This month’s guest post is written by MY MOM!!!!!!!! I’m pretty excited she agreed to do one. As you already know how awesome she is! Enjoy!-PLADD
When Patricia first mentioned that she was going to have guest bloggers this year, my immediate reaction was: “AWESOME! I want to do it! This will be great, I can do this.” Then reality set in and I began thinking, “Oh my gosh, it involves creativity and writing ability and her blog is so great month after month. I CANNOT do it, but luckily Trish has many talented friends (you know who you are), so it will be ok, I will not have to participate.”
As a teacher, I often find myself in similar situations when I don’t think before I agree to do something I will later regret. The problem is too many times I have gone ahead with the idea anyway without thinking about the reality. One such time involved me participating in a Faculty vs. High School Boys Basketball game at Seminole High School a few years back. Sure, I played basketball in high school. “I can do this,” I thought. “We can kick their butts in a game!” However, the reality of the situation was: the boys were faster, taller, and stronger. AND my basketball skills had diminished due to the years that had passed since I had gone to high school and the fact that I hadn’t PLAYED in a basketball game for years.
This is how I thought I would look
Needless to say, even though my jersey had the #1 on it, I was not. It was a mess and will be remembered only because I pulled a kid’s shorts down while going after the basketball and we both ended up tumbling to the ground. Luckily, he was wearing 3 layers of shorts, so no inappropriate personal parts were displayed, but it was not a good scene. I know you want a picture here, but, sorry, the crowd was too stunned to snap a shot.
Most other times I have made rash decisions that I regretted later involved wearing costumes or losing bets I was stupid enough to make with students. Something they never mentioned in teacher training: don’t make bets with students. They probably thought it goes without saying. Many of these pictures ended up in yearbooks, so I will be remembered not as a pretty good math teacher, but as the “crazy ” one. The following is evidence. You can draw your own conclusions.
Geometry Day!
After a hard day of teaching. I took a bite out of a few?
What was I thinking?
Probably the very worst decision of all was allowing some students to “spike” my hair. I told them it couldn’t be done, but actually with the right amount of Elmer’s glue and rubber bands… anything is possible. There’s some words of wisdom for you to live by.
The picture I want to be remembered by
So now that I have established that I shouldn’t make rash decisions, and I should definitely not take on things I’m not really qualified to do, I’ll share with you the following phone conversation.
Tricia: Mom, I am going to ask you a favor, and you are going to say no. But after you have a chance to think about it, you are going to say yes.
Me: (speechless) …OK, what is the favor?
Tricia: I want you to be a guest writer on my blog.
Me: (Silence)…(Speechless)…(terror)…
Tricia: Maybe you can write about teaching? Or write about a recipe you like? Or maybe about Pi Day?
You all know, Tricia can be quite convincing when she wants to be, and I would have been afraid to turn her down. She does own several swords, and she is not afraid to use them.
The Aragorn is all mine though
I knew the reason Tricia mentioned teaching, cooking, and Pi Day. These are areas that I am quite passionate about. I got to thinking about it, and realized the only topic this blog entry should be, because it is my greatest passion and the area of my life that I have taken the most time with and I am most proud of: being Patricia and Thomas’s Mom. Also, I am figuring that most of Tricia’s blog readers are not yet parents, and also may become parents sometime in the future. So, here goes.
Thoughts on Being Mom Ladd
1. Children are cute.
They need to be cute because they take an insane amount of energy if you are going to do it right. Plan on 20 hour days, especially at first. I figure it is God’s way of helping you forget your life before children.
Evidence they are so cute
2. Remember when they sleep, you also need to get some sleep.
Important to have a good partner in parenting.
3. Children will turn you into work horses
But believe it or not, you will actually be happy about it. Children allow you to once again act like a kid and enjoy all you remember loving about being a child. At the same time, you have the opportunity to do things you didn’t get to do while you were a child that you wished you could have. Tricia got a great dollhouse because of this fact.
4. Sometimes being a parent is painful and you just want to take their pain away, but all you can do is be beside them.
These are rough times.
The dreaded wisdom teeth extraction.
4. Being a parent does mean some of who you are will rub off on your children. Learn to let them be who they are.
Mine clearly also like to wear a lot of costumes.
5. Sometimes your children will make decisions that you think are bad ideas.
Take a deep breath and move on…as soon as you can. As long as they are not doing something against the law or hurting someone, let it go.
Thomas is the T
On Stage “Talent” portion of Mr. Rice Competition
Notice how all these examples are of Thomas? Hmmmm…
6. Having 2 children has its advantages and disadvantages
They will annoy each other at every turn. Let it go, because it’s a part of their job description and, in my opinion, it is the first relationship one has in life that gives one practice for future important people in their life. Somehow we all have to just learn to get along.
Having a circular place where they can chase after each other, is both practical and prevents many broken bones.
The idea is, one wears oneself out before one catches the other person.
Sometimes they have a good influence on each other
As they get older, they continue to annoy each other, but you can see a glimpse of enjoying each other’s company.
Eventually, you look forward to each time your children can be together, and, if you are also there, you enjoy every single second.
7. Being a parent means lots of milestones.
Some make you cry. Most just make you proud to be your awesome children’s mom. The best days were when I was referred to as “Patricia’s Mom!” or, a few years later, “Thomas’ Mom”.
The bottom line is: having children and having a relationship with my children are two of my favorite parts of being Robin Ladd. I recognize that I couldn’t have done it without Ron, who is a great father, but I am equally grateful for how special Patricia and Thomas were as children and what great young adults they are now. I am blessed.
PS…Happy Pi Day of the Century!
Mom Ladd did such a great job…I love all the photos! So sweet! These guest posts are genius!
I don’t know what you were nervous about, this post was delightful!