Honestly Mom....

For dinner today I made home made pizza. My five year old got to the table and said, "Mom, I don't want pizza, I want mixed up vegetables!"

Klondike to the Rescue

Tonight as I was getting dinner ready, I put the salad and the dressing out on the table. I put the salad in everyone’s bowls.

I walked into the dining room, to find my 3 year old had left the living room and sat down at the table. He poured two bottles of salad dressing into his bowl. One I had just made. I was a little angry.

At dinner, we had rice and steak. He decided he wanted to hide his steak in his rice. He continually got frustrated when the steak would peak out from the rice he was eating. I was silently plotting what I could do with him. He was whining and getting more frustrated. Several times I mentioned I would put him to bed if he didn’t stop. After a trip to the corner, he did stop, and proceeded to eat. Needless to say he is still alive; I didn’t kill him. I have de-stressed by taking a few bites of a Klondike bar. We don’t normally have Klondike bars, but the other day at the baseball field, I gave my son a dollar to buy a hot dog, and he bought a Klondike bar. He knows he can’t eat them; he’s lactose intolerant. I held onto it and brought it home; I knew it would come in handy for an emergency.

Speaking of unauthorized ice cream purchases, today my two sons bought Popsicles from the ice cream truck without asking me. Now, they have been waiting for the ice cream truck to come at the right time for days. So I couldn’t really be mad. It was kind of cute actually. They got their own money to buy them. Patrick spent four of his five dollars from his wallet. I am glad that he shared with his brother.

Now they are playing legos. And I have started to clear the table. But, since we had rice, I have a lot of rice to clean off the floor. Better get to it.

A Very Grumpy Day

Today, the 14th day of rain in a row, (or what seems like at least 14 days) has just been too, too grumpy. Having to be inside most of the day with the boys, (who did go outside when it stopped for a while), is just too much.

Then there was the ant problem. Yesterday, my son took out the trash like he usually does. But instead of putting the trash in the can, he just left the bag on the floor. So today, I went downstairs, and there was a trail of about a million ants from a crack in the garage floor, over to the trash bag. Grrrrrrr. Needless to say, he is now down in the garage, cleaning up dead ants with paper towels. I sprayed the ants with Windex to kill them, but they are still on the floor.

I tried to take a nap today. This was while the kids were outside with the babysitter, who came to watch the kids while I went to the Dr. for my appointment and ultrasound. I had her stay a little while after lunch to play with the boys while Anna took a nap, and I tried to nap. But when it started to sprinkle out again, they came back in and played hide and seek. She tried to keep them on the first floor, but they were excited and made a lot of noise, so I awoke.

So in general, I think I am just flustered with so many rainy days in a row - in June, with school out. We have not used the pool in at least two weeks, have played outside as little as the weather allowed, have been the library, and the McDonalds play place, but we can not go there every day. I am hoping tomorrow is really going to be dry like the weather promised. Otherwise, I might have to check into a mental institution.

Well, one interesting thing did happen today. I saw my new baby in ultrasound. I didn’t find out the sex yet, I am waiting till tonight when my husband gets home. I had the technician write it down on a piece of paper for us to discover together. I am really hoping for a girl, but when she was measuring the legs, I thought I might have seen a boy, but I could be wrong, that could have been the umbilical cord. Well just have to wait and see, hope he is not home to late tonight!

Well, now I am off to the garage to check the ant cleaning progress, and help a little. Just part of my grumpy, grumpy day!

***

A couple good things happened recently. This past weekend, Anna started to walk all by herself. She had been doing it holding on to our hands, or furniture, but she finally took independent steps on Sat. and then really got the hang of it on Sunday. She was so excited and happy and proud of herself. And we were so proud of her. Mike and I sat opposite each other, and she walked back and fourth between us. Then we moved farther apart, and she took more steps. Now she is walking all over the house, still with her arms up in the air for balance, it is very cute!

Also, yesterday was the first day she went completely without nursing. I had been gradually cutting down on her nursing for months, and had put her to bed before without milk, but never gone a whole day without nursing. It has been a little hard for her going to bed without the nursing, but she is getting used to it. Tonight she has been having a hard time, but I just gave her some milk in a sippy cup and hugged her some more. It is 8:15 now, so hopefully she will stop crying and fall asleep soon. She is 17 months now, so I don’t feel bad. She is the only child who was learned to walk and weaned at the same time. The boys all walked at much younger ages, but that’s ok. I’m glad she is walking now!

Pregnancy Number one......Versus Number Five

Pregnancy Number One

Receive lots of attention at work, because everyone is so excited that you are going to have a baby. Receive surprise baby shower at work. Spend time looking through baby name books, and decorating the baby's room. Visit family for another baby shower.

A few weeks before the baby is supposed to be born, start maternity leave. Spend the days napping, relaxing, talking on the phone, taking walks, and doing occasional housework uninterrupted. Shop for maternity clothes, and start collecting baby gear. Receive phone calls from husband during the day to ask how I am doing.

Pregnancy Number Five

Get up at 6:30 to rescue one year old from her crib. Bring her into our room to try to pacify her for a few minutes until the sun comes up. Hear chatter of two boys playing in the next room. Hope that the oldest sleeps for a little while longer.

Spend the day keeping kids happy and occupied and playing referee, cooking, going to library and playgrounds, and anywhere to keep us from being stuck at home all day. Try to fit in laundry and dishes along the way, and keep the house reasonably clean. Refill sippy cups, hug the tearful, and keep going on....

At 6 pm receive phone call from husband that he is going to be working late.

At 7:00, having put the baby to bed, feel incredibly tired and lay down for a few minutes. Briefly fall asleep, then wake at 7:30 to reluctantly start another bedtime routine with younger two boys. Get their teeth brushed, change them to pajamas, read them stories. Tuck them in and then, just as you thought you were done, get them water, because they are begging as if their life depends on it.

Come downstairs to try to maybe relax for a minute. Oldest son sees you and announces that he is hungry. Sit on the couch and tell him to find something in the fridge, and let him microwave it himself. Tell him to clean up after himself. Walk into the kitchen and see that he has already gone upstairs. Put the leftovers away. Then give him a bath and supervise teeth brushing, and make sure he puts on pajamas. Tell him goodnight.

Come downstairs and see that it is now 9:30. Just another 15 hour day.

Jamaica

Interesting Signage


On the way to Negril from Montego Bay Airport


On The Beach


Walk on the Beach


View from the room

The Lonely Hour

I am skinning chicken, cutting it, and seasoning it. The skins fall into the sink and I look out the kitchen window. The light is fading, the sky turning less vibrant. Earlier, as I was feeding the baby in her room with the curtains closed, the bright light burst through and the room and was unusually luminous. The bright burst before the light starts to fade.

As I get ready to peel potatoes, the clean dishes I just washed drying in the strainer beside me, I feel the lonely sadness of darkness washing over me. This is the lonely time of the day, the transition to evening. The kids are watching Curious George, quiet now, after the days noise and excitement has calmed. The library books we collected this afternoon sit on the bench waiting for us to read after dinner. For now, everyone is quiet, and hungry, their fuel tanks almost empty. Soon I will peel the potatoes, put them in the water to boil, but for now I pause to feel the glumness of the lonely hour. I start thinking about my husband coming home. Will he be here for dinner tonight? Or will he be working late, and I will eat alone with the kids again. I hope the baby sleeps for a while so I can at least feed the kids in peace. Only a couple more hours now for the kids to be awake. Soon enough it will be time to bath them, and change them into pajamas. Then rub their backs, sing them a song, and say prayers. Then I will be able to sit down for a while, read a book maybe, after I do the dishes and clean up a little. I will have accepted the night by then, officially dark, it’s less lonely than this gray time, not light, not dark – the lonely hour.

Crazy over Pokèmon

It all started with the bookfair. Last year, I sent my 4 year old son to pre-school with 5 or 10 dollars to buy something with his class. He came home with a book about Pokèmon characters. My son was in the habit of carrying his current favorite possession every where he goes, so I didn’t think anything of it when the new book accompanied him to bed, to meals, safely tucked under him in his chair at dinner, to baseball games, and just about everywhere. This went on for about two weeks. The book was tattered and bent within the first few days, and it looked like it had been around forever. At night when putting him to bed, or during the day, he would ask me to read a few pages from the book.

As time went by, he stopped carrying the book everywhere, but still always knew where it was. One day in the toy store, we picked up a small package of Pokèmon cards. When we got home, him and his brother, not knowing how to play the real game, invented their own version, and acted it out. They talked about Powers, and Pikachu's, and all kinds of things.

The Pokèmon cards were kept safely in a drawer, but accessed often, and very popular with the boys. At some point, they became lost in our house, a phenomenon that is not completely foreign to us, as every so often a sneaker, or a library book, or something coveted will mysteriously disappear. Anyway, when Christmas time came around, Santa brought the boys each a Pokèmon trainer deck, and my son (now 5) a Pikachu stuffed animal. So the day after Christmas, Dad sat with the boys, read the rules, and explained the game. He helped them play a few rounds. He seemed to have fun, and I was glad that the boys were playing together, and I had nothing to do with it.

That night however, wanting to be able to play with another grown up, he said he wanted me to play a game with him. I reluctantly agreed, hoping it would be over soon, so I could go to bed. But when we started playing, a funny thing happened, and I actually enjoyed the game! It was fun. I wanted to win. I got competitive. Over the next few days of Christmas vacation, my husband and I played a few more games. Then one night, he and the boys came home and stuck something under the tree. “I got you something,” my husband said. We put the youngest to bed, and then I opened it, I was my own Pokèmon deck. I was feeling a little silly, but strangely excited, this was not a trainer deck, it was a real deck, and it was mine. That night, we tried it out. He used one of the kid’s decks and I used my new deck. It was far superior. I liked it! I won most of the games.

Every time we got a new deck, my husband checked the value of each card. He found a few that were worth a few dollars, and put them aside. A few days after giving me my deck, he came home with a deck of his own. Then we played each other with our decks to try them out together. His new deck was pretty powerful, and quite superior to mine. I didn’t stand a chance. We played a few more games, and talked about how we could really get into this, and buy individual special cards, and spend a lot of time on it. He mentioned that there are Pokèmon tournaments, with real serious players. We decided that we would not be buying any more cards, or spending any more money on the game, but still, we saw how fun it could be. Soon after, his vacation ended, and he went back to work. We stopped playing Pokèmon. But the kids still like it, and ask us to play with them, or they play a game together. Mostly, they just act it out, and play their imagination games, my younger son holding his Pikachu. On school library day, the kids sometimes bring home Pokèmon books from school. Pikachu rides to school in my sons backpack every day, and comes out every night, and is thrown around and played with. So, all in all, the kids are crazy for Pokèmon. And I can’t really blame them!