Coming out of her Shell . . .

All. I am in Dublin. This is a cool trip but in all honesty, I will be on planes to and from my destination longer than the time that I will be there.

But, still. I get to go to Dublin and I have never been.

Note to any dumbass who wants to go rob my house. Because I hear that is what happens when you are stupid and tell people you aren't around. (Note to self, don't call yourself stupid or people will start to believe it). Anyhoo, be forewarned, my husband is prepared.

To. Kick. Your. Ass.

Ok, maybe not. But we have a mac daddy security system. Also my 2 1/2 year old bites and will definitely try to kick you somewhere very sensitive if you try to steal any of her toys.

So without further ado, I introduce to you Shell, from Things I Can't Say.

Shell is a sassy chickadee. She is equal parts funny, sweet and smarty pants.

She is also an innovator. You may be scratching your head. Seriously. She is.

She invents cool words. Like, she has a whole theory on what the mean girls from junior high school should be called when they procreate. And it's brilliant.

She has agreed to be my first guest blogger of this week and came here to bestow her gift for telling it like it is.

I hope you love her just as much as I do . . .

Drumroll. Heeeeerreee's Shell!


While Kiran is off traveling, she is letting me take over guest post on her blog. All her traveling reminds me of just how much I hate traveling with my kids. I wrote this post a while back, right after we got back from visiting family. Because I have three boys five and under, sometimes things slip past me and I never got around to actually posting it.

So, it's finding a home here at Masala Chica.

I want to be done visiting others.

Like, forever.

Anyone who wants to see us, come visit.

We're not going anywhere.

Then, when my kids are doing normal kid things: playing around, doing a little bit of running, being sort of loud...well, it's in my house, where it's okay. Where I don't worry that they are breaking things and I don't really care if they are disturbing you...okay, maybe I worry about it, but it's in my home, so I'm not worried about them disturbing your usually peaceful home.

Plus, I can send them to their rooms if I want or to the playroom or separate them. There are options. We are not stuck in someone's cramped living room. Or having to run around to a million different places.

Meals can be on our schedule, not yours. Which means fewer meltdowns from children who are used to eating THREE HOURS before you even start talking about what we are going to do for dinner.

And, when it's time for bed, I can follow our usual routine.

One that I've worked on very hard.

It's EASY. My boys go to bed without a fight. Two go to bed at 6:30 and the other at 7. Everyone falls asleep minutes after being put to bed. There is no fighting, no aggravation. It's smooth, peaceful, and quick.

But, that is only if we are HOME.

If all 5 of us are in a hotel room together...it's a freaking nightmare.

And, I'm already exhausted from trying to keep my boys quietly playing in your tiny living room all day long.

So, to have two running around, wrestling, and one screaming in a pack-n-play because he can clearly see all the madness...and to have everyone only fall asleep after many threats, sometimes actually being held down(oh, I mean cuddled)...it's exhausting.

So, until my kids are all over the age of oh, say...um... 12...we're not traveling to you.

You want to see us, you come to us.

Shell blogs at Things I Can't Say, where she spills it all on her blog. Please don't ask her if she is going to keep trying to get a girl, as three kids are quite enough and there is only room for one princess in her house anyway. Please stop by and say hi!