I found "my parenting tribe"



I used to be jealous when I saw people posting that they had found their parenting tribe. I would wonder what is wrong with me that I don’t live a life where I have this sister/friend counterpart that comes over and cleans my fridge, bakes bread, meal exchanges, etc. Than I realized I don’t think I could handle having someone that involved in my everyday parenting life, some days I need for us to sit around the house in our pjs. If it works for you wonderful but it isn’t for us.

What I have realized is I do have a much larger and if not as hands on tribe they all support me and help in their own ways.

• When my computer imploded this last week I didn’t end up needing someone to come fix it but I had offers and advice. More important I had support and empowerment so I felt confident in trying to repair it myself. While at the same time I knew if I couldn’t do it help was just a phone call away.

• When I was worried about Mini’s speech (yes I know he’s ten month’s but they give you a huge scary check list for his 9 month appointment with doctor) nobody in my tribe of friends, family, and people I casually interacted with said “Moe your being crazy,” instead my tribe stood up and they worked with Mini by talking to him too. When that appointment came we had more than 3 words that he was confident in saying.

• When I have needed child care in the last year my mother in law and my former sister in law and her children have both stepped in. How lucky am I to be able to say my child has never had to go to daycare. He has always been able visit with family when I have not been able to care for him because I am at work

• My work even has been supportive about what’s best for baby. I have been able to change my shifts from graveyards to working weekends and from home to keep baby out of daycare. I have two coworkers with boys older than Mini that have graciously passed me hand me down clothing and toys which I in turn will be able to pass on.

There are a lot of other examples I could include but I am sure you get the idea. Just because I don’t have an additional family/tribe to physically co parent with doesn’t mean I am handicapped or missing anything. It means that I have been able to include more people in my parenting journey. True not all of them are family. Some of them are friends and acquaintances that I interact with both out and about and others are digital.

True at times I could use someone to come help me clean my fridge, or hold baby so I can work on a craft project its not something I need everyday. I have found it equally rewarding to see my son learn to wave because that’s what the clerk at TFAW does when we leave. Or to give knuckles with the help of cousins and the gents at Wong’s where we get take out. I get some great support to from my family my younger brother Farmer Chuck, both my parents, my mother in law, call or text. My in laws have a family dinner biweekly that I don’t always make but husband, Mini and the Bigs do and they are able to frolic with cousins, aunties, uncles, and grandma. What we have works for us so that makes it perfect.

The Candyman

http://www.seasidecandymaninc.net/

I promise this is my last post about the wonders of Seaside until the next time we make a trip out there.

The Candyman is the only place in Seaside we have ever gone as a family for a candy stop and while I am sure that the other stores are nice and would get us our sugar fix it just wouldn’t be the same.

To start with they have at last count 190 flavors of taffy, assorted chocolates, $1.00 Tillamook ice-cream cones, Jelly Belly beans, and other assorted candies. So that means no matter whom we are with we never hear “I don’t like anything here, can we go somewhere else.” One stop anything is always good when you have a large family. Plus the prices are fair and there is a rewards program. True you have to spend $100 to get $10.00 in free candy but someday we will remember our punch card and hit the limit and it will be glorious.

They also have the wheel of chance and where you can win free candy or tickets to the hall of mirrors. No matter how busy or empty the store is one of the amazing staff is willing to man the wheel. Plus no matter how your spin goes you get a piece of taffy so everyone is a winner. Trust me with our little herd everyone coming out with a prize a great thing. Even Mini has gotten his chance to spin the wheel, no taffy for him yet though. He’s just a little to young.

The staff is truly amazing. I would have to say one of the biggest reasons why we continue to make it our go to destination is they employees. I can’t always say that we have the best and most well mannered children and while we have never had a melt down in store (thank heavens) we have never felt anything but welcome even when they are being rambunctious. As a parent feeling welcome with my children always makes me feel better about spending my money especially when it’s on something frivolous.

Oh I should add the disclaimer no one has paid me for this post. This is my personal opinion. I will happily review products and companies in exchange for freebies but this is not a sponsored post. This is just a little love to one of the places that we have had happy moments at as a family. If you want to visit them:

Seaside Candyman Inc.

21 N Columbia Street Suite 105 Gearhart, OR 97138-5813

If you buy a grandma a burger

If you buy a grandma a burger make, sure she understands the menu. Due to regional differences what she thinks will be a delicious beef burger with extra vegetables (hence it would be called a veggie burger) and what she actually ordered a veggie burger ie faux meat patty masquerading as delicious beef patty with all the same fixings but none of the cowie deliciousness.

I should say in my defense I made the presumption that she understood what she had ordered. Who would order a veggie burger without understanding what they were committing to? I presumed it was part of her eating healthier and locally which was part of my confusion with the order. Why wouldn’t you order a burger after we went to a place called Bebop Burgers where one would presume the specialty would be a burger? Finally while we waited I had to ask why she had ordered the veggie burger. Followed by the key question of do you know what a veggie burger is? What a grandma expected was a regular burger with extra veggies what she got was a textured soy patty with burger fixings.

On a plus note grandma learned that it’s a good thing that Mini will share his delicious order of chicken to make up for burger disappointment.

Seal Shenanigans

Sometimes a trip is just what you need and today was a pretty perfect day. We ended up out in Seaside, OR with our company at the Seaside Aquarium.  Of course my being a non-native Oregonian I had to feed the seals with baby because they looked so cute and this would be an awesome bonding experience. What I expected was something a long the lines of feeding the goats at the zoo. You know some dry pellets and delicate nibbles from out hands.

What we got instead were raw chopped sardines. I know these are seals I should of at least expected fish. However just when I was questioning the wisdom of the enterprise, is when the awesome occurred. These were not passive goats in an enclosure that were going to prance up and snack out of our hands. These were adorable seals that would pander and perform for delicious (I’m presuming, no sardines were eaten by this mommy) sardine treats. We got to interact with them from behind a safe space and watch them splish and splash, flip, ponder, and play for the fishy morsels.

By the time we finished we all smelled a bit fishy but we also had smiles and memories of seal shenanigans. Definitely worth a five dollar investment and getting over the aversion of throwing raw fishes.