Category: parenting

children, family, gratitude, humor, kids, motherhood, parenting

5,000

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I’m noticing a trend.  In many ways, life with Full Speed and T.Puzzle is becoming much more pleasant.  Even though they are off school for a whole week for Thanksgiving, I didn’t even bat an eye.  I took them to the store today and I had zero anxiety about it.  If you know me it all, that is a near miraculous statement.  Of course, I still have rather unusual conversations with them before we enter any place that is of public domain.

“Your decisions in the store will determine whether or not you will be spending a large amount of time in your rooms or not once we return home.  I am only going to give you one warning.  Next time I have to speak to you about your behavior, you will have to go to your rooms as soon as we get home.”

“But, Mom,… is that one warning total or is that a warning a piece for each thing we do?  Like, ‘Calm down!’, ‘Be quiet!’, ‘Don’t kick your brother!'”  Full Speed had quite a list.

At this point I was only half-listening as the list went on and on.  “I don’t know, Full Speed.  I just don’t know.”

“Mom, what if T.Puzzle and I came up with 5,000 different ways to get in trouble?  Is that equal to 5,000 warnings?  What would you say to that, Mom?”

“I would say you are very talented.”

He grinned and chuckled.

Thankfully, we didn’t even crack the top ten.

children, family, gratitude, humor, kids, motherhood, parenting

Miracle on Monkey Island

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Last week the boys had their six-month eye check-ups.  They were reluctant participants because they knew they had to have dilation drops.  They hate those.  Despite their reluctance and the over three hours we spent at the ophthalmology clinic, we ended up having a great time.  It’s kind of nice getting to spend time with them during school hours and getting out of school early almost makes dilation drops bearable.  Almost.

As we sat in the waiting area hoping pupils were dilating, a strange thing happened.  I noticed nearly every under five-year old was in a state of meltdown or duress.  There were harried mothers running amok trying to corral and soothe these very distressed children.  They were wiping noses, handing sippy cups out to no avail and looking rather frazzled.

Then, it dawned on me.  That used to be me.  Times two.  I sat back in my chair and let this realization wash over me.  I glanced to my left and there sat Full Speed happily immersed in a thick chapter book.  I glanced to my right and there sat T.Puzzle quietly.  He was too tired from fighting the dilation drops earlier and chose just to sit in silence rather than do anything else.  Let me repeat, he sat in SILENCE.

As my eyes swept over the waiting room that was quickly turning into a scene from a monkey island zoo exhibit, I thanked my lucky stars that miraculously my boys seemed to be two of the best behaved there.

I never thought I would live to see the day.

It's been an honor corralling these awesome guys
It’s been an honor corralling these awesome guys
children, dogs, family, gratitude, happiness, humor, kids, motherhood, parenting

Walks are for the Dogs

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It seems that as long as T.Puzzle continues to do well, the return of the dogs is permanent.  Full Speed has stated that since having them home, he is the happiest he’s ever been in his whole life.  T.Puzzle is excited because he is no longer the shortest living being in our household.  For me, I am in my element when I am walking the dogs.  There is something about their quiet company with nothing but blue sky overhead that fills my heart with joy.  I have even made it a standing ritual that on most days during the week, the boys and I will walk to school with the dogs.  I use the term ‘walk’ loosely.  I need to invent a word that falls somewhere in between walking and standing still.  I’m not sure why exactly that it takes us 45 minutes to walk a 20 minute distance.  Of course once we begin our walk, I am subjected to loads of feedback concerning the weather conditions.   One boy will tell me that he’s certain a blizzard is coming because it is so cold while the other thinks the wind may freeze his face off.  Keep in mind, we live in a very warm climate and it’s only November where most days the temperatures still climb near 80 degrees.  I have attempted some preventative measures to help minimize the climate related feedback.  I brought out a pull-over hoodie for Full Speed to wear on a particularly chilly morning.  He took one look at it and said he wasn’t going to wear it.  Apparently, he got ‘trapped’ in it last year and he wasn’t willing to ‘go in that direction’ again.  All I can say is, thank god for zippers and get your shoes on boy…it’s dog walkin’ time.

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children, family, gratitude, humor, kids, motherhood, parenting

Eye Am Lucky

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Sometimes as parents we blaze the trail without even realizing it.  I now am in a position to offer my hard-earned kernels of wisdom to Moms facing tantrums or the newborn stage.  I always offer my advice only if asked with the caveat that never, ever ask me about potty training.   That is unless you want your kids to be miserable and really old before being toliet-trained, then I’m your girl.

When I started this blog, I didn’t know that I would reach the tiny percentage of other Moms facing the challenges of raising children diagnosed with ectopia lentis.  My family has come so far since the early days of uncertainty surrounding my boys vision, that sometimes I lose track of the fact that we are ectopia lentis survivors and thrivers.  For those of you who are new to this blog, ectopia lentis is a rare, genetic condition which both my boys have, that compromises the lens of the eye and can severely impair vision.  The road to great vision has been long for my boys and with patience and the help of an outstanding ophthalmologist, we came through the other side of this disorder relatively unscathed.  By virtue of my boys leading ‘normal’ lives, we are helping other Moms know that ectopia lentis is only a small part of who their child is.

I would not change a minute of our experience if it in any way would alter who my kids are.  All those tears I shed, all the nights of worry about their future and each and every eye surgery has been absolutely worth it.   If ectopia lentis means I get to have these two guys as my kids, then honestly, I am the luckiest Mom around.

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children, family, humor, kids, motherhood, parenting

Word Play

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DSC_8499Over the years I’ve grown accustomed to ‘reframing’ some of the difficult traits my boys possess.  They’re not stubborn, they’re tenacious.  Those aren’t tantrums, those are displays of competitive fire and passion.  It’s pretty obvious I can’t change who they are, so I might as well use creative vocabulary words to downplay their more challenging aspects.

This is all well and good but I’m at a point now that I’m ready for them to play something competitive without it seeming like a life or death situation.  It’s inevitable that anytime they play a sport with family or friends, one of my boys will storm off, argue or just plain give up.  I don’t get it.  When I was younger, I remember being able to play games with friends without completely losing my mind if I lost.  If I played a team sport, I often felt bad for the other team if we beat them.  My children are the complete opposite.  They both have a win-at-all-costs attitude.

Sometimes, managing their fierce attitudes about competition is enough to drive me nuts.  What I meant to say is enough to solidify my boundaries of sanity in a consciousness-expanding, patience-growing, sort of way.