Parents are people too

Kids seem to think that parents do not have a life. Besides the fact that we are raising them, feeding them, bathing them and indulging them. We are not allowed to watch our own shows, surf the net, or read quietly in the living room. Our daily life must revolve around their every need and desire. Unfortunately, we fall into their little “baby made” traps, and fail to realize that we still need a life. We forget that we married someone because we actually loved them, we were passionate about them, and we got butterflies when we saw them. Sure, the butterflies go away (sometimes, replaced by ulcer like feelings.lol) but the love and the passion gets put on the back burner. It’s obvious when we become parents our time shifts, our priorities change and our activities become child friendly. Our TV channel remains on Treehouse or Family. CD’s in the car turn into Hannah Montana and Blue’s Clues Adventures. Some people say we lose a part of ourselves, I disagree; I think we gain our childhood back. It is obviously different, but the same excited feeling. The feeling of meeting Dora at Wonderland, because we see the smile on our daughter’s face. Or, the look on our son’s face when you hand them a signed hockey stick from CUJO. We live our youth all over again, while raising them.
A relationship between husband and wife must change with that. We both carry the same goals for the future, the same goals for the present. We love each other, but we put that aside from 7am-9pm when the kids are awake and need our every waking attention. We both will drop anything if one of the kids yells for HELP! (Which happens quite often in our home). We build a house into a home. A home filled with kids laughing and crying, fighting and wrestling, eating and making a mess. We married because we both had the same goal; to become parents together. The road along the way is bumpy, a roller coaster ride, but as long as you keep your eye on the ball and remember why you signed up for the ride in the first place, you will survive. Parenthood is a battle, a journey and a lesson. It teaches us that we can love beyond lust, passion and Jon Bon Jovi..lol(I had to throw that in). We celebrate each year, one day, the day we said “I do”. This year it will be my 10 year anniversary. 4 kids, 1000 arguments, and also 1000 laughter’s later. We are still kicking it together. The job is hard, long and sometimes it sucks, but doing it together as a team, makes it easier and sometimes less painful.
My parents are in their 60’s now, and they travel to Florida every couple of months. I bug them about it because I like to get on my mother’s nerves..lol, but they deserve every sun worshiping minute of it. They raised 4 daughters and it is their turn to reap their rewards. We all hope we can get to that place in life.
We sometimes forget that we need more than 1 night away, maybe even, a few a year. We also sometimes forget to say thank you, or please, or you look great honey. We sometimes take our journey for granted, we forget about how important our job is, as a team. One day, all the kids will leave the house, and besides the furniture, light fixtures, and some rugs, what remains is 2 people. 2 people that fell in love so many years back, 2 people that brought human beings in the world. Hopefully, 2 people that went out more than once a year, because we realized way back then, that parents are people too!
That’s my peace today!

Lasagna
1 pack of fresh or dry egg pasta (for lasagna)
1 pound of minced veal
1 800 gram pack of shredded mozzarella
2 cans or jars of tomato sauce
1/4 chopped basil
1/2 diced onion
4 tbsp olive oil

Cook sauce, put aside. Heat a pan, add oil, onions, basil and meat. Cook until no longer pink. Put aside. If you are using dry egg pasta you can get Paeso Mio brand they do not need to be pre boiled and they come out perfect for this. If you are using fresh pasta you must dip in boiling water for 1 minute and pat dry before arranging. In a 9x13 pan, pour some sauce (enough to thinly cover bottom), arrange pasta in one direction to completely cover pan, pour a layer of sauce, meat, and mozzarella.(I usually add some sauce in the meat mixture so it is wet and saucy). Repeat steps until you reach to the top of the pan. Finish with pasta layer and top with sauce and mozzarella. Cover with foil and bake at about 385 degrees for an hour (until cheese melts and bubbles.)