{If You Really Knew Me...}

Friday, November 12, 2010


So I just uploaded a bunch of pictures and was half way through a post
 about the last few days at the park(s),
my job as a stay-at-home mom and our little daily adventures
when suddenly I realized the post was annoying me just a bit.
Too perfect. Too Martha Stewart or June Cleaver-ish.
 I wanted to roll my eyes at myself.
I think I did.
I mean, it was all true...but sounded annoying when I read it back.
My life is not perfect.
I don't ever want it to look like I am trying to act like it is.
I know I blog a lot about the sweet or cute things my kids do and I even have
the pictures as proof  but there's much more to my life than just that.
It's not all baking, crafts, date nights and girls' nights out.



There are not enough Girl's Nights Out. My best friend lives in Chicago and
 I don't get to see her nearly as often as I would like to. Patience is short, my house is messy and
 one of my dogs annoys me beyond belief- like if someone came today and asked if 
they could keep her I would say yes. In a heartbeat.

*****
Have you seen that show on MTv called 
"If You Really Knew Me"?
I know I probably shouldn't admit that I have seen it because it is about
 teenagers and probably intended for teenagers alone.
But.
If You Really Knew Me....

You would know that I cannot even take my own kids to the  Public Library 
because I have such a big fine there. Really big. For like two years now. 
And I can't make myself pay it. It was mostly due to cd's and dvd's forgotten in my car... 
man, those babies add up fast.
Not to worry though, Library duty falls to daddy, it's not like the kids are being punished for it.
What's wrong with me anyway?
{Oh and by the way, what would constitute a BIG fine to you? Just wondering}



If you really knew me you would know that I think it is quite acceptable
 to lie to my kids on occasion. Like; 
"No honey, I don't think that park is open on Mondays." 
or 
"Well kids, maybe there are no other kids in the play area (at the mall)
 because they need to do some work in there today" and
"Kids aren't really supposed to chew gum until they're five. It's true."
You can call them lies but I often call them a necessity.
***

If you really knew me you would know that I hate doing laundry.
Hate it.
Well, mostly I hate putting it away. Sometimes I will wash it, dry it, fold it
 and then leave the baskets sitting on my bedroom floor all week. 
And often when I don't feel like folding laundry, I just re-start the dryer.

***
If you really knew me you would know that I can be grumpy and grouchy, 
cranky and selfish with a foul mouth and a side of sarcasm.
And let's not forget about that big, fat heaping of negativity.
It's not all good.
But it's good.
But in a few days I'm sure I will finish and post my
  I am the luckiest mom in the world post, but not today.
Today I'm not feeling it.
And if I'm not feeling it, I can't put it out there. At least not with a straight face.
And not without wanting to stop following my own blog.
Just trying to keep it real, folks.
***

31 comments:

  1. See?!?! You read my mind and blog it!!!

    If you knew how much I hated putting away laundry...if you saw how many baskets are waiting for me to attend them...if you knew how often I say the "f" word...

    I am the reason my library keeps its lights on. The biggest fine I've ever paid was $38. I paid one in the $20 range soon afterward. I always (ALWAYS!) owe them money. It's like a disease or sickness that I can not get the books back on time.

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  2. i'm glad you posted what you're feeling. makes the pretty all the prettier.

    if you really knew me you'd know that my back patio has been covered in dirty laundry for the entire week. i threw it out there so i wouldn't have to look at it covering my bathroom floor. i hate laundry, too. blech!

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  3. I could have written this post, it's like you are discribing me. Though my $80 fine is at the local dvd hire shop.

    Love how you are keeping it real, I also love your sweet and cute posts too!

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  4. this is my favorite post of all time...for reals....I am sometimes overwhelmed with how perfect everyone seems on their blog...thanks for keeping it real...thank you....:)

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  5. Golly.
    SOOOO good.
    Okay, so I really like the chewing gum "half truth"?? Heh.
    :)
    A really big fine ....hmmm...I'd have to say, over 30 bucks? Over 50? Ouch it hurts to even type that number...

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  6. Goooooood!

    as for the fine.... two years! seriously! Whoa!

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  7. love this post. A big fine for me would be $50?
    And, I despise putting away the laundry...and unloading the dishwasher. UGH!

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  8. For me, a big fine would be over $20... but I don't have kids yet and I'm sure that number will increase when I do! ;)

    Thanks for being real. I loved this post.

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  9. awesome post! i agree on all those "lies" and once the library offered me and my daughter a book from the free section as we couldn´t check any books out to lend!

    i am just warning you, when your kids reach like the age of 11 you will have to refine those "lies", trust me i know :)

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  10. oh, and i forgot. me and my usband just had a fight about which is worse; being sarcastic or aggressive. guess which i am?

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  11. A big fine for me would be about $50. A REALLY big fine would be over $100. But I am June Cleaverish about returning our stuff. My boyfriend racks up these crazy fines at Blockbuster but I have to admit their return policy is crazy (here they put an hour on it so if you go past that hour, you own for another day). My mouth is also foul. My son has heard anything he could possibly ever hear in the gutter (from my own lips). I have never sworn AT him but I swear plenty around him. Not proud of that and I vow regularly to change it. I'm still working on that. As for cleaning up, it is dog-hair central here no matter what day it is.

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  12. i just love you more for all those *real * things....

    you know when i moved away from sydney with my then boyfriend {now husband} he had to pay my library fine at university...the university library...that is horrendous...

    now i just use my kids library cards as they don't get fined....that too is horrendous....but hey it's real life...

    i drink way to many glasses of good new zealand wine for any modest good mama...& i am australian...so when needed, swearing is part of our genetic makeup...right tup there with enthusiasm for life outdoors!

    i love washing but leave it folded in baskets on all floors for soo long the kids just take their clothes outa them...somtimes i never even bother using their wardrobes...

    but we're all happy....life goes on...& martha stewart would be a tad to *busy* to enjoy the small things in life if you really think about it...

    so i just love you more...

    melissa xx

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  13. I'm always late with the library books... I hate playing princesses with my daughters and lock myself in the bedroom when they start calling me to play with them... I worry that my washing machine is about to fall through the floor with the weight of laundry that is piled on top of it... I repeat the mantra 'I try my best' every day... some things I do a good job at, but there's a whole lot I'm not... kudos for you being honest! To me you sounds great and the sort of gal I would hang out with! Lx

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  14. ~right there with ya about the laundry...
    i wish i were rich~ i could totally live with having a maid.

    :)

    i had to pay a $5 fine at the library...
    grr.

    get your kids library cards and then you have more options....

    "who has the least amount of fines on their card this month? let's use that card!"

    :)

    have a great weekend.

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  15. I could have written this post...thanks for the chuckle. Ah the library and I have always had a love hate relationship. Why, even with the advent of electronic email notices, can I not get the books back in time. CDs are the worst! My fine is paid, but always piling up to the dreaded $5 mark. :)

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  16. I love it :) Especially the lies/necessities. I so do that... "the park isnt' open on Mondays" word for word I have been there!!
    I know what you mean though. Sometimes I look back on my blog, and what I share is all true, but it's not the whole picture, you know? Then comes a post like I did the other day about anxiety and depression... and it seems like it comes out of nowhere. Balance is a tricky thing.

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  17. So what are you saying? You're human? ~ Makes the pretty moments all the prettier.

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  18. This is great, I think we need more of this in blog land!
    What is a really big library fine to me, you ask?
    One day when we were on a really, really tight budget and I could not spend a dime, I asked myself, "What could we do for free today?" So I packed up the kids and we headed to the library. The kids picked out loads of books and DVDs and at checkout the sweet librarian informed me that I had a $42 fine. Gulp. So I cringed as I paid it {to say the least} and as I was beating myself up in the car o the way home, I had to remind myself that we have gotten our $42 out of the library over the years. But I learned my lesson and write the due dates on my calendar now!

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  19. You do keep it real Amy, that's why we love your blog! Ditto on the putting away of laundry...my kids are a bit older so I should be enforcing the rule of picking it up from my room & having them putting it away..although it is sad to see all of your hard work strewn about their bedroom floor in a few minutes..uggh!

    I am a real stickler about what we can check out from the library. It is because I honestly cannot stay on top of the return of the books to avoid the fines. I think I have a balance at our library too, it is probably under $10, but I haven't gone in there in months. Let's both go this week to the library and pay the fines. We'll feel better! hugs, Cathy

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  20. Oh yes, I could have written this, except without the library part only because I never go to the library. ANd this is why my blog has been pretty much neglected lately - I'm just not feeling it. I've been grumpy and dumpy - blah blah blah.

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  21. Ha! I do the same thing with laundry in the dryer. I. Hate. Folding. Laundry.

    P.S. I love this post and may just borrow the idea. Also, I love your out of focus shots.

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  22. Hi Amy,

    Well, reading all the above comments, I begin to believe that nobody likes doing laundry! Me included and I thought I was the only one leaving the folded laundry in the baskets (till he puts them in the cupboards, he's knows me too well...). I think we have a lot in common (have you read my post this week about getting to know me?) So, being you is totally great!
    Oh, and our highest fine was 10 euro (back in the netherlands) so nothing really shocking there.
    But the not telling the whole truth part to the kiddos, I use that one too...
    Have a good weekend!
    Maureen

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  23. This is probably my most favorite blog I have read all weekend! So honesty, so true...and I couldn't have said it any better! Love it!

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  24. I have had that kind of day today. Exactly. Uggh. I have 2 huge baskets of laundry, washed, dried, and folded. Don't feel like putting them away. At all.

    Library fines...hmm...I would say for me...$10 would be horrible. lol. I think the highest I ever had was $2-3. I just love going to the library...so I don't wanna be 'banned'. ha ha. Too much cool free stuff. I can't stand to pay full price at a book store.

    Little lies? I understand. My son is like "We go to toy store?" I say "Not today...don't think they are open...maybe tomorrow". I mean I only say that when he has asked me like 100 times. It really does annoy me when he repeats himself over and over...so ya gotta come up with something, right? ;)

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  25. I think that's all of us. I mean really, who is perfect?

    I'm sure as hell not. I sometimes tell The Offspring to "shut up" instead of "hush". I cuss too much. I have locked the kids outside for some simple peace and quiet.

    I have a basket of unfolded laundry that's been sitting for over a week. We dug out so many pairs of underwear and socks that it is now quite depleted.

    This is called survival. If they want the good they gotta take the bad. Most days I'm more good than bad. And on the ones I'm not? Well, there is always tomorrow, right?

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  26. Totally tell those lies too. Gotta do it.

    Library fines. Yes, those too. A big fine would over $10 though b/c I am constantly paying little ones when I go in.

    Grumpy? Grouchy? Foul mouth? You're talking to "Mean-Ass Woman" over here. That's what my husband calls me. You know your favorite PhotoBooth? The girls have some very incriminating videos on there. I'm not IN them, but my yelling is. And it ain't pretty.

    We need a Girl's Night Out. Where would you like to go?

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  27. if you really knew me,
    you'd know that i didn't even want to do anything to celebrate ella's birthday today, since she is so whiney.
    i didn't even make her a real birthday day cake.
    and my laundry is stacked up to my waist in my laundry room. arg...
    love your whole deal today, foul mouth and all.

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  28. you guys! wow...i can't even say what my library fine is now because you guys think $10 is huge. now i feel worse than i already did about it! : D

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  29. Great post! :)
    Can I admit to you that I have never been late with returning library books without being hated??!! ONLY reason is...where we live (in a small town) the librarian knows all of her customers by name (because she has an amazing memory). We can call ...or just let her know we will be late delivering the books (even to the drop box). She will renew it via computer. I do write the due dates on all of our calendars to help me remember. I am forgetting more now! So, I am sure my late fees will be inevitable at some point in time! I am hoping my grandson, who has an excellent memory, will remind me then...:)

    We start the dryer over so many times in this household due to laundry not being folded that I am scared to think of what that is costing us!

    My youngest daughter is always telling me that my hubby and me could (and should) have our own REALITY show. Which is a big hint of how imperfect our lives are! :] That is ok though...it's who we are, it's what makes the world go round.

    I enjoy reading about your adventures, good or bad, it's like reading a book. Which I believe is one of the fun things about reading blogs! Thanks for sharing bits of your day with us.

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  30. this is great and makes me want to make my own list....

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  31. Okay, I had to comment, if just to make you feel better. I once had a library fine of $100, no lie...I have books in my house from the library that I borrowed LAST year!! I'm afraid of what that's gonna cost...So there, you should feel a little better. ;)
    Elise

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