Dear Grandma,
I am afraid I have passed on one of my worst personality traits to Aiden - my fear of not fitting in. 2 times in the last week Aiden has said he was worried his classmates would laugh at him for something he was wearing or doing. First it was about his jacket. It is a khaki color and has a small, orange dinosaur silhouette on one of the sleeves. It's very inconspicuous and I doubt most kids would even notice it. But poor Aiden didn't want to wear it because he was worried his friends would laugh at him because of the dinosaur. Where did that come from? Why would he be worried about being laughed at? He's never told me he was laughed at before. Being a victim of bullying I know all too well the bad feelings they can impress upon you. It is the last thing I want for my children and I try to do superficial things to prevent any reason for them to be picked on. Example: I buy them Sketcher shoes because they are the 'in' shoe to wear. It's so sad that I feel the need to worry about it, but because of my traumatic experience with mean girls I want to do any and all things to keep them from that pain.
People think that once you grow up and get away from those bullies you magically get over those bad feelings of being rejected, but you don't. I have constant anxiety when I leave the house, and it used to be so bad that I'd make myself feel sick whenever we were going to be around a big group of people or go do something new. That anxiety has kept me from doing so many things, which in turn has kept my husband from doing those things as well. I have a fear of being rejected by everyone around me. Those bullies took more than just my fun in grade school, they have taken many, many years of emotional freedom from me as well.
I pray that poor Aiden never has to go through these feelings and hope that his being worried about being laughed at is just a phase. He's a fun, bright boy and I can't imagine why anyone would want to be mean to him. Then again, I can't understand why anyone would want to be mean to any other human being. Why can't we all just get along?
Love,
Erin
Time For A Change
Dear Grandma,
I need to lose weight! This is getting ridiculous and I'm about to the point where I don't want to see myself in the mirror anymore. I'm embarrassed that I let myself get this far. I know I don't eat enough fruit and vegetables, but I don't eat an overabundance of bad stuff either. I'm really a bird when it comes to eating so how in the world did I get like this?? Oh yea, pop. Now I remember my previous post. Bummer, I DID do this to myself. :(
No, I'm not active enough. If I could get my lazy self up out of this chair while Brennan is napping and actually pop in that dusty Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred DVD I'd probably start to feel a little more energy and have more of that energy to keep moving after it's over and get some things done around here. It's a vicious cycle.
Our local Y is offering a Zumba class, which actually started last week but isn't too late to sign up for. It's 2 nights a week, I want to do it but our schedule this week is so crazy I feel guilty adding 2 more busy nights to it. Ugh, what to do, what to do?
I'm going to shut off the computer, turn the music channel on and get up. It might not by a workout DVD but not sitting on my duff is a small start.
Love,
Erin
I need to lose weight! This is getting ridiculous and I'm about to the point where I don't want to see myself in the mirror anymore. I'm embarrassed that I let myself get this far. I know I don't eat enough fruit and vegetables, but I don't eat an overabundance of bad stuff either. I'm really a bird when it comes to eating so how in the world did I get like this?? Oh yea, pop. Now I remember my previous post. Bummer, I DID do this to myself. :(
No, I'm not active enough. If I could get my lazy self up out of this chair while Brennan is napping and actually pop in that dusty Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred DVD I'd probably start to feel a little more energy and have more of that energy to keep moving after it's over and get some things done around here. It's a vicious cycle.
Our local Y is offering a Zumba class, which actually started last week but isn't too late to sign up for. It's 2 nights a week, I want to do it but our schedule this week is so crazy I feel guilty adding 2 more busy nights to it. Ugh, what to do, what to do?
I'm going to shut off the computer, turn the music channel on and get up. It might not by a workout DVD but not sitting on my duff is a small start.
Love,
Erin
Do As I Say, Not As I Do.
Dear Grandma,
Hello, my name is Erin and I am a Mt Dew addict. There, I said it. I am an Mt Dew addict! Ok, so I don't drink can after can after can, all day long. But I cannot go a day without having a Mt Dew. It's sad. And I know it's unhealthy. So I told Andy I was giving up pop. Ha! Yea right. I ended up talking Andy into stopping and getting me a pop one night after work and the next night I drove to the convenience store and bought us each a bottle then. So I decided it was better to buy a 12pk of pop and have it here at the house so I didn't drive us to bankruptcy by getting 2 bottles of pop every day. Sad, isn't it? I have no willpower to do something good for myself and my kids. Because you know what I do is teaching them eventually do the same thing. And with the boys I'm a bit of a freak about what they eat and drink. Aiden is allowed a Sprite/7-Up at a restaurant once in a while but otherwise he only gets milk and water with the occoasional cup of 100% juice. I feed them fruit like it's going out of style, which is something I never eat. Is this where I say "Do as I say, not as I do"? My poor body, I know I need to treat it better. I need help. Hello, my name is Erin and I need to eat healthier.
Talk soon, Grandma!
Love,
Erin
Hello, my name is Erin and I am a Mt Dew addict. There, I said it. I am an Mt Dew addict! Ok, so I don't drink can after can after can, all day long. But I cannot go a day without having a Mt Dew. It's sad. And I know it's unhealthy. So I told Andy I was giving up pop. Ha! Yea right. I ended up talking Andy into stopping and getting me a pop one night after work and the next night I drove to the convenience store and bought us each a bottle then. So I decided it was better to buy a 12pk of pop and have it here at the house so I didn't drive us to bankruptcy by getting 2 bottles of pop every day. Sad, isn't it? I have no willpower to do something good for myself and my kids. Because you know what I do is teaching them eventually do the same thing. And with the boys I'm a bit of a freak about what they eat and drink. Aiden is allowed a Sprite/7-Up at a restaurant once in a while but otherwise he only gets milk and water with the occoasional cup of 100% juice. I feed them fruit like it's going out of style, which is something I never eat. Is this where I say "Do as I say, not as I do"? My poor body, I know I need to treat it better. I need help. Hello, my name is Erin and I need to eat healthier.
Talk soon, Grandma!
Love,
Erin
Once A Friend, Always A Friend
Dear Grandma,
I went to lunch with a good friend of mine today, who I haven't seen in months. We had a great time chatting and catching up. It felt like we just saw each other yesterday. That's the great part about our friendship -- no matter how much time passes since we spoke last we always pick up where we left off and it feels like no time has passed. I love that I laugh a lot when we're together and can say anything to her and she knows exactly how to take it. I'm lucky to have her in my life.
Short afternoon since Aiden got out of school early, I'll write you more later!
Love,
Erin
I went to lunch with a good friend of mine today, who I haven't seen in months. We had a great time chatting and catching up. It felt like we just saw each other yesterday. That's the great part about our friendship -- no matter how much time passes since we spoke last we always pick up where we left off and it feels like no time has passed. I love that I laugh a lot when we're together and can say anything to her and she knows exactly how to take it. I'm lucky to have her in my life.
Short afternoon since Aiden got out of school early, I'll write you more later!
Love,
Erin
It's Sticking!
Dear Grandma,
We're in for a cold spell for a few days. They're even talking about a chance of frost tomorrow night, which is about 3 weeks early for our average 'first frost' date. We might not even get out of the 50's for highs tomorrow! That's crazy. I love fall but I have to say I am not ready for summer to end yet. I'm afraid with an early fall that will mean we're in for an early winter, and I'm definately not ready for that!
Aiden has been learning sight words at school. So far he's learned is, the, my, like, yellow and on. So this morning with his flash cards of those words I laid out "I like yellow" and he was able to read it, his first sentance!!! I was so proud of him! I am so glad we decided to go ahead with kindergarten. Next week I might change my mind about that but today I'm happy with our decision.
Brennan surprised me today by knowing the color 'black'. I have not been very good about working with him on his colors so I was happy when he told me a marble was black. Some days he knows green and every day he knows pink! He surprised me about a week ago by counting to 14 all by himself. We do a lot of counting so I'm happy to see it's stuck with him.
I need to mop the kitchen floor, have a great afternoon!
Love,
Erin
We're in for a cold spell for a few days. They're even talking about a chance of frost tomorrow night, which is about 3 weeks early for our average 'first frost' date. We might not even get out of the 50's for highs tomorrow! That's crazy. I love fall but I have to say I am not ready for summer to end yet. I'm afraid with an early fall that will mean we're in for an early winter, and I'm definately not ready for that!
Aiden has been learning sight words at school. So far he's learned is, the, my, like, yellow and on. So this morning with his flash cards of those words I laid out "I like yellow" and he was able to read it, his first sentance!!! I was so proud of him! I am so glad we decided to go ahead with kindergarten. Next week I might change my mind about that but today I'm happy with our decision.
Brennan surprised me today by knowing the color 'black'. I have not been very good about working with him on his colors so I was happy when he told me a marble was black. Some days he knows green and every day he knows pink! He surprised me about a week ago by counting to 14 all by himself. We do a lot of counting so I'm happy to see it's stuck with him.
I need to mop the kitchen floor, have a great afternoon!
Love,
Erin
