St. Paddy's Day





The girls were thrilled this year to actually ride in the St. Patrick's Day Parade. Just the very idea of bike decorating and being able to THROW the candy was enough to make it the highlight of the month.

 

We were lucky to have reasonably good weather (no rain). It's a good thing too. Once we went to the Dollar Store to get the decorations for the bikes, we were 100% committed...rain or shine. I also put little buckets on the front of the girl's bikes to hold the candy for them to throw. Their heads were spinning. Seriously thrilled.

 

I was really nervous for Chloe. She is only 2 but thinks she is 4 and can do all things big-girl related, including ride her big wheel for the 2 mile parade route. Mind you, she doesn't even know how to use pedals yet, so she just scoots along using her feet. Could you imagine 2 miles with feet that are about 6 inches long? It must be the equivalent of me running a marathon. She was not to be deterred though. She wouldn't even think of riding in the stroller. Luckily, I brought the stroller just in case.

 

Here we are just before the parade. I think Chloe was already a little tired from riding her bike the 2 blocks from the car to parking lot. When I asked again if she wanted to ride the answer was "NO!"



 

 

Grace in action along the parade route. Her legs were pretty tired after riding the 2 mile route but she held on like a champ. Plus, she had no alternative. I was alone with 2 kids, 2 bikes and a stroller.

Chloe made it the first mile and was starting to slow down but this girl would.not.give.up! She was having a blast. Finally I looked down at her feet only to realize that, even though Chloe wouldn't give up, her shoes totally did. She wore the sole completely off of them and it was just hanging down from the rest of the shoe. I guess that's what you get for hand me down shoes from Target! Secretly I was happy, because I knew she would have to ride the stroller now. Once she saw the shoe, she agreed to ride in the stroller and we were moving a little faster after that. Oh, I think I forgot to mention that the stroller was also decorated. Hey, we travel in style.

The picture below was of my view for the remainder of the parade. Once she sat down, she realized how tired she was and just hung out and still threw candy to the bystanders. Loving it!

We were exhausted afterwards but a good time was had by all. I think this will be an annual event for us. The girls loved it! Love making memories like this with my favorite little people.

Memories

I find myself several times a day seeing things that I hope stay in my minds eye forever. Ten years from now, I want to be able to look back and see all of these cute memories just as vividly as they are today. For example, as I write this blog Chloe is pushing her little shopping cart. It is stuffed with her My Little Ponies and she is wearing a Snow White nightgown with the back tucked into her bright pink Hello Kitty underwear.

Everything about this scene is adorable. I hope I always remember it.

Yesterday Gracie's class learned about tooth brushing and healthy foods. For their class activity they made smoothies and then each kid got to make 'Ants on a Log' for their parents. Each kid came home with a quart sized ziploc bag with contained a tiny paper plate and their own Ants on a Log snack that they had made themselves. Grace could not have been prouder. Not only did she remember the recipe, but she made something really healthy all by herself that she could give me for MY snack. She brought it in the house by herself and made a big production about it, reciting the recipe loud and clear, "First, you break the celery in half. Then you put cream cheese in a little paper cup and use a plastic knife. Then you spread the cream cheese in the little celery crack and fill it up. Then you take raisins and put them in the crack on top of the cream cheese. It's called Ants on a Log! It's really healthy! It's for YOU mom!"

Adorable. I hope I always remember it.

Fighting seems to be happening at least half the time both kids are away. But, when they aren't fighting they are the best of friends. Chloe loves to walk up to Gracie and give her a big hug and a kiss and says, 'Best friend' which usually sounds like "Bess Fwend". I love it. I know we have many more years of fighting ahead of us, but I hope they will come to a day when they really are best friends and have more love than fights between them.

It's funny how most of the scripted events aren't the ones that make the mental scrap book.  Memories from fun or exciting family outings or holidays aren't the ones I cherish as much as the random Tuesday morning when the girls decide to walk hand in hand on the sidewalk into the library. Or the Friday evening when both kids squeeze into the same dining room chair and hug and talk while I clear the table.  Or the Monday afternoon when Chloe is Grace's biggest sideline cheerleader during swimming lessons and then Grace returns the favor that evening during bath time when Chloe takes her turn to try to bobs in the bath tub like Grace did during swim lessons.

These are the things I hope I always see in my minds eye. I'm so lucky that I get to stay home with my kids and can watch all of these events and see their own memories and relationship building. Love 'em!

Now, time to hit the shower so we can go build some random memories at Costco.

The Other "B Word"

When you become the parent of a school age child, the B word takes on a whole new meaning.....

Brat.

Can I just say, I feel this is a totally underused word these days. Maybe it's the lack of sleep, maybe it's the fact that I just finished reading a totally snarky parenting book, maybe it's the kid in Grace's preschool class who I just want to throttle at least once a week because of the way he treats his mom and teacher...who knows, but I have been on brat high-alert lately. 

Let me preface this rant-ish blog entry with the following disclaimer *my kid is not perfect and I am not a perfect parent.* However, I can say with certainty, my girls behavior will never humiliate me. Embarrass me? Yes. They will laugh when they fart in public and then want to talk about it for what seems like FOREVER. They will whine when they are sick of shopping. They will bicker with each other in public. But they won't be the kids disrespecting me in public. Why? A very healthy fear of their parents.  My warnings don't fall on deaf ears and I only warn once. And they know, I mean business and there isn't a grey area with the boundaries. 

So I ask, what is with all of these parents raising total brats?

This all stems from a little boy in Grace's class. I'll call him Brady. During the first few months of school, Grace would come home from school with a new story about Brady. I call it a story, because at this age her imagination is wild and she likes to embellish most stories. I really have to take them as half-truths. However, the stories about Brady just kept getting worse and worse. "Brady yelled at the teacher today." "Brady had to sit in the naughty chair today." "Brady threw a toy at another kid today" "Brady told Miss C to 'shut up' today."

I started to notice Brady when I would drop her off. He treats his mother like crap and she just smiles at him and says, "Oh, Brady. You should really be nice." I can tell she is just hoping the teacher will open the classroom door so she doesn't have to deal with any more of his behavior. It's seriously all I can do to not insert myself in the situation.

I just can't think of another word to call this kind of kid other than brat. When you have a toddler, this behavior is always part of the learning/testing process. Kids act out when they need a nap, when their blood sugar is low, when they are learning to share, the first time another kid gets on the slide at the public park that your child things s/he owns. It goes with the territory and can always be somewhat explained away. When you have a perfectly healthy 5 year old doing this, there is no excuse.

When I first witnessed this, I silently thought to myself, "Boy, this kid is going to learn the hard way."  Then I volunteered in Grace's class and actually witnessed things first hand. And you know what? I actually felt really sorry for this little boy. Brady's actions had already ostracized him fromt he rest of the kids. While adults can make excuses for kid's behavior, kids won't excuse it. Kids fall into one of two categories: the nice kid who plays well with others, or the not nice kid who plays with no one. Brady falls into the second category. He has one friend in the class...another kid who acts just like him. I must say, I use the term 'friend' very loosely here. He and this kid play with each other in a really bratty style. So they play for 1 minute and then fight for 5...repeat. The other kids won't go near them.

It made me feel so sorry for this little boy. His parents total lack of boundaries and discipline are already affecting his friendships and social life. He's only 5. At this point, things are only going to get worse. It made me wonder what his mom thinks. She doesn't seem to care when he treats her like crap. I wonder if she would care if she realized it is turning him into an unpopular kid? Let's face it, no one wins in this situation.

It has proved to be a really valuable parenting tool. When Grace comes home with Brady stories, I just remind her that she doesn't have to play with him but she has to treat him with kindness. We have had so many conversations about it and how important kindness is. Somehow she finally 'gets it' when there is such a visible example of what not to do.

So, there you have it. Life is too short to make excuses for other people's kids. Sometimes brats exist, and you just have to call it like it is. You have my permission to do so :-)

"Words"

Grace is all about writing these days. She can do almost all of her upper case letters without help and some of her lower case letters. Every time she draws a picture she puts both her name on it and the name of the recipient...usually mommy. Of course there is at least one heart and one rainbow on the page as well. It's like her personal insignia. 

She can write her name, mom, dad and Chloe without me first showing her how to spell them. Once she realized she can write more "words", she decided that she is going to make the full jump to book author. She sits down and doodles letter after letter after letter in a row across a sheet of construction paper. Often times, she will have rows and rows of letters or "words" followed by squiggle lines once she gets tired of writing the actual letters. She then folds the paper in half like a book, draws a picture on the front, adds her name and the recipient and then presents it to the lucky family member. It's adorable.

She wrote one such book the other day. It was the longest one she has written and contained lines and lines of random letters. She then asked me to read it. I started rattling off the letters, "CYPFDBA...." and there in the middle of the book, unknown to Grace, was the first real word she has ever written (aside from names). There, in bold caps was CRAP. Ahh yes, an adorably proud moment for a parent.  

In case I ever forget

I have seen this article going around. I love it and want to high-five the author every time I read it.

I think all of us moms had a trace of these feelings before having kids, although this woman is REALLY clueless. 

I want to keep this as a reminder in case I ever forget what the word 'constant' means, or in the event I become so brain dead from the sleep deprivation that I'm unable to articulate just how it was to be home all day - every day with little ones.

Another First

It seems the older the girls get, the fewer "Firsts" we have. That makes them all the more notable at this age, if you ask me. We had a MAJOR milestone today for Chloe.

For the past few weeks, Chloe has become obsessed with going to preschool. Grace gets to do it and she really wants to as well. She also wants to go to swim lessons like Grace and get her hair cut like Grace. My answer to all of these things is "You have to be 3." That seems to make sense in her little mind, since she is very proud of the fact that she is 2 now and knows that she will be 3 next. She often walks up to me and says things like "Chloe goes to preschool when me turn 3."

This girl cannot wait for it to happen.

The sad thing is, I NEVER want it to happen.

I'd be happy to keep Chloe a 2 year old and home with me forever. I like spending the one on one time with her and cherish these times we have together. Plus, I just can't imagine myself without a little one in the house.  Chloe has never been away from me. She wouldn't go to the church nursery, even as an infant. She wouldn't do the gym kids club and she only recenlty has been able to tollerate being left with Aaron while I escape leave the house.  She's just my little buddy.

Grace started swim lessons today. So Chloe and I picked her up from preschool and drove to the pool.  While we were there, we walked by the kids club. When Chloe saw it she looked interested. I told her it was 'preschool' and asked if she wanted to go while Grace was in swim lessons. Her eyes lit up! YES! She wanted to go. I couldn't believe it.

I walked up to the front desk and asked if they would honor my 2 year old punch card (the one I bought when she was a baby thinking I could have both kids in the kid room and get a short hot tub work out in. Ha! What a joke that was!  Turns out they would honor my punch card and I checked Chloe into the "preschool". It was amazing. The child who used to scream when I left the room just turned and ran from me into the kids club. No hug. No kiss. No tears. Just a smile-filled wave goodbye.

I was in total shock.

I then proceeded to get Grace dressed for lessons and joined the other mom's on by the side of the pool to watch. I was finally one of 'those' moms. You know, the kind I was always jealous of who could sit there for 30 minutes and have alone time while their kids had swim lessons. I thought to myself "well, that only took 4 1/2 years!"

To be honest, I didn't quite know what to do with my self and ....dare I say...I felt a little bored. This could take a little getting used to.

Big Girl Bed

It's a brand new year and we are starting things out this year without a crib in the house. Chloe is officially in a big girl bed. This will be the first time in over 4 1/2 years that we have not had a crib. Amazing. I never thought this time would come and, frankly speaking, never really wanted to rush it.

I have always been a big fan of the crib. Mostly for one reason, and one reason alone....it's an amazing containment device!

I have a lot of friends who have great escape artist kids. Not me. Neither of my girls ever figured out that climbing out of the crib was an option. I also wasn't sure if Chloe would nap in a big girl bed with all of her toys so easily accessible.  I wasn't in any hurry to get her out of the crib, plus I kind of liked having a 'baby' in the house. I know she's 2, but I could still sometimes pretend I still had a baby.

I started to get a little nervous about how this would all play out at Christmas time. We planned a trip to my parents house and I knew Chloe was just too big for a pack & play and the only option was for both girls to share a room and each have their own twin air mattress. Since Chloe has never wanted to get rid of her crib, I was really worried about how things would work out at my parents house. Let's face it, it all boils down to "how much sleep is mom going to get" when weighing these options.  Anything that makes ME lose sleep is a VERY BAD THING.

So, I started talking up the idea of the girls sharing a bedroom and Grace was on board right away. She was thrilled at the idea of sleeping in the same room as Chloe and was excited to help 'teach' Chloe how to sleep in a big girl bed. Now that I had Grace on board, Chloe was really excited about it. We talked about it every day for a week before visiting Grandma and Grandpa.

Then the visit came. Bath. Stories. Bed. Lights out and 11 hours of sleep!  My kids sure have a way of totally surprising me! Chloe also took the liberty of putting herself down for a nap the following day and then did another 11 hour night in the big girl bed. This is much better than she does in the crib at home since she usually wakes herself up at least once a night rolling around and hitting her head on the crib slats.

The first thing on our agenda when we got home was to get that girl a bed! It came with a 14 hour night sleep and a 3 hour nap the following day. Amazing! While I don't expect that to become a trend, I'm going to enjoy it as long as possible.

Gore fun fact: Grace transitioned to a big girl bed exactly 2 year ago on January 1st as well.

The crib is now disassembled and ready for a new life at a friends home. Yay for big girls!