What I won’t do for my kids

As far as marking things off my Do-Before-You-Die list, I can proudly put a line through “Get trapped in a stadium with 9000 delirious, screaming pre-pubescent girls”. That, of course, ranked smack between “Have white-hot needles stabbed in your retinas” and “Staple a piece of asbestos to my forehead”.

Good times!

In case you have no idea what I’m talking about, the girls and I went to see Hannah Montana. THE show to see if you have a daughter of a certain age. We got tickets without having to stand for 7 days with my hand attached to a 12-foot statue of Hannah Montana (which someone did), pay 500% the face value ticket price (which LOTS of people did) or selling my soul to the devil (I’m sure someone out there was willing to make that deal).

Hannah Montana is the equivalent of taking my kids to meet the president or the pope, only they actually KNOW who SHE is!

We were treated to some awesome suite tickets to see the show. The girls sang and danced and loved every shrieking minute of it. I could have found better ways to spend my time, but nothing could beat watching their little faces light up. Thank you to Kasey from the Brad Richards Foundation and Mary Jane Campbell for giving my girls such a phenomenal gift….and me a permanent hearing loss.

The kids and I are in Daytona, enjoying some friend time before we indulge in way too much food with my family. This is my best friend since high school and we have shared so much of our lives through the years. Recently, their house was completely flooded when a pipe burst in the bathroom and they were able to redo much of their house. It’s all new and shiny and pretty right now….I say now, because my kids have only been in the house for about 8 hours. Much of their new décor involves WHITE and GLASS…two things I try very hard not to expose my kids to. Dawn and her husband David are completely anal-retentive and it’s always fun to watch their faces about a second before my kids put their hands or feet somewhere they’re not supposed to. I try hard to accommodate their house standards, but it’s much like trying to teach wildebeests to tiptoe.

In light of this realization that my kids are rough on nice stuff, thereby being the reason we really don’t have any, it’s going to be a fun time to train them about our new house. A house that we don’t have yet, but we will be getting in Atlanta. A house free of dog hair, art-laden walls, play-dough ground into the grout, snacks hidden in interesting and disgusting places. So, I have 6 months to rigorously educate the kids on the finer parts of NOT DESTROYING the house. This can’t be hard, right?

I’ve been discussing the new house, asking what features interest the kids. Rachael wants a room of her own and a bathroom, Nathaniel wants a room as far as humanly possible from his sisters’ rooms and stairs, and Peyton wants stairs and a playroom….and to continue to share a room with Rachael. See the dilemma? Oh well, I’m we’ll be able to figure this one out the same way we make all other decisions in our house….rock, paper, scissors.

The Mayhews wish all of you a wonderful and fantastic Thanksgiving!

f.r.o.G…fully relying on God
–Anissa

The definition of “irony” — celebrating getting a whole week out of school so that you can visit a friend who makes you play “school” all afternoon.