My Favorite Child

Many times people ask me as a mother of 5 that surely I have a favorite child. When ever I am asked that question I remember back a long, long time ago when I came across an article by the brilliant Erma Bombeck. (If you are too young to know who she is, please google her name and do a little homework.) I found that article she wrote and copied it below. Yes, every mother has her favorite, Erma will tell you who it is!


FAVORITE CHILD
by Erma Bombeck — May 10, 1981

Every mother has a favorite child.
She cannot help it. She is only human.
I have mine.
That child for whom I feel a special closeness. The one I reach out to in a rare moment, to share a love that no one else could possibly understand.
My favorite child is the one who was too sick to eat the ice cream at his birthday party, had measles at Christmas and wore leg braces to bed because he toed in.
She was the fever in the middle of the night, the asthma attack, the child in my arms at the emergency ward.
My favorite child spent Christmas alone away from the family, was stranded after the game with a gas tank on E, lost the money for his class ring.
My favorite child is the one who screwed up the piano recital, misspelled committee in a spelling bee, ran the wrong way with the football and had his bike stolen because he was careless.
My favorite child is the one who fell asleep over an assignment on China that the teacher never bothered to grade, flunked her driver’s test five times and told us she could hardly wait to get out of the house.
My favorite child is the one I punished for lying, grounded for insensitivity to other people’s feelings and informed he was a royal pain to the entire family.
My favorite child slammed doors in frustration, cried when she didn’t think I saw her, withdrew and said she could not talk to me.
My favorite child always needed a haircut, had hair that wouldn’t curl, had no date for Saturday night and a car that cost $600 to fix.
My favorite child said dumb things for which there were no excuses. He was selfish, immature, bad-tempered and self-centered. He was vulnerable, lonely, unsure of what he was doing in this world ... and quite wonderful.
The one I’ve loved most is the one whom I’ve watched struggle and --- because the struggle was his --- done nothing.
All mothers have their favorite child. It is always the same one, the one who needs you at the moment for whatever reason --- to cling to, to shout at, to hurt, to hug, to flatter, to reverse charges to, to unload on, to use — but mostly, to be there.

Chris's birthday weekend

Saturday was Chris's birthday, after spending the day running the kids all over, fixing a toilet, fixing a fence, doing laundry, etc I decided to take Chris out to dinner, just the 2 of us to celebrate his b-day. On Sunday, we celebrated his birthday with the kids. Above is Kami helping making Chris's b-day dinner.

Here's the gang waiting to eat dinner.

Waiting for Chris so we can sing "Happy Birthday."

Singing time!

Chris blowing out his candles with a little help from Kami and CJ.

When it's just the 7 of us for cake, (or in this case, brownies), the kids love when I just hand out forks and yell, "DIG IN!"

Yummo!

Leftovers anyone?

Kylie's 15th birthday

Kylie's birthday celebrations actually started this past Saturday when she got her belly buttoned pierced. Then on Sunday she celebrated her birthday with her Godparents and Grandparents.
Finally, today we celebrated he birthday with just the 7 of us.
Here she is after school, waiting for everyone to get home so she can begin to open her gifts.
Kami made a card for Kylie at preschool today.

I think she likes it!

After she opened her gifts we all headed to Uno's for dinner. Here's the crew before dinner arrived.

And of course we wouldn't be Hartman's if there wasn't a silly photo.

Finally, it's time for cake! I think it is safe to say that Kylie had a fabulous day!

Avery's Birthday!

Avery's 9th birthday. Her birthday dinner choice...TACOS.

After dinner she opened her gifts. Top on her list was noisy putty. It makes a farting noise when you squish it. Lucky me!

Avery walked passed this large gift several times and never saw it. Finally, we pointed it out to her.

A new bike!

Then it was time for cake! If you look closely, it says "Happy Birthday Ave" She didn't notice that either. I ran out of the gel icing after the 'e'


Today

Father / Daughter Dance

After 2 cancellations because of snow, last night Avery and Chris finally headed to father/daughter dance at our elem school. Below is what I get when I ask for a pic.
Finally, I had to yell at my two goof balls for a serious pic....

Another Exciting Night

Tuesday night was CJ's final wrestling meet of the season. He started off great. He took his guy down to the mat, and hit his knee the wrong way causing it to dislocate. He tapped out of the match, and just laid on the mat with pain on his face. Not a pleasant moment for the mom!
The trainer and the coaches ran out to be with him. The trainer worked on his knee for a few minutes and popped his knee back in its place. They helped him off the mat and then iced his knee. The trainer told us it was the worst dislocated kneecap he has ever seen. He also told us that we would need to take CJ to an orthopedic surgeon in the morning. So, this afternoon he was seen by the orthopedic. The good doctor told us he just needed to wear a brace for a few weeks, limit his activity, and head back to his office in 4 weeks for follow up. All's well that ends well!

A Hartman Valentine!

Tonight the 7 of us celebrated Valentine's Day with crab fettuccine, sparking cider and strawberry shortcake for dessert. Another perfect day!