after all, it's rated PG

Point says:
Men- how old were you when you were allowed to watch one of the greatest movies of all time? The 1976 Academy Awards Best Picture.... Of course im talking about "Patton." I dont remember how old i was when i saw it, but i know i was younger than blake. Hell, i saw the "good the bad and the ugly" by his age. I think it's totally appropriate for young boys to see the classic and epic war movies to give them a good perspective of good and evil. To nurture every young boys drive and desire to watch and learn our countries wonderful history and understand that hardships that our fathers and grandfathers went through and the sacrifices they made.

jennster cries:
good.freaking.god. not.this.topic. fine. FINE!!!! i don't think that blake has any need to see certain movies at his age. which is why i don't let him watch anything PG-13 (i had to watch the harry potter rated pg-13 before i would let him see it). i just think that before we know it, he'll be watching so much crap that i don't think there is any reason to subject him to it now. he's 8 freaking years old. times have changed. kids bring guns to school now and shoot the people they go to school with. i would have to watch patton before i would ever let blake see it and then make the decision on whether it is something that is appropriate or not. blake has the want to see certain movies, but it's my job as his mom to decide if it's right or not. the other thing about these old war movies, is that they are totally over blake's head. he does not understand the story, the history, or anything they talk about. all he freaking processes is the war scenes, the guns, and the crap like that. stuff that i don't really feel like fueling in him... i don't want him to be obsessed with war and shooting and i don't want him to think guns are "cool." because they aren't. and i know that boyfriend is going to say that these movies are all PG, but that's because it was before PG-13 even existed, so that "excuse" doesn't work with me.

Point says:
Its your job to protect him and be sensitive but its "our job" to make him well rounded and balanced. Im not saying that he picks up on everything in the movies but its a starting point and eventually you get the things that go along with it. Its an important part of building a foundation of respect and honor for our nations military and country. I think its better to watch them supervised with someone that understands and will help explain the gravity of the situations in the movies.

btw: guns are cool.

jennster:
all i want is for there to be balance and reason. i'm not opposed to him watching them EVER, i just don't think he should be watching certain things right this very moment! why does he "need" it? what does it offer him positively right now that he is actually understanding and comprehending??? nothing. those movies are so far above his head and you know it. you just don't want to admit it because you want to watch them with him. which is fine, but why does it have to be NOW????

Designated Driver

Tony Said:

Where did you learn how to drive? Oh, that's right, Los Angeles. It's people like you that are the cause of road rage. I get very nervous every time you drive, and why? Because you do things like drive on the wrong side of the road and you don' t know what the difference between a white line and a yellow line is. Then, when I'm trying to tell you that you are on the wrong side of the road what do you do? Yell at me! As if it's my fault you didn't pay attention to the road in the first place. All L.A. drivers should have their licenses taken away.

Allie Said:

You know i think God made a mistake he gave you a penis when he really should of made it a vagina. You are such a complainer and not to mention such a woman. I am a fine driver. so i got on the wrong side of the road for a second. and its not like traffic was moving they were all at a light. and you didn't have to yell at me. you made it worse by freaking out the driver and everyone knows you are not supposed to do that.

Tony Said:

I'm a complainer? I didn't realize that trying to save us from a possible head-on collision was considered complaining. Our daughter was in the car. Remember her? The one who came out of your vagina. And speaking of that, my penis fits me just fine thank you very much. But enough about that, just know that if you do something that puts us in danger, you can bet your ass on it that I'm going to bring it to your attention. You were lucky that oncoming traffic was stopped at a light, what if they weren't?

Allie Said:

No lets not even get started with how many times you have screwed up. You're always up on other cars asses and having to slam on the breaks to prevent a wreck and do you remember the time our lives almost ended because you were not paying attention when you switched lanes?

Tony Said:

Typical woman tactics...turning it around on me. This conversation is over!

The Safety Police

Jill Says

Sometimes I’m reluctant to leave the kids alone in Eric’s care. It’s not that he’s an inattentive parent. Well, not COMPLETELY inattentive, that is. Just mostly inattentive. Like, hypothetically speaking, he’s the kind of dad who might hypothetically let his baby daughter fall off a chair and hit her head when he was supposed to be watching her, but instead was busy filling out his NCAA brackets. . . . That’s just a hypothetical, mind you.

When I’m away, I often have visions of what might be going on at home. I picture the two little kids having a picnic of Comet cleanser in the kitchen, while the teenagers crank the “Dazed and Confused” soundtrack and light up in the basement. And Eric? In my imagination he would probably be reading the sports page in the bathroom. Realistically I know that would never happen, but I can’t help but worry. Wouldn’t you?

Now I know what Eric will say to all this. That I’m the safety police. It bugs him that I ALWAYS wear my seatbelt. It annoys him when I insist on jackets and hats in cold weather. Or helmets for bicycle riding. He also thinks it’s unnecessary that I still have our five-year-old riding in his Britax car seat. Although. . . here’s a little Public Service Announcement for the readers: the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration strongly recommends a car seat or booster for all children under age eight. So there, Eric.

Eric Says

Wait a minute . . . our five-year old needs to be in a car seat? That sounds totally bogus to me. Next thing you know they’re going to tell me I can’t smoke around kids anymore. Or that the kids can’t play "kick the can" at the landfill. Well I, for one, am sick of the safety police telling me what I can and cannot do. I don't feel the need to follow any of these so-called "safety rules" to keep kids safe. I can just keep 'em safe by instinct. I go by my own experiences. I mean,when I was a kid, they hadn’t even invented car seats yet (at least that's what mom told me) and I don’t remember suffering too much auto-related head trauma (except for that time that I fell out of grandma’s car, but that was only one time, and she wasn’t even going that fast). So what I'm saying is that I’m pretty sure our five-year old will be just fine sitting up front with me in the car. And don’t even get me started on bike helmets. Can a bike helmet stop a bullet? I think not. So how are you gonna tell me my kid will be safe just because he’s wearing a bike helmet? I rest my case.

Anyway, Jill, since you asked by starting this blog post, let me just say, trust me, you DO NOT want to know what goes on around here when you are not around. The lesson, as always . . . never put me in charge of anything.

So who’s on safety patrol at your house?

Who Are You, and What Have You Done with My Wife?

John: There is a thought that two hearts that love one another decide one day that marriage is the beginning of spending the rest of your life together with your best friend. In some cases, a woman will marry a man for his potential of being a great husband (with a bit of training assumed). And in the man's case he marries the woman to either prove to her that he's committed to her and/or basically just wants the good relationship he has to never change. I give you "My Top Five Reasons Why My Wife is not The Woman I Married".

5) Before we were married Jen would never comment if I left my clothes on the floor. She'd simply pick it up, move it out of the the way, and toss it in the laundry. Now she throws attitude and says, "Did you hire a maid? 'Coz I know I ain't gettin' paid to do this shit!"

4) When Jen and I met she understood that I worked twelve hours a day. Now that she watches our children everyday I normally get a phone call around lunchtime wanting to know when I plan on coming home.

3) Jen used to be so relaxed and easy-going about everything. Now every minute of every hour of every day of my life is scheduled in her calendar.

2) When we first met I really took note that she had everything together. Now her scatter-brain seems to intensify with each year. She's locking herself out of the house more, she's locking herself out of the car more. To the point that AAA has sent a notice saying that we're nearing our annual limit for service calls. We're allowed four and she's called three times to have them come and unlock the car door for her - in the last nine months!!!

1) In dating, having sex was always a given (big reason why I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her!). Now, sex is just in between her complaints of "I carried your children for eighteen months!" and "Don't even think about it until every single thing in the house is in its place."

Jen's Take:
Oh! So you wanna go there, eh? Alrighteee then, let's go!

5) Dating Days: John was very particular about his clothing - even dressed down he was well put together.
Married Life: He's happy throwing an outfit together fresh from the floor; kind of like a smorgasbord of dirty laundry that'll "iron itself out with a little water and body heat".

4) Dating Days: We both had a life outside of our home. We knew that after work the only place we needed to be was either at a bar or home for sex.
Married Life: Who can spend twelve hours straight with two kids without calling your significant other to ask that question? And, BTW, it's really not asking when he'll be home but more a hint that he needs to be home at an acceptable hour! (read: either by dinner or before I lose my friggin' mind!)

3) Dating Days: The only things a calendar was good for back in the good 'ol days was for remembering people's birthdays and keeping track of my period.
Married Life: Not only am I the head chef, maid, gopher, chauffeur, etc. but I'm also expected to be a kickass secretary (and not only for my kids schedules!) so, you're damned right I'm going to have e-vuh-ry minute accounted for just so I know where we're all supposed to be at any given time of the day. Sidenote to Hubby - welcome to the rest of your life, motha-f'er!

2) Okay, I've got nothin' on this one. But it should please you to know that after the last incident I immediately went to the AAA office and got a copy of the key made! (gimme a break, only four calls per year?? Insane!)

1) Dating Days: What else was there to do? I mean there was more time for small talk and creativity for romancing one another.
Married Life: When is there really any time to breathe, let alone lie still long enough to get the sex on (without falling asleep first)? Seriously, the sex, that's what got us in this mess in the first place!

John: Thank you for proving my point, Honey. Now if anybody out there has seen my sweetheart of a girlfriend who made me fall head over heels in love with her, please ask her to come and claim her body from my bossy-biatch of a wife.

Jen: Ha! That's very funny, Honey! Now, why don't you say "bye-bye" to these nice people for whom you are obviously showing off. The next time I let you have your balls we'll just see who's to be called the 'biatch', Biatch!

Every emotion rolled into a teeny ball

Jenn said:
Happiness, excitement, anxiety, fear, sadness, and wonder are swirling around my head at a record pace these last couple of months. Everything around me has turned into a muffled hum as I try to contemplate in my mind what this will mean, and how it will change all of our lives. You see, we're going to have another baby.

It is very exciting, and we did plan it, but now that it's here it's kind of hard to wrap your head around! I look at Althea and think, WOW! How could she be a big sister? She's such a peanut! Plus, she's my baby! *sniff* Does this mean she's not my baby anymore?? And, she's so used to getting all of our attention, how will she deal? Will she be a helper? Will she start throwing tantrums? Will she start to revert backwards like everyone says? And what exactly does that mean, anyway? Is this going to ruin her wonderful disposition?

And what about Mike? He will have to take on more and more. Will he snap? He's so good as is, but we will both need to step it up in order to survive. Will he think I'm asking too much of him? He so easily adapts to changes so I don't know why I would think that. I wonder if he will end up spending more time with Allie or with the new baby? Will we each end up with one child that we are more responsible for, or we will both do both? I wonder what he's writing in his post right now?

Then there is me. Am I ready for this? Will I get more stretch marks? Will I ever be skinny again, or has that ship sailed? Will I have the stamina to wake up every 3 hours in the middle of the night again? Will I hear the baby cry? I've become more accustomed to ignoring Allie for a little while if she cries at night, will I remember that I can't do that with the new one?

UGH Breastfeeding. I want to be able to do it so bad. I do NOT want to bail on it like I did with Althea. I'll have more time off for maternity leave this time so I really have no excuse, but OMG it was the hardest thing I ever had to do. I KNOW that if I just pull through that hard time it will get better, but for some reason that didn't help at the time when I was crying my eyes out not wanting to feed Allie because it hurt so bad, and she was crying her eyes out hungry. I wonder if I get a lactation consultant this time, instead of pretending that I knew everything 5 seconds after becoming a mother, if it will help? I guess it couldn't hurt.

But also.......awwww I can't wait to have a little teeny baby again! Can't wait to show Allie her new brother or sister. Can't wait to potentially stay home with both of them and give them all my attention and not have to go back to work! (hopefully) Can't wait for that first smile, first roll, first sit, first word, first step all over again.

So, now you know what's going on in my head. Let's see how Mike feels:

Mike says:
So now that Jenn is pregnant with our second child, some things are going to have to change. We both want Jenn to be able to stay home with the kids, so that means that we're losing an income. Can you say, "Tighten that belt?" I knew that you could!

That means:

1. No more new cars for a while. (But I can keep buying different used ones over and over again, right?)
2. More bag lunches at work. (BOR-RING!)
3. Probably carrying a credit card balance for a while. (UGH! I hate this one.)
4. Possibly getting rid of some of the cable channels we have.
5. Making sure I behave at work and control who I want to mouth off at when they piss me off! (which already it's hard for me to keep my mouth shut sometimes)
6. Upgrades on the house may have to wait. (Even the ones I can tackle myself)
7. Making sure we use coupons and buying in bulk whenever possible.
8. More vacations to local destinations (like the Jersey shore..........ICK!).

But it also means:

1. I get to come home to my family every night. (Currently I love it when Jenn beats me home. She and Allie tend to sit in the living room window waiting for me to pull in the driveway. Allie gets all excited and runs to greet me.)
2. No more worrying about who's going to stay home when one of them is sick, or if it's bad weather.
3. I get an extra ½ hour of sleep in the morning since Jenn won't have to get ready too. (YES!)
4. Knowing that my kids will be brought up how we want them, with our values and not someone else's. (This is not a knock on daycare or my in-laws at all).
5. ........and that it's all worth it to have a family.

Jenn chimes back in:
HAHAHA Yea, your gonna get an extra half hour of sleep in the morning. Good thing too, cause your gonna need it from getting up every 3 hours!!! HAHAHAHA your funny.....extra half hour sleep. *snicker*