I was going to skip blogging this week but was inspired after watching a story on the Today Show yesterday. Evidently the new “thing” for kids to do is “smoke alcohol“. I’m not kidding. You could tell times have changed and Jared and I are getting old when we were both staring at the TV and saying things like, “But how…?”, “Who in the world would think to do that?!”, “Kids these days…” The last thing I said as he was walking downstairs was, “Imagine what we will have to deal with when Quinn is a teenager.” For some reason, I keep thinking about that concept – Quinn as a teenager. Dating. Getting in trouble. Driving. Worrying his mother. I immediately had a mini mommy panic attack.

Every time I watch “Dateline” and they expose a new thing that kids are doing it freaks me out. Long gone are the days when it was enough to find someone’s 21 year old sibling to buy you and your friends a bottle of Boone’s Farm and a sixer of Zimas with jolly ranchers. Who would’ve thought things like Jelly Bracelets, The Choking Game, I-Dosing, sexting, bullying, etc. would be things parents even have to think about. Even the way teenagers dress, mainly young girls, stresses me out. When we were at Ribfest, two girls walked by wearing next to nothing. I turned to Jared and said, “If that was your teenage daughter would you let them leave the house dressed like that?!” to which he replied, “You used to dress like that.” Dang it. He’s totally right. But I was in college! And my boobs weren’t falling out of my shirt! Not that I had them to fall out of anything but whatever… DETAILS!

I dread when Quinn comes home and says, “I have a girlfriend.” I remember thinking “I’m going to be a really cool mom one day when it comes to that stuff.” Yeah…. Easy to say until you have kids. I’m not going to be cool. I’m going to be protective and overbearing. I’m going to be the mom who sets the no being in a room alone with a door shut rule. I’m going to probably use inappropriate words to describe the little girl who comes in my house with half a skirt on while Jared and I wait up to make sure Q makes curfew. I’m going to use phrases like “When I was your age” and “One day you’ll understand” – You know…. things I hated my own parents saying to me. I’m going to kiss him on his cheeks and hug him whenever I feel like it, even in front of his friends/girlfriend and remind him that I gave him life. Of course at the rate he’s growing I’ll have to climb a step ladder to do this by the time he’s 14…. I fully plan to have Q tell me how “embarrassing dad is when he raps to his old Eminem songs in front of my friends!” I can already hear Jared coming behind him and saying, “That s#@t’s a classic yo!” Yup, no matter how much we say when we’re young that we won’t be “those parents”, it’s unavoidable.

When I would get in trouble as a teenager or young adult, my parents never said, “I just don’t want you to make the same mistakes I did” because they generally never did those things when they were young. They were both really well behaved during their adolescent years. I know I put them through the ringer many times. I feel like because I did that, it’ll be a vicious cycle with my own spawn. Jared grew up in a more liberal household than I did so I wondered how he’d feel about rules and discipline when it came to our own kids. Between Jared and I, we’ve been there, done that. We both got in our fair share of trouble, made bad decisions…. We hope as parents that will allow for an open dialogue with Q as he grows up and he will feel that he can talk to both of us about anything, regardless of consequences. But I think that’s every parents hope. And as honest and transparent as we hope to be, I hope he never sees some of the pictures of his mother in college… at least not till he’s 30. I can’t imagine any parent wants their kid coming around the corner holding an old photo album and saying, “Is this you? Holding a beer bong at a foam party in Mexico?!” I should probably destroy the evidence now just to avoid that scenario all together….

My kid is only 2 and I’m worrying about this stuff. Is that normal? But when Q is already asking to watch YouTube videos on the Surface, can unlock my phone, discovered his boy parts months ago and already can tell the difference between soda and beer cans/bottles, yeah… I think it’s ok to start worrying about this stuff now. Thank God we have a few years left to try and brainwash him into believing the only thing he should focus on is, “How to get drafted into the NBA so mommy and daddy can retire early.”

Since I didn’t blog last week, happy belated Father’s Day everyone! We finally had a beautiful summer weekend at the lake! Above is a picture of Quinn and Jared fishing for the first time. I learned a couple things about Q this weekend: 1. The kid has zero fear of anything. Jared put the fish on the dock and he immediately picked it up. The water was FREEZING and he walked in like it was his job,  bent at the waist and submerged his entire upper body into the ice bucket that is Big Detroit Lake. He did say, “Done now” as soon as he realized what a bad decision that probably was. 2. It’s virtually impossible to get him inside. Even after he’s been outside from 8am to 7pm.

So the title of this weeks blog has to do with yesterday. I had one of those, “I have zero patience and the sound of your voice is driving me up the wall and back down again” kind of days. Quinn has been on a mommy kick again. Although he’s not as dependent as round 1, he’s having mini meltdowns if mommy doesn’t do things for him as opposed to daddy, grandma and grandpa, etc. My mother always says, “This too shall pass”. Yesterday I thought, “I’d appreciate if this would pass a little faster.”

Q is gaining major independence. It doesn’t matter what it is. The answer to everything is “NO! I DO IT!” or “QUINN DO IT”. Long gone are the days of Mr. Tender-Heart. He’s becoming all boy. I can’t even explain the exact changes but you can literally see it in his eyes. He even got his first time-out last week for chucking a toy cell phone at another child at daycare (proud parent moment I tell you what….). He’s naughty. Plain and simple. I know it’s normal but it’s extremely frustrating. And he’s smart. He knows how to manipulate Jared and I and push our buttons already. He knows what the word “No” means and chooses to ignore it when it comes from us, but listens to his daycare provider or anyone else for that matter when they say it to him.

When I was having a mommy breakdown yesterday talking to my own mother, I told her that sometimes I forget he’s only 2. I feel like it’s because he’s abnormally tall and in my opinion, older “looking” than some 2 year olds. He talks like he’s a 5 year old sometimes. But he is ONLY 2. He’s newly a toddler. He’s learning boundaries. He’s a ball of emotions. He understands but doesn’t understand the way I’d like him to… yet. And I’m finding that I have to remind myself that. If for no other reason, to keep me sane.

In the midst of all of our toddler growing pains, he throws in little moments that can take my upset/bad mood to the opposite spectrum. This last weekend while out to dinner with my parents, he decided it was a good time to start singing. At the top of his lungs. It was closer to screaming lyrics than singing. I love my kid but voice of an angel, he does not have. I’m not holding out hope for Q being the next YouTube singing sensation. I normally would be mortified by this but in that moment, it was hilarious. By the way, I’m pretty sure we are “Never Ever Ever” going to move on from that song. My sister in law even tried to expand his musical interests by playing him the best of the 90’s to no success. Even yesterday when I was ready to start yelling “Free 2 Year Old!” from my deck, he said, “KISSES!” and wanted to shower mommy with them. He found this to be extremely funny. Thank Jesus he’s finally mastered the closed mouth kiss…. The drool made Q kisses un-fun.

On a side note: I’d like to thank Jared for being a much more patient and calm human than I am. It’s always good to have back-up. Trust me. Until next time…

Hello to another wonderful summer week…. I say that with as much sarcasm as possible. This could quite possibly be the worst summer weather I can remember in recent history. We did get a break in the rain and cold on Sunday to finally take Quinn’s 2 year pictures. Above is a quick preview. Be sure to check out Erika’s website! She does amazing work!

So this blog is basically going to be a “Week in the Life of Quinn” update. Some of you may have seen this picture:

This is a good representation of our biggest struggle this week. The kid loves suckers. And I blame the place where he gets his haircuts since that’s the place that exposed him to what has now become the bane of my existence. The “problem” is that he always wants 2. Frankly he always wants two of everything. God forbid one hand be empty! The upside, he doesn’t eat them. It’s security. The ability to say to himself, “I have TWO suckers that mom and dad didn’t really want me to have but I won and got my way!” The sucker thing is sensitive because this is what caused my post traumatic stress disorder with dentists. I hate the smell when you walk into an office, I hate the chair, the lights and even though the dentists themselves are generally nice people, I loathe them for what their profession entails (i.e., filling cavities and pulling teeth). Hence why I never go. But when I was little my mother gave me suckers which caused many o cavities and led to many visits to the dentist. I’d like to avoid this at all costs for Quinn if possible. So I guess the fact that he just holds them and doesn’t eat them should be a blessing but it’s the principle. It’s like that saying, “You may have won the fight but I will win the war!”…. or something along those lines.

Another big event in our house was Q getting a big boy bed! The kid hates his crib and hasn’t slept in it for a good two months. So after sleeping apart for at least half the night for a couple of months, Jared and I decided enough was enough. When Quinn fell asleep the first night and Jared got into bed, he goes, “Oh hi. Who are you? I’m used to being in a different bed or a kid in here. It’s like sleeping with a random.” So clearly it was time. At least if Q has a bed and wakes up, we can go lay with him until he falls asleep (so tricky). We just finished night 2. Although he has woken up a few times throughout the nights, at least he’ll sleep in his room now. I’ve already chalked this up to a successful parenting decision.

An update on his swearing: He’s still doing it. And more excessively. He now says it multiple times in a row. He’s even shorted it to just “damn”. I’m now implementing distractions when he goes on a rant like singing the ABC’s. The only pr0blem is he goes back to saying it as soon as the song is over. And we haven’t kicked our “We Are Never Getting Back Together” obsession…. The only change is that he sings more w0rds to the song. #toddlerproblems (Jared is going to kill me. He hates “hashtags”…. he usually says “hashbrowns”.)

Today is also my dad’s birthday so tonight it’s dinner with the grandparents! On a serious note, I’d just like to say I have the best dad in the world! I’ve never known a more patient, kind, sometimes funny (you have to know him to understand this… mom and I have re-named his jokes and revelations as “Craigisms” because they can be mildly ridiculous at times) and most importantly, the best grandpa a little boy could ask for!

Things to look forward to in the coming week: Ribfest! We will not be attending with Quinn. Why? 1, because it’s God awful expensive and I refuse to pay those prices for a 2 year old. 2, You should see my kid with a rib. It’s like catnip for clones (you’re welcome Jared). Thursday grandma and grandpa are taking Quinn so Jared and I can have date night. This will mean home by 8 and a full night of sleep. Thank Jesus. Until next time….