Look at what a great mom I am!

The other day when I had just laid baby girl down for her nap. I hurried to the shower to take advantage of my free moment. While I had been unable to take a shower the day before I found this shower to be particularly relaxing and I was relishing every moment of the hot water.

That is when Buster Brown peeked his head in as he usually does. "Mom, is it OK if I make a sword?" He asked in his sweetest little boy voice. "Of course, sweet heart." I replied still feeling the effects of the soothing shower. I knew that we had just read a story yesterday about Franklin the turtle making a sword from cardboard and my boy found that particularly amazing.

I continued to let the hot water wash over me and was particularly pleased with my parenting skills at the moment. I was able to have some free time and my little man was entertaining himself not with the TV but with a craft.

When I got out of the shower I was a little shocked when Buster revealed his craft. Apparently he had gone to the best place to get craft materials in our house, the recycle bin. His sword was made of empty beer cans and a wrapping paper roll. My dreams of becoming Mom of the year quickly faded. While I let him play with it for a while we did make him disassemble it on trash day.

Parenting Happiness

Since school has started we have been particularly busy. There are cross country and flag football practices, girl scout meetings, birthday parties, meets and games, and the list goes on and on.

What I have noticed is despite the hectic schedule, I am loving it. I am loving this phase of life when I am up to my ears in sewing badges on sashes and Tae kwon do uniforms. I love cheering them on at their games. I love taking them to the playground and just spending time with my kids. I love their contagious belly laughs. I love sleepovers, OK maybe not the sleepovers so much (it can't all be blissful).

They are getting so big and I hope I appreciate every minute, because when we are at Holiday World or cooking out in the backyard I look around and think there will come a time when they would rather be with their friends then with us, so for now I will soak up every minute of their time with me.

It's a twister!

Let me preface this story by saying that for about one week in a row we were having bad storms triggering the tornado warning siren to go off. While tornadoes are something that I don't take lightly, when you hear a certain siren everyday you start to loose the urgency you once felt.

One night I had apparently gotten the flu (who gets the flu in the summer!?) anywho the next day I was totally wiped out and just trying to get by let alone take care of my kids.

On this day, I was using every once of my energy to walk into the house from the car, and the siren goes off for the umpteenth time this month. Lady Jane turns to me and asks,"since we don't have a basement should I go in the closet?"

I found myself unable to utter anything but, "yes, go in the closet." Then I proceeded to drag my body to my bed where I heard the whole scene play out.

Lady Jane insisted that baby girl get in the closet with her. Baby girl soon found that getting into the closet wearing her cinderella plastic shoes was more of a challenge than she had anticipated. Soon I heard a giant crash followed by a tiny voice, "Holy Smokes!" Normally, such a crash would have sent me running toward the noise but I lacked the energy and so the scene continued.

Now that Lady Jane knew her sister was somewhat safe on the closet floor she decided to set her sights on the dog. Using grapes to lure him she eventually did manage to wrangle him into the closet and shut the door with the three of them inside. Soon after my husband came around the corner just in time to see the scene.

Apparently being shut in the closet with two little girls sent the dog into a sort of a panic. Hubby saw the closet door fly open and the dog with his forehead on Lady Jane's stomach catapulting her out of the closet.

There never was a tornado, but my mind has been put at ease knowing we have had that little drill.

Ahh, summer

As school wound to a close I found I was looking forward to the freedom of sleeping in, if you believe that sleeping until 7:30 is sleeping in. I was also looking forward to living in the moment and doing as we pleased. If the weather was nice we would go to the pool. If we had time in the day we would wander over to the library. If it wasn't too hot we could play at the park. This type of attitude does not fly with Lady Jane at all.

I soon discovered that I would be awoken every morning at 7:00 just as I was during the school year with an eight year old face in mine shouting, "What are we doing today Mom?" To which I would reply, "I don't know! I just don't know!" another fine parenting moment.

I soon came to realize, and it took me eight years to figure this out, that Lady Jane craves structure. No, she NEEDS structure. When school is out she longs for the strict schedule, social interaction and mental challenges she faces when she goes to school everyday.

I noticed I would not be able to have the laissez faire summer I was dreaming of. I need to make her a schedule. Without it she feels as if she is in a free fall with nothing to stop her. So if you will excuse me I am off to schedule in some quality time at the pool.

Who are you and where are my children?

Last night the kids were very well behaved, I mean very well behaved. In fact, they were being so good it was making me uneasy. As I was making dinner and they were all in the family room playing with the Legos.

For a moment it was so quiet I had to peak my head in the room and make sure George was not smothering Sammy in a pillow and that was the reason for the silence. The art of peaking your head in a room has to be done very delicately. If they spot you the moment is ruined and the chances that they will go back to what they are doing is slim to none. My swift glimpse into the room confirmed that they were indeed playing nicely together.

They actually built a Lego village and let Sammy be a part of it and build her own little contribution. Things were going too smoothly. I thought to myself, if they eat my dinner I am really going to wonder if they are my children.

To my relief they turned up their noses at what I had spent the last hour making for them. Homemade mac and cheese. WHY WILL THEY ONLY EAT IT IF IT COST $.5O AND COMES OUT OF A BOX? But I digress. They redeemed themselves for being too good and all is right again in the world.

Sometimes...

Sometimes I find myself wishing and counting down the years until all my kids are in school and I will have all the free time to pursue whatever avenue I choose.

Sometimes I just get tired of my spending my entire day making sure that everyone else's day runs smoothly.

Sometimes I wonder if cleaning my house is a HUGE waste because it will be trashed as soon as I turn my back.

Sometimes I wonder if it is worth it to spend so much time planning and making dinners that my children rarely eat.

Although, lately I have noticed how fast time is flying by. I recognize that I do not want to wish away these precious years with my kids. In the grand scheme of things 10 years is not a long time to set aside my goals in an effort to make their lives better.

I am thankful that I am allowed the opportunity to stay home for them and be sure that their day goes well. I am thankful that they can always count on me to be there to pack their lunch and pick them up from school if they are sick. I am there for them when they leave for school and I am there to pick them up. It is worth it to me to know that if everything else in their world is crashing down they will always know I will be there.

That is more valuable to me than any doubt that may cross my mind about my career. My time will come to follow my dreams and when it does I will be thankful for the chance I was given to stay home with them.

Me and My Shadow

My daughter and I are very similar. Perhaps too similar. I read somewhere once, in one of my parenting books, that any traits you have will be shown in your kids only magnified. Unfortunately, I have some nasty traits. Yelling is one, the occasional freak out is another. Sure as the sun comes up, I have seen these traits thrown back in my face like a vengant boomerang.

Needless to say, this can create some trying moments with my daughter and I. When she went to bed the other night, I was exhausted. Perhaps she didn't get enough sleep the night before (I let them stay up to watch Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution. Crazy Friday night, I know) or, perhaps it was the two doughnuts she had had that day but she was a bear. I cried. I cried because I found that I did not even enjoy her company that day. I did not even want her in the same room as me because I knew there would be a request or emotional breakdown that would drain me of my last ounce of energy.

I just kept thinking that tomorrow would be a new day. So I put her to bed on time that night and finished the doughnuts myself (it was a sacrifice I had to make). The next day began only marginally better. I was really working to get the house looking like if a social worker walked in she wouldn't have to think twice about weather the children could stay. Just as I was making some headway, I headed upstairs to tackle that situation.

One glance at the floor revealed that my two-year-old had gotten into my scrap paper and scattered hundreds of little pieces of papaer all over the floor. This was my breaking point. I just sat down in my chair and began to cry. I just needed a moment to let it all out before I tackled this latest disaster. I was a little irked when my daughter walked in before I could compose myself. I mean crying over a mess, how old am I, really? I didn't want her to see that. But she did. She leaned over and gave me a big, genuine hug. It felt nice. It was really the first time in a while we weren't at odds. I explained to her my problem and she quickly began to resolve it. "I'll clean this room, George will clean the kitchen and you'll clean the family room. We'll have this place clean in no time!" It made my heart melt.

So we each went to our posts and she cleaned the upstairs room and she really did a good job. George, on the other hand, decided while cleaning the kitchen that he wanted a snack of oatmeal so that was really counterproductive. But her ability to see I was having a tough time and help me out touched me deeply.

My daughter has challenged me in ways I have never been challenged in my whole life. I will be a better person because of it. Tomorrow was a new day, and it was great. I love you Riley.

The Enforcer

This is the rule enforcer. Her name is Gabrielle and she is a Cane Corso. Gabrielle is my parent's dog and when we visit her house she makes sure that everyone is following the rules. We first discovered this when George and Sammy were having an argument about a toy. George was waving the toy wildly above his head and out of reach of his sister when Gabe walked up and calmly grabbed his elbow in her mouth. Instantly he released his grip and the toy fell to the floor. "Fine she can have it!"

This was the most quickly and quietly a dispute between my children had ever been resolved. This is when I decided that not only did I need an enforcer at my house but that every home with small children should have one. She is much like Nana from Peter Pan or Carl the Rottweiler from the Carl books.

These are the rules that Gabe enforces:

1. No running (she will come after you and knock you down.)
2. No yelling (you really don't want to get her upset)
3. No fighting (this will get her upset)
4. No individual singing (this is one my son insists she enforces but it may just be his singing. Just to be safe we are sure to always sing in a group. You do not want to be on Gabes bad side.)

I find Gabes method of discipline far more effective than any yelling or time outs I may distribute. As a result my children are sure to watch their behavior while they are visiting at my parents house. She is a great dog, thank you for your parenting help Gabrielle.

If this doesn't warm your heart...

Yesterday, as usual, Sammy, Georgie and I sat in car line eagerly awaiting Riley's arrival.

Like most afternoons we sat quietly as they read the names and the children headed out to their cars. Riley hears her name and like a rock just released from a slingshot she explodes from the sidewalk and rockets to the car. I wince as she approaches the door hoping she will be able to stop.

As usual once she is inside the once quiet car turns into an explosion of energy. "I GOT A SUCKER AT SCHOOL!" She not so casually announces.

Sammy begins her chorus, "sucker, sucker, sucker, sucker" with her pudgy hand outstretched.

"she got a sucker!" George begins to wail and breaks down into tears of injustice.

I turn around and face the wheel. I take a deep breath and decided to let the situation play itself out. She has been in the car for one minute and that has been one exhausting minute.

We begin our drive out of the school parking lot and the car goes eerily quiet. For a second I am afraid they have all killed each other over a tootsie pop and it would be best not to turn around. I look anyway. They are all sitting quietly happily munching away.

"What happened?' I ask.
"I took a bite and then George took a bite and then we gave Sammy the rest." Riley informs me. I almost burst into tears. While sharing may not be that big a thing to some people, for a mom that has been attempting to instill it in her children for the better part of 7 years, this was quiet a victory.

I know, for all you germaphobes out there, that this story is appalling and there is no happy ending. However, for me, I am willing to overlook the incredible risk of all my kids getting the flu in order to have a quiet ride home.