The Answers I Wanted to Use

On Friday, Zack's preschool sent home a "Family Survey." As I was answering the questions I couldn't possibly put down my first response. The answers I used are entirely true. However, the answers that would have been most accurate are way more entertaining, yet somehow inappropriate to actually use. So, I present you with preschool family survey. The TRUTH of the matter...

Date 8/30/09
My Child's Name ErMaBe.... Crap, which kid is this form for? Zack, yes Zachary Bailey.
Hand Dominance - Right. I mean, I'm assuming he's right handed. No evidence to the contrary.
My child enjoys playing with - anything one of his brothers is currently playing with & unwilling to give up.
My child is really interested in - potty humor, saying "stupid" and other words that upset Mommy.
My child spends quiet time doing - there are four children in the home. Quiet time doesn't exist.
My child is happiest when - getting his own way, eating ice cream, clinging to Mommy.
My child's strengths are - throwing a screaming fit to try to get what he wants, irritating his older brothers. I hope you don't expect me know his intellectual strengths yet because... hello... he's 4.
I would like my child to accomplish the following this year - Stop throwing tantrums, stop being so easily upset. Stop clinging to mommy, and maybe get dressed by himself. No I don't expect you to do all of this in school, but I'd really like those things to happen.
The following people live at our house - Mom, dad & 3 siblings. Yes 3. Yes they are all boys. Yes they are all mine.
Our family really enjoys spending time - driving each other crazy. Also, being outdoors and stuff. But the kids, their favorite past time is annoying the crap out of one another.

So, you can see why I couldn't put my first reaction as my answers. Aren't you lucky I decided to share it with you though.

Letters to the Teachers...

Over at Deep South Moms, I wrote some letters to my kids teachers (past and present.) The teachers won't ever see them, of course, but writing them helped me work out some of the anxiety I was feeling over back to school. You can read it here.

In other back to school news... Zack did the cling to my leg thing today. It was the first time he was really reluctant to stay. His awesome, amazing, sweet teacher gave him a hug. He was still looking at me sadly, and she scooped him up and spun circles with him while Ben and I snuck away. I find it hard to reconcile this situation with the fact that he cried when I picked him up yesterday he cried. Just burst out sobbing. I *think* it was because I walked in right when he was about to get his good behavior sticker for the day. As if I wouldn't have waited for that. He settled down after he realized he was getting one. I'm not sure what to make of it other than he is an extremely emotional child.

The other boys are doing great too, and I continue to be shocked at the fact that they can in fact play nicely together. Huh. Who knew?

Ben is actually napping again! Granted he's still falling asleep in the car, but he's transferring to his bed again. Thank heavens. It's amazing what I can do with an hour to myself. Right now I am using this time to do some organizing and cleaning to catch up on the stuff I got behind on this summer, but I have visions of sewing & decorating & painting some rooms we haven't gotten to yet.

I admit it. I love school! :)

Things I Have Learned

... The Back to School Edition...

So much I have learned this week, much of which is review, much of which is common sense... still the fact remains:

• I should not put Zack in his school clothes in the morning expecting them to stay clean until noon.
• Eric (still) just loves school.
• The child not being dropped off will always want to stay. The one being dropped off, sometimes wants to cling to Mommy like glue. (this hasn't actually happened yet, but it's coming. I can feel it.)
• Nothing I do will ever be the right thing or good enough. Evidence: last year, Mark begged me to pack his lunch. I never felt like I could have my stuff together enough to do it, so they ate in the cafeteria. This year school starts an hour later, so I am packing lunch. (Plus prices went up and I feel I can send a healthier, less costly lunch without trying too awfully hard.) Today, on the way out the door we had a lovely meltdown because I *gasp* packed his lunch and he wanted a cafeteria meal. I don't even know what to make of this. He ate the lunch I packed him though.
• My kids actually like each other when they aren't together all day.
• I have more patience when I'm not with all of my kids all day.
• Taking one kid to the store is SO much easier (but not easy, no definitely not.)
• Having 3 kids in school and one taking a nap = awesome!
• School makes kids tired. This is both good (easy bedtime!) and bad (fussy dinner time.)

So, there you have it. Things I have learned the first week of school.

Three... Two... One...

And then some! I meant to update much sooner than this, but we were too busy having fun!

So, our big surprise was a trip on Friday out to Orlando and... The Magic Kingdom. It was the kids (and Kevin's) first trip to Disney World, and my first since I was a teenager. It was incredible. Magic. I have pictures (of course) to post that will wait one more day. Miraculously (magically?) we managed to keep the surprise a secret until the last minute. When the kids figured it out their eyes got wide and Eric said "this will be a day to remember." And he was so correct.

Besides the BIG DAY we had fun with my mom going to the pool, to the beach & just hanging out.

We went out for a walk/ bike ride and Eric and Mark learned to ride without training wheels. I really thought the day would never come, but here they are. They still need some help getting started, but they are training wheel free.

The first day of school went off without a hitch and everyone came home all smiles. And no one argued or fought for the entire evening. Tonight was much the same. Tomorrow will be Ben & my first true afternoon alone and I just can't wait. I haven't had one kid at home for any period of time since Eric was 13 months old and Mark was born. That's been over 6 years. It should be interesting.

Four

Today is Granny day! The boys are excited and so am I!! Tomorrow is the day of the biggest surprise ever. The best thing is that it's still a surprise. Despite my total inability to keep a secret. I've told all my local friends, sometimes whispering right in front of the boys. I've talked to Kevin about it, making plans without mentioning the location. Sometimes *almost* spelling it and stopping myself when I remembered my big kids can spell. It's really quite amazing that they haven't picked up on what it is or that there's anything big going on except for that Granny's coming. Really, that's huge enough!!

Now I have a date with my upstairs (kids rooms & bathrooms) which has been sorely neglected lately.

Five

Today is meet the teacher day at the elementary school. I am beyond excited, but also nervous. I've been fortunate to only run across good teachers in our limited school experience, but what if this time my luck runs out. I guess it remains to be seen.

Mark is worried that school will be BORING and that he won't be able to play Wii as much. Well, I happen to think he'll thrive in school just like last year, and that second thing is a very GOOD thing.

Eric is concerned that second grade will be TOO hard. I comforted him by saying that he was SMART and he'd learn it all just fine. This is his first experience with pre- school jitters.

And we still have 5 days left to pack as much possible as fun into. And Granny comes tomorrow!

Six

Things that are driving me crazy right now...

Kids throwing things on the floor when they finish with them. Examples: Crayons & markers, toys, pipe cleaners, and the worst of all dishes. Just explain to me why, once the cup is empty it needs to be thrown on the FLOOR.

Fighting.

Back talk.

Four year old refusing to dress himself despite being totally capable.

But it's not all bad. Yesterday evening I stepped outside to talk on the phone. Mark followed me out and was running through the neighbor's sprinkler on the sidewalk. So, I called all the boys out and they had so much fun playing in the water. It was fun and adorable. Soon after getting wet Ben decided he needed to take his pants and pull up off, leaving him totally naked. I spent most of the time chasing him down and putting his pants back on. It was quite the sight I'm sure.

A neighbor did drive by and rolled down her window to say "been there." So at least I'm not alone in my chasing a nakie baby down the cul de sac.

Conversations

Me: Ben you're so cute.
Ben: No Mom, I not cute.

Me: You are so smart!
Ben: No Mom, I not smart.

Me: Can I have a kiss?
Ben: No Mom, no kiss me.

I steal a kiss.
Ben:(sternly) No Mom. No kiss me again.

He is very verbal. And very contrary.

7 Days

I'm dispensing with any facade that I'm not counting the days until school starts. The days of having 3 hours with only one child at home. I've mentioned it often that it's been six years since I've had one kid at home. Coinciding exactly with when Mark was born, of course. This morning we set out to get the rest of the school supplies we need. We got most. Wal-Mart was out of notebook paper. I understand it's back to school and everyone on earth is buying notebook paper. But to be totally out. Shocking. So, I guess at some point I'll go to Target, under the assumption that they'll have some stinking paper. Probably with all four kids because Kevin is out of town some this week.

And those kids are fighting and fussy and we are experiencing a whole lotta togetherness. Togetherness is a good thing. Too much togetherness can equal insane Momma.

7 days. 7 days. 7 days. My new mantra. Until tomorrow!

Blog, What Blog?

Okay, I've neglected the blog this week and there is a good reason. Summer is winding down, which means we've been so busy it's ridiculous. Monday we cleaned house and went to Tae Kwon Do. After dinner, I took the big kids to the pool. Tuesday, I attempted to go grocery shopping which was an epic nightmare resulting in a certain kid spending 45 minutes in his room. Seriously, I didn't even get in the store. Later, after recovering from that I took them to the pool, but still had to go shopping for FOOD after dinner. It was one of those times it really couldn't wait another day. Wednesday was playgroup so we went to the playground and sweated like crazy, and later went to the pool. Thursday, we visited Brooker Creek Nature Preserve, and came home to catch up on some chores. Friday I took the kids to the mall playground and lunch at Moes. Then I came home and made a slew of key lime pies for Kevin's company picnic/party on Saturday. And that is what we did yesterday. Tons of fun, but I'm tired and most days by the time I've had time to blog my mind and body are both so tired I haven't been able to put coherent thoughts together enough to do so.

This week is the Last.Week.of Summer and we are excited to have Granny visiting us on Thursday. We have the best surprise EVER planned for the boys, and I can't wait to see their faces! But, you have to wait to find out, because as hard as it is to keep my mouth shut, I think you should be surprised too!

I'll try to get back to my every day blogging (or at least every other day... or whenever something cool happens) this week.

Healthy Back to School Series

This week is Healthy Back to School week over at Diets in Review. I can't wait to read all of the posts to get tips and tricks on how to keep our kids healthy once the busy life of school starts (2 more weeks! Yay!) I had some ideas for a few on the go breakfasts that with a little planning could make the task of starting the day off right with a healthy meal so much more simple.

Pointlessly Random Rambling

It's a rare moment of silence here. Ben is napping, Zack is laying down with Daddy and Eric and Mark are in their respective corners (okay on their respective couches) because they can't seem to get along when they are in the same room. I feel guilty saying this but I'm enjoying the peace.

I've spent much of today going through clothes, seeing what needs to be put away, passed down, or gotten rid of. Trying to figure out exactly what needs to be purchased for the school year. I managed to get most of what was needed through the end of summer sales at ridiculously low prices. Living in FL we won't need fall clothes until the "season end" sale and we can probably skip right over the winter wear. This is what I remind myself on the days I walk outside and can't breathe because of the heat and humidity. Ease of wardrobe. 9 months out of the year in shorts. Fantastic weather in the winter. The truth is, I love living here and the heat is just one of a very few negatives. (And it's not that much hotter than the other states I've lived in.)

In case you didn't notice I really had no point to this post. It was just quiet, and I had a few minutes between loads of laundry so I thought I'd ramble a little.

Insomnia? Really?

So, you might ask what on earth I'm doing up at nearly 4 am blogging of all things and I'd answer... read the title. That would be kind of rude, but it's four am and I'm up with nothing to do except blog, and I am cranky about it. Sure I could probably fold some laundry or something, but I have rules about doing housework in the middle of the night. Truly, I have rules about being up at this ridiculous hour, but right at the moment my body isn't listening to me. Must be taking cues from the kids.

Basically, I'm sitting here killing time until my Nyquil kicks in, because I am SO smart that I just took Nyquil at almost four flipping o'clock in the morning when I know darn good and well the kids will be up at 7. Or heaven forbid earlier than that. Sometimes desperation outweighs good sense.

At any rate, I did sleep from 10:30 to 1:30 so I have that.

PS I didn't just take the Nyquil to help me fall asleep, I also took it to alleviate the symptoms of this nasty virus that's caused me to feel like crap much of this week. Used to be a sore throat and is now settling right into my chest.

Fun times, my friends.

I will now go lay down and think sleepy thoughts. Good Night. Good Morning. Whatever on earth it is!

Recorded Message

I am going to record a message to my kids and put it on a loop. It's going to sound something like this.

"Keep your hands to yourself, no hitting, please don't pull on your brothers shirts. You all need to stop playing so rough before somebody gets hurt. No climbing on the cabinets. Why are you crying? No fits please. We don't use those words in our family. We only eat food at the table. Why are you eating in the living room. Hey! Everybody listen please. It's time to go, let's get shoes on. Why don't you have shoes on? Please put your shoes on. We won't be going to this really fun place if you don't get your shoes on. I can't understand you when you whine. Yes I do actually expect you to help out around here. No, fussing at me won't change that. You still don't have your shoes on! No.Jumping.On.The.Furniture!!!!And stop hitting your brother!"

I'm making a recording and hitting play. I figure it will save me some energy since it's what I say all day long. It'll probably be about as effective too.

2 weeks 2 days until school starts. Bring it on!

How Does Your Baby Nap?

Today at Deep South Moms, I'm making a confession of the desperate measures I take to get Ben to nap. Even though I swore I'd never do it. It works quite well, though so it can't be all bad. Right?

Table Slaves

Today was a rough day. The kids weren't getting along, I wasn't feeling well, and despite taking them to the sprayground, a few of my children managed to be unhappy throughout most of the day. Around two, I got Ben to take a nap (by getting everyone in the car) and Mark fell asleep the same time. Once we all got inside they both slept for 2 hours. When they woke up I still needed to get to Sams to pick up my groceries. Since it had been an exhausting day, I decided to pick up some pizzas while I was there.

On the drive home, I told Eric and Mark I wanted them to clean off and set the table when we got home so I could bring in the groceries and we could eat.

My boys, who are so not overworked, actually grumbled. "You know, you just make us do this every day." "Yeah, we already unload the dishwasher every day." "And now we have to be the table slaves too."

All I could do was laugh. These kids seriously have no idea how easy they have it. No idea whatsoever.