Snips and Snails...

I have nothing else interesting to write about so I thought I'd tell a story from last year. It was an invasion. We had snails eating every inch of the garden, breading, and they were eating whatever was left. Big snails, small snails, I'm calling all snails :) They even invaded our fruit trees. Have you ever even heard of that? I hadn't- but apparently they like citrus trees. Crazy! So I went though the yard with the "Snail Death" and covered everything. We were under fire and had to defend ourselves and our fruit!!!

This was around the time we started allowing Mason to wander freely, semi-unsupervised in the back yard. Granted there are things he could get into- but he was never interested in those things so we felt fairly safe about it. One morning I was in the shower and Nate opened the back door to let Mason go wandering in the back. Nate walked inside for a minute and then returned to the backyard to oversee Mason's boy-ish backyard adventures. As Nate walks into the backyard, all of the sudden I hear "Mason, oh god, MASON, UGH! Get that out of your mouth, Oh GOD, Gross! Mason, UGH, gross!! Spit it out!!" HAHAHAAAA- I'm sure by now you are putting 2 and 2 together- wondering why I was rambling on and on about the snails in our yard...but yes, it's true...yours and my worst fears...Mason had a snail in his mouth. Oh my goodness, we were just waiting for the "crunch". Thankfully, it never came- but it's one of my most vivid memories from Mason's first year. I hope you got just as much of a giggle out of it as I do.

Tantrums and terrible twos

Boy, oh boy, was it an afternoon. One tantrum after another and I was ready to drive us all off the Golden Gate in search of a peaceful place in the clouds. Everyone has their limits and I guess Mason reached his- but I definitely reached mine shortly thereafter. He's just at an age that is impossible- it's a constant battle with him over every little thing. And I question everything- what am I doing wrong- why is my precious adorable child acting like a person belonging to a straight jacket? Do I need to call Nanny 911? Did I miss this chapter in the How to raise a respectible, well-behaved child book? The problem is there is no answer-just the one you find through trial and ERROR, lots of error. I just have to tell myself everyday that, I am doing my best- my very best, 110% of my effort. That is what I have to give. That is all I have to give. And through that, I just hope, beyond all hopes, that I can manage to give him the tools to succeed in society and for us both to survive the process...