Restriction..... More torture for kids, or for the parents?

My seventeen year old son is on restriction right now. Two months! It was actually my ex-husbands idea for the length of his sentence. (and I have to admit I was a bit shocked, as I thought he was the 'easy' one, and I was the crazy, screaming, lunatic, one) So two months it is! I agreed, and here we go. Of course, my sons father and his new wife probably have to deal with the moaning and groaning waaaayyy more than I do. Since my son decided to try living with his dad, he is only at my house every other weekend. Which breaks my heart. I walk into his room sometimes during the week, and just sit on his bed and look around. Laughing at a memory, or getting choked up looking at pictures of him. He is seventeen years old. He is my first born. He is my only son, and although he is the oldest of four, in a sense he is my baby. The bond that him and I have is unbreakable. I was nineteen when I got married and had him, and he was my sidekick. My buddy, my little beautiful baby boy. Now he is almost a man, with a social life. But not right now!!! No social life to take him away from me. He is on restriction and for me, this is GREAT!!

me- "hey, want to go to the store with me?"
him- " sure mom, I might as well, since there is nothing else to do" said with a bit of an attitude!!
me - thinking to myself  "this is great, he is going to hang with me"
            ----- hours later-------
me - " hey, want to watch my DVR'd episodes of the Office?"
him- "yeah, my favorite show. I already watched last weeks episode, but I'll watch it again with you" still a bit of pissed off grumpiness in his voice!
            -------next day------
me - " So, I guess we are going to go golfing today huh?" YES, I know, he is on restriction,but my husband was going to take me golfing for the first time, and my son golfs (in between being a semi-rebellious teen) so we wanted him to come with us. Golfing at 6:00 a.m. with your mom and stepdad is kinda like being on restriction. Wasn't like we were handing him beers, and letting him drive the golf cart. He probably does that with his friends, but not us.
him - " Yeah, M and I are going to take you. Its kinda been fun hanging out with you mom"
              ---------that same night-------
him- knock knock - He knocks on my door "watcha doin mom?"
me- "nothin, just readin. Whats up?"
him-climbing into my bed, and slowly laying next to me puttin his head on my shoulder. "Remember when you used to sing Puff the Magic Dragon to me mom?"
me- "of course." me jumping a little to ahead of myself  "why, do you want me to sing it to you now" Which I would love to do
him- " uhhh, no thanks mom. Just wondering if you remember."
That was enough for me. Of course I remember singing that song to him. I remember every moment of every day that I have been able to call him my son. And right now he is on restriction for doing something that caused great disappointment to all of the adults in his life who love him. But I have to say, that if he had not done this 'bad thing', and he was not on restriction for two long months, than he probably would not be hanging out with me as much as he has been. That boy with his head resting on my shoulder, secretly wishing I would sing to him, but too old to be sung to by his mother, would probably be off with friends had it not been for his awful act of teenage rebellion. 
So in a weird way, I am thankful. Thankful for the bad choice he made this time. Because it was a bad choice that didn't hurt anybody, it did not scar him for life, and it did not take him away from me. In fact, that horrible decision he made in one senseless teenage moment, gave me my son for two months. So for me, right now, I am thinking that this restriction is A - o.k. in my book. 

What is going on?

All My Children and One Life to Live have been cancelled. Although I am a General Hospital fan,I have always thought of AMC and OLTL as siblings or at least cousins to my beloved GH. Not to mention, I did watch all three of them when I was pregnant with my firstborn, and even watched all three well until his toddler years. But 3 straight hours of soaps started to feel a bit extreme. I felt selfish, and even a bit guilty as I would be glued to the T.V., my little son on my lap with his lambie and blankie. NO housework getting done at all!!! Yup, 3 hours was too much. So I had to cut back. I also started working, and there was no such thing as DVR 17 years ago.

Fast forward to 2011. My DVR list is FULL! I don't know what I would do without it. And General Hospital won out as my top pick soap. Sorry AMC and OLTL. I gave you up a long time ago, but you were never forgotten.

That is all I feel like writing about today. Oh,and my daughters have been very, very pleasant lately. I have really enjoyed their company, and quite frankly I think they have actually enjoyed mine. I also had a wonderful day on Sunday with my 17 year old son. Mother and son, laughing, eating Western Bacon Cheeseburgers, talking as if we were lifelong friends.  Yes, great week had by all. Oh, and to add a positive note for my four year old. She found her beloved Whiskers the dog under the couch (stuffed animal,not real dog f.y.i.), and her pre-school sweatshirt that she thought was gone "forevwa" (forever in 4 year old talk) wound up found!! By ME!! In the lost and found!! Yes, great week!

Well, great week except for the people of Pine Valley and Llanview. :( Sorry guys!
http://www.tmz.com/2011/04/14/all-my-children-one-life-to-live-cancelled-abc-soap-opera/

Husband

He is probably one of the most Manly Men I know. He is strong, brave,and would never ever let anyone hurt me.He barbecues like you wouldn't believe.Slays it when he goes out fishing, charging through a storm and big waves when he really wants it bad.
Our yard is beautiful,plush, and tropical. He works very hard for us. Tomorrow he gets to go see his favorite sports team play. My brother hooked up on some tickets. I am so happy for him and he deserves it. I love him with all my heart.

OK, is that enough kissing up for me to tell him that I want to go on a girls trip this summer with my best friend. Yup, I think so!! Yippee, Palm Springs here I come!!

Honey, if you are reading this. You know I think the world of you. I always try to put some humor in it, even when I am being mushy and lovey dovey. You are awesome!! ;)

Did not write much

Oh what a day!!!

Cell Phones

How is it that I ever survived my teen years without a cell phone? My life must have been pure torture. If I am asking this question to the blogging universe, is it because I need help remembering? Did I push the memory so deep inside,only to have sporadic flashbacks creeping in and out of my mind, once every blue moon?
A quarter in my pocket, waiting for a half hour in front of my school wondering "is my mom picking me up today? Did she forget"  Staring at each car that drives by, hoping it is going to be the White Chevy Nova, loud embarrassing muffler and all. Or better yet, Dads truck with the camper shell on it. How did I converse with my friends. How did they know if I was laughing out loud? Or better yet, if I was laughing my ass off? Oh yes, I walked into my kitchen, picked up the orange phone from the wall, and waited about 30 seconds (that is the time it took to dial my best friends phone number. Ya know...... ROTARY PHONES) to hear the phone ringing on the other end. Oh the travesty that was growing up in the 80's early 90's. Now my poor 12 year old daughter, has such a gut wrenching decision to face. Her perfectly good phone is just "not cool" She wants to use my husbands upgrade so that she can get a phone that will better suit her tween lifestyle. Seems as though lunchtime in 7th grade does not consist of children sitting down at the outdoor eating area, giving praise to all of the moms for their masterful culinary brown bag lunch dishes. I mean, come on, peanut butter marshmallow sandwiches! Who can beat that as a pb&j alternative?
Back to the cell phone ranting.......... Now at 30 something years old, YES I ADMIT- " I would die without my phone" But oh to be young again! A quarter in my pocket to check in with mom and dad. "Oh crap, I spent my quarter. Collect Call. Do you accept?"
Stretching the phone cord from the kitchen wall phone, all the way out to the pantry. Where I would sit on top of our washer and talk to my friends all night. And the only smiley faces, or emoticons were the real smiles coming from my brace ridden mouth. LOL!! OMG!! :)

New Cat.....Ummm what was I thinking?

So I am not an animal person. Not sure when I became a non-lover of pets. I had dogs when I was young, and I definitely cried when we had to put them to sleep because of disease or old age. In fact I even found one of my old diaries, and from the sounds of it I was downright distraught. So why now are pets just such a nuisance to me?
I have come up with a reason, that to me sounds pretty good. I am such a busy mom, such a good mom, such a hardworking mom, that it leaves no room to give my attention to animals as well. I love, love, love my kids. Love spending time with them, helping them, tending to their needs, etc. But at the same time, those kids wipe me out. They exhaust me. So how do I even have the time or patience to give love and attention to ONE MORE KID (Errr, I mean CAT) Right now for instance, it is circling around my desk chair meowing. Not just meowing, but whining. REALLY, REALLY loud! I just got done tending to a whining 12 year old who was mad because I made her tone down her 6 inches of thick heavy eyeliner she was trying to slip out of the house wearing. Then after I dropped her off at school with a half hearted kiss and a wave goodbye, I had to tend to a whining 4 year old who was unhappy with her breakfast choices, unhappy that I made her wash her hands after petting the cat, unhappy that I told her she was going to have to take a shower and wash her hair before pre-school, and unhappy with the red sweatshirt I put on her (and that is a whole other story. When did four year olds get such an opinion about their fashion choices for morning outfits fit to lay on the couch in?)


So a whining, or meowing feline is not what I need. But I was at work when this all went down. I received a text from my husband- "I am going to take Nans to the pound to pick out a kitten. That o.k.?"  Who was I to rain on their pound parade? So needless to say,Bailey is a part of the family now. Well, atleast until one of us accidentally leaves the front / back door open and she escapes. Then she will be part of a coyote family. Did I mention our backyard leads into a canyon full of coyotes. Hungry ones. So with a family of four kids, (five including the big kid otherwise known as a "husband") we are expected to NEVER, EVER, EVER accidentally leave a door open. Wish us luck. Or wish Bailey luck. She will need it if she slips out the front door


I will keep ya posted on the life of Bailey the cat. Cute little thing!