What a crazy week it has been.  I cannot wait until Jake starts pre-school.  He is bored and I have run out of ways to entertain him I guess.  At school they have a lot going on during the time they are there so when he gets home he is pretty mellow.  My day gets crazy when I try to balance Dante's school work with Jake's mischief!!  When you throw family "issues" into the mix, well long naps are in order.  

My Mom turned 80 this week.  She does pretty well for 80!  It is so hard to get use to the age thing sometimes since I do not feel my own age.  I am so happy that in our society today, age is not looked at the same way it use to be.  I read that 40 is the new 30, 50 is the new 40...so I guess Mom you are 70.  Boy will she be happy  to hear that.

By the way, the white stuff on Jake is baby powder. You should have seen his room. UGH!  What a mess. Now we are into the potty training stage.  I hate the pottery training stage.  What a mess!  :)  We are done with formula, baby food, crib, and baby bottles.  I am thissssss close to freedom.   I am finally done with the baby stage but I still think it is my favorite stage of development.  It moves fast and there is so much to enjoy.  I love my boys and I loved being a foster mom.  I had such beautiful babies.  After 7 babies (Dante then 6 foster babies and finally Jake) I feel very paternally filled up.  Yea!

To bad Dante isn't still a baby. Is 11 the new 20?  Get this, he is 11 and he has a girlfriend.  Well that would be fine except that she wants to DATE!  OMGosh!!! Is she kidding? She calls here often and always asks  Dante to come over. Dante asked me if he could double-date with his friend to the movies with NO adults!  NO WAY, I told him.  I wouldn't let him go to the movies with one of his guy friends alone.  He's 11 for pete sakes.  Anyway, confused and at a total loss for what to do, I got online and googled "11 year olds dating".  Guess what?  That day the New York Times had an article on just that.  Apparently dating as young as 8 is ALL the rage.  Ok, here is where the blog thing really comes in handy.

What parent in their right mind (or not) encourage and allow their 8 year old child to have a date?  The article said that parents drive the "couple" (for lack of better term) to dinner and then pick them up for a movie at one of their homes.  That is INSANE!  Insane I tell you.   The article talked about how parents seem to be so concerned with their childs socialization that they think there is no harm in their child going out to dinner or wherever with what they consider to be their boy/girl friend.

So, I got on Focus on the Family's website and this is what they say.  Talk to your child about the true purpose of dating (which Dante says means you like someone) which is to  find a life mate.  That at 11 there is still so many areas of life to explore and learn about that it is very difficult to know what kind of mate you need or want.  Ok, so I tell Dante all that and he says to me, "Mom, it's only a movie!"   Ahhhhh, if only he was 2 again.  

Now I am off to family night where we spend more time trying to make up our minds what to do/watch than we do doing it!?  But still we have fun.  Take care and I will talk to you soon.