Monday, November 1
The Toughest Job You'll Ever Love
This morning as the kids were eating breakfast and I was running getting this and that for each of them Oskar announced, "I know it's a hard job to be a mom."
Saturday, October 30
When it rains...
When it rains, it pours - and quite literally this morning.
On Saturday mornings Dwight plays basketball at the gym. Today he happened to leave his phone behind. But no biggie. We never call him there anyway.
The morning was plugging away rather uneventfully until I discovered the girls playing in the upstairs bathroom with their kitchen toys. This is a big no no in our house. They're not supposed to play with their kitchen toys in water because we've had several ugly incidents in the past. So I unhappily scold them and tell them to clean up the water they've spilled on the floor. In the meantime I hop in the shower and throw Kardynn in the bathtub (which is where all the girls are supposed to be headed, as soon as they finish cleaning up the mess). Annika saunters into the bathroom and informs me that Kiersten has made a big mess. Kiersten comes bursting behind her, in tears, saying the bathroom is leaking.
Uh oh.
I reacted poorly. I might have cursed. I'm not sure. But I definitely pounded the tile with my fist. Not a graceful reaction. I jumped out of the shower, grabbed my towel and ran down the hall. At this point, water is pouring out of the bathroom. The hall carpet is getting wet. There's water an inch deep all over the bathroom and more pouring over the sides of the toilet. I grab the plunger and manage to get the wad of toilet paper on its merry way. (Later the girls informed me that when the wad of toilet paper wouldn't go down, they just kept flushing. Naturally.)
I'm madly trying to soak up water with all the towels we have...and hopping mad to boot. Eventually I get the water soaked up reasonably well. I transport sopping wet towels from the tub to the laundry room and start load number one. And then I jump back in the shower.
Breathe.
I tell the girls to get in the bathtub and we resume our morning. I explain that I hope they've learned to not keep flushing the toilet.
The day will get better, right?!
Just now I discovered the puddle of water on the floor in the kitchen. I unscrewed the vent (water poured out when I did that) and discovered that the puddle is on the other side. Of course it is.
Is it time to page Dwight at the gym?
On Saturday mornings Dwight plays basketball at the gym. Today he happened to leave his phone behind. But no biggie. We never call him there anyway.
The morning was plugging away rather uneventfully until I discovered the girls playing in the upstairs bathroom with their kitchen toys. This is a big no no in our house. They're not supposed to play with their kitchen toys in water because we've had several ugly incidents in the past. So I unhappily scold them and tell them to clean up the water they've spilled on the floor. In the meantime I hop in the shower and throw Kardynn in the bathtub (which is where all the girls are supposed to be headed, as soon as they finish cleaning up the mess). Annika saunters into the bathroom and informs me that Kiersten has made a big mess. Kiersten comes bursting behind her, in tears, saying the bathroom is leaking.
Uh oh.
I reacted poorly. I might have cursed. I'm not sure. But I definitely pounded the tile with my fist. Not a graceful reaction. I jumped out of the shower, grabbed my towel and ran down the hall. At this point, water is pouring out of the bathroom. The hall carpet is getting wet. There's water an inch deep all over the bathroom and more pouring over the sides of the toilet. I grab the plunger and manage to get the wad of toilet paper on its merry way. (Later the girls informed me that when the wad of toilet paper wouldn't go down, they just kept flushing. Naturally.)
I'm madly trying to soak up water with all the towels we have...and hopping mad to boot. Eventually I get the water soaked up reasonably well. I transport sopping wet towels from the tub to the laundry room and start load number one. And then I jump back in the shower.
Breathe.
I tell the girls to get in the bathtub and we resume our morning. I explain that I hope they've learned to not keep flushing the toilet.
The day will get better, right?!
Just now I discovered the puddle of water on the floor in the kitchen. I unscrewed the vent (water poured out when I did that) and discovered that the puddle is on the other side. Of course it is.
Is it time to page Dwight at the gym?
Tuesday, October 26
Hot Dog
O told me he wished that he had gotten lunch at the cafeteria today because it was hot dogs. I explained that those hot dogs, unlike the ones we have at home, are made from real meat. He said, "Oh..." and then added incredulously "are they made from dead dogs?"
Friday, October 22
Kardy-isms
Kardy was just explaining to Dwight that someone could not go to work if they did not have "a work necklace" (a badge).
Yesterday she was asking where Dad was - was he "at work" or "sleeping"? So I love her take on Dwight's life. He goes to work at the gym and he comes home and sleeps. *haha*
Yesterday she was asking where Dad was - was he "at work" or "sleeping"? So I love her take on Dwight's life. He goes to work at the gym and he comes home and sleeps. *haha*
Thursday, October 7
TB
We were on the elevator yesterday and Kardynn got excited when she saw the alarm button. "Taco Bell!"
Friday, October 1
It's Baaaa-aaack!
We have a little girl in our house who desperately needs to nap. She's taken maybe half a dozen naps since the end of May...and this is a VERY BAD THING. For a while I thought maybe she was just giving up naps early and while that sucked for me, such is life. But it has become increasingly apparent that she NEEDS to nap. She gets so grumpy.
The problem started when she stopped sucking her thumb in May. Since then it's been nearly impossible to get her to sleep during the day. At first it seemed like she was okay. But she's not. So last month I really started my campaign to get her back to napping. I tried laying with her (which in reality was pretty much me trying to be a straight jacket for her because she was not going down without a fight). That was no fun and it didn't work anyway. Well, it worked once when she finally wore herself out but the rest of the times she wore me out first. I tried bribery. That didn't work. I tried lulling her to sleep in the car...and in the stroller. None of that worked. So now I'm trying the only other thing I could think of. Eight months after having taken it down, the crib is back. *fingers crossed*
The problem started when she stopped sucking her thumb in May. Since then it's been nearly impossible to get her to sleep during the day. At first it seemed like she was okay. But she's not. So last month I really started my campaign to get her back to napping. I tried laying with her (which in reality was pretty much me trying to be a straight jacket for her because she was not going down without a fight). That was no fun and it didn't work anyway. Well, it worked once when she finally wore herself out but the rest of the times she wore me out first. I tried bribery. That didn't work. I tried lulling her to sleep in the car...and in the stroller. None of that worked. So now I'm trying the only other thing I could think of. Eight months after having taken it down, the crib is back. *fingers crossed*
Monday, September 20
Saturday, September 18
Entropy
Oskar just informed me that he doesn't want to be outside "because of entropy".
Edit 3:20pm
As I mentioned on Facebook, he was explaining to me that entropy causes your cells to die and clearly he didn't want that. He also had concerns about Blackbody Radiation.
We just got home from soccer, where we were, and I told him that I was going to look up Blackbody Radiation in his Physics book. He said, "Look under "Hot Stuff". Sure enough - here they are entropy and blackbody radiation.
Edit 3:20pm
As I mentioned on Facebook, he was explaining to me that entropy causes your cells to die and clearly he didn't want that. He also had concerns about Blackbody Radiation.
We just got home from soccer, where we were, and I told him that I was going to look up Blackbody Radiation in his Physics book. He said, "Look under "Hot Stuff". Sure enough - here they are entropy and blackbody radiation.
Thursday, September 16
Breakfast Convo with Osk
Oskar: Mom, where should I live when I grow up?
Me: Close to me.
Oskar: I was thinking close to the Natural History Museum.
[pause]
If I have kids, I could take them to the Natural History Museum. And I was thinking you could come with us. I'll call you up, and then you can come meet us, and we'll go to the Natural History Museum."
Me: Close to me.
Oskar: I was thinking close to the Natural History Museum.
[pause]
If I have kids, I could take them to the Natural History Museum. And I was thinking you could come with us. I'll call you up, and then you can come meet us, and we'll go to the Natural History Museum."
Saturday, September 11
Assistant
The other day Kardynn was being particularly clingy. I was trying to get the house cleaned up and it was challenging with a child attached at the hip (literally). So I tried to think of ways to distract her. I thought maybe I could get her to "help" me. We proceeded to have a conversation that went something like this:
Me: Would you like to be Mommy's assistant?
Kardynn: I not She-shen, I Kardynn.
Me: No, not Kiersten, A-SSIS-TANT. Do you want to me by A-SSIS-TANT?
Kardynn: Sheshen's downstairs. I Kardynn Engen.
Me: An assistant is someone who helps someone else. You can be my assistant.
Kardynn: No, I Kar-dynn.
And on it went. Eventually I gave up and continued to carry her around on my hip. For the record, typically she doesn't even call Kiersten "She-shen" anymore. She's moved on to calling her Kir-sten.
Me: Would you like to be Mommy's assistant?
Kardynn: I not She-shen, I Kardynn.
Me: No, not Kiersten, A-SSIS-TANT. Do you want to me by A-SSIS-TANT?
Kardynn: Sheshen's downstairs. I Kardynn Engen.
Me: An assistant is someone who helps someone else. You can be my assistant.
Kardynn: No, I Kar-dynn.
And on it went. Eventually I gave up and continued to carry her around on my hip. For the record, typically she doesn't even call Kiersten "She-shen" anymore. She's moved on to calling her Kir-sten.
Friday, August 20
Overheard at Breakfast
Oskar: Mom, babies don't know how to control their bladder so that's why they wear diapers.
Kardynn, protesting: I know how to go up the ladder!
Kardynn, protesting: I know how to go up the ladder!
Saturday, July 31
Work
Kardynn apparently thinks that Dwight goes to work "at the gym" and "plays basketball". He wishes that was his job!
I can't remember what prompted it but last week the other kids and I got into a discussion about work and jobs. Oskar said, "Being a mom is a really hard job. You have to discipline people." And that was the extent of his description.
We had some big milestones last week and all of them happened at the gym. The first big milestone is that Oskar and Annika went down the enclosed water slide. A few weeks ago Annika tried the open water slide and she had a hard time getting out of the water at the base of the slide. So I told her she wasn't quite ready for it. But she's been making great headway at swim lessons so I encouraged her to try it again. She did great. After a few times down that I told her I thought she'd be fine to do the other one too. She and Oskar both decided to try it. They went down several times. Oskar loved it. Annika got water up her nose on one of descents and she didn't like that but I think overall she liked it. On the weekend we dragged Dwight to the gym with us and they all rode the waterslides together numerous times.
They had another success which I initially forgot about (and that did not happen at the gym). We went swimming at a neighbor's house and they both swam in the deep end (sans life jacket). Annika tended to make sure she wasn't too far from either the edge of the pool or a float but she certainly does not lack for confidence. Oskar, on the other hand, swims much better than he realizes.
The second success at the gym happened on Thursday. I met up with my friend to work out. When we dropped the kids off at the child care center, I realized that Kardynn's diaper was wet. I no longer carry a diaper bag - of course - so to spare me a trip out to the car (in the rain), my friend gave me a pull-up to use. About 50 minutes into our workout, I got paged to the child care center. When I got down there, they told me that Kardynn needed help in the bathroom. I said, "Oh, she's not potty trained". In the meantime, she had spotted me and came running up shouting, "Mommy, I need to poop." Alrighty then. So I took her into the bathroom. And guess what?! She used the potty! Hurray! Now I need to teach her the difference between peeing and pooping. *hehe* When she informs me that she's poopy, 90% of the time she's actually wet. When she does poop, her trend is to flat out deny anything is going on. Strange child.
I can't remember what prompted it but last week the other kids and I got into a discussion about work and jobs. Oskar said, "Being a mom is a really hard job. You have to discipline people." And that was the extent of his description.
We had some big milestones last week and all of them happened at the gym. The first big milestone is that Oskar and Annika went down the enclosed water slide. A few weeks ago Annika tried the open water slide and she had a hard time getting out of the water at the base of the slide. So I told her she wasn't quite ready for it. But she's been making great headway at swim lessons so I encouraged her to try it again. She did great. After a few times down that I told her I thought she'd be fine to do the other one too. She and Oskar both decided to try it. They went down several times. Oskar loved it. Annika got water up her nose on one of descents and she didn't like that but I think overall she liked it. On the weekend we dragged Dwight to the gym with us and they all rode the waterslides together numerous times.
They had another success which I initially forgot about (and that did not happen at the gym). We went swimming at a neighbor's house and they both swam in the deep end (sans life jacket). Annika tended to make sure she wasn't too far from either the edge of the pool or a float but she certainly does not lack for confidence. Oskar, on the other hand, swims much better than he realizes.
The second success at the gym happened on Thursday. I met up with my friend to work out. When we dropped the kids off at the child care center, I realized that Kardynn's diaper was wet. I no longer carry a diaper bag - of course - so to spare me a trip out to the car (in the rain), my friend gave me a pull-up to use. About 50 minutes into our workout, I got paged to the child care center. When I got down there, they told me that Kardynn needed help in the bathroom. I said, "Oh, she's not potty trained". In the meantime, she had spotted me and came running up shouting, "Mommy, I need to poop." Alrighty then. So I took her into the bathroom. And guess what?! She used the potty! Hurray! Now I need to teach her the difference between peeing and pooping. *hehe* When she informs me that she's poopy, 90% of the time she's actually wet. When she does poop, her trend is to flat out deny anything is going on. Strange child.
Friday, July 23
Growing Up
Annika amazes me with her seemingly fearless approach to life. Last week she and Oskar did a rock climbing camp and she easily conquered that challenge. She had no trouble reaching the top of any of the routes they did. Oskar said, "Mom, she's younger than me and better than me!" (I admire him too for the way he wants the best for everyone around him. He's a very selfless person.)
Yesterday Annika went down the waterslide at the pool again and this time had absolutely no problems. I encouraged both of them to try the covered waterslide and they did. Oskar loved it. Annika was not as sold but she still tried it several times.
Speaking of Oskar, yesterday we were walking out of a building and Kardynn pitched a fit for some reason or another. (Who knows why?) I started walking away (making sure she was safe from cars, of course). But Oskar was so upset. "Mom, she can't get up. She needs you to pick her up." Twice he tried to go pick her up himself but of course she shooed him away because she was having a tantrum. He's an amazing kid. I went back and picked her up. Not because SHE was demanding it but because HE wanted it.
Oh my...they're all growing up so fast!
Yesterday Annika went down the waterslide at the pool again and this time had absolutely no problems. I encouraged both of them to try the covered waterslide and they did. Oskar loved it. Annika was not as sold but she still tried it several times.
Speaking of Oskar, yesterday we were walking out of a building and Kardynn pitched a fit for some reason or another. (Who knows why?) I started walking away (making sure she was safe from cars, of course). But Oskar was so upset. "Mom, she can't get up. She needs you to pick her up." Twice he tried to go pick her up himself but of course she shooed him away because she was having a tantrum. He's an amazing kid. I went back and picked her up. Not because SHE was demanding it but because HE wanted it.
Oh my...they're all growing up so fast!
Wednesday, July 14
Kardynn-isms
Kardynn is quite articulate for a two and a half year old. I figure it's because she's a girl and the fourth child in a family of condensed children. But sometimes this sophisticated vocabulary leads to funny results and her vocabulary gets the best of her. For example, she thinks a muffin is actually called muffin man and she's started using the word bathtub for the verb bath or toenail polish for toenails or hangnails for fingernails.
Examples:
K: "Mommy, remember when we ate the muffin man?"
or
K: "Mommy, I love to take a bathtub."
I need to remember to jot down some of her other little sayings because they always make me smile.
Examples:
K: "Mommy, remember when we ate the muffin man?"
or
K: "Mommy, I love to take a bathtub."
I need to remember to jot down some of her other little sayings because they always make me smile.
Saturday, July 10
Convos with the Kids
The kids were calling Independence Day "Appendix Day".
--------------
Last night Annika slept on the floor in our room. She'd made some deal with Dwight while I was away. I was quite amused when she informed me that she'd packed for the occasion: her sleeping bag, her pillow and a change of clothes for the morning. (She just came down in her change of clothes.)
--------------
Earlier this morning:
Kiersten: Thank you Mom.
Me: For what?
Kiersten: For everything you do for us.
Ah...that was nice.
--------------
Oskar: J. told me that his Grandma is rich.
Me: Are any of your relatives rich, Oskar?
Oskar: Nope.
--------------
Last night Annika slept on the floor in our room. She'd made some deal with Dwight while I was away. I was quite amused when she informed me that she'd packed for the occasion: her sleeping bag, her pillow and a change of clothes for the morning. (She just came down in her change of clothes.)
--------------
Earlier this morning:
Kiersten: Thank you Mom.
Me: For what?
Kiersten: For everything you do for us.
Ah...that was nice.
--------------
Oskar: J. told me that his Grandma is rich.
Me: Are any of your relatives rich, Oskar?
Oskar: Nope.
Friday, June 25
Headytail
Today I had Annika on my lap and Kardynn came along and tried to shove her off. This is nothing new. Kardynn is extremely possessive of me. I said, "Kardynn, this is my daughter and she can sit on my lap too. I love her very much." Kardynn replied, "No! I the daughter."
Just now Kiersten crawled up onto my chair and started playing with my hair. As she tugged at my ponytail holder Kardynn showed up and screamed, "No! My momma headytail on!!!" I chuckled. She looked at me and screamed, "No!That's not funny."
Now she's trying to take a picture of us with my MP3 player.
Just now Kiersten crawled up onto my chair and started playing with my hair. As she tugged at my ponytail holder Kardynn showed up and screamed, "No! My momma headytail on!!!" I chuckled. She looked at me and screamed, "No!That's not funny."
Now she's trying to take a picture of us with my MP3 player.
The Things Kids Say
Yesterday as I was headed out the door for a lunch date with my son, I informed the babysitter that my phone was almost dead so if she really needed to reach me, she could try just calling the restaurant. Six year-old Oskar pipes up, "Oh, your phone isn't working? It was probably a cosmic ray. They can mess up electronics." The babysitter and I both struggled to suppress chuckles. I joked with my friend later on that he's totally headed towards being one of those guys who's incredibly smart and knowledgeable but totally lacking common sense.
This morning I was disgusted with Annika because she came into my room to tell me some totally trivial and mundane thing. (With four kids, it's pretty much a guarantee that I'll wake up to some kid who has an "urgent" matter to bring to my attention. Urgent as in, "Mom, my socks don't match" or "Mom, yesterday you forgot to tuck me in for the twelfth time" or "Mom, I can't find my favorite shorts".) Oops, I'm getting off track. I was getting a little too enthusiastic with my examples. So anyway, as I was saying, Annika had just woken me up and I grumpily sent her back to her room. As she's walking down the hall I hear Kardynn shout from her room, "Annika, don't wake up me." My sentiments exactly, 'Don't wake up me.'
This morning I was disgusted with Annika because she came into my room to tell me some totally trivial and mundane thing. (With four kids, it's pretty much a guarantee that I'll wake up to some kid who has an "urgent" matter to bring to my attention. Urgent as in, "Mom, my socks don't match" or "Mom, yesterday you forgot to tuck me in for the twelfth time" or "Mom, I can't find my favorite shorts".) Oops, I'm getting off track. I was getting a little too enthusiastic with my examples. So anyway, as I was saying, Annika had just woken me up and I grumpily sent her back to her room. As she's walking down the hall I hear Kardynn shout from her room, "Annika, don't wake up me." My sentiments exactly, 'Don't wake up me.'
Thursday, June 3
I'm Going on a Trip
One of my favorite ways to kill time with the kids is to play the "I'm going on a trip" memory game. Sometimes we do it in alphabetical order but lately we've been going hog wild and just saying any old thing. The other hotly contested element is who gets to go first. EVERYONE wants to go first.
Today I declared that we'd go from oldest to youngest. So Kardynn (with Annika's help) chose peanuts to take on her trip (and that was her last contribution to the game).
Kiersten, "peanuts, flowers"
Annika, "peanuts, flowers, a blueprint."
A blueprint? Really? How does she even know what a blueprint is? DOES she know what a blueprint is?
Annika adds, "So that we know how to build our house when we get there."
Alrighty then, I guess she does know what a blueprint is.
In case you're wondering, this is far as we got before we ran out of time:
Oskar: bakugan
Mommy: elephant
Kiersten: pajamas
Annika: mac & cheese
Oskar: silly bandz
Mommy: chocolate milk (at Annika's request)
Today I declared that we'd go from oldest to youngest. So Kardynn (with Annika's help) chose peanuts to take on her trip (and that was her last contribution to the game).
Kiersten, "peanuts, flowers"
Annika, "peanuts, flowers, a blueprint."
A blueprint? Really? How does she even know what a blueprint is? DOES she know what a blueprint is?
Annika adds, "So that we know how to build our house when we get there."
Alrighty then, I guess she does know what a blueprint is.
In case you're wondering, this is far as we got before we ran out of time:
Oskar: bakugan
Mommy: elephant
Kiersten: pajamas
Annika: mac & cheese
Oskar: silly bandz
Mommy: chocolate milk (at Annika's request)
Tomato Sandwich
Today as I was toasting bread for my tomato sandwich, I thought of my Uncle Don. I always think of my Uncle Don when I toast bread because he's the person who pointed out to me that you can usually push up on the little toaster knob thing-a-ma-jobey (as demonstrated below) to easily get your toast out. This is a pretty cool trick and I actually think a lot of people don't realize you can do that with your toaster. Having said, I'm sure my Uncle Don would not have expected this to be the thing that would stick in someone's head about him. Of course this isn't the ONLY thing that makes me think of my uncle but it is one of the things. Uncle Don is a family doctor (I've called him with many a medical question over the years) and a really smart guy and he's funny (not to mention very nice). So yeah, it's quite random that TOAST is one of the main things that makes me think of Uncle Don.
The sandwich I was making today is one of my summer favorites. I'm not necessarily a huge mayonnaise lover but this is the one sandwich where nothing else compares: toasted wheat bread, a thin amount of Hellmann's mayo, sweet tomatoes and a dash of salt. Yum.
Another irony is that I've always attributed these sandwiches to my grandfather (Uncle Don's dad - and my dad's dad). For years I thought I was copying a favorite of my grandfather's. But then a few years ago I discovered that this isn't actually how my grandfather ate his tomato sandwiches. I think he put margarine on his. *shudder* But despite my faulty memory, they still make me think of my Grandpa and I like that.
Today I sat out on our screened porch with my girls and ate my delicious tomato sandwiches. The girls all hate tomatoes so they had egg salad sandwiches. But how amazing does that sandwich look?! Apparently even Kiersten - the most notorious tomato hater of all - could see that it looked delicious so she asked for a bite. And guess what? She liked it and asked for a sandwich of her own. And then Annika wanted one too. And both of them gobbled down their entire sandwiches.
So thank you Uncle Don and Grandpa for helping my girls appreciate tomatoes, even if for only one afternoon.
Mini Me
My tigerlilies are finally blooming. So naturally I had to grab my camera and snap a few photos. And I couldn't help but chuckle when MiniMe came running out with *her* camera to take photos too. There's no denying it - she is her mother's daughter.
Friday, May 28
Dinner Guest
Note to self: always call and double check with the parents after you've invited a neighborhood child for dinner. Yes, they might have left for a while "to check with Mom" but when they return and enthusiastically inform you that it's fine, it's entirely possible that their parents don't actually know anything about it.
Thursday, May 27
Bangs
At least this time she cut her hair BEFORE I took her for a professional hair cut...well...I *was* going to take her for a professional haircut but why waste money when she can just do it herself, right?! (This picture was taken after Mommy tried to even it out a little although honestly, she didn't do a bad job.)
The amusing thing about this particular photograph is that she's intentionally trying to pose like her Aunt Amy. I first snapped a picture of her up in the trees which obviously reminded her of when I took Amy's pictures so she said, "Now can we do one on the hill?" Funny girl!
Saturday, May 15
Swiper, no swiping!
A & K are pretending to be Dora and Swiper. They're taking turns being Swiper and hiding stuff (markers) around the house and then the other, Dora, has to find it. It's very cute. K2 loves Dora too so she's trying to join them.
Monday, May 10
Mama in the Rain
A brought this home from preschool. She informed me that she was supposed to paint a picture of me - just me. So this is me in the rain, when it's kind of dark, on the driveway, checking to see whether or not it's okay for the kids to come out. Of course, that's exactly what it looks like. I likey.
Monday, May 3
My Little Tornado
I left O and K2 watching TV while I went to move the wet laundry to the dryer and throw a new load in the washer. When I returned downstairs I gasped. How can someone so little cause so much damage in the span of five minutes?!
I notice that she did bring a broom into the room. Perhaps she intended to clean up after herself?
I notice that she did bring a broom into the room. Perhaps she intended to clean up after herself?
Sunday, May 2
Friday, April 30
Rocks
K told me she wanted to play rocks. Rocks?! What is she talking about?
"Oh! You want to play with the blocks!"
"Oh! You want to play with the blocks!"
Trouble
This little one found Mommy's address stamper. She also got into scissors and put paper in the shredder so that was pretty much the trifecta of parental no-nos: stains, sharp objects and dangerous machinery.
Remembories
The other day my son informed us that he had "remembories" from when he was three. Remembories. I love it! I was thinking maybe I should rename my blog "Remembories"!!
Wednesday, April 28
Some Things I've Learned About Parenting
This morning I wandered over to Buried with Children and read this post. It was exactly what I needed to read this morning. It also prompted me to get off my butt and finally write this post that I meant to write since Monday. (Hmm...I guess technically it prompted me to get ON my butt in my chair in front of the computer but I think you knew what I meant.)
On Monday I was feeling very introspective about parenting. I even had an epiphany. It suddenly occurred to me that I'm always focused on all the crappy things I do as a parent and I don't give myself enough credit for the good stuff I do. Am I the only person for whom this was a ground-breaking revelation? I stress that I'm not feeding the kids healthy enough meals. I stress that I'm not giving them opportunity to play organized sports. I stress that I don't do enough crafts with them at home. I stress that I let them watch too much TV in the car. I stress about the times when I yell at them a little too easily. I stress that I don't seem to be able to bathe them as often as I intend. I stress that I forget to have them brush their teeth. I stress about this. I stress about that.
That's what I focus on - all the ways that I'm messing up. Why do I do this to myself?
I think I've mentioned before that I was an awesome babysitter. And I knew it. Presumably this is why I assumed I would be an awesome mom. I loved kids. I was good with kids. What else is there to it?
Ha! That's what I have to say about that. Ha!
Parenting isn't exactly what I expected it to be. I do love my kids and it is pretty awesome when the baby spots me across the house and comes running towards me with her arms out shouting, "My mommy! My mommy!" But it's also darn hard...and exhausting...and frustrating...and hard. Did I mention hard? Yeah, definitely pretty hard.
Here are some things I've learned about parenting:
1. It's hard to maintain enthusiasm and stamina for something when you do it around the clock. I consider myself one of the lucky ones because my kids are pretty good sleepers. We put them to bed sometime around 7pm, they're frequently asleep by 8pm and they don't wake up until about 7am the next morning. I think of that wonderful window of time between 7pm and 7am as ME time.
Unfortunately I do have to sleep during that time. And there are a lot of chores around the house waiting to be done. Sometimes I have to run to the store for groceries or a birthday present or a teacher appreciation gift.
As it turns out, ME time isn't all it's cracked up to be.
It gets worse. It's particularly hard to maintain enthusiasm and stamina for something - anything - when you're sick. And guess what?! This job does not include sick days. You just have to suck it up and try to make sure that you don't throw up in the minivan when it's your turn to drive carpool.
2. It's really hard to be consistent. I knew that when you're a parent, you must follow through on your threats. But what I didn't know then, is that your brain pretty much stops functioning once you become a parent. For example, you put your four year-old daughter on time out for four minutes - one minute for every year of age. Four minutes go by and amazingly enough, you didn't have to reset the timer once because she actually sat there like she was supposed to. You sit down next to her and ask "What did you do wrong?" Meanwhile in your head you're thinking "Crap! I hope she remembers because I definitely do not." (Yes, that absolutely has happened to me. More than once.)
In light of the fact that I have minimal brain power, how on earth am I supposed to remember what I did last week when this same exact situation presented itself? How am I supposed to remember whose turn it is to go first? How am I supposed to remember what I just threatened two minutes ago?
3. It's difficult to hear what your children are saying. I'll admit that I may have a slightly skewed perception of reality with a six year-old, a five year-old, a four year-old and a two year-old but my experience is that kids are pretty loud. In my household there's pretty much a constant drone of "She pushed me! I don't want to! He's being mean to me! I need a drink! Where's my doll? I don't like that! I need to be wiped! She called me 'poopy-head'."
Your brain does this amazing thing where it totally tunes that out and suddenly YOUR quiet is many decibels above another person's quiet. I'll be driving down the road totally immersed in my thoughts when I suddenly HEAR my four year-old is crying because her sister punched her...and has been crying about it for two minutes.
Or worse, you're at a park and another mom has to point out to you that your child is bleeding. (Fortunately that one hasn't happened to me...yet. Similar things *have* happened though.)
I feel guilty about tuning them out but I'm pretty sure that's just a survival mechanism...some sort of micro evolution. It's a good thing this parenting gig is relatively short-lived otherwise my ears might just go ahead and fall right off. In fact, maybe that's exactly why we go deaf as we age. It's just evolution at work.
4. It's tricky to get your kids to help out. Here's my rule of thumb: getting your kids to do something productive requires at least twenty times the effort on your part, that it would take to just do the job yourself. It's far easier to take the lazy way out and not bother trying to get them to help. And trust me, reward charts are an administrative nightmare. I have yet to find one that I can stick to. It's not the kids that are the problem, it's totally me. I'll admit it. I just don't have the energy for it.
Kidding aside, I wish I could see myself for what I am. I know I'm doing the best I can. Why can't I allow myself to be a work in progress? I was going to say "a work in progress like the kids" but then realized that perhaps that's part of my problem. I struggle to allow them to be works in progress sometimes too.
A wise person suggested that I sit down with my husband and that we figure out our "tier of discipline". She suggested that we figure out how our discipline should escalate and what offenses deserve what punishment, et cetera. I think this is a great idea. This way our punishments will be consistent between the two of us. And most importantly, when I get to FIVE and need to discipline, maybe my mind won't draw a complete blank as to what should happen next.
On Monday I was feeling very introspective about parenting. I even had an epiphany. It suddenly occurred to me that I'm always focused on all the crappy things I do as a parent and I don't give myself enough credit for the good stuff I do. Am I the only person for whom this was a ground-breaking revelation? I stress that I'm not feeding the kids healthy enough meals. I stress that I'm not giving them opportunity to play organized sports. I stress that I don't do enough crafts with them at home. I stress that I let them watch too much TV in the car. I stress about the times when I yell at them a little too easily. I stress that I don't seem to be able to bathe them as often as I intend. I stress that I forget to have them brush their teeth. I stress about this. I stress about that.
That's what I focus on - all the ways that I'm messing up. Why do I do this to myself?
I think I've mentioned before that I was an awesome babysitter. And I knew it. Presumably this is why I assumed I would be an awesome mom. I loved kids. I was good with kids. What else is there to it?
Ha! That's what I have to say about that. Ha!
Parenting isn't exactly what I expected it to be. I do love my kids and it is pretty awesome when the baby spots me across the house and comes running towards me with her arms out shouting, "My mommy! My mommy!" But it's also darn hard...and exhausting...and frustrating...and hard. Did I mention hard? Yeah, definitely pretty hard.
Here are some things I've learned about parenting:
1. It's hard to maintain enthusiasm and stamina for something when you do it around the clock. I consider myself one of the lucky ones because my kids are pretty good sleepers. We put them to bed sometime around 7pm, they're frequently asleep by 8pm and they don't wake up until about 7am the next morning. I think of that wonderful window of time between 7pm and 7am as ME time.
Unfortunately I do have to sleep during that time. And there are a lot of chores around the house waiting to be done. Sometimes I have to run to the store for groceries or a birthday present or a teacher appreciation gift.
As it turns out, ME time isn't all it's cracked up to be.
It gets worse. It's particularly hard to maintain enthusiasm and stamina for something - anything - when you're sick. And guess what?! This job does not include sick days. You just have to suck it up and try to make sure that you don't throw up in the minivan when it's your turn to drive carpool.
2. It's really hard to be consistent. I knew that when you're a parent, you must follow through on your threats. But what I didn't know then, is that your brain pretty much stops functioning once you become a parent. For example, you put your four year-old daughter on time out for four minutes - one minute for every year of age. Four minutes go by and amazingly enough, you didn't have to reset the timer once because she actually sat there like she was supposed to. You sit down next to her and ask "What did you do wrong?" Meanwhile in your head you're thinking "Crap! I hope she remembers because I definitely do not." (Yes, that absolutely has happened to me. More than once.)
In light of the fact that I have minimal brain power, how on earth am I supposed to remember what I did last week when this same exact situation presented itself? How am I supposed to remember whose turn it is to go first? How am I supposed to remember what I just threatened two minutes ago?
3. It's difficult to hear what your children are saying. I'll admit that I may have a slightly skewed perception of reality with a six year-old, a five year-old, a four year-old and a two year-old but my experience is that kids are pretty loud. In my household there's pretty much a constant drone of "She pushed me! I don't want to! He's being mean to me! I need a drink! Where's my doll? I don't like that! I need to be wiped! She called me 'poopy-head'."
Your brain does this amazing thing where it totally tunes that out and suddenly YOUR quiet is many decibels above another person's quiet. I'll be driving down the road totally immersed in my thoughts when I suddenly HEAR my four year-old is crying because her sister punched her...and has been crying about it for two minutes.
Or worse, you're at a park and another mom has to point out to you that your child is bleeding. (Fortunately that one hasn't happened to me...yet. Similar things *have* happened though.)
I feel guilty about tuning them out but I'm pretty sure that's just a survival mechanism...some sort of micro evolution. It's a good thing this parenting gig is relatively short-lived otherwise my ears might just go ahead and fall right off. In fact, maybe that's exactly why we go deaf as we age. It's just evolution at work.
4. It's tricky to get your kids to help out. Here's my rule of thumb: getting your kids to do something productive requires at least twenty times the effort on your part, that it would take to just do the job yourself. It's far easier to take the lazy way out and not bother trying to get them to help. And trust me, reward charts are an administrative nightmare. I have yet to find one that I can stick to. It's not the kids that are the problem, it's totally me. I'll admit it. I just don't have the energy for it.
Kidding aside, I wish I could see myself for what I am. I know I'm doing the best I can. Why can't I allow myself to be a work in progress? I was going to say "a work in progress like the kids" but then realized that perhaps that's part of my problem. I struggle to allow them to be works in progress sometimes too.
A wise person suggested that I sit down with my husband and that we figure out our "tier of discipline". She suggested that we figure out how our discipline should escalate and what offenses deserve what punishment, et cetera. I think this is a great idea. This way our punishments will be consistent between the two of us. And most importantly, when I get to FIVE and need to discipline, maybe my mind won't draw a complete blank as to what should happen next.
Monday, April 19
Truth in Advertising
Last week we got a special treat. At the last minute, it suddenly worked out that my Mom was going to be in town to attend a workshop. My mom lives in Cairo...yes...the one in Egypt...so this was a pretty big deal. We hadn't seen her since last September, right before she moved to Egypt. She didn't actually stay at our house while she attended the workshop but she took a couple of days off work so that we could visit and hang out. It was a lot of fun. And we did a lot of stuff that my little family doesn't typically do...like eating out. We ate out A LOT!
One of the places we hit on our grand-old-tour of all the local restaurants was IHOP. This was an impromptu brunch after my son had had to fast for an ultrasound. So since the girls had already eaten breakfast, I thought that a bowl of fruit would suffice.
Here's the bowl of fruit as pictured on the menu:
I vaguely recalled a previous waiter mentioning something about it being a small bowl of fruit so I did ask the waiter for clarification about the fruit bowl...but I now realize I asked the wrong question. However I did find out that the kids bowl costs $2.99 and the regular bowl is like $5.49. Can I digress for a minute to point on that those prices are BOTH highway robbery!! How much do you think that fruit really costs them?! But before I wander too far down that tangent, let me show you the bowl of fruit that was delivered.
Are you kidding me?! That's five pieces of fruit. Admittedly five large - choking-hazardly-large - pieces of fruit but come on, that does NOT look like the same bowl of fruit. I'm not usually one to make a stink about things but this was too much. I pointed out to the waiter that those bowls of fruit look nothing alike. He didn't have much to say so I asked if I could speak to the manager. (But I promise you that I was very polite about it. Truthfully this is probably the first time I've asked for the manager in my entire life.) The manager came over and I pointed out that the bowl of fruit looked nothing like the one in the picture and he said, "The picture is for dramatic purposes."
Uh...then shouldn't you disclose on the menu that the bowl of fruit pictured is nothing like the bowl of fruit you will receive?
That response riled up some of the members of my party and they were ready to throw down right then and there. But I tried to maintain the friendly atmosphere by steering it back to what I really wanted anyway. "Could we possibly upgrade to the regular sized bowl?"
Am I overreacting, people?! You do agree that that bowl of fruit looks very different than the bowl of fruit in the menu, right?!
So anyway they brought me another little bowl of fruit and to IHOP's credit, they didn't charge me another $2.99 for the additional five pieces of fruit in the new bowl.
Having said that, I figured I'd share this with the rest of you possibly-IHOP-visiting-parents, lest you get sucked into the Jr. Fresh Fruit Dish trap.
One of the places we hit on our grand-old-tour of all the local restaurants was IHOP. This was an impromptu brunch after my son had had to fast for an ultrasound. So since the girls had already eaten breakfast, I thought that a bowl of fruit would suffice.
Here's the bowl of fruit as pictured on the menu:
I vaguely recalled a previous waiter mentioning something about it being a small bowl of fruit so I did ask the waiter for clarification about the fruit bowl...but I now realize I asked the wrong question. However I did find out that the kids bowl costs $2.99 and the regular bowl is like $5.49. Can I digress for a minute to point on that those prices are BOTH highway robbery!! How much do you think that fruit really costs them?! But before I wander too far down that tangent, let me show you the bowl of fruit that was delivered.
Are you kidding me?! That's five pieces of fruit. Admittedly five large - choking-hazardly-large - pieces of fruit but come on, that does NOT look like the same bowl of fruit. I'm not usually one to make a stink about things but this was too much. I pointed out to the waiter that those bowls of fruit look nothing alike. He didn't have much to say so I asked if I could speak to the manager. (But I promise you that I was very polite about it. Truthfully this is probably the first time I've asked for the manager in my entire life.) The manager came over and I pointed out that the bowl of fruit looked nothing like the one in the picture and he said, "The picture is for dramatic purposes."
Uh...then shouldn't you disclose on the menu that the bowl of fruit pictured is nothing like the bowl of fruit you will receive?
That response riled up some of the members of my party and they were ready to throw down right then and there. But I tried to maintain the friendly atmosphere by steering it back to what I really wanted anyway. "Could we possibly upgrade to the regular sized bowl?"
Am I overreacting, people?! You do agree that that bowl of fruit looks very different than the bowl of fruit in the menu, right?!
So anyway they brought me another little bowl of fruit and to IHOP's credit, they didn't charge me another $2.99 for the additional five pieces of fruit in the new bowl.
Having said that, I figured I'd share this with the rest of you possibly-IHOP-visiting-parents, lest you get sucked into the Jr. Fresh Fruit Dish trap.
Monday, March 29
Laundry
If you've been following my blog, you might know that life's been a little crazy for me/us lately. We've had so many medical appointments in the last little stretch! So I got behind on a few things, including laundry. Today I'm finally tackling Mount Laundry. (This is in addition to dropping off my car for repairs, switching the car seats to a rental, and taking a two-hour jaunt to sign some tax-related paperwork - all with four kids in tow, of course).
Anyway, as I was saying, you know you have a lot of laundry when you are able to sort it as follows:
whites
beige/tans
grays
browns
blacks
reds
pinks
yellow/oranges
light blues
greens
dark blues
(Unfortunatelyseveral most of those baskets contain more than one load, plus I already had a load in the washer, another in the dryer and two baskets ready to fold. *sigh*)
Anyway, as I was saying, you know you have a lot of laundry when you are able to sort it as follows:
whitesbeige/tans
grays
browns
blacks
reds
pinks
yellow/oranges
light blues
greens
dark blues
(Unfortunately
Monday, March 15
Saturday, March 6
Chickpea Spinach Pasta
I'm always going back to Kirsten's site and hunting around through the archives trying to find this recipe so let me just once and for all put a link here on *my* site with a recipe label. Hopefully that helps me keep track of it when I need to pass it along to someone else. :) And for the record, once I realized that I didn't have chickpeas so subbed in fresh mushrooms and my husband *really* loved that version. So there's a variation for you to try...
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