gratitude, kids, kindergarten, mommyhood, motherhood, parenting, self-discovery

It’s Time

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Full Speed on kindergarten screening day. Where did the time go?

We all have the ability to stop what we are doing and allow ourselves to be awakened to the present moment.  For me, it happens in the most random situations.  I was helping Full Speed’s home room Mom decorate his teacher’s door for teacher appreciation week.  Then it hit me.  Full Speed is almost done with kindergarten.  I let this thought settle over me.  It made me feel a pit of resistance in my stomach.  This year has gone by too fast.  He is getting older.  Every day he needs me a little bit less.  Every day I want to hold on to him tighter.  Instead, I have to let him go more freely.

I snapped out if it.  I returned to the task at hand.  The door was appropriately decorated and it was time to go.  Still some sadness over watching my boy grow up clung to me.

Full Speed had not felt well over the weekend.  He was tucked into bed early that evening to help combat whatever virus he was fighting.  After he was resting, Mad Dog and I heard an indistinguishable yelp from his room.  Mad Dog ran to investigate.  There was blood and Full Speed was visibly shaken.  Mom was called in for back-up.  The initial thought was Full Speed’s virus was now becoming more serious causing him to spew blood. 

Nope.  It was only a loose tooth that needed to come out.

I was so relieved.  And then I wasn’t.

The loss of a first tooth means baby teeth are making way for the grown up ones. 

I don’t like it.  I don’t like it at all.

Thankfully the tooth fairy is better adjusted to the growth of children than I am and left Full Speed a generous gift of money. 

Too bad she can’t give us back the gift of time while she’s at it.

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bad day, children, humor, kids, mommyhood, motherhood, parenting

Booted

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Mad Dog on the field in happier, less questioning times...
A football (or soccer ball) icon.
Image via Wikipedia

In Mad Dog’s soccer history, which believe me is full of fascinating tidbits, while he was aggressively thundering through his high school career, he never ever got kicked out of a game.  Yellow card, yes.  Booted?  Not once.

Well, times change.  Mad Dog got himself booted from the last game of T.Puzzle and Full Speed’s season.  It didn’t matter that he was the coach.  He. Got. Booted.

It was the strangest thing to watch.  Parents and spectators alike were beyond befuddled.  One minute the game is going along smoothly, the next the referee marches off the field and Mad Dog takes to the bench.  Eventually, he had to remove himself completely from the field.  Apparently the ref couldn’t even stand to look at him.

This particular referee and Mad Dog had developed a contentious relationship over the course of the season.  She didn’t like to consistently follow the rules and Mad Dog consistently questioned this logic.

I live in a house of questions.  If one boy isn’t asking me something most surely another one is.  These questions can be polite, that isn’t the issue.  Sometimes it’s the quantity of the questions that wears on one’s sanity.

I’m not saying Mad Dog wasn’t right to want rule consistency for his team.  Asking about it a lot did little to help his case.  So what happened?

He got booted.

I have to admit, he handled it like a gentleman.  I’m sure most in his situation would have gone off the deep end when asked to leave the field.  He did what he was told and remained calm.

On the flipside parents were outraged.  Some began to chant, “Win it for Coach!’  Which to the shock of all in attendance, our team actually did (we were like 1-5 at this point and while we have heart, we lack in pretty much anything else required of good soccer). 

We may have played mostly unskilled and unremarkable soccer throughout the season, but friends, this is a season that will go down in history.

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children, humor, kindergarten, mommyhood, motherhood, parenting

Good Manners vs. Bad Behavior

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I was volunteering in Full Speed’s class, which when given a chance to interact with the kids, I thoroughly enjoy.  It’s a lot more entertaining than if I get sent off to make copies or cut paper.  I love to watch Full Speed in the classroom setting.  He’s impatient, antsy, full of answers even to questions that aren’t being asked and rather comical.  A lot of the kids like to share with me that Full Speed is ‘silly’ or ‘funny’.  I interpret this to mean ‘ the teacher has her hands full keeping him in line’.  So when his teacher pulls me aside to discuss a morning incident concerning Full Speed, I am not surprised.

Apparently there was a scuffle of sorts with a fellow classmate in which Full Speed hit the other child with his lunch box.  When the teacher asked him point-blank why he did it he said, ‘I don’t know, ma’am’.  When pressed further about his intentions he kept politely replying, ‘I don’t know, ma’am’.

The bad news is that Full Speed can be a little hotheaded; the good news is his manners will be impeccable when questioned in a court of law.

I’m so relieved.

children, gratitude, happiness, humor, kids, life in pictures, mommyhood, motherhood, parenting

Equal Rights

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There’s a certain balance that has to be maintained when raising children.  You have to be keenly aware of keeping things ‘equal’.  If you fall short a chorus of injustice will rise up from the ranks.

T.Puzzle was feeling slighted.  He was well aware that Full Speed had been on multiple dates with Mom while he had only been on one.

I hopped into action and scheduled a one on one outing with him. 

As you can tell from the photo, he was filled with much delight during our dining experience.

Equal rights for all!

children, gratitude, happiness, kids, life in pictures, mommyhood, motherhood, parenting, self-discovery

Compare and Contrast

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When you have more than one child it is inevitable that you are going to compare them.  In fact, everyone will compare them.  This can be helpful when assessing your children’s developmental markers, predicting when their tantrum stage may end (0r not) and when trying to understand what makes each one tick.

It gets tricky when we get so caught up in labels that we sometimes forget to see what is right in front of us.

T.Puzzle has always appeared to be more timid and shy when compared to the robust nature of his older brother.  I’m not so sure anymore.

Watching him lead the Tiny Tiger oath during his graduation ceremony has led me to believe I may be  underestimating this kid.  His punches and kicks are not as intense as Full Speed’s at this age (see, there I go again with the comparing) and he tends to move at a slightly more calm pace (ever so slightly).  This doesn’t mean he doesn’t have his own leadership qualities hidden underneath his rascally dimples.

Parenting should be less about labels and trying to figure out who our kids are going to be.  It’s more about letting who they are unfold naturally and all the glorious discoveries we will make about them as individuals along the way.