All I can say is, "AMEN!"

Michael: Mom, if you kiss bad guys does it make you a bad guy?

Me: No. Why?

Michael: Because I had a dream that I kissed a bad guy and my eye got all red and then I was bad.

Me: Well that's a silly dream! What are you doing kissing bad guys?

Michael: I didn't know she was bad! I just thought she was a hot blonde girl!

(I'm in for it. He's not even 7 yet! Oy.)

I am kicking myself for not checking out the YMCA outdoor pool much earlier in the summer. I assumed that there was no way I could take my non-swimmers, swimming by myself. Ever tried to keep a 5 and a 6 year old within arms reach in the water at all times? Yeah. It's borderline impossible and really not fun. But I failed to consider one small thing... life jackets!

I found out this past weekend that the kids can swim and play on their own so long as they are wearing a life jacket. Yay!

So now we go here:

Put on one of these:

And they do this:

While I do this:

Brilliant.

Trying to get ready for an evening out can sometimes be an incredibly trying experience, with ever eager children underfoot  In fact, it's the reason I don't bother trying to put on make up every single day. But today it struck me just how precious these moments are.

While it may drive me crazy to no end for my daughter to be under my feet and into ALL of my make-up, the fact is that she's doing it because she wants to me like me. She wants to be a woman and have all the accessories and fun that women do.

Not only that but I realized that these are the moments where I have the opportunity to teach her that she doesn't NEED make up, that curves are OK and that it's our individual features that make us unique and beautiful. Not the mascara wands and hot rollers.

If there is anything I could change about myself it would be my self confidence. If I could go back and do it again it wouldn't take me 28 years to start embracing my curves instead of trying to cover them. I would change that constant nagging in my head that I'm not thin enough, not pretty enough, my hair isn't long enough, etc. I would go back and tell myself what my daughter told me while getting ready, "Mom, you're perfect just the way you are."

Hopefully now I can teach my daughter all the things that it took me so long to learn. Although, by the sounds of it, she's off to a much better start than I was.

OK, first of all, I LOVE both Santana and Steven Tyler. So naturally when I discovered this song I thought it was pretty much one of the greatest things on earth. Then I forgot about it for a while... until tonight.

Aside from the orgasmic guitar riffs and hotness that is Steven Tyler, this song just says it all. Somehow it just really communicates to me, especially now.

So here it is and along with it, a poem I wrote early last year that seems oh so fitting right now. The two just remind me of each other. Maybe they inspire the same feeling. Who knows.

In any case, enjoy:

Escape

It’s been a long day
feeling older than my years
Tonight I need to get away
Tonight I want you to stay
And let me
escape with you
right here, right now
I’ve got to feel better
Somehow

Don’t wanna talk about the future
Don’t wanna fall in love
Don’t wanna do anything
but be here with you
until the sun comes up

So stay here with me
don’t talk about tomorrow
Fall in love with me
And back out again
Make me feel
like nothing is wrong
like I’m beautiful
and delicate
Anything but strong

Don’t wanna talk about the future
Don’t wanna fall in love
Don’t wanna do anything
but be here with you
until the sun comes up

When I wake up
I’ll deal with
what the day brings
Until then
Hold me
Devour me
Feel me
And make me
whole again

I don’t wanna do anything
but be here with you
until the sun comes up

© Jessica Rose Greenwood, 2010