"Is He Your Only?"

All of you know that I have the most amazing friends imaginable.  (Yes, I am talking about you) and some times those said friends write something magical that I just have to share with everyone!!  This comes from a beautiful, talented and all things awesome friend that is close to my heart. (And not just because she can make a mean Martini)

After hearing about all my craziness with three, this is her struggles as a mother of one.  The grass is always greener on the other side, but it's usually because its covered in poop.

Enjoy!

Antenella

"Is he your only one?"

These are the words I dread to hear more than any others.  As an only child who is a mother to an only child, I hear these things on a daily basis.  From every “well intended” mother/father/grandparent in all of the southern hemisphere.  If you are young and healthy the only acceptable option is to HAVE MORE KIDS.  Not being able to conceive or aging out all together is the ONLY acceptable excuse to not procreate.  Since I find this unacceptable, I have complied a list of the most common and annoying approaches that people have used on me over the last two years just to show how ludicrous the logic is...

#1) The "Ticking Biological Clock":  Apparently every old woman with red lipstick on her teeth can hear my Biological Clock Ticking.  They can never hear me when I'm asking them to move out of the middle of the aisle at Publix.  But my ticking ovaries come in loud and clear (must be picked up by their hearing aid).

Old Lady: “Awe, How old is he?”

Me: “insert age here” (however the age does not matter in the least)

Old Lady: “ Time for another one.”

I am so glad everyone else knows so much about my uterus.  I am so sorry I have offended you by my lack of pregnant belly!

#2) "Time for a Girl":  From the second my child showed his penis to the world, I have heard this brand of bullshit.  I barely had my vagina stitched back together when the nurses at the hospital started this sentiment.  It has since continued from the moment I fastened my "fat pants" and left the hospital:

Typical Girl Mom: “ Girls are the best!”

Me: “Those hair bows must be tuff to keep track of.” (Are they really fucking wearing matching outfits?)

Typical Girl Mom (in matching outfit): “ Well you have a son until he takes a wife, but you have a daughter for life.”

This one makes me want to open up a can of whoop ass on this matching bitch.  So what you get to go shopping and buy pretty pink tutu’s. I get to dig in the dirt and follow the trash truck around the neighborhood.  I love my son more than I love breathing.  So to insinuate that having a boy is not a lifelong relationship breaks my heart.  Don’t ever say this to a “Boy Mom” (even if you think it is true.) EVER!

#3) The "Pregnancy Route":  Every mother really just wants to tell you about her pregnancy/birth story.  I am guilty of this (I believe it is a right of passage).  But these clever devils weave it into a conversation and then BAM, they switch it on you!

Coach Diaper Bag Mom: “Being in such good shape, you must have had the easiest pregnancy?”  (They suck you in with compliments)

Me: Actually I was really sick for like 20 weeks and I never stopped throwing up.  

Coach Diaper Bag Mom:  “Well that shouldn’t stop you from getting pregnant again.  Every pregnancy if different, my 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd pregnancy, blah, blah, blah.”

Aggggh Really??????  And what if it isn’t perfect the second time around?  Are you going to come to my job and teach twenty 4 year olds, while I am puking my guts out in the corner in a trashcan?  Or maybe I could use your COACH diaper bag if I get the urge.

#4) "Two Kids Are Easier" Approach:  Parents of multiple children love to tell you that having another one will make your life easier.  Because they play together, take care of each other etc…

Suit Dad at Starbucks: “Is he your only one?”

Me: “Yup” (here it comes, dads always say funny shit)

Suit Dad at Starbucks: “You have to have another one, they will entertain each other.”

This one sounds so logical right?  I believe this one is a conspiracy cooked up by parents of multiple children to get parents to unwittingly join their club.  You know, the “Misery Loves Company” saying...  yeah...

How often do their kids really play NICELY with each other?  Because doing everything I do for my kid all day long times 2, will be easier?  Sure it will dad at Starbucks who get to go to his job all day, while his wife watches her children play together "nicely"….

#5) "Only Children Are Selfish":  WTF.  I am an only child, and have lots of not so great qualities but none of them is because I am an only child.  Because I don’t have siblings I can’t comment on how wonderful that relationship is, however, I never grew up thinking I had missed out because I am an "only".  But it doesn't stop the GUILT…

Frumpy Mom (in my lobby): “You are going to give your son a sibling one day?’ (Is this a question or a command?)

Me: “I think we are done, I am an only child and look how great I turned out.”

Frumpy Mom (in my lobby): “The greatest gift I ever gave my children is each other.”

Me: “This is so sweet.” (You know what's sweeter?  If you'd PAY your tuition bitch)

Frumpy Mom (in my lobby): “Sometimes only children think the world revolves around them, you know.”

Me: “Time for class kiddos, let’s Dance!”

This one cuts especially deep.  I feel like society thinks that I am selfish and continuing the trend for denying my son a sibling.  Because having a sibling automatically makes you an unselfish person?  I hope to teach my son that the world does not revolve around him.  And more importantly that not paying for your kids classes makes YOU the selfish asshole.

I've come to realize that being a mom of an only child does not make you a bad person.  Nor does it mean you couldn’t “cut it” as a parent.  No one should be pressured or made to feel bad for having one child.  My son will always be the greatest accomplishment of my life.  Having him completed our little family.  So my new response for all of the nosey people, 

“I stopped at perfection.”

-Happy Mom of One

Join the Giving Revival! -Blessmas 2013

It's that wonderful time of year again!!  Everyone is happy and friendly and Church is all decorated and looking so festive that it makes you feel like a little kid all over again.  The nostalgia of the old fashioned Christmas are fresh in our minds and we are trying desperately to regain the joy of our youth that is so fleeting in our adulthood.

This is what Christmas is gonna look like in
my house this year.

Every year I always feel the need to give back.  I as much as I complain, I do realize that most of my complaints are #whitegirlproblems and there are countries filled with people who would gladly trade my "miserable" life for theirs.  I do believe I have been blessed beyond anything I could have ever hope for and if I could help just one family feel that way, even if it's just for a day, then its a gift I would gladly give.

So here's the deal.  Last week, I alluded to giving you a way to be generous this Christmas.  Give to those that need and all that crap and I gotta admit...  I'm super excited to see how this thing takes off.

A few weeks ago I was in church, (You know how I need me some Jesus) and the pastor was telling this beautiful story of a regular family in our church who decided to pay off someones layaway randomly just in time for Christmas.  Well, they said that it felt so good to give that they ended up paying off 3 or 4 different layaways.  Everyone one clapped and of course was joyous at the example of giving that this regular family showed.

But it got me thinking.

If one family could save Christmas for four,  how many more could we help?  Everyone know that if everyone on their Facebook gave them 5 dollars we would be rolling in it.  But how about we get together and start a revolution?  What if we Started a Revival in Giving!  What if we started a movement?  What if ones family's story sparks an avalanche of good wishes and well being?  And what if that could start with us?

What if we could be the change that happens this Christmas?  What if we were the answer to a long awaited prayer?  What if we were able to make a family feel normal and loved and accepted for just once in their lives?  What if we were the ones who restored faith in humanity?

The Plan:  To collect as many gift card to Walmart (in any amount) as possible and then use those gift cards to pay off random layaways in time for Christmas!  Our goal is to raise $2,000 in gift cards so that we can help anywhere from 15-20 families.  We're planning on picking out layaways that have things on them like diapers and toys for kids under 10 and things like that.  (If there's an xbox on it... we probably gonna pass.)

This is a great way to make a huge impact on our community.  To build up the families in our area that may otherwise feel nothing of the Christmas season except for stress and fear and shame.  Imagine if your kids are wishing for nothing but a baby doll and you were collecting change just to get it for them.  Imagine how you would feel if you couldn't provide the basics that we take for granted on our holiday season.  Things like diapers or formula or new clothes.  Things that a parent wants so desperately to give their children but can't.

What if we could be an answered pray to a single mom who is just barely getting by and now has the stress of holidays to boot?

What if we could be a helping hand to a father that doesn't know the language and is trying desperately to provide for his family by doing odd jobs?  What if we could shower him with the kindness he isn't getting anywhere else?

What if after years of being dissapointed we were the reason a child believes in Christmas and Santa just one more year?

What if...

I think it could be supernatural.

Good news!  We are!  You are!  You can be part of a change in our community.  I made a Facebook page and everything:)  We're calling it BLESSMAS 2013

https://www.facebook.com/Blessmas2013

I know, I am so on top of it!  (That is a flat out lie.  I'm not on top of anything unless it's eating the last of the pecan pie.)

But this isn't just my thing, this is our thing.  Because this doesn't work unless everyone gets involved.  Each and everyone of you would have a hand in making this happen.   If you want to change Christmas for a family check out the page, get a gift card, post pictures and be part of the Giving Revival!!

Let's give back Christmas!!
Blessmas 2013!!

Antenella

A Fulfilled Life: A Moment of Thanksgiving

*Mayday!  Mayday!!  This is all about Jesus!!*  You know that's how I roll, so try not to get offended or discouraged when I talk about Him.  Just see it as the most recent revelation of my life.  I hope you can get something out of it:)

I was debating breaking my blogging fast with another installment of mommy fails but in light of Thanksgiving being tomorrow and the day that this blog will be posted I decided to take a more reflective route.  (You'll have to wait till next week for my failing as a parent.)

I have been spending a lot of time thinking.  I know, it's hard to believe.  Trust me, it was not on purpose.  But I came across a quote out of a book I was reading and it just got the wheels a turning.
"All is going well, very well, I couldn't ask for anything better-  So why do I hate my life?"

It's a little morbid yes, and is taken out of context but it so perfectly described my state of being that it has stuck with me and I haven't been able to shake it.  Sure, it's enough to say that this is probably not the response I should be having to my life.  Especially with Thanksgiving right around the corner and everyone and their mom posting everywhere all the things they are thankful for.

And I am thankful!  I have a beautiful home, I have a husband who loves me despite my obvious insanity, three beautiful children who are not only healthy in mind but in body as well.  What more could I ever have hoped for?  When I person thinks of what is meaningful in life they basically come up with a picture of me...

So why do I hate my life?

There are days and even weeks that go by where I feel like there is nothing about my life I like.  I am in constant battle mode from everything to getting my kids to eat to going to bed on time.  I spend my entire day fighting one battle or the other.  "Mommy she hit me!"  "Mommy she's looking at me!"  "Mommy, make her stop!"  and don't get me started on the "I wants"...  It's enough to make me sick.

But that's not why I hate my life.

I started to think back to the days that I was happiest.  What was it about those times that made me happy?  I remembered all the times in collage I was happy.  Care free with only a resemblance of responsibility to contend with.  I was happy then, even fulfilled.

So, I thought, that must be it!  It was because I have no semblance of living life for myself that I was so miserable.  Everything I do involves taking care of someone else.  Making sure that some one else's needs were met before mine.  So I started doing more things that involved "me" time.  Working out, getting my hair or nails done, sitting in the hot tub with a book.  I must be miserable because I wasn't living for me!

And I believed this lie...  For a long time.  I looked better but I wasn't any happier.

So again, I went back to my memories (Quite by accident) and I realized that all those wonderful times I had of being carefree and unencumbered were a facade.  It was the whimsical way we tend to look at our memories and think of only the wonderfulness that was our life and how much better it would be if we could just return to that.  It's a lie, seen through rose colored glasses, so it is beautiful.  But it is a lie.

I started to remember what it was really like during my "happiest of times".  I wasn't exactly "happy" then, either.  I was self conscious, judgmental, fragile, had no direction, believed no one would love me and was constantly overwhelmed with the feeling that I was waiting for my life to start.  I felt like everything I did was just a precursor to what God really had for me.

And that's when I realized it.  God.  When was the last time I talked to Him?  For that matter when was the last time I thought about Him?

He used to be my constant thought.  He used to be a best friend that shared everything from my meals to my bed.  He was a constant companion filling all the spaces that felt empty.  I remembered having all those feelings of inadequacy in collage but it didn't matter because I was a daughter of Christ.  A Queen in the kingdom of God and I was forever going into battle!  I was a solider, a person of strength that battled the enemy with Prayer and Praise.

And I was delighted.

Everyday was exciting because everyday I asked Jesus what the plan was and he just said "follow me" and I did.  And I was fulfilled.  Not happy, not content, not accomplished, definitely not confident but joyous in knowing I was living for a bigger purpose.

I used to think that the cliche of "Life without God is meaningless", was just that.  A cliche that alcoholics and recovering drug addicts would use to describe the incredible change that Christ made in their lives.  But I have come face to face with the crippling realization of the truth in this cliche.

Why do I hate my life?

Because that's all it is.  It's my life.  Sure, It's filled with the most amazing gifts I could ever ask for but what does it matter if I don't live for Christ?  What does it matter that I gain the whole world and know nothing of God.  What kind of riches can replace the excitement, the joy, the satisfaction this is a life lived to the fullest?  Creating, loving, caring with a love that is heaven bound.  To know that all of your wiped noses and kissed knees are not just to build up a healthy, confident child into an adult but to build a legacy of delight, fulfillment and acceptance that could only be found in Christ.

I know it sounds preachy or maybe it sounds to simple.  That happiness can be found in the darkest, obscure and desolate of places, the heart of a stay at home mom.  Where in all the tiniest of places is  fraught with nothing but guilt and doubt.  How else can we be saved if not by the love of a God who is constantly surrounded by whiney toddlers.  (Lets be honest, that's probably what we sound like.)  Who would understand us best?

And that was it.  I don't hate my life.   There is excitement in a life lived for a gracious God that would think me important enough to reach into the obscurity of my life and pull me out from the depression and set me on a rock allowing me to see the life I should be living.  It's exciting!

So I am Thankful, I am blessed and I am follower of Christ.

I just have to start letting Him lead.

Antenella

Ps: I may have a way that you could be involved with the excitement of living for someone other then yourself.  And it doesn't involve having my pastor go to your house and talk to you about Jesus for an hour.  (Unless, you want that)

Happy Halloween!

So today is Halloween!  Happy Halloween everyone!  You know what I hate about Halloween?  Nothing!!  I love the candy, the costumes, the spooky decorations.  I even like trick or treating with my kids.  It's going to be so magical!

Who am I kidding.

Lets start with reality:

One:
Everyone stayed up too late last night.  Oh, never-you-mind that everyone was in bed but nobody fell asleep until well after 10pm.  This alone equals catastrophe for the next day.

Two:
My son wakes up with a fever.  (Let the whining begin.)

Three:
No one has eaten real food since I bought Halloween Candy on Tuesday.

These are the kinda things that are already stacked up against me.  I will now predict the cluster that is going to be Halloween this year.

ooooOOOOOOOooooOOOOoooooooOOOOOoooooOOooo (That's my spooky ghostly noise.)

First:
My oldest will come home from school and immediately start asking me when she can start dressing up for Halloween causing a complete meltdown from the twins who will think that they are being left out.  Meanwhile, I will be trying to get everyone to take a nap, (see above) eat a decent meal, (see above again) and not destroy every Halloween decoration they touch.  Not to mention the homework that my VPK child has due tomorrow that I totally forgot to have done until about 6 am this morning.

Next:
My mother will come over to "help".  Let the havoc commence with full swing.  My beautiful angels turn into raging lunatics when my mother comes over.  I don't know why they think the rules don't apply when my mother is involved... Oh wait, yes I do.  It's because my mother lets them do what ever they want.
You want candy at 3pm?  Sure!  You wanna put your costume on before you eat dinner? Sure!  You wanna watch tv and not do your homework?  Sure!  It's Halloween!

Oh yes, mother.  I'm calling you out!!!

Lastly:
My husband will get home much later then the appointed time we are anticipating and by the time he will come through the door he will have three stir-crazy, anticipation and sugar filled ankle-bitters in costume all clamoring for his attention and demanding to get out the door as soon as possible, and any delay will in fact ensue a complete and utter meltdown that will make Pompeii look like a hiccup.

Not to mention that I'll be ready to pull my own
hair out, close to tears and moments away from running away myself.

Welcome home, Honey!

There you have it!  A prophecy if you will.  I feel like it is eerily accurate already.  The best part is that Halloween is just the start of a whole season of celebrations that will go exactly like this.  Only instead of costumes replace it with Turkey or presents.

It's the most wonderful time of the year!!  How long till Saint Patricks day?  Now there is a respectable holiday.

I'm supposed to be Ursula.  Not just a random
Drag Queen

Antenella

Mommy fail 2

As I mentioned last week, my husband had taken a father/son trip to Mexico with our middle child.  Other then the constant panic attacks, it was actually a really great break from the boys.  My daughters and I had a lot of girl time that involved doing things like going out for dinner instead of cooking.  It was awesome!

(side note:  Girls are way easier then boys.  I didn't realize how much easier life is when it's just the girls.  Boys are just a different animal all together, and I use the term "animal" pretty accurately.)

My oldest and I got to do a lot of bonding time in during the evenings.   After the baby went to bed,  my oldest and I would cuddle up on the couch with a blanket and snacks and watch t.v way past our bed times.  I figured this wasn't too much of a problem, staying up late.  How bad can it be?  Besides, how would my husband find out?

Fast-forward to a week later.  The boys are back and happy and everyone is starting to fall into their old routines including their bedtime routines.  Fortunately, for me, my husband puts the older kids to sleep while I work on our youngest.  I'm usually the first one downstairs while he tucks everyone else into bed.

This was just such a night and I was downstairs watching "How I met you mother," and my husband comes down and tells me this story:

Husband: So I'm tucking Scarlett into bed and she asks me where she can find a husband.

Me: Aww, where did that come from?

Husband: I don't know.  But I tell her that when she is older and she wants to find a husband she can usually meet people at her school or maybe at work.

(Picture him having the rest of the conversation in the bed pink flowery bedroom that is my daughters, complete with little girl shoes and Disney princesses everywhere.)

Scarlett: At school?  No, daddy.  I can't marry a boy from school.

Husband: Why not?

Scarlett: Because those boys are my friends

Husband: Well, it's okay to marry one of your friends.

Scarlett: No daddy, that would be weird.

Husband: Okay, then where do you think you should meet your husband.

Scarlett: In a bar.

Husband: silent shock

Scarlett:  Just like.... 

(wait for it....)

Scarlett: Barney.

Seriously my face when he told me

True story.

Needless to say.  I'm not allowed to watch HIMYM with the kids anymore.

Antenella

Father/Son Trip

My husband has been out of town for the past three days.  This would be a perfect opportunity for a week of mommies gone wild, complete with wild parties, endless spending and copious amounts of alcohol with my mommy friends.  Except, that I still have the kids with me.

Actually, I only have the girls.  My husband took off with my son (my favorite, don't tell the others*) to spend some father-son time together.  They are having a blast, by the way!  I, on the other hand, have been having a mini panic attack every 30 minutes since they've been gone.

It's not that I don't trust my husband.  After all, this is some well deserved father/son bonding time that they really haven't had a chance to have, since I've always been there.  And mom kinda trumps everything for my son.  (See how he's my favorite?)  To use my husbands words exactly, "What's there to worry about?  He'll be with this father."

Yeah, that's the part that worries me.  Again, it's not that my husband isn't brilliant.  In fact, he is like over the top smart that brings a whole new level of number nerd I never thought possible. Not to mention how caring and considerate he is and how much he loves his kids, blah, blah, blah.  It's more like he just doesn't think to do certain things pertaining to the children.

Here are some examples that sent me into an hysteria large enough that no amount of labor breathing was going to bring me down.

EX. 1:
Him:  I'm not going to bring his toothbrush.
Me: Why not?
Him:  Because I don't think he should brush his teeth with the water there in case he gets sick.
Me: Oh kaaay.  What are you going to brush your teeth with?
silence
Me: You are planning on brushing your teeth, right?
Him: uuuuuuhhhh


EX: 2:
Him:  So we're probably gonna rent a car when we get there.
Me:  Great, so you're gonna bring the carseat?
Him: Nah...


EX. 3:
Him: I don't think I'm gonna get him anything for his ears on the plane.  I'm sure he'll be fine.

Let's just say that there are some things a father (or the working parent) just doesn't think of when traveling with a small child, out of the country.


freakingoutfreakingoutfreakingoutfreakingoutfreakingoutreakingoutfreakingoutfre

It's not his fault!  It's not because he's a bad dad or inattentive, it's because he has never had the experience before.  He's never had to think of these things.  These things have alway just been thought for him.  Anytime we've gone anywhere especially since the babies were born my husband hasn't had to even pack the diaper bag, let alone a suitcase for a 5 day trip.

He's never had to think about what happens if your stuck in traffic longer then you expected, or what happens if you half way through shopping and someone has to go to the bathroom, right.  Now!  He never has to think about the logistics of errand running with an extra human being that makes it their job to touch everything and gets board in a fraction of a nano second.

He's never had to learn the tricks of getting your child to be quite long enough to sit in the pediatricians office during a well check up (because there is a difference between a well and a sick visit)  or be quite enough for an adult doctors office complete with judgmental old people who hate children.

He's never had to juggle talking to an adult while trying to hold the hand of a squirming child and trying to pay enough attention to both the conversation and not losing your hyper active child in the department store.  Hell, he's never even had to to go to a department store with the kids.  (Lucky...)

It's not that I don't trust my husband.

It's more like what I would imagine a parent would feel when their kid starts driving.  They know their kid is smart, dependable and a good decision maker.  They know that their kid has passed drivers ed and the state driving test.  They know that their kid is going to try their darndest to be the best driver there is.  But there are just some things that can't be taught without experience, and until they spent a couple of years doing it without a problem you will forever be on pins and needles until they get home.

As for never having to really learn any of this stuff up until now...
you're welcome.

Antenella

*Re-laaaax!  I tell all the kids that!  I don't actually play favorites.  That would mean that I actually like one of them.  OMG!! I'm kidding.  I love my kids... all of them! ...unless they pee on the floor...

We are Ruining Lives (Archive)

From the ARCHIVE:

This post has been on my mind all week!  I feel like I've had to explain this story at least 50 times in the past few days so I thought it would be nice to get a reminder of how my family and I are single handedly making people questions their morality.  We are like the real life "What would you do?"  Only, once we leave there is no one there to tell you that everything is okay and that the crazy white lady storming out with a black baby is actually the child's mother.

I think we should get a kick back from the therapists in the area for all the cliental we will be sending them.

Enjoy!

Having an adopted child tends to be challenging at best.  Then, have an adopted child that stands out like a sore thumb.  It tends to be well…confusing.  But I didn't realize how difficult it could be until recently.  My youngest and adopted child has been the sweetest most beautiful baby angel there ever was!  I'm so blessed to have her.  All she ever wants is to be snuggled and to play with her siblings.  Best Child EVER!  

Then she turned two.

My angel is now... a MONSTER!!  That might be a little harsh.  But really, she's out of control!  She throws fits in public, She refuses to follow me and the kids when walking through any store, she goes so far as to yell 'No!' then runs in the opposite direction.  This is a challenge for any regular mother and any average child.  In fact, I would say that this behavior is textbook for the terrible two.  The constant bipolar temperament makes me think this is nothing more then the "testing" time that every healthy and normal child must go through in order to be a well adjusted adult.  Unfortunatly for me, this comes with a whole ball of wax that most mom's never have to go through.  

For one, I look like this:

this is a super great picture, btw

 And my daughter, my precious baby angel turns psychotic maniac, looks like this:

my doll face

See how this might be a problem if say, you are trying to get out of target on a busy Saturday shopping spree and your precious angel/maniac decides to not listen to you?  Let me set the stage for those of you that aren't picking up what I'm laying down.

Int. Target:

It is the hustle and bustle of back to school shopping.  Enter a white mother with black child.  The pair do their shopping in considerable peace getting just a few things.  Black child sees a toy and decides that she will not leave without it.

Mother: Okay, that's enough playing honey.  It's time to go.

child: NO!

Mother: What did you say?

Child: NO!

Mother: It is time to go.  Don't make me tell you again.

Child starts crying.

Mother: One… Two…

Child: No smack!  

Mother: If you don't listen you get a spanking.

Child: No!! 

Mother is flabbergasted as the child takes off like a bat out of hell down the aisle in target, away from the people who already saw the exchange (of course) and runs up to the nearest stranger asking desperately to be picked up.  

Stranger unsure what to do sees an angry white women approach her and instinctually picks up the child.

Stranger: Is she yours?

Mother: Oh, yeah.  she's mine.

Stranger reluctantly passes the child over to the mother.  Mother takes the kids and starts berating child in a hushed voice.

Stranger now spends the rest of her life wondering if she did the right thing.  If the child was really sent with her mother or if that terrible white women was going to take that child and sell it on the black market.

End scene 

Fortunately, most of the time I have all three of the kids and I have less of a difficulty trying to get the kids out of the store. Mostly because my other kids are calling for their sister as much as I am.  So, I'm either really good at kidnapping because I teach the other kids I have stolen to call for each other, or I am really her mother.

Although, I will have to say, I am glad that people stop me and ask for clarification.  Because I would hate to think that any of my children are screaming bloody murder just to be kidnapped anyway because nobody wanted to cause waves for the kidnapper.  I am glad that people make a point of clarifying the otherwise terrible faith of my child.

But what am I supposed to do?  Pull out her birth certificate and adoption papers?  All those people who are trying to clear me as the child's mother basically just have to take my word for it.  But what if I was really stealing her?  If someone asked me if she was mine, of course, I would say yes.  

See how this can get really confusing.  So my child and I are ruining lives everyday causing insurmountable amounts of people to second guess themselves and to always ask if they did the right thing.

Don't even get me started if my husband tries to take her somewhere.  Ahh, the joys of a blended family!

Antenella