On the second day of our Montana adventure, Peter took the kids to Baylor’s ridding lesson. When he asked me what I was going to do while they were gone was A. work and B. clean up/laundry/dishes.
So substituting “beach” for “mountains” this article nails it. Sigh. Oh well. At least it’s cool and the windows are open!
http://www.theonion.com/articles/mom-spends-beach-vacation-assuming-all-household-d,33431/
Immediately after giving her name for check in at camp, Baylor raised her hand at me and said “I don’t need any help putting my bag away. Wait HERE”. I silently eyed her and let her pass to go through the locker room doors. The check in lady looked at me with a smile and I responded by rolling my eyes. “Miss. Independent” I said. “But that’s such a good thing! You need to encourage that”.
Her comment stuck with me. I couldn’t put my finger on what was bugging me about what the instructor had said. Yes of course I enjoy her independence! I love that she goes head first into an unknown situation and “figures it out” (her words). I watched from a distance as she missed the pool gate before it closed. She stood on the outside, unable to open it. She didn’t panic, she didn’t cry. She looked around, got the nearest tall person’s attention, motioned to the gate and then waited as they walked over to open it for her. She got separated from her group, so she walked around looking for them and when she couldn’t find them, she asked loudly to a group in the pool if anyone knew where the red group went. She handles it. And she does it really well. We joke that if we told her she could go to her friend’s house, but she had to figure out how to get there on her own, she could and would make it happen. So why was I not ok with her doing so much on her own?
I realized a few days later what my problem is; she’s five. She’s five with the self confidence of a much older child – the problem is that she has five year old judgement. Actually, that’s probably better than most kids her age too – but it’s not the same as a teenager’s judgement (God help me) or an adult’s. So while she knows what she’s doing – she may not actually be supposed to doing it.
A few days later, she came home with a very pink scalp and sholders. When I asked if she put on extra sunscreen and wore her hat, she said “well, part of the day”. I grumbled something about the instructors needing to push the sunscreen more and she said “well, they asked me, but I told them I put some on this morning”.
Ah ha! This is what I was talking about. Her self confidence fooled the adults. She’s smart. She’s independent. She’s convincing. Why wouldn’t they believe her when she said she already had on sunscreen? Because she’s five. That’s why.
The last thing I want to do is crush her spirit. Nor do I want anyone else to do the crushing. So where to go from here? I don’t know. Kindergarten is another year off and the safe halls of preschool are just a few months away. I’m hoping I have it figured out before then…!
As everyone within ear shot knew, I was not too thrilled about this guy becoming our newest pet. It was nothing personal, I just didn’t need another being to look after, care for and clean up after. Oh and the hair. The hair! I did not need the hair.
But….as we close in on Mac’s first birthday, I have to admit, he’s pretty great. I got the pick of the litter and I chose him because I could hang him upside down over my head and he laid loosely in my hands and stared at me. I thought if he can handle that calmly, then he might make it at our house. And thankfully, his nature is as mellow today as it was then.
Now, don’t get me wrong. There has been some serious work that went into this guy – but to have your 5 year old be able to walk the 60lbs nine month old lab around the block? Totally worth all the effort. And we have the amazing DaCoda to thank for it! Call her at Paws and Effect Training 480-577-6043. She’s worth her weight in gold! Or dog treats. Either way she’s awesome.
He totally walks better for her than anyone else
I can’t believe how little they both were! Best buddies in the making
Then…and now
and then there’s this…
Labra-bunny. Oddly, I think he really liked these.
Everyone knows labs make the best pillows
We’ve still got work to do on his need to stealing the kids toys and sneaking them outside to eat. And to stop eating my tomato plant. And not eat anything he finds on a walk….but his positives outweigh his negatives so I guess he stays. And I might even like him…but just a little .
We had such a good time celebrating B’s birthday. But it seems that some of the birthday presents aren’t quite getting along….
Ya mind getting off of my freaking arm??
Who am I? WHO AM I?? I’m your worst nightmare, hon.
Oh her? Yeah she looks all cute and innocent. But take it from me, that b*tch will cut you.
As for me – I’ve been to the doll doctor. Yeah. And I’m not afraid of going back. So if you want to make it out of here with all your stuffing, you better respect the order. Know your place at the tea party. And stay out of my crib.
You scared? You should be. Welcome to the doll house.
When Baylor was a toddler, I dreaded trying to keep her entertained in the summer. There’s a limit to how much pool time a two year old will do. I got sick of sweating it out at the splash pad. The museams start to loose their appeal….and trying to get a bored toddler to nap? Did not happen.
As soon as she was old enough to go to day camp, I would sign her up immediately. Our days went from being filled with bordom to being jam packed and allowing just enough time for some mommy and me fun without putting either of us in the looney bin.
That is until this year. I jumped at the chance to sign her up for camp at the swim club. She was bumped into the older group because she can swim well (score one for weekly swim lessons – yes I am patting myself on the back) and she gets to play tennis, golf, basketball and anything else they can play on the grass. And she loves it – she comes home with rosy cheeks, tired eyes and a belly full of junk food. She is running with an older group and the kids are allowed to move between their activities without a lot of guidance – plus there is free time where they can do whatever they want from video games to swimming. She is in love with the independence!
The down side is that I’ve heard her say a dozen times “we have to leave now?! I just want to play with my new toys!”. And pick up time is smack in the middle of Auggie’s nap. Which means my mid morning is spent trying to push his nap time out which is amazingly fun.
That’s when I realized that somewhere in the last year or so, we’ve started to transition to the big kid “I don’t need constant entertainment” phase. And Auggie has never been in that phase which is leaving us a little over scheduled and for no reason. So we pulled the plug. I canceled the last two weeks of camp and instead, we’re going to spend it getting bored. We’re going to stay in our jammies until nap time. Hit the pool. Watch Frozen too many times. Make and eat popsicles. Play with birthday presents.
So here’s to easy living, catching our breath, getting bored and enjoying a relaxed summer.
Baylor’s end of the year packet from school contained a self portrait she created in January. There was a note from her teachers on it – apparently she drew her picture from the feet up. They said all the years they’ve been teaching, they’ve never seen a kid start at the bottom.
PW and I didn’t know what to make of the comment – does that mean she’s creative? Thinks outside the box? Or is she destined to be a crazy cat lady?
Leave it to Noni to put it into perspective. When I showed my mom, her response was “She’s clearly one of us – her heart is in her stomach!”
So from the feet up to the head, down – at least her heart is in the right place 🙂
Baylor’s end of the year packet from school contained a self portrait she created in January. There was a note from her teachers on it – apparently she drew her picture from the feet up. They said all the years they’ve been teaching, they’ve never seen a kid start at the bottom.
PW and I didn’t know what to make of the comment – does that mean she’s creative? Thinks outside the box? Or is she destined to be a crazy cat lady?
Leave it to Noni to put it into perspective. When I showed my mom, her response was “She’s clearly one of us – her heart is in her stomach!”
So from the feet up to the head, down – at least her heart is in the right place 🙂
This year’s last day of school kind of snuck up on me. Really, we’ve been running hard the last few weeks with school activities…this year feels a little more like crossing the finish line of a marathon – it’s relief rather than saddness!
It’s been a tough year. It was our first experience with “life’s tough, get a helmet” type teachers. It was not the greatest experience – but – it was a great lesson in how to get along and make the best of a less than perfect situation. And really, I’d rather do that now in 3 day a week preschool than when it really matters.
In looking back over teh year, I realized how much B has learned. At the beginning of the year, she could spell her name, but not identify it. Now she can read it, write it and write any word you spell for her. I was in awe as I dictated a thank you note to her and she not only wanted to write it, but could write it! Her hand writting has become legible, her drawings more precise and her vocabulary is a crack up. I’m a little worried about her use of the word lure…as in “I’m going to lure Auggie in here with some crackers”.
Watching her imagination, comprehension and verbal skills grow is amazing and so fun to watch. Although the days of not being able to spell the words I don’t want her to hear is rapidly approaching. I think PW and I should probably look into developing our own language.
Wow. It’s not until you look at August v May that I can see how much she’s grown!
(Also, it’s pajama day at school. The Uggs were a fight I could not win. Yes it is going to be 95 degrees today.)
A few weeks ago, we (ok, that’s a royal we. It’s more like I decided and then wore PW down until he finally agreed surrendered) that it was time to paint our house. Like the whole house. Our paint had been battered, bruised, slapped with pureed spinach, scraped, sunburned and whatever else happens to a house with a collective 3 dogs, two kids and countless shin digs over the last 7 years. The breaking point was when I went to hang our new Jake Early pictures, only to discover that the prints that were already on the wall had left discolored squares behind them.
But how? When? I had a vision of Auggie and Mac walking through a paint tray and then finally getting some actual progress made during nap time only to realize it was time to pack up and go get Baylor from preschool. PW acknowledged the only way to do it was to either hammer it out over a few free weekends (which we don’t have) or hire someone.
But how to organize a full house painting, drywall touch ups around nap time, lunch time, dinner time, play time? And then it hit me – Disneyland. We had our trip to Disney planned a few weeks out and the painter agreed he could get it all done (and then did, which is amazing in itself). The plan was both brilliant and insane because on top of planning and packing for our trip, we were literally moving out of our house. Everything off the walls and that was near a wall that could be lifted went out the door to the garage. You never know how much crap you really have…
Long story short – neither the painting nor the trip could have gone better! Peter said a few times “man, your planning has totally paid off!” which is the best complement from mister “we’ll figure it out”. House pictures to follow when someone finishes my mirror…get that PW?
But first – Disneyland!
Some day it will be a common diagnosis. Someday it will be recognized as a real disease. Someday there will be a support group where individuals declare that they too, fell prey to an episode about re-tiling a bathroom and they now have to bathe in the kitchen sink because they only have concrete board on their shower walls.
That illness? That problem? It’s called HGTV. It’s a dangerous drug that sucks unsuspecting and often crafty but mostly completely unskilled people in. It convinces them that they too can redecorate their living room in an hour and for $10. They CAN lay a new tile floor. They WILL repaint their house in a day and that full scale remodels happen in a weekend.
And I’m here today, standing among my peers to tell you that I too have HGTVaTosis. I drank the Kool Aid. I took the bait…and while my results were good, I’m afraid it’s a gateway drug. Because now that the living room is done, I want to paint the kitchen cabinets. And the sideboard. And make a headboard. And add on a room to our house. And and and…
Pictures to follow once we move back into our house. Because when the painting gets tough, the tough go to Disneyland.
That will make sense too, promise.
The Goon Room 
