“Mama- race me to my room. But make sure you let me win, ok?”
It is wrong that I beat her just because I knew it would make her crazy? Maybe this will be that watershed moment she shares on NBC when she’s running in the Olympics- that one moment in time when she knew she wanted to be an athlete.
Or maybe I just crushed her spirit. Either way, it was fun!
~*~*~~*
Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers during this time. They mean more then you’ll know.
Dear baby girl-
When I picture you on your birthday, I always picture you dancing in the sand, with your curls blowing and your laugh carrying over the waves.
You’ve celebrated 3 out of your 4 birthdays at the beach- which is just as much fun for us as it is for you. You love that you get to celebrate with your big cousins- two little boys who you’ve wrapped around your fingers from the minute they first met you- and the rest of your daddy’s side of the family. You get to spend the day racing the waves and the evening being loved by some of your favorite people- what more could a girl want?
3 was such a big year for you! You started preschool full time this past September- something I couldn’t talk about without crying over for the weeks leading up to it. While I knew you’d do well and I knew you’d love school, dropping you off was probably one of the hardest I’ve ever done. We eased your brother into a full time school schedule over 2 years, but we just threw you right in. I tortured myself wondering if we were doing the right thing, but somehow, it all worked out. You made friends and learned a lot and were the belle of the ball- just like I knew in my hearts of heart you would.
Your daddy and I laugh when we think about the day you were born. After a whirlwind labor and delivery, you came out- shocking us all that you were a girl- and proceeded to cry for the next 3 hours straight. You made us and everyone else around us perfectly aware that you were Not Happy and if you weren’t happy, no one would be happy. And so it’s been since Day 1. You have the biggest personality I’ve ever seen and you know your mind better then 99.9% of the adults I know. On the days I’m cursing you under my breath for this, I remind myself that these traits will be your most valuable assets when you’re older.
You, little girl, are this complicated ball- you’re sweet and cuddly and funny and scary smart. Your kind and loving and considerate and so so sincere. Until you’re not- and then you’re rude and snotty and stubborn and mean. You’re as likely to tell me you love me as you are to tell me you don’t like my shoes- and I never know which way the wind is going to blow with you. You keep us all on our toes and you ensure that we are never, ever bored with your never ending stories, your funny faces, your endless questions and your mercurial moods.
You are, quite simply, perfectly you. And I can’t imagine our lives without you in it. We are so very, very lucky to have you Beaner!
Love,
Mommy
I recently had two friends within a 24 hour period tell me how their children have never, ever told them they don’t like them. These same friends also told me they have no idea what they’d do if their kids ran away from them when they were in trouble- their kids wouldn’t do that.
Are you kidding me?!
I can’t decide if they are that much better of a parent then me (very possible), their kids are saints (also possible), I’m that sucktastic as a parent (possible, but I hope not really) or that the Bean is just that much of a sass pot (definitely).
This little girl is dishing it out in full force lately. The Hubs and I are partly to blame as this summer thus far as been a nonstop whirlwind of BBQs, late night fireworks, visits to near by lakes and fun times in the pool- on top of a full day of fun at camp. All this adds up to equal late bedtimes and a tired kids. I keep trying to get us back on track, but this gorgeous weather and good friends and family is making it very, very hard.
Today on the way home from camp, Beaner finally broke. She started sobbing because the latex gloves the kind nurse at the dr’s office gave her yesterday didn’t fit her properly (no duh- they were adult larges). Then she hit her brother when he tried to help. Then she screamed bloody murder because I wouldn’t pull over the car to help her. On and on it went on the 9 (torturous) minute drive home as Scorch and I tried to ignore her since she was past the point of reasoning. When we got home, she immediately went in timeout for hitting Scorch- but she wouldn’t sit still. Her 4 minute timeout turned into 15 minutes because she wouldn’t sit where I told her to. She’s scotch her little buns while staring at me with her chin jutted out and her eyes flashing fire.
Finally, finally, she served her time properly so I went over to talk to her. We discussed why she was in timeout and I asked for an apology from her. Her response? “Sorry, stupie!” with all the attitude she could muster. Stupie– excuse me? I know darn well by her tone she was calling me stupid – but she swore up and down that Stupie was her new nickname for me.
Back to timeout she went- all the while muttering under her breath that she doesn’t like me at all.
*sigh* I wouldn’t trade that little ball of energy and sass for anything, but I wonder how I missed the line for compliant kids when I was pregnant.
It’s been a week between posts and I still have no idea what to write about. Life has been moving at warp speed lately- outings every single night, a 3 day trip to Northern Virginia to love up on my niece (and to see my sister and brother in law too), thinking about various health issues effecting some family members, juggling two different summer camps this week for the kids, working full time, hosting 9 people over for dinner last night. The list of our craziness could go on and on, but it finally caught up with us tonight when the Bean complained all day of a sore throat and Scorch fell asleep in the car at 3 pm after picking Beaner up from her camp. We had plans (plans I was so excited for) to go to a BBQ with friends, but I had to simply say no and put my kids to bed early. Like 6:45 early. They needed it desperately.
But regardless of how tired they are, the kids were not going down without a fight. After putting them to bed, I called one of my oldest friends to catch up. While I was on the phone, Bean came out of her room to tell me how she wasn’t tired. I was washing the dishes, so I told her to go back to bed and didn’t pay attention to what she was doing. About 2 minutes later, I finished up and turned around and found her sound asleep on the kitchen floor. So much for not being tired.
It seems like every time I sit down to write, life gets busy. We’re dealing with everything from the end of school craziness, to Little League, to simply enjoying the gorgeous weather. We spent 4 hours in my parents pool yesterday- I think my kids are part fish! Tonight we had a baseball game where Scorch caught a pop fly and threw it to the 2nd baseman who turned it into a double play. Not bad for a bunch of 6 year olds! I have to admit I kinda dreaded becoming a sports mom, but seeing the joy on my kid’s faces when they play and do something right is the best.
We also had the Bean’s first experience with puppy love today. There is always this quiet little boy that comes up to the Bean every day when I drop her off. He isn’t nearly as loud or demanding as some of the other kids- he just stands there and smiles at her. This morning when I was helping her put things in her cubby he walked over with the Teacher’s Assistant (TA) and handed Beaner a penny. The TA then took the kiddos into the coat room and had Beaner put her “extra special penny” in her backpack and asked me to wait as she walked the kids into the classroom. All this between the kids was done without either one saying a word- they just smiled at each other and the little boy blushed to high heaven.
The TA came back out and told me that this little boy came into school that morning with the penny. When the TA told him that coins aren’t allowed in the classroom he got every upset and he said he had to hold on to it because it was a present for the Bean. When she asked him why he had to give her the penny, he simply replied that he loved her. I almost melted right then and there. 3 year olds can be the biggest pains in the butt, but when they are cute, they are really cute.
So glad I decided to have these kids- I can’t imagine how much I’d miss out on without them around!
For some reason I don’t seem to have a whole coherent post in my head this week and instead of forcing it, y’all can just get my brain dump:
> After a week of crazy, my kids are charming the pants off me. What ever was clogging up their hearing has come out, they are using manners and getting along (more or less). So glad I don’t have to give them to the circus.
> We had the Bean’s pre-school end-of-year concert today. Her class sang 3 songs and they were as cute as can be (as were the other classes). The kids were so very excited to be the center of attention up there on stage with all their families watching- some kids couldn’t stop waving long enough to actually sing. What surprised me was that for as crazy as my kid is, she was very reserved up on stage. I’m guessing American Idol isn’t in her future.
> We’ve read a bunch of great new (to us) kids books lately:
– Doggone Dogs by Karen Beaumont: A counting book with rhymes about a man who can’t keep up with his 10 crazy dogs.
– I Ain’t Gonna Paint No More! by Karen Beaumont: A book about a kid who just can’t help painting- everywhere! Fun rhymes dealing with body parts- my kids loved guessing what was getting painted on next. And the pictures? Gorgeous!
– Knuffle Bunny Free by Mo Willems. Honestly, there isn’t a book by Willems that we don’t like and when he brings tears to my eyes, they’re usually tears of laughter. Not this one,
this story about Trixie growing up made me choke up for a whole new reason. Absolutely perfect ending to this charming series (read: Knuffle Bunny & Knuffle Bunny Too if you
haven’t.)
> I’m trying to figure out the fun that is summer camps for my kids. My life was much stinking easier when we had Mary in it. The kid’s school offers full day summer camp, which is fantastic because the Bean is too young for most other full day camps around here. But Scorch wants to do Baseball camp as well, so I’m trying to figure out how to juggle it all.
> I’m feeling, in general, that its hard to figure out what the kids should be doing. Even in a small town, at any given my time my kids have the options of dancing, doing gymnastics, playing various sports, swim lessons, karate, music and on and on and on. They are too young to really really know what they want to do, so I want to offer them everything- and that’s just not logistically possible. I know I’m over thinking this and it’s making me crazy.
That’s all I got- So You Think You Can Dance is calling my name.
We had one of those nights where I felt more like a referee then a parent. I didn’t talk to my kids about their day or enjoy funny conversations over dinner. Instead, I listened to tattletaling and bickering. I broke up arguments and fights- sending each kid to their room at least once. I mopped up tears, yelled loudly to be heard over their yelling and counted down the minutes until bedtime.
When the blessed time finally arrived, I asked to the kids to get out the books they wanted to read before bed. Scorch quickly grabbed the Star Wars book he got from the library at school, eager to see what Anakin was up to. We didn’t have time to read the whole book, so Scorch gave me the bookmark he made to hold our place.
Scorch’s bookmarks are usually decorated with dinosaurs and super heroes- so I was surprised to see Tinkerbell gracing this week’s place holder. When I asked him why he picked Tink this week, he simply told me he knew it would make the Bean happy.
Now I remember why I wanted two of them.
Sometimes I wonder why we thought it was a good idea to teach our kids to talk. And by sometimes, I mean today.
The was the situation in my house after school today between Beaner and me:
Mo-om, I said I wanted hot chocolate. Get it for me now!
Excuse me? Want to try that again.
Get it for me now, puh-lease!
Umm..still not good enough. Let’s get rid of all that attitude.
I. Want. Hot. Chocolate. Please. Mom. (foot stomp)
Nope- still not feeling it.
Jeez- how many times do I have to ask?! Can’t you hear?
Cut to 15 minutes later, after a time out and some time to reflect.
Ok. I’m sorry. May I please have some hot chocolate?
Absolutely. Take a seat and I’ll make it.
The Bean walks over to the one chair of the 8 she could pick that has papers on it. She sweeps them all to the floor.
Nope- absolutely not. Please pick those papers up and set them down on the table nicely.
No.
Excuse me?
No. I will not pick them up. You do it.
I didn’t make the mess, missy. You best pick them up now or no hot chocolate for you.
Fine. I didn’t want hot chocolate anyhow. It’s stupid.
People, it’s a wonder that I don’t drink living with this child.
I really hate those nights when I sit here and just stare at my blank screen, wondering what to write about. I know I had a million ideas pop into my head during the day today but by 8 pm, they are gone. So tonight, I’m taking the easy way out and scatter shooting my thoughts. Here I go…
Scorch’s has his very first loose tooth! The boy swears and declares he’s the last one in his class to have one and he can’t wait for it to fall out. I think he thought that we’d find a loose tooth one day and it would fall out the next. He wiggles it all the damn day trying so hard to hurry the process along. I try not to gag when he does.
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We’re almost two full weeks into Little League and it’s awesome. I had a lot of worries about this. While this league doesn’t follow strict baseball rules, it’s closer then Scorch has ever played before with outs and actual plays and a 3 strikes rule. So far he, and the rest of his team of 6- 8 year olds, have handled the transition from t-ball beautifully! The games are fun, the parents are all supportive and the kids are having a blast. We were all actually disappointed when his game was rained out tonight.
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I started meeting a friend at 5 am to run. It only gets me up 15 minutes earlier then normal, but I’m exhausted. The good news is that knowing a coyote is in the area is damn good incentive to pick up my pace.
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I was just thinking the other day how nice it is that the Bean is watching such gentle shows like Blues Clues and Wonder Pets. Annoying, but sweet shows where there are no bad guys or fighting. Then she discovered Power Rangers thanks to Daddy and now that’s all she wants to watch. I don’t get it.
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We decided to do a Big Party for Scorch’s birthday. I think there are something like 29 kids invited. To keep it as stress free as possible, I’m doing everything at a play place for kids- so all I have to bring is the cake and decorations. I also solved my gift / goodie bag worries by requesting in the invites that everyone bring a wrapped book suitable for kids ages 5 – 8 so we can do a book exchange. Every kid will go home with a new book, including the birthday boy, instead of a goodie bag. Win/win (I hope).
~~~~~~~~
The Hub’s grandfather’s health is very quickly declining. He’s a wonderful, sweet, smart, funny, vibrant man who’s slowly been stripped of his health for the past 4 years and it’s been the saddest thing to see. His health and the health of those taking care of him, including his wife and daughters (including my mother-in-law) weigh on the Hubs and I a lot. I’m open to any suggestion you all my have on discussing death with kids.
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We met with a financial adviser today for the first time! Over all it was a great experience until he told us we’d need to save almost $667,000 over the next 11 years to finance 4 years of a state college for both kids. I sure hope they like Boot Camp when the time comes to ship them off!
And that’s what’s on my brain. Perhaps I’ll be more coherent tomorrow….
Having our kids stay home with our very awesome nanny, Mary, for their first couple of years was amazing for for more reasons then I could count.
Unfortunately there is a not-so-amazing side- the kids (relatively) immature immune systems. Mary took them a ton of places while she watched them- play groups, parks, museums and every place in between- but none of them can mimic the cesspool of germs that is a 3 year old Pre-K classroom. The Bean’s teachers (and the school’s janitorial service) do a great job keeping the classroom clean, but when you have twenty 3 year olds in the same room for 7 hours a day / 5 days a week things are just nasty. And the Bean, bless her sweet heart, has picked up every one of those germs.
In 19 days, the poor child has had strep throat, an ear infection, a wicked cold and now an stomach bug. She just can’t catch a break. We’ve done two different kinds of oral antibiotics (that was fun) as well as a shot of antibiotic for the ear infection. She’s recovered really quickly from everything except this tummy bug- this has laid her out for the past 29 hours which is a record for my Bean.
While most of me is thrilled we had such a mild winter, I really wish we got a long enough cold snap to kill off some of these germs. *sigh* It can only go up from here, right?
Wickedly Crazy Awesome Life 