Praying to the Porcelain Gods

A few years ago, this meant something vastly different. But as the mother of at soon-to-be three year old we're singin' the praises of the potty these days!!! After day two and only one accident (and even a #2 in the potty), I've got nothing to complain about . . . but is it too much to ask that a trip to the bathroom not interfere with dinner on the table ready for everyone to sit down and eat at 7:45 pm.

It's late, it's been a long day, I ran six miles, have been without a husband for three days because he's trying a case this week, we've endured the bank opening savings accounts for three little people, Trader Joe's for apples that weren't there, CVS for potty treats and Walgreens for a certain plastic daggar that #2 had to have and I said he could get if he was good. So dinner's on and #3 decides he wants a "cow tail" and that's a poop treat, so he's off to the potty, but it's not just a sit there and do your business trip, it's an I've got to be completly naked and need my special potty seat from upstairs and I'm just going to sit there and wait trip. Oh, and did I mention that I ran 6 miles and haven't showered yet, and I STINK and can hardly stand to be in the same room as myself!!!

To those of you who are going through the same thing, I'm sorry to complain, I know there are many many many more things to complain about with regards to getting out of diapers. My life is pretty good, all in all.

Long Lost Love

I'd forgotten how much I love camping. This past weekend we took the fam up into the hills for a two night camping trip with two other families from our daughter's school class.

IT WAS AWESOME!!!!!

I think that since the birth of #2, I'd convinced myself that camping was way too much work and not worth the headache, but boy was I wrong. While it was a little bit of a chore getting everything together, once we got there, all six kids were off into the woods. There was a very cool open space that was shaded and had a huge fallen tree in the middle that was across a small road from our campsite, that the kids called their "clubhouse." They were off exploring and creating.

At one point in the weekend, the group divided into groups and #2 was in the cooking group and came to me asking for a plate and knife and Twinkie, to serve to the other groups. He came back a few minutes later and said, "They loved it!!!" Of course they did, I wanted to say, it's a TWINKIE!!!

I realized that while staying in a hotel may have some creature comforts:
-many pillows
-soft beds
-a flush toilet within a few feet instead of a few hundred feet
-a shower
-temperature control
-no bugs (I hope)

BUT there are also a few drawbacks, like:
-everyone in a confined space and when you want to say "go play," they can only jump from bed to bed
-there is usually a TV, which doesn't really work for my crew
-entertainment requires serious effort - packing everyone in the car, making sure we have enough snacks/diapers/water/time to see or do what will fill the time

I'm now ready to go at a moments notice!! Bring on the woods!!!

Lazy Summer Days

I love beginning the days reading stories to my children in bed.  

Next, I love it when I ask them for a few minutes, (uninterrupted (ha ha!) on the computer so I can pay bills), and I overhear the make believe game they've created.  Our sons have developed recurring dog characters, Rex & Rover, who visit our house and according to my mom, "it's amazing how they stay in character."  So they'd come up with a dog school, and our daughter was the teacher/principal or something like that.  They entertained themselves for about an hour with this game.  We were all happy as clams.  

We were in desperate need of a Costco trip, so we went, came home, made lunch and put away everything while they watched School House Rock.  What is better than getting out of the car and hearing your son sing, "Lolly lolly lolly, get your adverbs here."  I had to put my hand on my head to keep from floating away.

I love having nothing to do.

Happy Birthday, Big Boy!!

I just returned from #2's birthday gift.  He turns 5 on Tuesday, and this weekend was Comic Con, so being a boy who loves superheroes and action figures, we decided this would be a fun way to spend the afternoon with him.  

We planned for my husband to take him yesterday, but after a quick visit to QuickCare for a muscle strain the his chest (my husband, not my son), he was not capable of walking anywhere, let alone a huge convention center, I accompanied my son this afternoon.  We were only there for less than two hours, but that was the perfect amount of time for his attention span.  

His eyes were wide, and he refused to take a picture with anyone in costume, but he was happy to stand next to replicas.  We just wandered and he led me by the hand where he wanted to go.  It was great!!  I love time with one child where they are in charge of what they want to see, and where to go.  

We bought some action figures: Batman, Martian Manhunter, Evil Batman (didn't know that one existed), the Riddler, and a free Nemesis Prime.  I found secret pleasure watching him open the boxes on these collectors editions and play with them.  Evil Batman has lost an arm, but oh well, it's a toy!

Happy Birthday to you!!

bedtime

Like most parents, I read stories to my children before bedtime. It's one of our favorite times of the day, #2 especially, he'll listen as long as I will read. Tonight I was reading to all three children, but since I have only two sides, conflict erupted over who could lie next to Mom. #1 and #2, being bigger won out. #3being the creative person he is, poked his little head between the book and my stomach and proceeded to lie on top of me, leaving me just enough room to see the book. Good times.

#2

Our second child, a son is 4, almost 5.  Beginning last February (2007) we started down a rough road with him.  He was violent.  The first question people always ask me is, "What does he watch on TV."  To which I responded, "Sesame Street, Cyber Chase, BackYardigans, The UpsideDown Show," basically PBS and Noggin, nothing violent.  That is the time my husband relocated to our current location and we finished the school year and tried to sell our house, so I figured it was our son's way of dealing with Dad being gone for two weeks at a time, and the general turmoil in our lives.  I thought the violence would pass when we got back together again.  It didn't.  We made a big move, so I excused it again because it was a fairly traumatic event in the life of a 4 year old.

It got to a point where I felt like I was taking a pit bull to the playground.  I never knew what would set him off, so I was constantly on edge, afraid he would hurt someone badly.  One day, he pushed down an 18 month old neighbor, hitting her head on the corner of our flagstone step and had a giant goose egg on her forehead.  I was mortified.  The next day I made an appointment with two places to have him evaluated by a behaviorist and child psychologist.  

A few weeks later, I heard a piece on NPR about children and their play, and thought, "my kids rely too much on others to entertain them."  That happened to be the same day when I spoke with my dad and he mentioned how kids these days are severely lacking in interpersonal skills because they rely too heavily on video games and TV.  So I turned off the TV.  From then on, they watch maybe 2 hours a week.  

It was a night and day difference with #2.  He no longer lashed out at other kids.  He was no longer irritated by the tags in his shirts or underwear.  He didn't freak out if his socks had a wrinkle in them.  He did whine for the TV every so often, but now he rarely asks.  One of the professionals said that the way images on TV are made these days, sometimes children have a tough time integrating the brain activity while they're watching a show into their body and it causes them to become irritable and hyper-sensitive to things.  When I picked him up at camp today, he and some other kids were playing Candyland, so I waited while they finished.  He didn't win and was really disappointed, and went off and cried.  I know he's just tired from a full day of activities like he's never had before, and he likes to win, but the crying was nothing like a tantrum he might have thrown six months ago, and I'm so glad.  

I just checked on him, asleep, and just had to smile for the way things have turned out.  It seemed like a really rough spell with him, but now we get to enjoy each other.  He always asks me why words are what they are, so for his birthday I found a few etymology books for him, and he's excited about it.  Today he asked me if we could make strawberry jam again, and I am so excited to do that with him.   

My husband and I have struggled over sending him to kindergarten in the fall, and decided to keep him in preschool for one more year, and I am thrilled about that.  This week he's in summer camp.  When I pick him up after 3:30, I realized that we don't really have much time to do the fun things we like to do, like make jam, so I'm extra excited that we get another year to explore together.   

He's such a cool kid, I'm so glad he's mine.  

nighttime

It's 11:23 pm. according to my computer's clock, my french doors are open onto my balcony and there are birds chirping noisily in the tree on my street.  They seem to do this every night.  They're not owls, mind you, but actual songs and chirping.  I thought they only did this when the sun came up.  I wish I had a way to identify their calls.  Maybe they're telling me I should go to bed, tomorrow is Father's Day and my husband will be gone all day, so it's really "mother's day,"  I have a lot planned and ought to be well rested with lots of patience so I don't yell at three of the four people who are the most dear to me.  Thank you for beautiful reminders.  

Good night.