Category: kids

kids

children, happiness, kids, mommyhood

Ready or Not

WFAM

It is Christmas vacation for all the kids in our neighborhood. We played with our friend, Miss Cutie, who is off for the holidays. Her Mom walked her over to our house with her baby sister in tow. Full Speed decided he was going to push Miss Cutie in our red car with the long blue handle. I gave him a laundry list of instructions on how he must handle the situation with care. No wheelies, no crazy zig-zag pushing and to keep the speed down. He did an excellent job. So much in fact that Miss Cutie’s Mom and I stopped paying attention and began cooing over the baby (she’s in the smiley phase which is irresistible). We both look up at the same moment to see Miss Cutie sailing by in the push car unaccompanied at a high rate of speed. Her Mom rushes over to stop her just as she bumps into the curb. Luckily she was not injured. We dissolved into laughter. The great thing about Miss Cutie’s mom was that she was a tomboy growing up. She relates to my boys in a way that moms of girls sometimes can’t. She rolls with the punches and is able to laugh with me (not at me) over their antics.

T.Puzzle eventually joins in the hub-bub after an almost three and half hour nap. This is just about the time Full Speed decides he wants to head back inside. He invites Miss Cutie to come in and play with us. He has a habit of inviting everyone into our house at all hours of the day. I appreciate his hospitality but sometimes I’d like a minute or two to pick up dirty socks or whatever else might be lying precariously about. Full Speed helps me clear up the cul-de-sac while T.Puzzle takes it upon himself to help Miss Cutie inside. Of course with his ‘help’ she lands in a pile on the floor (again, no injuries were sustained).

I love that my boys have a sensitive, chivalrous side. Just be careful if you see them in public. They may unleash their chivalry at you at all costs.

Ready or not.

gratitude, happiness, kids, parenting

Peace on Earth

WFAM

We attended the Avondale Luminaria Celebration. It is a local community Christmas event. We have friends that live nearby and were able to get us parking as it is very crowded. Then we set out to explore the luminary lined streets on foot (simply beautiful). Essentially it is a festival of holiday lighted homes and vehicles that drive up and down the main drag with the passengers (some in Santa gear) tossing candy. There was a live nativity (little T.Puzzle couldn’t get over the baby calf) and of course another meeting with Santa. While waiting in line the boys almost reached their breaking point right as they were about to meet Santa. They were getting wrestly and antsy and almost knocked over some decorations. Luckily, as I could sense we were reaching the danger zone of behavior, it was their turn. They sat nicely on Santa’s lap and had a lengthy chat.

Full Speed made himself right at home with our friends insisting that he hold their hands as we paraded down the street. T.Puzzle followed suit as he has to do everything his older brother does. The boys shouted ‘Merry Christmas’ to all we saw and seemed to fully participate in the collective holiday cheer. It was a joy to watch.

My friend asked me a little about the boys and family. She commented that Mad Dog was an awfully quiet guy. I said he is mostly, however there are times he can surprise you. I could tell she didn’t believe me.

Full Speed had managed to claim her as his own personal companion for the evening and they begin darting among the crowd (at Full Speed’s insistent lead of course). At one point Full Speed and my friend got separated from the rest of us. Her husband, Mad Dog, T.Puzzle and myself stopped in our tracks hoping that soon we would be reunited.

We made the best of it while we waited. T.Puzzle and I watched the lighted cars go by and sang Christmas songs while Mad Dog watched the Steelers big comeback on his iPhone (so much for sacrificing football for family time; you will not be allowed to say that again, Mad Dog!). When the Steelers scored their down-to-the-wire winning touchdown, Mad Dog shouted so loud it startled me (and everyone in a five block radius). If only my friend had been there to hear that. Then she’d know Mad Dog’s not as quiet as one might think.

Turns out Full Speed and my friend had lost us in the crowd and decided to head back to where we had initially parked. No harm, no foul. On our drive home, two very tired but very happy boys were as quiet as mice. Apparently there can be peace on earth after all.

children, kids, mommyhood

I’ll Second That

WFAM

Lately I have begun to feel a shift in the behavior of my boys. They are less like crazed, wild animals and more like human children. I could attribute this to the passage of time, maturity (on my part and theirs) or my mental state has slowly shifted to delirium-laced denial. Any way you look at it, I am quite simply enjoying their company more and more. I am even doing spontaneous things like taking them to the movies or out to dinner during the week AND actually looking forward to it.

That’s not to say we don’t have our setbacks. For example, when I’m locked in a bathroom stall with a screaming T.Puzzle and Full Speed is on the toilet insisting I face away from him for ‘privacy’. That happened yesterday. We were at the gym and I was giving the boys a snack before I headed to my BOSU (if you don’t know what that is, don’t bother finding out because it is torture) class and Full Speed announces he has ‘to go poopy!’ for the whole gym to hear. We race to the bathroom and I throw him in a stall and put T.Puzzle on the toilet in the stall right next door.

After ten seconds I hear Full Speed say, “Mom, I did it again. I locked myself in.”

I didn’t panic like I did at Tae Kwon Do because I know Full Speed was perfectly capable of unlocking himself once his business was finished (in fact he unlocked it mid-business without disaster). I brought T.Puzzle and myself into Full Speed’s stall to ensure there would be no more accidental locking. That’s when the maelstrom of events took place. T.Puzzle’s yelling, Full Speed’s directing and the familiar slow burn of embarrassment creeping up my stomach and expressing itself as a scarlet hue on my cheeks. Two steps forward, one step back I suppose.

Once that twenty minute bathroom production is over and they are off to the gym daycare (Full Speed loves it because now that he is five he gets to do the climbing wall there), I head to my class. I think that even though I left part of my lung on the floor of the class and my heartbeat has yet to stabilize, I’m glad I did the class (I think). I pick the boys up and as we put on coats they tell me they are hungry.

“Oh, good,” I say. “Mom’s going to make chicken when we get home.”

“I don’t like chicken,” Full Speed says. “I’m not going to eat it.”

“Great. Then you can sit in your room while T.Puzzle and I eat it.”

By now T.Puzzle is also upset because I’m making him wear a sweatshirt and Full Speed  has a sour face because he apparently hates chicken (which is lie, he’s just being contrary).

“The next person that gives Mommy attitude will be sitting in time-out. And, Full Speed, if you cannot adjust your attitude about dinner you will be going to bed the same time as your brother (Full Speed sometimes gets to stay up a little later but it is a PRIVILEGE).”

Even though I’m feeling sassy myself I try to shift the negative energy of my clan as we head to the truck.

“Hey guys, check out your shoes in the night. They light up so nice when it’s dark out. I love your shoes, T.Puzzle and I love your shoes, Full Speed.”

“Mom,” Full Speed says, “your shoes are beautiful.”

My shoes are three year old, dingy gym shoes that have certainly seen better days. However, I appreciate Full Speed’s strategy of buttering up old Mom. And just so you know, he finished all the chicken on his plate and asked for seconds.

gratitude, humor, kids, life in pictures, mommyhood

Supermarket Miracle

WFAM

This was my morning. First I got T.Puzzle up and dressed. I said, “What would you like for breakfast?” I was full well anticipating an answer like ‘pancakes!’ or ‘waffles!” Instead he said, “Cupcakes with sprinkles!”

I promise you I did not give him that for breakfast. At least the cupcakes I had baked for his birthday made an impression on him. I guess I will have to Betty Crocker it out for him on future celebratory occasions. Let’s hope he outgrows his egg allergy because store bought cupcakes are a beautiful thing.

When it’s Full Speed’s turn to start the day I ask, “What would you like to wear today?” He responds, “My Santa shirt.” This confuses me. He doesn’t have a shirt with a Santa picture on it or even a holiday themed one.

“What shirt do you mean?” I ask.

“The red one I wore when I met Santa,” he explains. His tone implies that pretty much everyone on the planet except his Mom knows this. Red polo shirt it is then.

I love that in the first ten minutes of my day that my boys are so entertaining. I think that means we are off to a good start.

After T.Puzzle and I drop off Full Speed, we head to the grocery. In the past I have dedicated entire posts to his legendary meltdowns and unpredictable behavior. Today, I changed my game plan. It was risky but it paid off. I had to survey the area and make a hasty choice. On this particular weekday morning the place was dead with only a handful of staff and customers sprinkled about.

I let him out of the cart.

I know as you let that concept sink in, you have a great deal of fear and admiration for me.

He helped me pull the cart and placed (more like plunked and thunked) items in the basket. It went slowly but it went well. I even knew I had a spare fruit snack in my purse to bribe him to sit in the cart during checkout. It worked like a charm.

My morning started off as slightly humorous like any other and then it turned into a supermarket miracle. God bless us everyone!

children, kids, life in pictures, mommyhood, Uncategorized

I Spy

WFAM

I am trying very hard to get my house back in order after all the visitors. This morning I was clearing floors and decided to put T.Puzzle’s new Thomas the Train track on our dining room table. Per our morning routine (as we are extremely routine oriented here), the boys were dressed, fed and had their teeth brushed. If this goes smoothly it allows time for a cartoon viewing before school. I use that time to sneak back upstairs and change out of my pajamas and occasionally focus on my personal hygiene. I do mean occasionally. When I come back downstairs what do I find but this:

Oh, well.

After the boys are dropped at school and my morning workout is complete, I take a few minutes to phone my sister. She is getting back in the routine of her everyday life and so am I. We both agreed seeing each other helped our hearts tremendously and maybe we will survive this first Christmas without our Mom after all.

I told her Mad Dog is traveling and that overall the boys and I are doing well. She told me to thank Mad Dog for all he did to make the trip to Florida happen and all the other ways that he was generous to her family. I told her I would but when he is traveling, I rarely get a chance to speak to him. He is usually incredibly busy and often times meets with colleagues for dinners out at night. I told her it’s hard sometimes to hear that he is on his way out as I am in the lonely process of shutting my house down and tucking the boys in bed for the night. She said that she understood.

“It’s probably hard to think of Mad Dog eating steak when you are at home eating chicken nuggets with the boys,” she said.

“How did you know I had chicken nuggets last night (I really did!)? Did you put cameras in my house while you were here?” I asked.

This made both of us of laugh. Of course a Mom would eat chicken nuggets. It’s just what we do.