Sunday Sound Out

From Chicago, the town that tastes better with caramel (said carmel, not caramel because we're not pretentious) sauce, it's your host, the woman who received the most glamorous accessory for Mother's Day - the dandelion bracelet, Dawn Damalas Meehan!

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there! And happy Mother's Day to all the mom-like women! And prayers for all the women who are trying to conceive, and to all the women who have lost a mother. And now, it's time to answer viewer mail!

Dawn, is it no possible to get some kind of court order that he is not allowed within a million yards of Jackson?
Possibly, but the courts are big on visitation rights, and I don't have the money to take him to court and prove that he's unbalanced. And by the time I could get a court date, we'll be moving. The kids have a few more weeks of dealing with drop-by-dad until we move. It'll be okay.

How does he know when they have games?
I tell him and beg him to show up. Just kidding. All you have to do is look online to get the schedule.

One of your readers had a great idea about a POSTER over the hole. After all, how big could a little 12 yr old’s fist be?
Ha! I wish I'd taken a picture of it but I was too mad at the time. I put a piece of duct tape over the hole and then thrust a bucket of drywall patch goop stuff and a bucket of paint at Jackson with the instructions, "Fix it!"
I came back several minutes later and saw a huge, drippy glob of blue-painted spackle smeared across a five-foot wide circle on the wall. I guess I should've been more specific in my directions. Or, better yet, I should've thought of the poster plan!

do you think Savannah could swim? That would be easy on her joint and bones but still get her moving and exercising.
Yep! Savannah loves to swim (and she's good at it too) We'd already talked about having her join the swim team for those exact reasons. She had her surgery on Wednesday. It went well. The doctor had to take out the piece of her knee that was peeling away. It was a pretty big piece (about an inch by 3/4 inch). We meet with him and his collegue who specializes more in knee replacements next week. She's not happy about needing crutches again. Anyone who would like to send her a cheer up card, can mail it here -
Savannah Meehan
836 S. Arlington Heights Rd.
#230
Elk Grove Village, IL 60007

It’s okay to say life sucks. It really is. Every once in awhile you have to put your hand up and say enough! Momma needs a time out.
But I don't think life sucks. Sometimes, the situation sucks, but life is what you make of it.

I remember you saying you were coming to FL. Right now its Love bug season, it happens twice a year and they are very attracted to white (I did not know any of this when we moved here last year) so heads up and google it…
Thanks! Not thanks for the head's up about Love Bugs (whatever they are), but thanks for putting a Jonas Brothers' song in my head!

I don’t know where this idea that we’re supposed to do everything for our kids came from, but frankly i’m shocked when I read parents say things like, I don’t go to everyone one of my kids games. Is that really expected? My parents had 2 daughters, only one of us in a sport and my parents maybe went to 2-3 of my swim meets a season and that was normal. Sure there were some parents that went to more, but they were the unusual ones.
I don't do everything for my kids, but I can count on less than one hand how many of my kids' games that I've missed. I only missed one football game last season because I was out of town. I can't imagine not wanting to attend your children's games, concerts, and events. That, in my opinion, is not doing stuff for them; it's being involved in their lives.

Did you try it [the slide out the window] before ordering them to take it apart?
Oh yeah, I can just see that scene unfold in the emergency room. "Well, Mrs. Meehan, you seem to have broken your butt. How did this happen?"

Orlando is cheaper than here??? I guess I haven’t been paying attention because I thought you were going to NC.
Oh heck yeah. You go a couple hours away from Chicagoland in any direction and housing prices drop. I'm looking at houses that are twice the size and half the price, no joke. And nope, we're not moving to NC, but we did vacation there last summer.

Well look at it this way….instant fire escape route?? Oh come on, you know eventually Clay is going to microwave something that is going to cause the need for immediate escape and what better way to leave then down a slide :)
Hmmm, good point. {{{{{flashback to Clay's egg cooking experience}}}}}

What did you do for Mother's Day?
I did the same stuff I do every day, but I did it while wearing a glamorous dandelion bracelet and I did it in sunny, 70 degre weather so it was a good day!