When did my little boy turn into a Moody little Monster?

My little 4 yr old boy has always been rambunctious (just like most boys at that age) but lately he has taken it to a whole other level! He's mood swings at times can be bipolar. One minute he is totally happy and the next minute, watch out. He is in pre k so I am just thinking that it is just from the big adjustment from being at home with his family every day to now having to be around all these new people. Most adults don't handle adjustments well and hell sometimes I don't like meeting new people, so I don't really blame him. The first week of school was rough (whether it was rougher on me or him that is still to be determined) but now he is better and there are only the occasional days where he cries when he gets dropped off but this new attitude has emerged. We try to be very encouraging but still let him know that their are behavioral boundaries that he knows he can't cross but kids jobs are to test you to the limit at times, right? All I can say is that at school he is an angel. The teachers rarely have to really get on to him (or redirect them as they refer to it) and for that I am thankful but at times I think he seems that he is struggling with the fact that he is the baby of the family but he is no longer a baby. And, believe me it is hard for me to believe that he isn't the baby anymore...So to this I let out a big sigh and say to myself that I guess it is a Stage...Oh, how I pray it is b/c if not Mommy is going to take a nice little vacation to the hotel with the nice padded walls!!

Extreme Couponing...How do they do that??

Ok, so I know that everyone has been coupon clipping crazy since the show Extreme couponing came on. I was very intrigued by the fact that these people where saying this crazy amount of money every time that they went shopping but just how in the hell do they do it??? After watching a few episodes, my husband and I thought that it would be awesome if we started doing this and could save all this money. So, on Sunday down to the gas station I went to buy my newspaper. I am really excited by the fact that we could have all this extra money. So, I start clipping and looking at all of the coupons and the first thing that I notice is we don't use 75% of these products. But, I finish clipping and even went to the dollar store and purchased one of those small coupon folders. Then, without a real plan I decide to go to Kroger with all my coupons and I am confident that I will save tons of money. Well, all I can say about that trip is that it took me twice as long (about 2 damn hours) but I did end up saving 50.00. I was excited to save 50.00 but when I looked at what was in my cart it ended up being a whole lot of odd-end stuff. There aren't put together meals and meats (there are never coupons for meats), its 4 boxes of toothpaste, 2 packs of hot dogs, 24 pack of toilet paper, and 2 for 1 pack of ice cream sandwiches(you get the point). I just want to know how some people can sit down and clip and organize and get everything that they need for a week or two weeks worth of groceries? It could be that I am not the most organized person in the world...Ok, I am so far from organized that it can be pitiful sometimes! I like the savings but the matching stores with coupons and the lists (I have never made shopping lists...I like to wing it), it almost seems too much work...Is it worth the savings to keep trying or should I just say f*** it??

My daughter's first encounters with a bully...

Let me start out by saying that this incident has occurred twice since the school year has started and it was only a push but it made me infuriated...My daughter is a first grader and a really good kid. She comes home one day and tells me that this girl in her class pushed her on the playground. So I ask, what was the reason that she pushed you and her reply is that she said the girl said she didn't want to play and she didn't like her so she pushed her and walked away. My first reaction was (right or wrong) Why didn't you hit the little girl (thought in my head...little ass) back? And she said that you are not supposed to hit people and that she didn't want to be a mean. I explained to her that I didn't want her to feel bullied and this girl is not a friend if she treats you like this. I told her that the next time it happened I wanted her to either tell the teacher what was going on or (if a teacher wasn't readily available) I wanted her to stick up for herself (hit the little shit). She felt very uncomfortable with that and that made me worry...Should I tell my daughter or son for that matter to hit the bully back?? That is what I was taught when I started school. I know times have changed and violence isn't the answer (or is it?) but I can not stand the thought of someone making my child feel bad or hurting them? So I can't say that I gave her the best advice but I can tell you that when I grew up that approach worked for me and when show that person you aren't going to be pushed around for the most part they back off!! So how have you handled this issues with your little ones??

Newbie

Well this blogging thing is totally new to me but I thought what the hell, lets give it a try. The past few weeks, I have been reading some great mom blogs and thought that it would be fun to be able to write about my daily life as a Mom and be able to share some triumphs and failures of my own. It's good to know that at that moment that you feel like you are about to snap, that as a mom you are totally not alone. Or those times that your little ones doing something so small and it just makes you so happy and you feel the need to share...Well to another mommy (of course) that sees these things as some of the happiest times in your life and aren't looking at you with two heads...(Like the times you dance around the house because instead of changing one more dripping wet pullup, your child uses the potty.) I love being a Mom every day, including the hard ones when you want to lock yourself in the bathroom until it's bedtime! So, more to come soon and I hope you enjoy reading...