peepaw

My husband has been called lots of things in his life.  But, Peepaw is by far my favorite.

Yes, B.'s relationship with Tiny has advanced to an all new level.  When she is around, which is most of the time, he is known as Peepaw.  He has totally taken it in stride.  When A. asks for dinner for Tiny or for Peepaw to dance with Tiny after dinner, B. obliges.  I was almost crying last weekend when it was, yet again, Tiny's birthday.  I think she might be turning 25 but when A. is asked, she ranges anywhere from 8 months to 3 years old.  A. had wrapped up her box of beads and K. wrapped up dancing Mickey.  B. was cleaning the kitchen after dinner when A. went over and said, "Peepaw, aren't you going to come watch her open her presents."  Peepaw didn't hesitate.  He came over from the kitchen and led the family in Happy Birthday.  I was just sitting in the corner trying not to laugh and mess up the singing but Peepaw fully embraced the situation.

Peepaw,

Thanks for being so awesome.

Love,
Neenaw

the return to sanity

I think some good family time is just what we needed to get rid of Crazy Mom and return to Sane Mom.  We started last weekend with some fishing at our town pier.  Nothing makes me happier than calm, and quiet kids.

Well, maybe except for a calm and quiet husband.  That doesn't happen much in my house either.  

 And, nothing makes Kaleb happier than spiderman fishing poles, worms, and dirt!

 A. made it all of week 2 without any trouble.  She was psyched to go to school everyday and she even bought her lunch one day.  Which, in A.'s mind was the coolest thing ever. It meant that she got to use her "student number" and she even learned to open her own milk.  We made a rule that she has to tell us 5 things everyday after school since she is 5 years old.  The highlights were...
1. I like to sit next to M.; she is my best friend.  She has red cheeks.  Maybe because she is nervous but maybe just because God made her have red cheeks.
2. I got to wear a flower necklace and take J. to the office because he pooped his pants.  I thought he must be 4 because 5 year olds don't poop their pants.  But, he said he was 5.  Maybe he was nervous too.  Or, maybe he just needs to work on where to poop.
3. One of the teachers, the one that sings in the boring choir at church, taught us how to go down the slide and swing.  We aren't allowed to go on the monkey bars even though I know how.  I thought it was a silly thing to learn and she looked silly.
4. One kid really knows how to write his 5's.  I have to practice because my lines just won't curve the way they are supposed to.

So, there you have it.  Week 2 was much better and Sane Mommy  has returned.  Since family time worked so well for week 2.  We bumped it up a little by adding in the MD family for this weekend.  Hopefully, that means that week 3 will be the best ever!    

K. can ride his pedal bike as long as he is going down hill.  Once you add in gravity, he has to have help.  Thank goodness for his buddy.  He was just what K. needed.

A little 1:1 football in the back yard!

Some of my favorite people in the world!!

Well, maybe we aren't all always sane.  But, hopefully week 3 will allow Sane Momma and Sane A. to stay around for a little while.  We will hope for Sane K. and Sane Daddy another time.  

The picture morning

Day 4: not much better...

We survived the cup escapade where we actually had a nice leisurely morning; I drove A. to school meaning that we got to leave 30 minutes later than she has to catch the bus to get to a building 2 miles from our house. So, we were forgetting the rush and juggle that we are typically doing in the morning.  And, it was picture day.  I fed the kids breakfast of eggs and cereal and went upstairs to get myself ready.  A. came up a few minutes later and said that she was done eating.  OK, I got her dressed in her picture outfit and then went to get K. ready.  A then put her hair up in little lopsided pigtails with the rest of her hanging out in the back.  I briefly considered telling her to take them out and then realized that we have beautiful photos from Emily St. Louis (emilystlouisphotography.zenpholio.com) and who really needs school photos?

side note: Lifetouch--I think you stay in business because parents feel like they have to purchase
the ugly pose/backgrounds just because they were gracing the walls of our homes when we were children. We had to choose the pose from a close up shot, odd horizontal picture I think to highlight the terrible background, or one that shows more outfit; all the options were bad.  Then, we picked a background; the choices were gray, blue, pink, red, or a lighter blue; again, all options were a little hazy and all a little ugly.  There is not option of just buy one ugly photo because you have to, nope, you have to purchase an entire package.  Packages start at $20 and go up to $120 with the option of add ons such as names and years. We finally settled on 1 8x10, 2 5x7, and a bunch of trash.  I mean does anyone carry wallets with photos anymore.  So, Grandparents, you are still getting the ugly expensive 5x7.  Maybe we will put iti n an even uglier frame circa 1987 just to make you feel nostalgic.  Then, we will give A. the rest to I don't know give to her dolls...

Anyway, I digress.  A. decided that she was still hungry.  I went against my better ju dgement and let her have a yogurt since we still had 15 minutes.  She went through minutes 1 through 14 without a hitch.  Then, as I was saying, "we have to leave now."... she spilled yogurt on her outfit.  Now the bus is coming down the street and we have to change her clothes.  I'm running upstairs, I pull out a cute dress and then realize it is a halter dress and probably against the dress code.  I pull out another dress and A. hates it.  We settle on a leggings outfit just as the bus is turning the corner.  I'm yelling.  A. is crying. and K. is utterly confused.  We dash out the door and the bus already has it's door open 1/2 a block away.  A. is sprinting up the street with me behind holding a screaming K. that does not handle "hurry up" very well.  She makes it within 50 feet of the bus and it pulls away.  I don't know how the bus driver doesn't hear the blood curdling screams erupting from my child's mouth, but she somehow pulls away.  I immediately start in with, "I'll take you.  It's ok." when a random jogger witnessing the sadness says, "you can beat the bus to the next corner, she has to stop 3 times before then."  OOOHHH problem solved.  We drop A. with the babysitter on the way and A. and I jog down the street.  Her sobs are decreasing but she is still rushed and tears are still flowing.  "What if she is mad at me?" she says as the bus driver is opening the door.  I don't have time to answer.  I can only pat her on the back, wave, and watch my crying kid ride away.

OK.  Momma has to let go.  I have to trust that she can calm herself and have a good day.  The sane momma in me knows that she can do it.  But, the crazy mom takes over.  I immediately text P., the middle schooler on the bus.  "Is she ok?  Tell her I love her and I'm sorry that I yelled."  I get a text back from this girl that is getting an even better space in my heart daily saying, "she's fine.  She's playing with a second grader."  Again, the sane momma knows now that she is fine but the crazy mom still takes over.  I call B. sobbing.  "Can't we homeschool?  I didn't even get to tell her that everything would be OK.  And, I forgot to change the message in her lunch box."  As usual, my husband takes the brunt of the crazy.  He calms me down some.  But, the crazy momma still has a hold of me.  I text 2 other moms that are dropping off their kids at school and will possibly catch a glimpse of her.  I think the texts/ messages say something abt hating kindergarten.  The 20 minutes of waiting feels like eternity but, I still calm some since I pass the time driving to my patient's house chatting (yes, via hands free device) to my my sister-in-law whom is actually a sane momma of a kindergartner.  Calm is finally achieved when my Momma friends both say that, of course, A. is fine and sitting with her classroom.  Sane momma finally kicks in.  This is ridiculous.  The damn cup incident has turned me into someone that I'm not.  Get it together.

So, week 2 will be better for us both.  Hopefully, sane momma will return.  This school picture probably still won't be on my wall, but will have a special place in my heart.

"its my favit""

K. and A. are direct opposites in how much attention that they need during the day.  A. likes to do whatever I am doing while I often have to yell to K., "what are you doing, are you OK?"  His answer is either
A. I in payroom
B. I pay tuks
C. Jus gofin, I be bak minit

Yes, I am aware that my yard looks awful and that my husband is a superintendent.  We are working on it :)

It is C. where I catch him 2 seconds before he is about to go out the door with his golf club.  Or, I catch him as he is putting on his rain boots; they are the only shoes that he can put on himself.  So, he now has indoor plastic golf clubs and outdoor golf clubs that are real golf clubs.  C. is also the only thing that he HAS to do during the day.  He could care less if I change his diaper, let him sleep, or even feed him as long as he can play golf.

When we went on our mini vacation with Aunt Stacy, we had a few minutes before the theme park opened and there was free minigolf. It wasn't minigolf with waterfalls and windmills.  It was more of torn up green carpet with a stream running through.  A. hit the ball into the water about 100 times just so that she could fish it out.  K. hit the ball towards the hole and made the shot in under 4 strokes every time. When we were leaving, he cried and cried saying, "It my favite game"  We told him about the carousel and roller coaster where we were headed, he really just wanted to stay and play golf.  Then, the next day when we were headed back to the park, he asked for the put put.

His highlight for the summer was visiting Daddy's golf course.  

Really, what is not to love-- tractors, golf, dirt, riding in a moving vehicle without a car seat,and Daddy.  It's all of the best things put together.

 Again, A. just hit her ball into the bunkers so that she could fish it out and then use a rake.  Maybe, golf is not her sport...

the roller coaster

I am now a basket case.  The mom's who were worried have children that are doing fine in Kindergarten.  I, on the other hand, have had a child in tears 2 our of 3 days.

 Day 1 she cried, I believe, just because she was overly tired.  She just kept saying that she didn't want to go back to school because she was going to miss me.  We got through that one pretty easily.

Day 2, will now go down in infamy as the day of the cup.  A came home with her water bottle empty.  I immediately praised her because it is a constant battle in my house to get her to drink.  As soon as I  mentioned the cup, she immediately started to cry.  The crying escalated into full out sobs in about 2.45 seconds.  "I never can go back.  My teacher hates me.  My teacher yelled at me."  Of course at this point, I'm utterly confused.  How did we go from Good Job to sobs?  Well, that is the roller coaster that I now call my daughter.  After hugging, more tears leading Mommy having tears, and deep breathing, I finally got somewhat of the story.  Apparently, the stopper fell out of the said water cup causing it to dump when laid on it's side.  A., thought I packed something in her lunch box to suck on and immediately put the stopper in her mouth.  So, the teacher came over to help her in the rather loud lunch room and could not get the damned cup to stop pouring out.  Then came a "don't bring the cup back."  I, obviously do not know the tone of the "suggestion" but A. took it as an all out volcano eruption and her hopes of pleasing her teacher just exploded with the volcano.

OK where to go from here. I"m obviously not going to run out to buy a new cup since 1. there is no water bottle selling stores in our tiny little town and 2. because the water bottle works fine when the stopper is not in A.'s mouth.  After much coaxing, we decided that we would practice with the cup at dinner and at breakfast the next day.  Then, A. should be able to work the damned cup without issue.  Finally, instead of riding the bus, I would take A. to school to explain the the teacher why we did not run to the nearest store 30 miles away to buy a new cup.  The practice went off without a hitch because really, how much practice does one need to use a cup.  Then, I built up my courage to dissuade my fears of this lady looking at me like I'm nuts because we were all worked up over a stupid pink cup; I mean who wants to be known as the crazy cup mom.  The teacher acknowledged the fears for about .5 seconds, tried the cup to make sure it didn't pour all over the table, and then went to talk to other people dropping off their kids  She did exactly what she should have done. A. went on and sat with other kids and I left.  Then I got into the car and sobbed.  Why, I'm not sure.  Maybe because everyone's emotions are running on high. Maybe because I wanted her to hug my kid and tell her that she didn't hate her, that she loved her. Maybe because I would rather have her at home avoiding this entire situation.  I don't know.  Here's to making day 3 and 4 of week one good days!!

a special person

I warned Aunt Stacy that this post was happening after she traveled with us for the second weekend in a row.  I got all teary and gusy and told her how much we loved her.  According to A., "Aunt Stacy takes us on fun trips and kind of makes me feel good."

In my book, Aunt Stacy is pretty much the top of the line.  She tolerated "I spy" for about 100 trials until we finally made a list for A. to read and "spy".  She spelled words aloud with A. until we were running out of 3 letter words.  She took water zumba with us until the kids pool opened. She bought us breakfast when it turns out that it wasn't a continental breakfast. She woke up earlier with my kids than she does for work.  She used her vacation days for things like Dutch Wonderland and Playland at the beach.  Most importantly, she does this all by choice.  She is an "Aunt by choice", a fact that A. didn't know until last night. She chooses to love my kids and they are sooo incredibly blessed by her choice.  Thanks Aunt Stacy!  We love you!!!  

ok, it is the last one

I don't think that I've ever written 3 blogs in 3 days.  But, this was obviously kind of a big deal.  And, this is where I record everything that is a big deal in our family.  So, here is A.'s first day of school according to A.

1) What was your favorite thing?  recess... just because.  But, I stayed in the shade because it was too hot and sunny.  Then, we had to go in after not too long.  Tomorrow I won't stay in the shade because it was a waste of time.

2) What friends did you meet?  Only 1, but she didn't tell me her name.

3) What did you learn? I don't know.  I didn't really learn anything but I did do a project.  She listed off her things to do-- bus, Mrs. Simplers class, say my name, PE, recess, lunch, art, snack, rest, home.  (Sounds pretty good to me)

4) How was lunch?  It was good but I don't want to take an apple sauce thing because my friend said it is disgusting.

5) Did you behave?  Yep, I stayed on orange all day.  One boy didn't stay on orange because he tried to run away and punched his hand into the door.

I had more questions but she didn't want to answer more.  I guess it was a bigger day for me than her. hehe

At first, when I heard that our town had the middle schoolers ride with the elementary kids, I thought it was absurd.  But, knowing that our neighbors were on the bus watching out for my baby made it so much easier.  P., babysits for our kids a lot and she, bless her heart, even sent me a picture of A. smiling on the bus. A. did say that she almost cried when P. got off the bus at her school.  But, somehow she held it together :) 

Yes, I followed the bus. But, in my defense, there was a "breakfast" for the parents.  I think it was really to let us save face because they knew we would follow the bus anyway.

I couldn't be happier that I have found so many other wonderful mothers that are neighbors and friends.  We all held it together, well, sort of.

And then there was 1.  This little guy was sooo good.  He sat in his stroller and watched all the big kids go to school.  When we left he said, "just you and me, Mama?" Then, since I was off for the day, the poor little guy had to be a tag along tot and go run some errands with me.  He was singing, "I love love love love love, A." in the back seat.  He is definitely going to miss his big sister! 

little wings

Today may be a typical day in most people's houses, but it is always an important day in ours.  It is the end of the summer.  That means that we just have aerification on the golf course and then Daddy is around MUCH more.  For Daddy, it means that we are at the farthest point from July and August.  Today though, is one for the history books for us.  It is the first day of Kindergarten.  That meant that we have an overly excited 5 year old and an exceptionally emotional mother.  It means that our morning was filled with A. trying out her back pack and fitting in her lunch box. Yet, I just wanted to throw the back pack and school clothes in a huge box with a key and never unlock it.

I've really been reflecting on this moment because I always thought I would be a mom that was excited about school.  I loved every part of preschool; the classroom, the letters on the wall, the schedule, and, the fact that A. didn't have to go every day.  But now, my child will be in someone else's hands all day long.  I"m sure they are good hands, but they are still someone else's. I've been listening to other moms talking about this day and all their worries, "Will there be enough time at lunch?" "How will she find her classroom?"  "Will she be able to find someone if she is scared?"  I've thought about all of these worries and realized that I'm not really worried.  I"m just sad.  I'm just going to miss her.  I'm going to miss our Wed mornings when we cook together and then clean together and then I watch her do a project.  I'm going to miss her constantly saying, "What can I do next?"

I've spent the last week tearing up at every little thing thinking, well it's the last time we can do this on a Wed. or I guess we will have to go back to earlier bed times.  But today, everything was perfect.  My little one walked to the bus stop about 35 feet ahead of us because either A. she is already too cool for us or B. we just walk too slowly.  She stood there for the obligatory pictures and then just got right on the bus.  She didn't even wave.  snapped about 1000 pictures while drying tears from my eyes because I am sooooo proud of her.  She is ready.  So, I will take my overly emotional self to another corner so as not to ruin her moment; her moment of pure joy and excitement!!  And, I'll think about the sign that I randomly saw in 3 of my patient's homes this week, "I think our job as parents is to give our kids roots to grow and wings to fly"-- Deborah Norville

Fly, baby girl, fly!!!


PS- photos by my amazing friend Emily St. Louis-- emilystlouisphotography.zenfolio.com

the con

I have written umpteen times about my love of small town life.  Well, Labor Day, we had a con.  I was trying as hard as I could to come up with something fun to do.  Something that would take my mind off of kindergarten eve.  Well, a Labor Day parade.  Right up my alley.

We even ventured the extra miles to Chicfila because really if we are in a 5 mile radius, I think the restaurant sends honing signals to my children until they practically press the gas pedal themselves.  We left the drive through and back tracked the 5 miles until we reached Main Street.  I was expecting some labeling or maybe seeing other people sitting outside with blankets and picinics. Nope.  None of that.  We finally got to the elementary school and found about 20 people sitting on a curb vying for the one shady spot.  OK, I guess this is it.  We all hopped out to sit on our blanket and enjoy our nuggets while we waited for the excitement.  

A decided that the blanket was no fun, she sat by herself to squeeze in the shade.

At about 12:15, we heard some sirens and K. got excited.  FIRE TRUCKS...4 measly fire trucks. Then, there were cars, motorcycles, and more cars.

Apparently, the only qualifying factor for being in the parade is bringing candy.  The parade participants came in cars and trucks.  Just typical cars in trucks, no signs, no music, no flags.  Just a car with a person throwing candy.  The kids that were around us came prepared with bags to collect said candy.  A. even said, "are we watching traffic?"  Well, yes, we are.   We didn't even know that it was over except that 15 minutes later, the cars stopped throwing candy.  We figured they were people that got stuck in the route because really, how do you know that it is a parade when all you are doing is following really slow cars.  

We folded up our blanket dejected that our last day before Kindergarten was spent on a hot curb watching a Toyota Camry and a Ford Explorer that we easily could have watched in our very own driveway.  Then, I saw A. out of the corner of my eye pick up an extra pile of candy.  I was about to say something when I a rather rotund little boy started screaming from about 50 feet away, "where's my CANDY?"  It only took a second before he was barreling over and I, again, was about to jump in.  Then my little kindergartner simply said, "I didn't know it was yours".  He was still yelling and I watched her get a piece of her own candy and say, "now you have more." He stopped what he was doing and thanked her.  His mom, also about to jump in, thanked her.  Then, his sister gave A. a lollipop.

We may not have had nice parade with bands and flags, but I got to see my girl handle her own.  I got to see her bravery and problem solving.  I got to see older kids take care of the younger ones. So, the crappy parade was worth it.