gratitude, mommyhood

Whatcha Say?

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I think one of the biggest perks of having children is when they reach the verbal stage. Often what they say is highly entertaining. Take Full Speed for instance. When he was smaller, he did not like change (still does not). He threw endless tantrums if we so much as switched his winter shoes to sandals. And, the day we turned his car seat to forward facing, if looks could kill I would not be alive to write this post.

Well, anyway, when he first potty-trained we had accrued quite a collection of briefs with characters on them (which he loved) as well as a couple pairs of boxer briefs. I tried the boxer briefs with him a few times and the end result was a total meltdown (and that would be for both of us). I pushed them under the pile of regular briefs and didn’t think twice about it. Recently, he has rediscovered these long-forgotten boxer briefs and now he loves them (of course). It helps that this is what Mad Dog wears (ladies, I promise I was given permission to share this info. about Mad Dog). So now Full Speed thinks he is the cat’s meow. He asked Mad Dog over the weekend if he wears boxer briefs every day. Mad Dog said yes and Full Speed’s eyes grew wide with wonder. “You box somebody EVERY DAY? You win at boxing ALL THE TIME?” Mad Dog just agreed because sometimes that’s just easier.

Not only is it interesting what our children say, but I think as parents we have to be conscious of what we are and are not saying. We all think our children are spectacular and assume that they know this. I try on occasion to tell them how special they are because I think they need to hear it. I always say to big brother Full Speed, “Why does Mommy love you?” He knows the proper response is “because I’m me!” We are in the car today on our way to school and I decide to ask little T.Puzzle the same question. I’m estimating he is at the age where he can start to understand the point of this exchange.

“T.Puzzle, why does Mommy love you?”

Without skipping a beat he says, “because I’m Thomas (the Tank Engine)!”

All I could do was smile. Smile because that was cute and smile because I am lucky enough to have two boys that constantly surprise (not always in a good way) and entertain me (whether I want to be entertained or not).

children, mommyhood

Smart Girl

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The boys had a play date with our neighbor. She is three (almost four), speaks her mind (which you have to when keeping up with T.Puzzle and Full Speed) and is completely adorable. The boys were in their element wound up beyond belief to have her over.

The dynamic was going pretty well but then I could sense that a fight was going to break out between brothers. I tried to change the momentum of this negative energy and got out the alphabet train puzzle. The idea was that each child would take a turn, find the correct letter and place it in the puzzle. Little Lady couldn’t take it.  The boys were jumping over each other, trying to out yell what letter came next and both kept diving into the pile of puzzle pieces.

Little Lady looks at me and says, “I think I’ll go read a book instead.”

Smart girl.

children, parenting

Did That Just Happen?

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Mad Dog was home early to kick-off our weekend. He and I picked up the boys and after a slightly heated debate, landed on going to a Japanese hibachi restaurant. I like Japanese food and am thrilled that we don’t have to worry about egg cross-contamination for little T.Puzzle anymore. However, I’m not a big fan of flames shooting near my face (or the faces of my children for that matter), I don’t like having to catch food with my mouth (if you’ve done hibachi, you know exactly what I mean) and when I’m with my boys, I don’t enjoy the communal seating arrangement. My boys are too unpredictable to be seated at a table around a huge, scorching hot grill with strangers who may not understand that their boisterous nature is not malicious, it just is.

Case in point, we are seated with a family of three who had one boy. He appeared older and more calm than my boys. Even so, the parents didn’t flinch once as Full Speed launched his hotwheels at my plate and little T.Puzzle repeatedly stabbed Mad Dog with his fork (turned out that was his signal that he would like more chicken, please). But before we even got into the heart of the hibachi experience, a young couple was seated at our table. It took them less than two minutes to assess my children and they promptly asked to be relocated.

I was slightly indignant. Granted, the boys were in all their glory, but they calmed down nicely once their food arrived. I didn’t know going into the meal that they would be so well-behaved so I don’t have solid grounds for my indignation.

Still, did that just happen?

children, mommyhood

Spring Cleaning

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We had new indoor shutters installed in our guest bedroom and in our loft area upstairs. It is such a huge improvement from the sad, dangly plastic strips that were unsuccessfully trying to pose as window treatments. I feel like we went from dorm-room chic to actual grown-up decor (so very exciting and yes, I realize I need to get out more).

This inspired me to ‘spring clean’ the toys in the loft. There were many useless (and large) baby-type toys that needed to go. I was tossing stuff left and right. Of course, as I’m sorting things into toss and keep piles, little T.Puzzle follows my every move and determines that he loves every single toy I’m trying to lose. I give up eventually and let him keep a couple of them and when he lays down for quiet time (because who am I kidding that he naps anymore?), I race around in desperation loading as much of the unwanted toys into my truck as humanly possible.

Overall the process was a tiny bit sad but mostly felt immensely liberating. Maybe I am delusional but I keep holding on to the dream that as my boys grow older they might mature and my life won’t seem quite as challenging. Then again, where’s the fun in that? Do you really want to read a blog about the world’s best behaved children?

Yeah, I didn’t think so.

gratitude, happiness, mommyhood

St. Patrick’s Day (the Aftermath)

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I survived both classroom parties for the boys (looked at how dazed they are in this post-party pic). It was actually a lot of fun despite what the title of this post implies. Full Speed  was over the moon to have me eat lunch with him and little T.Puzzle danced up a storm for me. I was feeling very thankful to be able to attend both these parties that took place smack-dab in the middle of the day. I know that I write a lot about the challenges of being a stay-at-home-mom so it was nice recognize this perk of my job. It also helped put my kids’ behavior into perspective. Seeing them with a large group of their classmates, I could see that they fall in a mostly normal behavioral range. That was reassuring because when I have just the two of them out in the world, they seem turbocharged compared to their peers. Maybe it will all be okay after all.

Now, the real aftermath of these parties with green-themed food (the rice-crispy treats looked absolutely neon-toxic), will be how long they poop green.