Welcome to the madness…

Welcome to the madness and the merriment.  The Marino household is one of love and of chaos.  On any given day – you will hear the cacophony of 4 kids laughing and out-singing (shouting? screaming?) one another while you will simultaneously hear such random pouty declarations of “MY LIFE IS TERRIBLE!!!” and “I WISH I COULD MOVE OUT!”

Madness.  And merriment.  So – the last thing I have time for is a blog. Between the dog, the 5-year-old who thinks he’s a teenager, the two almost teenaged girls who act like they’re 5 (not always, but often), and the 10-year-old who runs deeper than any ocean and requires deep philosophical and/or psychological discussions CONSTANTLY – – I am hanging by a very thin thread. But, my kids believe I am on social media far too much, and I reluctantly admit they are correct.  I’ve embraced – and become addicted to -social media because of the short and sweet style; the instant gratification; the perceived ability to make others happy with all that makes the Marino house both mad and merry.  But – the flip side of that is the endless hours of checking for updates, likes and comments, which not only became a time vacuum – but a self-respect vacuum as well.

I’m done.  I mean – I’ll still check in weekly; more often if there is due cause.  But henceforth – I will do my sharing via lengthier, *hopefully* more enjoyable posts on this – my blog.  My hope is that all the folks who have “liked” me on Facebook – will have even more to like when they really dig deep and get to know the madnessandmerrimemt that is my every day.  Maybe you will enjoy watching us in a morbid curiosity kind of way – like a car wreck from which you can’t look away.  Or, maybe you have simply grown tired of the forever stream of blog-esses waxing poetic about their very perfect lives; in their very perfect homes; with their precious babies and their brand-name clothing and you need a less-than-perfect life to peek into to make you feel more normal.

Or – better still – maybe you are a true friend or family member who will enjoy seeing pictures and hearing detailed play-by-plays of the highs and the lows of life with my mad and merry brood.  Perhaps you think I’ve got it all under control – I promise you that faithful reading of my blog posts will prove otherwise.

In fact, I actually consider these little entries to be my very cost-effective (FREE!) therapy.  I have many, many balls up in the air and I am constantly dropping some – – some of them more fragile and shattered beyond repair than others.  So, please don’t be shy if/when I appeal to you all to provide tips, tricks, guidance, advice and/or most importantly – – recipes for children who will only eat crackers, peanut butter and cheerios.  Seriously – recipes with chicken, meat, fish – – don’t even bother.

Lastly – I have decided to take some time and actually WRITE one of the many books that have been swimming around in my head for decades.  I hope that by giving this blog some attention, I will sharpen some of my skills; relearn how to show and not tell; rediscover all the vocabulary I have lost by spending all of my time with itty bitty people who showed no interest in latin roots.  Humor me – and do feel free to offer the encouraging word here and there!  Maybe I’ll thank you in the book’s dedication.

On that note – time for me to boogie as my socially anxious pup is about to attack his reflection and I think there is talk of a pencil stabbing coming from the upstairs homework desk.  Stay tuned – because there will be madnessandmerriment to share tomorrow…