanted was his Mama and his Mama almost lost her marbles trying to be everything he needed. Thankfully, the Chef, my Mum (some pretty hefty phone bills that year I reckon) and our amazing babysitter (Erica - who we still miss sooooo much) dragged me through that year and we all survived.

And our youngest little one - the Lovely Lulu.

But by no means the Baby of the bunch. Lulu is the meek and mild child. She has had the roughest time and transitioning to a new home has been harder for her than for Sam. To see an earlier photo of Lulu taken last summer -- click here -- there is a lot of sadness in her little face. I think that Lulu could be the poster child for 'Feed 'em, Love 'em, Watch 'em Grow'. She knocks my socks of almost daily now with her stages of development. She is finally (aaaahhhhh finally) making some progress. She just got 'Gaelgoir na Seachtana' which is an 'in-class' award for the most Irish spoken in class. We have never seen a prouder little kid. What a little star.

The Chef's birthday was last week and one of our favourite little Sushi restaurants decided to celebrate the owners heritage and have a 3-day Korean festival. OH.MY.GAWD. The food was as authentic as it gets and we had a hard time, well, going home. We had to though because it was a school night and we had already kind of celebrated his birthday the weekend before with all our friends..........but we are hearing rumours that they might do a Korean menu once a month so for those that are local to my neck of the woods - stay tuned and next time we will have a bit of a hoolie!

Ok, so to sum it all up and not stray off topic, all is going well in the Wise family household. I am slightly buried under assignments but have only a few more months of school to get through before I am off for a nice long summer break. 

Due to another visit from Mr. Fox, the Chef and I are looking at building a new fence so our hens and ducks can roam free-range safely whilst we are at work and school. One of our friends, who is as nutty as we are, recommended we look into getting a Goat fence because if you can keep a Goat in, then there is no chance of a fox being able to get in to kill our feathery friends. 

So, when it is all said and done, if one builds a goat fence to protect ones flock, then would it not makes sense to have a few goats?

Please tell me you honestly do not want one. Stay tuned folks. After exams, I have a feeling that there will be some goats milk on the table!

And finally (the crowd goes wild with relief) to add to all my sadness about the kids are not being babies anymore and I am getting old and crabby, my (MUCH OLDER) sister sent me this video from when I was a child and Rory was a baby. (I cannot believe the Chef got away with marrying me when I was like only twelve).

Life is good folks. Tune out the election and turn of those damn TV sets. Play with your kids, get out and go for a bike ride or a walk. OR, get out there and help a child in need. You can do so much more than you 'think' you can.

Those are all the WiseWords I have for today,

WiseMóna

Wise Irish Poetry

Before the onslaught of school starts tomorrow (for me anyway), I wanted to doodle a little ditty for my Mum. She is a lover of all things 'Nature'. She also assumes the primary care of our wee crumb catchers whilst we work and study. As we will return to 'the normal daily grind' tomorrow, so will she and God knows, she has the harder job!

So Granny, Mum, Catherine (and any other personality name you go by) This ones for you!

Window Watching Wonder

Tree tops smothered with icy fog,
birds are scrounging like a hungry dog.
Splashy skies of radiant hues,
pinks and yellows, mauve's and blues.




Freezing breaths of ice cold air,
this weather in Ireland is oh, so rare.
Snows white blanket on the ground,
for bundled babies a treasure found.




Blood red cheeks and fingers froze,
sparkly laughs and runny nose.
Crystals hang from rooftops edge,
so to nature’s beauty we make our pledge.




Protect our earth, our air and sea
so the little ones can squeal with glee.
With their happy cries of musical tone
we only hear 'There is no place like home'...




That is all the WiseWords I have for today,


WiseMóna