Hi there! It’s Ashley from Memoirs of a Modern Day Wife guest posting for the wonderful Robin! Today, I wanted to spout off on that crazy little thing called love.

Love, it makes you do stupid things. Like sucking face at scenic overlooks, ignoring your best pals to spend all your free time with “the one”, wearing ridiculously tight outfits that flash your ass(ets) for the world to see in hopes that the one you love will notice, or even pretending to be someone you’re not all for the sake of attention. But that’s not really true love, is it?

Nope. Well, not at first anyways. I am way beyond counting on all my fingers and toes the amount of times I have seen a woman throw herself at someone, and become someone she’s not. Every day I am witness to countless single female acquaintances posting blurry duck-face pictures on my social media feeds, all for the sake of garnering some form of attention. I am well into my 30′s and I still see women I graduated from high school with posting contradicting messages about love and relationships on Facebook. An example of this:

Facebook-Day 1: “Why can’t I find a decent man who respects me?!?!? Is that really too much to ask for!!!” Continue reading »

I arrived in California last night sans my laptop (GASP), so one of my oldest and best blogging friends graciously agreed to fill in for me today.  Please give a warm welcome to Angel of Ramblings of a Southern Angel.
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First of all can I tell you how excited I am that Robin chose ME to do a guest post while she is off on her vacation?! I have followed her for about as long as I have been blogging. Ok technically she considered it stalking at first, but that simple little thing they used in Men in Black, you know the one that erases the person’s memory. Yeah it works.. shhhh. HA!!

Even braver of her is telling me that I have free reign over here.. well ya know family friendly free reign, as if I would be anything but.. ok ok so don’t go to my Pinterest, and possibly my Facebook on certain days. Hey, I have raised 3 boys and a husband in the last 18 years I have to laugh to keep from going to jail for murder some days.

So as I said, I am a mom of 3 who decided that hey mom wants us to grow up super fast and , ya know, start trying to act like adults. At least until we are sick and then we totally need our mommy, come to think of it I am pretty sure they learned that from their Daddy, although he doesn’t call me mommy, well not in earshot of others.. oops sorry Robin .. family friendly, family friendly.. hold on a second, I have to get my brain up a couple levels from the gutter.While I do take a look at my handsome grandson.. Continue reading »

Guess who wants to be a Masshole for the day? Jayme from The Random Blogette - that’s who.  This chick totally rocks and I’m psyhed that she agreed to write a guest post for me today.  She’s one of the few people I might actually consider breaking my no-hug policy for.  She’s an awesome mom to a daughter & a son and her posts are so fricken funny, you’re gonna love her as much as I do.  So after you read this post (and leave a comment, of course), go over and check out her blog – you won’t be sorry.  Oh, and she is on Twitter and Facebook, too.

Ready?

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Please give a warm welcome to “Frannie” from Frannie Fires Back.  If you miss me (and I hope you do), I am coming home today and I’ll be back here tomorrow with all sorts of pictures & stories from my long weekend in NYC, but since “Frannie” is a fellow Masshole, she’s more than worthy of filling my shoes today and I know you’re going to love the story she’s got lined up for ya!

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Since Massholemommy is on a fab getaway, she has graciously allowed me to fill-in here for the day.

Vacation planning with kids can always be a challenge.  You want everything to be perfect, right down to the last firework. Well I’ve got a dousey of a vacation story for you, despite all of my planning, this one has yet to be forgotten by my family.

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I’m off to NYC for the weekend, so today I have a real treat for you.  Eve from Beautiful Spit Up, who also happens to be a fellow masshole, is here with an awesomesauce guest post.  Please show her some love – and remember, if you are thinking to yourself “hey, I think I’ll rob her house while she’s gone”, don’t bother.  I have someone staying here for the weekend to dog sit & he’s a big guy (my brother), so I wouldn’t mess with him if I were you.

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My Rock’n Roll Baby

When I was pregnant I read tons of articles about how essential music is to a baby’s overall health. I learned that infants can recognize music, noise and sounds at a very early age, and introducing them to different types of music offers several health and developmental benefits.

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Howdy everyone – please give a warm welcome to Jessica from Boston Mom Deals, who kindly wrote up a post for me today that explains a little bit about what she does.  I am very happy to have her here & I’m super excited because I am actually meeting her tomorrow (for seperate venture we’re both delving into).  She only lives 2 towns away from me & hopefully tomorrow will be the first of many times we get to hang out.  Without further adeu….

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Moms, be on the lookout, Daily Deals for Moms is up and running in MA!

Daily Deals for Moms was born out of the desire to share great deals with Moms and Families. It offers businesses revolutionary advertising tools that are a win/win for our local economy. It not only serves local business with a no-risk advertising that brings in new customers, but also provides local families with great deals on products and services.  

Social couponing site users will notice Daily Deals for Moms is unlike any other group buying site. First, they’re locally owned and operated.  Recently, Jessica DiRamio was hired on as “Head Boston Mom” where she will bring the efforts to the South Shore and beyond.  Jessica is a mom of 3 from Whitman who wholeheartedly believes in Daily Deals for Moms and hopes that you will to.

 Another unique aspect of Daily Deals for Moms is that all deals will feature a locally-owned business.  Several studies have shown that when you buy from an independent, locally owned business, rather than a nationally owned business, significantly more of your money is used to make purchases from other local businesses, service providers and farms — continuing to strengthen the economic base of the community.  Daily Deals for Moms is committed to this. 

 Be sure to check out Daily Deals for Boston Moms on Facebook and be sure to sign up for the E-newsletter to keep updated on the daily deals. Upcoming featured businesses include photographers, hair salons, spas, restaurants, a personal trainer and more. 

If you are a local business owner and would like more information about how have your business featured on Daily Deals for Boston Moms, please email Jessica DiRamio  .

Ok folks, you guys are in for a treat today.  The great Dave Nihsen, who is one of the moderators of a site called Halforums (which is basically just a geek hang out) has written another guest post for me.  I occasionally Tweet with Dave and he’s written  a couple of guest posts for me in the past, which were very entertaining, so grab some coffee, sit back and enjoy! 

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Last year about this time I wrote a guest article that basically was a lament; a lament of the end of football season and how it negatively affected my life and devalued my innate sense of man-ness. My wife read it and immediately berated me verbally for my choice of words and exaggerated imagery. To her, my sadness at the end of football season somehow lessened the love I feel for her or my family. This is, of course, pure drivel and I will do everything in my power this year to ensure that the repercussions of last year’s article is not repeated.
 
Mostly by not showing it to my wife.
 
So the day I wrote this (Speaking in the past tense as you are obviously reading this is the future. Hello, Future People! Hope we in the past haven’t screwed anything up too badly!) it was Monday, February 7, 2011 – the day after the Green Bay Packers beat the Pittsburgh Steelers to win the Superbowl. This means that the halting of the season is still very fresh in my mind.
 
There are several mitigating factors to my love of the NFL. First, all of my friends have moved away. Second, I don’t drink. Third, I’m a computer geek. So what, you ask. Well, as a non-drinking geek with no friends in the area, I have no real hobbies. I don’t go out drinking with my buddies, I don’t get to go golfing with my friends. I am largely isolated physically. I am not saying this for pity and I’m totally fine with it; I get my socialization in other ways. I play online games. Namely World of Warcraft. (If you are on the Ghostlands server, that’s me beating up the n00bs and making them cry while calling them names.) I have a web site with a lot of people I consider friends…and I play Fantasy Football.
 
For those who don’t know what this is, FF (as I will call it) is where you choose players from actual NFL teams and receive points based on how well they perform in the games. Score more points than the guy (or gal) you are playing and you get a win! It’s great fun and makes even terrible matchups worth watching. Detroit is playing Arizona? Cool! I have Detroit’s Defense! See? Even though the game itself might be bad you still have a vested interest.
 
For 5 months out of the year I am able to participate in my favorite hobby and socialize with people I don’t usually speak to the rest of the year. The Superbowl signals an end to all of that until preseason starts in August. (If they have a season next year, but that’s another story.)
 
So do I mourn the ending of the NFL season? Yes, yes I do. It does not mean I love my wife & kids less, but I can’t treat my wife the way I treat my friends. I can’t berate her favorite team by saying, “Ha ha! The Redskins lost! Suck it, girly man!” I say that to my friends and they respond with some other rebuttal that usually has to do with the size of my penis or the fact that they recently had sexual relations with my mother. Or sometimes my father, depending on how scathing my initial insult was. Point is, I rely on football to relate to and connect with other guys. I love watching football with my wife (which she does now) but it’s a totally different experience than it is watching with a room full of testosterone laden dorks who fancy themselves to be Alpha males. (They aren’t. I am. Don’t they see that?) When they show cheerleaders there are no catcalls, merely sniffs of derision and disdain that means I have to pretend not to have seen them. Comments are made about how homoerotic sounds. “Yes, honey, “I will explain, “the wide receiver hitting the hole before he got pounded does sound funny.” With the guys it would probably be about my mother again. And guys don’t really care about how cute Tom Brady’s hair looks. Except Justin Bieber. For some reason he cares.
 
Maybe I wrong last year to say that my life was empty without football. But Sundays sure the hell aren’t as interesting.

This is a scheduled post because, as you know, I am off enjoying a week in Disney World with my family.  Please welcome Amy from Transplanted Thoughts today!

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Amy is a stay-home mom of 6, she recently started blogging about the trials and tribulations of a family with 4 young boys at home, 3 of which have had liver transplants to cure their genetic disorders.  Her 2 older children still live in Chicago.
When not hanging out with her kids, she spends her ‘me’ time writing, sewing, reading & walking. Some day, she would like to train for a marathon, okay maybe a half marathon. Is there such a thing as a quarter marathon?
She also spends a generous amount of time online. She can be found on Facebook on Twitter @transplantedx3, and you can check out her blog, Transplanted Thoughts!

Thoughts of Jacob 

I frequently address Jacob incorrectly as Jonathan.  I am not proud of this.

 I may have to return my Super Mom cape.

Usually Jacob will be doing something inappropriate to Jonathan and I start “Jon…Jacob stop giving your brother an atomic wedgy!” I don’t know why really. Obviously I didn’t call him Jonathan before Jonathan was born. Why do I do it now?  Heck, I’ve even called him by the dog’s name. Really? The dog? Yes. “TobyJon.., I mean Jacob stop making your brother eat cat food.”  That’s bad, right? I mean it’s bad enough to address the siblings incorrectly, but the dog?

Fortunately, I only get the “Jon” out before I realize my mistake. I make up for my misnomer by singing “Jon Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt” and Jacob laughs, I apologize and it’s okay. Wait, did I just apologize? He was feeding cat food to Jonathan, not me!  I was hornswoggled! Again! Jacob has this effect on me.

Jacob senses that he is the odd man out. Evidently being the healthy child has its drawbacks.  He isn’t part of the club, so to speak. He sees what his brothers go through, but it doesn’t register in his 7 year old brain – blood draws, medicines, doctor visits – all he sees is the attention the other boys receive, not the things they have to endure.

Our life experiences are remembered by who was in the hospital at the time. I’ve spent a lot of family get-togethers either at the hospital or at home with the child that couldn’t be exposed to the germs of 20 family members. So much so, I still haven’t met all my husband’s family! But it also means I’ve spent a lot of  family get-togethers without Jacob. I’ve missed weddings. I’ve missed deployment farewell parties.I’ve missed Easter egg hunts and HalloWeenie roasts. I’ve missed birthdays. I’ve missed teeth getting lost and I’ve missed hundreds of goodnight hugs and kisses.

I have missed a lot of things while incarcerated with Capt Snuggles. Jonathan and Zachary seem to be coping just fine, they greet me with hugs and kisses when Dad brings them to see me. They both want to hold my hand and I can’t get a word in edge-wise, their chattering boisterous and happy.
Jacob chooses not to come see me. 

Obviously, this hurts me and I am torn whether to force him to come or let him go to Grandma’s, as he’s requested.

I let him go.

I know, millions of parents miss things with their kids for one reason or another. And granted, Dad and the rest of the family are there.  But Jacob knows I’m not there because one of his brothers needs my attention. That causes hurt feelings and resentments that a 7 year old can’t reconcile with the fact that I love him regardless of where or who I’m with.

 I truly hope that he remembers the things I did just for him. The nights of meteor showers when I wake hime and only him, at 3am to snuggle under blankets in the backyard and to watch brilliant streaks across the sky.  The singing until I’m hoarse, of the “Rainbow Connection”  because it is his favorite song.  The guidance in making decisions that others might not like, but that he’s comfortable with.

We’ll get through this hospital stay and any others that come our way.

And I promise not to call him Toby anymore….if I can help it.