Well it’s been a wild 30 days, but I survived NaBloPoMo.

There were some sketchy moments like the day I had to quickly post embarrassing pictures of myself as I scrambled out the door to meet my friends for a Girl’s Night Out.

Of course, there was [what has now become] the traditional toe sock post.

There was a post about school. There was a post about items I saw in the news, on TV and in a magazine.

There was also the obligatory anniversary post.

It was a good month. But thank God it’s over. There are just some days it’s too hard to strain my brain for even a bad post.

Last year I continued on with a post a day in December with my ABCs of Christmas series. That ain’t gonna happen this year. I’m worn out. Plus I can’t come up with a clever theme for this December. As I said, the ABCs were last year. And I already told you about all of our Christmas traditions in my Christmas Memories posts back in 2005.

So it’s back to the good ol’ days of sporadic blogging that were pre-November.

I’m slightly sports challenged. And by slightly I mean I do know a touchdown is something that happens in football and a home run is something that happens in baseball. But aside from that I’m pretty clueless.

Lee just loves it when I watch football with him [which, lucky for him, is rare]. Every other play I’m all like “what’s first down?” or “why is that little yellow line in the middle of the screen?” or “what’s a safety?” Lee’s always really patient with the first couple of questions. Then I can start to sense a little irritation in his voice until eventually he loses it and snaps, “Don’t you have some home decorating show to watch in the other room?”

This is why he had to make himself a “man cave” in the garage.

Today I snuck out of work for 45 minutes to go watch Keaton play basketball. He told me to be there by 3pm because he’s a starter. As usual I was late. I didn’t get their until about ten minutes after 3. Keaton had already played and was sitting on the bench. I found a very not-comfy seat on the bleachers to watch the remainder of the game.

At the beginning of the second quarter I saw him look around like he was looking for somebody. Was he looking for me? I was just two rows behind him and slightly to his right, but he didn’t look at me.

At the beginning of the third quarter he was looking around again. I was pretty sure he was looking for me. My heart was breaking a little bit because I knew he was thinking I wasn’t there even though I told him I would be. But then I didn’t want to make a big scene by yelling out his name and waving my arms like a maniac. There’s a fine line between being a loving mom who comes to your games and being a totally insane mom who embarrassing you in front of all your friends.

So I just sat there and stared him down. My thinking was that eventually he would feel the heat of my eyes burning in to his shoulder and turn around to see me. And apparently it worked because after a few minutes he started to look around again. Only this time he saw me out of the corner of his eye and waved at me.

Keaton went back in to the game for the fourth quarter. He played the whole quarter. And I watched the whole thing, with my head swinging back and forth as I watched him run down the court and back.

When we got home Keaton asked me, “Did you see my four rebounds?”

I said, “Yeah, I watched the whole fourth quarter. But what’s a rebound?”

I’m having a stressful week. First there was Skyler’s new do, that she cut herself. Then I got some sort of stomach virus yesterday that was really no fun. And today I got in to a screaming match with Justis. Yes I know screaming at your teenager gets you nowhere. But sometimes it’s just so hard to keep being the adult when your teenager is rolling their eyes at you and calling you stupid.

So I’m worn out and already thinking about going to bed. And it’s not even 10:30. That’s really early for me.

But there are only three days of NaBloPoMo left and I refuse to give up now. So I turned to my trusty Parenting magazine for inspiration.

This month’s Mom Debate is “Is it okay for a stay-at-home mom to also have a full-time nanny or use daycare?”

I’m not a stay-at-home mom. My stay-at-home mom experiences were limited to 12 [exhausting] weekly periods after the birth of each of my babies. When Skyler & Spencer were born Keaton was in kindergarten so that worked out nicely…especially since there was two of them and Skyler was colicky. When Caleb was born I kept Skyler & Spencer home with me. I was the breadwinner and didn’t want to spend the daycare expense when I was only getting 66 2/3 of my pay. So in more than thirteen years, I’ve had around 24 weeks of stay-at-home mom experiences. That hardly makes me an expert on the matter.

And yet I still have opinions.

Surprisingly [at least to me] 57% of the 1500 respondents said “Yes, it is okay for a stay-at-home mom to also have a full-time nanny or use daycare.” Really? A full-time nanny?

One respondent said, “I don’t begrudge anyone who has help in the home so they can spend a few hours a week doing something nice for themselves.” And I’m with her. Moms need to take care of themselves or they will never have the energy to take care of their family or their homes. But a few hours a week doesn’t require a full-time nanny. Get a sitter for an hour or two a day to go to yoga or the local coffee shop or just to go shopping on your own without the pitter patter of little feet running like crazy people all over the store. Put the kids in preschool or part-time daycare so you can take care of your needs. But full-time?

Another respondent said “As a mom of two, I have a full-time nanny, and I take advantage of the free time to cook fresh, healthy meals for us.” It takes you 40 hours to cook fresh, healthy meals? What the heck are you making? I would guess, even Rachel Ray doesn’t spend 40 hours a week making fresh, healthy meals. Heck, I make fresh, healthy meals a couple times a week and I have five kids, work full-time outside the home and go to college.

If I worked from home full-time then I would likely hire a full-time nanny. Outside of that I’m not really following why a stay-at-home mom would need a full-time nanny. I thought the point of staying home was to spend time with your children; to be their teacher and their caregiver. If you have a full-time nanny doing that job then what’s your role? Apparently it’s cooking 40 hours worth of fresh, healthy meals. If you are doing that then why can’t the kids help you cook those fresh, healthy meals? Kids, boys and girls alike, love to help out in the kitchen.

I just don’t get it. If you’re one of those 57%, please educate me. [But in a nice, bunnies are cute kind of way because I'm having a stressful week and you don't want to make me cry, do you?]

Earlier this evening I was listening to a fight between Skyler & Spencer. It went something like this:

Spencer: Give me my truck.
Skyler: I had it first.
Spencer: But it’s mine.
Skyler: But I had it first.
Spencer: BUT IT’S MINE!
Skyler: SO? I HAD IT FIRST!
Spencer: BUT. IT’S. MINE.
Skyler: SO. I. HAD. IT. FIRST!

Silence, then…

Skyler: AAAAaaaahhhhhh! GIVE IT BACK. I HAD IT FIRST.
Spencer: BUT IT’S MINE!

Then there was a holler from kitchen. Lee said, “Spencer, give it back. She had it first.”

Spencer: Fine. Here.
Skyler: You’re such a baby.
Spencer: I’m not a baby.
Skyler: You tell a whole bunch more than I do.
Spencer: So, you cry more than I do.
Skyler: Do not?
Spencer: Yes you do.
Skyler: Do not.
Spencer: Yes you do. I hardly ever cry anymore.
Skyler: Whatever.

Thank God we outgrow that. Could you imagine if we still argued like that now? At work? Say you get to the microwave at the same time as somebody else.

“I was here first”
“Was not.”
“Was so.”
“Was not.”
“Was so.”

Then you tackle ‘em while trying to open the microwave door. And while he’s laying bloody on the floor you stuff your Lean Cuisine in before he gets up.

Although that would make work a little more interesting.