So I've heard it a million times, hell I've even said it a million times, you can not change someone who isn't willing to change!  I mean sure you can try to make your boyfriend/girlfriend/husband/wife be someone else, but there's a pretty good chance that they are not going to change and an even better chance that they will end up resenting you for trying to make them. 

This whole thing got me thinking about relationships and why people stay in situations that they shouldn't.  Before I go any further let me say that I am guilty of this.  As an adult I have never been single...I seem to go from one bad relationship straight into the next.  I'm constantly staying in relationships that I have no business being in and I don't know why that is.  It's not like I secretly believe that my fiance is going to wake up one morning and be Prince Charming, I know he'll never be everything I want him to be, hell he'll probably never even be close to what I deserve.  But why do we stay in relationships like that?  I mean of course there is the obvious fear of being alone, but chances are most of us won't end up lonely old ladies with 40 cats.  But besides that fear of being alone what makes us stay in relationships that are not good for us?  Why do some of us seem to always sell ourselves short and settle for less than we deserve?  Answers are greatly appreciated as I am currently seriously contemplating life and why mine sucks ass all the time!

Its official… winter is here to stay!  Yesterday I saw the 7 day weather report and it was not pretty…as a matter of fact it was ugly, very ugly, and COLD. 

So today in the midst of hanging more Christmas lights I happened to look out the window and I noticed that it was snowing…for a moment I stood there mesmerized by the blinding white flakes as they poured from the sky…I guess my son was worried that mommy had taken a moment for herself, because he very loudly and with much authority screamed for my attention.  I tore myself away from the window (sadly) and went to attend to him.  It was in that moment I realized two things…One…I was old…and Dos…It wasn’t fair!

When did I become so old that I couldn’t enjoy the site of new fallen snow?  Where is the rule book that states that parents aren’t allowed to enjoy the same things as their children?  Feeling just a little perturbed and more than a little rebellious I decided that I didn’t care what my kids, or anyone for that matter, thought I was going to go play in the snow. 

My oldest daughter realized it first, it’s funny how that works, and promptly questioned why I was putting on my snow boots.  “I’m going to play in the snow!”  I told her with conviction.  She laughed…I mean not some small little chuckle…she full on threw herself on the floor and started rolling as she laughed.  When I asked her what was so funny she informed me that “Um you’re too old to play in the snow.  I mean you’re a mom.”  [Just a heads up…you should never tell your mother that you think she’s old…at least not so close to Christmas, because she will remember that when deciding between the Wii you wanted so badly and the cheap knock-off that’s 75% less at the dollar store.]  I ignored the insult and went back to bundling up to go outside. 

I should have realized when I was so bundled up that I could barely walk that it was a bad idea…but no not me…I stubbornly insisted on going outside to “play” in the snow.  By the time I made it outside I was officially “over it” but there was no way that I was going to give my 3 children (who by this time were laughing at me from the window) the satisfaction of knowing they were right.  So I “played” in the snow; I built a snowman (which was very difficult considering there was only about an inch and a half of snow on the ground), I caught snowflakes on my tongue (no matter what anyone thinks you are never too old  for that one), and I made a snow angel (the looks on my children’s faces as I was laying in the front yard making that snow angel was priceless btw)  I had proven my point and more importantly I had proven my oldest daughter wrong…I was NOT too old to play in the snow!

(Just a little side note:  I really did have fun, and the satisfaction of knowing that I      could still enjoy myself like I did when I was a kid was worth the aching body I now have!)

 So all you moms out there…go out and make a snow angel…you’ll love it!