Talk about a #FavortieThingsFriday item, this is one of my ALL TIME favorites! The Roomba vacuum! I have had one since they came out with them. I've run through a few too in the past 15 years. Right now I have two of them. One for upstairs, one for the main floor. And I will guarantee you the next time I find a good sale, there will be one for the basement too!

These Roombas are schedule-able. Every morning at 9am and 10am they start their journey through the rooms and clean until the carpet sensors say the rooms are clean, or until the battery wears down 2 hours later. Then, they tuck themselves into their base and charge.

I joke often that I don't have pets wandering around my feet. I have robots!

But this handy guy makes my house look nice all the time. To keep your carpets nice, they recommend that you vacuum them each day. **sigh** Who wants to do that? But with the Roomba you can!

Until I got the Roomba for upstairs, the carpet very rarely got a good vacuuming! In the few short weeks where I've had it circling around every morning, it has brought life back to this worn out carpet. 

As you can see, the circular patterns are where the Roomba starts its journey. It senses its pattern, and this is how you get maximum cleaning done!

I've joked about putting eyes on it, or giving it a name. Truly its like a kid who likes to clean. It needs its rest to recharge. You have to dump the bin every few days. And of course, you should pick up before it eats up your cords, but unlike the kid or pet, it lives to clean for you.

I cannot recommend a Roomba vacuum enough! Everyone should have one!

What's your favorite cleaning tool?

~ Bernadette Marie ~

(These opinions are mine only. I was not gifted items or paid for my opinion.)

I knew when this summer started, it would be over much too soon. We didn't take a vacation. We went camping on our land once...once! The older they get, the more I know that will be the norm, but it wasn't as if we didn't do anything. 

My eldest moved out on his own, helped with orchestra camp, and played in the community orchestra. The second oldest worked numerous jobs this summer from concessions, to warehouse work, to now throwing pizzas at an Italian restaurant. He too was in strings camp. Then he and the oldest son traveled on their own to New Jersey to visit friends, and spend the day in New York City. One of their friend's aunts is a CNN anchor! Oh, yeah, they certainly did sit behind the desk on the set! Kiddo number three, was as normal, the busiest kid! Following strings camp, he had multiple sports camps. Lacrosse, Power Skating to improve his hockey game, Hockey camp, to improve his game, and a pre-tryout camp--you guessed it--to get on the team. He went bike riding and hiked the mountain outside the front door multiple times. Thanks to big brother, he too has landed a job in the restaurant, so he too is a working boy. Lovey number four did a theater camp and performed in the Lion King. Then he interviewed to be a Playologist at the Children's Museum (and it was a real interview process), where he got the job and volunteered each week. And the baby...well...he likes to take it easy! He played in strings camp, but then he took the summer off! Seriously, he enjoyed each day as it was meant to be. An occasional bike ride and Tuesdays having lunch and fun with grandma. That was his agenda.

Thursday morning, we shuttled them off to school. One is all grown up. One in his senior year, two in their freshman year, and one entering seventh grade. For the first time in fourteen years, I didn't have anyone to drop off at the elementary school.

I think they were all happy to be getting back into a normal routine. And the treat of the morning was their daddy was here to get them all up, take some to school, and he's off to pick them off. He's currently "retired" as I call it. But the dream was for him to get to do these things for our kiddos and now we're getting to.

I think of the first day of school like the Mondays that I love. Fresh start. A chance to make it the best year ever! It's crazy to me how they all got this old. I know my mother always said it goes fast, I just didn't know she'd be so right. I love who they are becoming! Each one is starting to find themselves, and that becomes as thrilling as a new school year. It's been interesting too to see the friendships that have bloomed between students and teachers as they grow. They have continued to mold my children's lives even as they blaze into adulthood.

So this morning, I made them all lineup in front of the same garage door, all of those who live here. We took the photo that would be shared on social media with the masses. And now the countdown will begin to winter break, spring break, and inevitably graduation and summer break. Circle of life? I suppose it is. And here I am embracing every moment of it.

How did first day of school go for you? Are you excited about the new year? 

<3 Bernadette Marie <3 

They are sassy, mouthy, entitled little brats when they are teenagers. Oh, and you just want to beat your head against the wall sometimes. And then sometimes there is that moment of clarity, and instead of beating your head against the wall, you hang it because it comes to mind that you too threw a few of these temper tantrums.

Last night, after having spent literally $1000 on new hockey gear for a kid, he had an epic meltdown that had me using words I don't usually use. But it was then that I saw in him little ole me. UG! It sickens me to think that at times I threw those unnecessary fits for my parents and there was no good reason for them. Each item he took from his bag he had a reason and story behind why he'd needed it. The other boys, who left with minimal items seemed fine. But it was as if he realized what we'd done for him and perhaps there was guilt from greed. But the gentle age of Teenager, we don't understand how to say thank you or I'm sorry. We just know that for a moment in it all we felt completely right in our thinking, even if that has since changed.

These are those moments I'm compelled to call my parents and say, "I'm sorry." I wasn't a trouble maker, I didn't break curfew or sneak out of the house. I didn't drink. I didn't party. I didn't even fail. But because I couldn't find it inside myself to accept blame or admit I was ever wrong, these tantrums emerged (sadly into adulthood). 

So I watched my son throw his new items into a different bag, talk under his breath, and attempt to lock himself in his room. I took some deep breaths and I knew what was going on in his head, because as I've said, I too had more than one of those meltdowns.

Things I know for a fact. Next week when he puts on that gear, he will say thank you. When the moment has passed, and the world is back in order and school has started, he will apologize for that melt down. As adults the world spins around us at a maddening pace, and we assume our moods are justified by it. We can say, "I went to work, I drove in traffic, I paid that horrible bill," and think that our mood is justified. What we forget is that for a teenager, it's spinning at a maddening pace too. How could we possibly have forgotten? They're taking on a lot now too. With school less than a week away, there is stress and nerves going on inside of those kids. Many teenagers are starting new schools too. What a scary time. And again...oh how easily we forget.

Once in a while it's good to remember, even if you have to call your parents and apologize for your behavior 30 years ago. They'll still appreciate it.

Do you remember any of your epic teenage meltdowns? Were they worth it?

~Bernadette Marie ~

This weekend marked a pivotal moment in our family. Son #1 moved out. He didn't just move to college to live in a dorm. No, he moved into his own house and has a full time job, just like a grown up!

I'm more proud of this kid than ever, but it sure did send a shockwave through our home. I was surprised to find that I wasn't sad to see him move out. It was time. He was ready. Of course, when he moved out, that left his basement "suite" up for grabs to son #2. Then son #2's room was snatched up by son #5. It was then I might have gotten a bit misty eyed.

Boys who were babies just a moment ago are moving out, moving around, moving on. This is the first year we don't have an elementary schooler. (We were in elementary school for 14 years.) With all of them doing their own thing with jobs, activities, and having their own electronic devices, we just don't see them much now.

The house, which once might have not seemed big enough to get away from each other, now has 2 empty bedrooms, a common area, and basement that no one uses. At what time are we simply going to get lost in our own house?

This year we visit schools for son #2. In another blink of an eye, he'll be moving out too. If we make the nest fit the family will it not be so devastating when the last bird flies away? I wonder.

But this was part of the deal when we had kids, right? You do everything to prepare them for the day they permanently walk out the front door. Perhaps there should be something that prepares the parents. We are skilled in the art of going with the flow. We've been doing it since the moment we brought home that first baby with no idea what to do with him. We shall adjust when we no longer know what to do with ourselves.

How are you preparing, or how did you cope with the empty nest?

~Bernadette Marie ~