By now, I am sure you all have heard about the college admissions scandal being blasted across the news. Fifty some odd people, including two famous actresses, have been accused of handing out bribes to get their children into college. Well some say, including me, what else is new? This has been going forever. Ever wonder how the majority of children of famous people end up at really good schools? Coincidence? I think not. In any case, I am not writing today to bash wealthy celebrities. I am writing to talk about what the heck are we doing to our kids?
I am a mom of a 17 year old junior in high school. From the time he entered high school, heck even before that, there has been all sorts of talk about what he needs to do because it looks good on college applications. There is pressure for kids to be in honors/AP classes, play a sport every season, volunteer, join a club, get a job and the list goes on and on. The kids put the pressure on themselves, but as parents we seem to do a pretty good job of doing too. Heck, I am guilty of it. The first two years of his high school career was a lot of me telling him what do to. Not just guiding him, but tell him to do A, B & C. I was not letting him figure it out on his own. I was not letting him fall and make his own mistakes. I was doing him a disservice and driving us both crazy in the process! You can read more about what we struggled with here. https://lifeatmyownpace.com/lessons-in-motherhood/
It is no wonder these kids are being diagnosed with anxiety. It is no wonder these kids have such issues problem solving. As parents, we are there every step of the way holding their hand, not letting them fail. If we want to raise self sufficient, productive members of society we need to stop. We need to stop pushing them into doing things they don’t want to do and stop preventing them from failing. It is so much easier said than done. Believe me, I understand. However, in the long run, this is what is best for our kids. I am sure going to try my hardest, are you?
My Mom was funny when it came to clothes and such. Growing up, she rarely spent money on herself. As we got older and starting buying our things, she started to do the same. She would see something that me or my sisters was wearing and go out and buy it. Oh and if it came in multiple colors, she would buy one of each. At any given time, you could check out her clothes line (yes she still used one) and see the same shirt in every color of the rainbow. One day my middle sister came by with a pairs of shoes. They were a type of sandal and she told Mom they were super comfy. Mom went out and bought herself a white pair.
That summer, my parents, kids and I took a week long trip to Washington, DC. We spent 6 days walking about town, taking in all the sites. My Mom wore the shoes everywhere.
She put some serious mileage on those shoes. Upon returning home, my sister, Kristen saw her in them. She said “Oh Jeanne, where did you get those moon shoes?” Well needless to say, we all thought it was funny, but Mom did not. We never saw those shoes again. LOL!
It’s the little stories like this, that help us keep it together during the month of March. This week in particular is rough. She was sent home with hospice this time 5 years ago. However, I am determined to remember the good vs the bad as the 24th of March comes upon us.
Today I are going to talk about Day 6 of our embedded Adventures by Disney (ABD) trip. For those of you that don’t know, an embedded ABD is an Adventures by Disney trip that is done while on a Disney cruise. Instead of booking excursions through the cruise line, all the excursions are done through Adventures by Disney. I highly recommend it and looking forward to doing many more in the future.
The boat docks about an hour and half away from Rome. We were the first ones off the boat, onto the bus and off to our first stop…the Vatican. I was looking forward to visiting Rome, especially the Vatican. I am Catholic and as a Catholic, this is it. This is the where it all happens. There is so much history and power in this tiny little country. With that being said, as beautiful as it was, I was kind of sad that is has become this big tourist attraction. I had always envisioned walking up to it by way of the square. Well.. you don’t. You enter from the back (you do see the old Vatican wall, which is cool) and it is like entering any other museum. Oh and by the way, the square looks so much bigger in t.v.
First, our ABD guides and our local guide took us aside and told us what we would see in the Sistine Chapel. They had a map and pointed out all the different paintings. They did because, no is suppose to speak inside the chapel or take photos. I was disappointed about the photos, but I understood.
However, prior to touring the Sistine Chapel, we walked the museum. It is very lovely and holds so much history. It is also very crowded. You really don’t walked the museum, you do the Vatican Shuffle. There were different rooms that we walked though along the tour. There is a Gallery of the Maps, the Gallery of the Tapestries, the Gallery of the Candelabra and much more. Here are a few shots as we moved room to room.
The last room we were to see was the Sistine Chapel. I wish we could have taken photos. However, the photos probably would not have done it justice. It is simply breathtaking. Prior to going in, I mentioned our guides gave us a bit of history lesson on the chapel and Michelangelo. The chapel was created in 1508-1512. It is named for Pope Sixtus IV. Despite what people think, he did not paint the ceiling lying down. He had special scaffolding made so he could stand. There are over 300 figures painted in the chapel. There are numerous biblical scenes, such as the creations of Adam and Eve, the sacrifice of Noah and the Great Flood. Thousands of visitors tour the chapel each year. It is also where the cardinals meet to elect a new Pope. I encourage you to look online for photos. It is quite remarkable.
After visiting the chapel, it was on to St. Peter’s Basilica. This was another breathtaking work of art. I was hopeful we may run into Pope Francis. He has been known to wander about and meet people. No such luck for us. Inside the Basilica, we saw The Pieta, the statue by Michelangelo depicting Jesus in the arms of his mother after the Crucifixion. My photo does not do this justice either.
After visiting St. Peter’s we had our photos taken and then some time for shopping. From there we had another fantastic lunch. The food in Italy was amazing. Even our oldest, who will not eat pasta here at home, loved it. From there we did a walking tour and saw iconic sights, such as the Trevi Fountain, Piazza Venezia where the Vittoria Emanuele ll Monument is located, ancient Rome, the Roman Forum and the Colosseum.
The Trevi Fountain was another must on my bucket list. While it is beautiful, it was extremely crowded. One has to really push their way to the front to have their picture taken. Of course, we had to throw a coin over our shoulder. This will ensure that we will return to Rome one day.
Our last stop in this incredible city, the Colosseum. This was remarkable. From a distance, it looked fake. It reminded me of a backdrop on a movie set.
The adults and kids split up and the kids did a separate tour that involved gladiator costumes. My oldest did that, but my 13 year old stuck with the adults. In his words, he did not need it to be dumbed down for him. God help me. This kid a something else! Some interesting facts about The Colosseum. It was built in under ten years, mostly by Jewish slaves. Over a million animals and over a half million people died in The Colosseum. Also, The Colosseum had a marble facade and marble seats, however when St. Peter’s Basilica was being built, they took the marble from the Colosseum and used it there. Finally, it is the most visited site in Italy. The Vatican does receive more visitors, but that is not part of Italy. It is its own principality.
All and all, it was a fantastic day in Rome. We saw so much, yet there is still so much to be seen. I am looking forward to heading back in the next few years.
My Mom was a great Mom. She unselfishly gave all she had to her family. She never wanted to appear that she was a bother. Unfortunately, that may have been one of the reasons she hid her and ignored her symptoms for so long. Growing up, I don’t recall a time when she wasn’t there. When we were little she worked nights and we hung with Dad. Then she stopped working for a while to take care of us. When my baby sister went off to school, she worked part time to make a little extra money for herself. However, we were always her priority. She taught and raised us to be strong, independent women. We each took a different path than she did, but she instilled in us what was truly important in this life, family.
Then along came grandkids. As if she did not shine enough as a Mom, she sparkled as a Grammy. She was born for this role. When I was pregnant with Robbie, I had been researching daycares. I was planning to go back to work and was spending my time researching a good fit for my baby. Well, that boy wasn’t even 12 hours old and she marched into that hospital room and said “No grandchild of mine is going to daycare.” Ohhh.. okay then, Mom. She was not one you really wanted to argue with over certain things. At that moment, there grew a bond between her and her grandkids that will never be broken, even in death.
Robbie was her first. The moon and stars revolved around this child. He could do no wrong in her eyes. He adored her. For the first year of his life, she watched him 4 days a week. A year later, I started a new job and he went to “school” for a couple of days. She didn’t like that. LOL! Nicholas made his appearance 3.5 half years later. Again, she was willing to take him on, as she did Robbie. To help ease the work and because he really needed it socially, Robbie went off to pre-school and pre-k. Neither Robbie or my Mom was overjoyed at that. Both felt they were being ripped apart from each other. They got over it though. Well.. maybe… 🙂
I will be forever grateful for the bond my boys shared with my Mom. I will be forever grateful I had the honor to call her Mom.
Ha, you didn’t know I had a 3rd child did you? He is the perfect kid. He is always glad to see me, never talks back and low maintenance. Well… low maintenance may not be so accurate. In any case, my baby is 6 years old today!
This is Bauer Bruin and he is our six year old English Labrador Retriever. He is simply the best dog in the world. He is named after two of my favorite things. Bauer is after Jack Bauer from the show 24. Do any of you remember that show? I loved it. Then Bruin is for my favorite hockey team, the Boston Bruins. We have had him since he was 8 weeks old and he brings so much love and joy into our home.
Each year , we celebrate by having cake and showering him with gifts. Here are some cute photos from today.
So, what about you? Do you celebrate your pet’s birthday. I would love to hear all about it.
