And My First Guest Blogger Is.....

 In honor of my page hitting 4000 page views, I decided to have a guest blogger for you!  This little gal and I have known each other since we were twelve, and I am very excited to have her as my very first featured, guest blogger in honor of our milestone!

 

My name is Cristyl and I write over at CHill Thoughts (www.mychillthoughts.blogspot.com).  I haven’t been blogging very long; in fact, it was just over a month ago that Miss Gingersnaps herself asked me when I was going to post on my blog.  You see, I had commented on a post on W3G and Ginger noticed I had a blogger profile and a blog I had set up in 2008 but never actually posted on!  Her encouragement to write was just the prod I needed to get my fingers clicking on the keyboard and my thoughts on the screen – CHill Thoughts was born!  I write about my life and pretty much anything that comes to mind; I’m currently wallpapering my desk in post-it notes with ideas for my future posts!  I’m excited to be chosen as the guest blogger to celebrate W3G’s 4,000^th page view!  I’ve known Ginger since we were just wee 12-year-olds; I enjoy reading about her adult life, her family, their adventures and I thoroughly appreciate her wicked sense of humor!

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I’ve been spending a lot of time lately thinking about happiness.  How do you achieve it?  How do you keep it once you achieve it?  How do you share your happiness with others?  Can you be happy most of the time, or is it just a fleeting emotion?  How do you keep others from destroying your happiness?  Can you be happy even when life is difficult?  How do you teach your children to be happy people?

That last question is important to me.  I desperately want my children to know how to be happy.  I want them to be able to be those people that everyone looks at and thinks “Wow! He/She is so happy!  They must really be doing great.”  During my childhood I really wanted to be that person.  You know the one:  bubbly, cheerful, helpful, uplifting, fun to be around, friendly and just good to the core.  Unfortunately, being happy isn’t something I learned how to do well as a youngster.  And as most parents would agree, parenting is about giving your kids the leg-up you never had.

So, how do I teach my kids to be happy people?  People who look at the pile of lemons life sometimes throws at you and see lemonade.  With much thought and many hours spent reading parenting articles I have come to the conclusion that the best, maybe the only way, to help my children develop a positive outlook is to model it.  And I’ve been spending a significant portion of my “free” time working on learning how to model happiness and a positive outlook.

I joined a new website called Happify that operates with the belief that being happy is a skill that you control.  Happify uses scientifically proven data to build their interactive online activities that help you learn the skill of being happy.    Their activities are grouped in tracks that allow you to choose an area that you want to focus on; from reducing stress to enjoying parenting more.  Many of the activities are completely customizable; so each Happify experience is unique.  To add to the lure of the site, as you complete activities they are published as posts that other Happify members can see; this social aspect of the site is sort of a cross between Pinterest and Twitter, you can choose to follow the progress of other members and encourage them by commenting on their posts. I know it sounds weird, the skill of being happy, but I’ve been working the Happify activities for the past three weeks and I can honestly say I feel happier!  I feel more optimistic!  I feel like my future may be brighter than I ever imagined!

And while I’m feeling all of this and building my happy skills, I’m showing my kids, too!  Well, to be fair, my two older kids aren’t seeing as much of it as my Little Man simply because Little Man is the only one living at home these days.  But, when I talk to Baby Girl on a crappy day, and she’s had more than her fair share lately, I’m able to be a better listener.  I think I do a better job at hearing her complaints and empathizing without feeling the need to swoop in and fix everything for her and I hope that she would agree I do a better job at encouraging her to find the positive in most situations.  Not every situation, because sometimes crappy stuff happens.  But I hope that my older children are seeing that I’m a happier me these days, because I’ll freely admit that I haven’t often been a glass half full kind of gal!
 

 

I’m determined to keep exploring this big world around me and finding my happiness.  I’m determined to be a happier person for the rest of the years I have left!  The first step on this path was accepting that this is totally up to me, the rest of the journey is mine to determine as well.  I plan to enjoy the journey!

If you’re interested in Happify or joining me on this journey to happy, I invite you to stop on over at CHill Thoughts.  I can’t promise it will all be optimistic and pretty, but it will always be with the goal of happiness!

 

 

Thank you Miss Cristyl, for being my first featured blogger! Hope you enjoyed her post, I know I sure did! I just love this little gal and her optimism! I am excited to follow along on her journey!
Be sure to stop by her page,  CHill Thoughts ,and say Hi! Tell her Gingerssnaps sent you!

 

Tattler Thursday #10

 

Hi guys and gals! It's Tattler Thursday here at W3G again! Welcome back! Got your funny kid stories ready for me? Today is the day where parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, babysitters, friends, cousins, or anyone with an awesome kid story can let down their hair and share! ...I love kids and I love kid stories! I created this event so that we could all take a minute out of our busy days and share a story and giggle at a few others! There is no purpose other than to have fun sharing war stories from in the trenches parenthood! Life is too rough and crappy some days, that we just all need a little place to go and read something to make us smile! This is my attempt to brighten your day and mine! Anything goes, gross, gooey, sticky, funny, scary, crazy, pull your hair out wild kid stories! Even funny stories from when you were a kid! So it's that time again, time for all you adults to tattle on your kids! So ready...set...GO! Time to tattle tell! Happy tattling! I cannot wait to read all of your hilarious stories!

 

 

 

 

4000 Pageviews Guest Blogging Opportunity

Here at The Wild and Wonderful World of Gingerssnaps, we are getting close to 4000 page views! This may not be a big deal to some, but it is a pretty big deal to me! So to celebrate I am going to have my first ever, featured guest blogger!  If you are interested in my guest blogging spot, please me leave a comment, or email me @ gingerssnaps32@gmail.com,  that you are interested! If we have a huge interest, I may have guest bloggers on a regular basis!  I am so excited! Thanks to everyone who follows my adventures on a regular basis, and welcome to those just hopped aboard for this wild and wonderful ride!  Here's a few photos of me and ma girlies!

 Lil Punkin Doo and yours truly

Sissy the Eldest and lil old me!

 

 

 

The Redneck Sunbather

I woke up earlier than usual this morning.  I had to go to the bathroom.  I tiptoe down the hall, so as not to wake any of my sleeping family. I do this in the hopes of going to the potty in peace. Peace being no one sitting on my lap wanting to snuggle, or chatting me up while perched on the edge of the bathtub. On my approach to the bathroom, I see something on the linoleum floor up ahead, in the bathroom.  At first I think it is a piece of lint from the dryer.  The dryer is beside the bathroom door, and I use the bathroom trashcan as the lint discarding receptacle.  So I figured it was a stray piece of lint from last nights laundry. Upon further inspection, being the bug Nazi that I am, I discover it is a creepy crawly on its back. Shiver
  Yes this little critter was just hanging out, in my bathroom, doing what equates to bug sunbathing.  The bathroom light is the only one that is left on at night. I am assuming that is why it was drawn to the bathroom.  Now I am unsure as to the species of creepy leggy thing that is soaking up my fake bathroom "sun" at this point. 
   For those of you oldies but goodies, you are well aware of my spider phobia.  For those of you just tuning in, I HATE siders.  Big, little, teeny, ginormous, hairy, fangy, colorful, sneaky, surprise attack ones, I HATE them all equally.  I will scream like a little girl and run as fast as I can to escape their clutches.  SO anyway, I hate all bugs.  Not as much as spiders, but I hate bugs.  I am an indoor type of girl.  The kind that prefers resorts to camping, and chlorinated pools to rivers and lakes. Ok got the picture? Okay good, lets continue.
  Okay where were we? Oh yes, the unwelcome sunbather.  So my adrenaline kicks in, and my heart starts beating fast as I grab a piece of art cardboard left over from crafting with the 4yo, to squish it with.  As I make my approach, I am aware of my body telling me this must be quick, because there are other urgent things I must attend to. Right. So I slam the paper down on the bug, and rub it around, to make sure it is squished.  Ugh, gross, yuck, but I did it! Go me!I was not prepared for what happened next.
   As I lifted the pink polka dotted cardboard, proudly prepared for squished bugginess, apparently I got a redneck bug.  The kind that says "Aw HELL no!"  It had grabbed onto the paper with its hairy little legs, and was prepared for takeoff when I lifted the paper.  It went all kamikaze and did a back one and a half flip in the air, landed on its feet, and took the heck off across the floor.  I was on its little bum quickly though, it didn't have a chance.  I clobbered it before it got out the door! This time I squished and squished and squished.  I finally heard a crunch and felt its body pop apart under the pressure of the giant hand that the was delivering the hairy little critters untimely demise. I was still crouched to strike again, if by some miracle of buggy fate, the little monster was still hanging on and planning another get away.  It was not to be so.  Its body parts were all separated on top of the pink polka dots. Point for silent Mommy.  Bad part is that I think it was a cockroach.
  My husband said it was a water bug, which upon looking it up, is a form of cock-a-roach.  Blek!  Gross. Nice try Hubbie the Dearest!  Did I really need to deal with this nastiness in the wee hours of the morn? I check around the floor to make sure there are no more intruders, and find none. So I triumphantly sit down to finish what I started, and start itching all over.  I am now scratching, and checking in my pajama pants, around my feet, on the toilet paper roll and holder, and even on the ceiling for signs of movement or more bugs.  Thank goodness there are none.  I finish up, wash my hands, and head back to bed, watching the floor as I go.  So I hop back in bed.  As I lay down, I am itching like crazy.  I am officially buggied. My husband asks what is wrong, and I tell him, which prompted the water bug response.

  So as I lay there itching, and wide awake way too early, I wanted to take a moment to thank my little unwelcome redneck sunbather for my case of the buggies.  I am itching, bug-weirded out, and oh I don't know, ITCHING! Thanks a lot! Hope you enjoyed the chase! And what was with sunbathing playing dead in my bathroom, because apparently there was not a thing wrong with you, you little redneck cockroach!
  

Tattler Thursday #9

 

 

Hi guys and gals! It's Tattler Thursday here at W3G again! Welcome back! Got your funny kid stories ready for me? Today is the day where parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, babysitters, friends, cousins, or anyone with an awesome kid story can let down their hair and share! ...I love kids and I love kid stories! I created this event so that we could all take a minute out of our busy days and share a story and giggle at a few others! There is no purpose other than to have fun sharing war stories from in the trenches parenthood! Life is too rough and crappy some days, that we just all need a little place to go and read something to make us smile! This is my attempt to brighten your day and mine! Anything goes, gross, gooey, sticky, funny, scary, crazy, pull your hair out wild kid stories! Even funny stories from when you were a kid! So it's that time again, time for all you adults to tattle on your kids! So ready...set...GO! Time to tattle tell! Happy tattling! I cannot wait to read all of your great stories!

 

The Binki Break-Down

I was sitting at the table, at my computer, when in comes the 4yo.  She is crying.  I asked her what was wrong.  She looks up at me, with big crocodile tears in those gorgeous, big blue eyes and kind of explodes into, "I miss my binki!" Followed by a tearful outburst, outreached arms and thumb sucking.  I gather her into my lap, and rub her back as I snuggle her into me as tight as she would go.  Only mommy can make this better. We are a big tangle of arms and legs and hair, rocking back and forth. I asked her what brought this on.  She simply replied, "I just miss my binki, it was a good binki!  I just miss it sometimes!" Okay. 
 
 Cue the Mommy guilt.  She gave up her binki approximately eight months ago, a couple of months before she turned four.  It was time.  She has only had a couple of binki breakdowns since then, where she misses her best friend.  Why as mothers, do we feel guilty over things that are inevitable?  Why does everyone else presume to tell us when and where and how to make our children give up things? First the bottles, then the binkis, then they wipe their own hooches and dinky doos(can't say that I mind that one), then they start school.  In my opinion our kids do not get to stay kids very long! Why, oh why must they grow up? Time for Mommy to cry. I will mourn her being a baby, and my little girl.  On the first day of kindergarten, anyone in my way had better watch out.  I will be the one walking blindly, in a haze of tears ,sobbing , back to my car.  While she has a ball I am sure. I am tearing up just thinking about it.  I cannot believe I am being a cry baby five and a half months before it happens. Hoooo Hooo, in and out, just breathe. AND don't think about it anymore!
    As mommies we worry about every single little thing.  Will this affect her when she grows up in her future relationships? Will she have separation anxiety when she starts school?(unfortunately I think this will be a resounding no) Will she be clingy as an adult because we took her binki away? Did we wait too long or did we take it too soon? Will she have an oral fixation because she had her binki to suck on until she was almost four? Will it cause her to smoke? Aaaahhhhh.

  As a mom, I usually don't worry too much, I am a very relaxed, laid back mommy.  This kindergarten thing has got me rattled.  Sign up's are next month, and here I go again, tearing up just thinking about walking her up to the sign up table. It signals the end of my baby's true childhood, or being home with me hood, I suppose.  It sucks.  The BIG one.  How am I going to get through sign up's without bawling? I apparently need a Xanax.  I have had the privilege of staying home with my daughter the past two years.  We are very close. I am very lucky, and forever grateful to Hubbie the Dearest for allowing me such a gift.  Some days it drives me batty, and all I want is an adult for grown up conversation.  Today apparently, I need pharmaceutical help to even think about signing my 4yo up for school, let alone starting on the first day.

  I worked the first two years of my daughters life.  The going back to work three months after she was born was killer.  I cried for two weeks.  I went back on Halloween. It blew big time.  I cried every morning after I dropped her off with family, to head to work.  I hated the fact, like every working mother does, that I was missing her every day to day little milestones.  It killed me.  So finally I took my husband up on his offer to stay home.  So just like that, I quit Corporate America, and became a SAHM.  It is the toughest job I have ever had, and the most rewarding!  I can't believe it has flown by and is almost over! Next will be school, then middle school, then high school, then driving, then prom, then graduation, then she will be going to college.  AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH! I am not ready for her to grow up yet!  I am not ready for her to leave me! Wait a second...how in the hell did I just go off on that tangent from a binki breakdown? Oh well, welcome to my world!  Off I go to play mermaids with my baby during her bath, and cherish every moment!


 

Valentines Day Tattler Thursday #8

 

Hi guys and gals! It's Tattler Thursday here at W3G again!  Today just happens to be Valentines Day too! Welcome back and Happy Valentines Day everyone! Today is the day where parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, babysitters, friends, cousins, or anyone with an awesome kid story can let down their hair and share! ...I love kids and I love kid stories! I created this event so that we could all take a minute out of our busy days and share a story and giggle at a few others! There is no purpose other than to have fun sharing war stories from in the trenches parenthood! Anything goes, gross, gooey, sticky, funny, scary, crazy, pull your hair out wild kid stories! So it's that time again, time for all you adults to tattle on your kids! SO in honor of Valentines Day today, feel free to share funny Valentines Day stories from your childhood, your child's funny classroom Valentines stories, or anything V Day related!  You can also still share any old kid story too! So ready...set...GO! Time to tattle tell! Happy tattling! I cannot wait to read all of your great stories! Since today is the biggest date day of the year, we'll extend Tattler Thursday through the weekend! And have a fabulous Valentines Day!