children, mommyhood, terrible threes

Believe Me

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Little T.Puzzle woke up this morning with one foot planted on the road to a peaceful, four year old-like existence, and one foot firmly entrenched in the terrible threes. Just like his Mommy, he is not a happy camper first thing in the morning. Of course Full Speed takes after Mad Dog. He pops out of bed, puffs his chest out and flexes his arms (ok, Mad Dog doesn’t do that, he simply enjoys the first light of a day in a positive way I will never understand).

Everything I asked of little T.Puzzle was shot down with a blunt refusal, a cross of his arms and a bad, bad attitude. Of course Mr. Happy Full Speed has to throw his two cents in about the subject.

“Mom, T.Puzzle is just being contrary,” he states. “That’s why he’s not listening.”

In our house the word contrary and children go together like pepperoni and pizza.

“Full Speed, leave your brother alone. You know he doesn’t like mornings and you used to be just as contrary when you were his age (and then some),” I reply.

He looks me dead in the eye and says, “No, I wasn’t.”

Oh really? Who are you going to believe?

Full Speed flexes as the boys return to the car from \’helping\’ Mad Dog grocery shop.
children, eyesight, gratitude, happiness, mommyhood

The Climb of Progress

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There is a positive side to having active boys with vision issues. It makes them more cautious especially at great heights and forces them to slow down a notch. Anything that slows down my always-in-motion boys at looming heights is a plus.

The downside is that when they were smaller both loathed to swing, they cried and screamed when introduced to a new climbing apparatus and they generally caused a scene if they felt unsafe. Through the years I have learned to adapt and so have they. I’ve learned when to push, when to back off and when to throw my hands up in defeat while taking a long draw of drink from my handy travel flask. Of course with time and age, the boys learned by doing that they are safe at the tops of a slides and Full Speed is now fearless (lucky me???).

Little T.Puzzle, well, he’s still a work in progress.

So, as I approached our outing to the play area at Chik-fil-a, I had very low expectations. T.Puzzle started out very cautiously and when he went down the slide he screamed and wailed. I was just about to wrap it up when he did something unexpected. He kept going. The more he went, the more confidence he built and by the end he was circling the climbing apparatus in a happy loop.

This kid is growing by leaps and bounds. I might just be able to retire my travel flask sooner than I thought. Most likely I will always hold onto it for sentimental reasons (at least that is what I will tell Mad Dog).

Way to go, Little T.Puzzle!
children, gratitude, happiness, mommyhood

Run for Your Motherhood

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I wanted to recap some of our spontaneous weekend adventure highlights (and lowlights) because it was certainly a memorable time. To kick-off the weekend we dined in our hotel restaurant. About 15 minutes in, little T.Puzzle, who is kicking-butt with his potty-training, announces he has to ‘POOP!’ I grab him and race through the restaurant and make it to the bathroom just in time. Upon returning to the table and after the arrival of our food, Full Speed starts acting weird. He keeps saying something is in his throat and he is extremely whiny. Then, he gets that look. It’s a look only a mom can recognize. Yep, it was the ‘he’s gonna hurl’ look. And he does. Right in the restaurant. I sensed the coming vomit early enough that I had a plastic baggie ready and manage to catch almost all of it. I leave Mad Dog with little T.Puzzle, my untouched food and the bill, scoop up Full Speed and run to our room (here I go with more running). He still looked ghastly pale so I had to pick up my pace and endure what was possibly the longest elevator ride in the history of elevator rides. When those elevator doors finally crept open, I busted out and ran full-tilt  to our room where Full Speed unleashed the rest of his stomach’s contents into the toilet.

I was exhausted. Mad Dog brought my food up and once I knew Full Speed was settled, I finally had a chance to eat. Mad Dog also brought a bottle of wine because he is a brilliant, brilliant man. Things just got exponentially better from there. Mad Dog and I watched the Magic Kingdom fireworks from our balcony (the boys were long asleep by then), we had an awesome family day at the Magic Kingdom the following day (no more vomit, thankfully) and we even managed to catch the new Toy Story movie on our way home (the boys were absolutely riveted from start to finish).

Even though I consider the weekend a huge success, I still get frustrated at motherhood. That feeling that no matter how much I do or how much I take care of everyone, it is never enough. I’m too busy running to bathrooms with sick, puking kids who excrete an assortment of grossness from every possible orifice. I mean, how am I supposed to find ‘me’ time in the midst of all that?

However, as the boys grow and need me a little less each day, I sense my freedom and independence returning. This is a very good thing. It makes me feel more balanced and hopeful. Sometimes when you are in the thick of something like motherhood, you can’t see past the tantrums and the vomit to see what is right in front of you.

And for me, that is two of the most incredible kids on the planet.

children, gratitude, happiness, life in pictures, mommyhood

Disney Magic

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Happy Father’s Day!

Mickey Mouse waffles are an awesome way to start the day.

Mad Dog and I learned the key to a peaceful existence is to take the boys to Magic Kingdom with no strollers allowed. We went from ride to ride with great speed and accomplished a lot in a few short hours. We topped off our late afternoon with a couple hours at the splash park at our hotel. Mission accomplished:


Ah, gotta love that Disney magic.