Thankful for my boys even if they are gross

You all know how thankful I am for my little family.  Every day it hits me how big they are getting and how someday things are going to be... not easier.. but different. Less physical work, more letting go and keeping them out of trouble. I kind of break into hives thinking about it (the letting go part.)  Nonetheless, I am so fortunate to have four good kids, who love me and I adore even when they drive me crazy. Even when, halfway through Thanksgiving Dinner, one of them announces that Ear Wax is Gross.  When questioned how he knows this, he says, "Well, I tasted it one time. Because I put my finger in my ear, and then I picked my nose. Then I put my finger..."

I interrupted it with a resounding "NOT AT THE DINNER TABLE!!" even though I couldn't help letting a small giggle escape. 

He finished by saying "it tasted really bad, Mom." Then continued to eat his turkey, pleased that I was sufficiently grossed out.

Boys!

Mornings!

Mornings are crazy around here. Some moreso than others.

This morning I was getting the boys glasses ready for school and I couldn't fine Mark's. We were running late and I told him I'd bring them if I found them. A little while after I quit looking, I spotted the case. I opened it to check if they were there. And they were, only it was Zachary's glasses in the case. Which meant... that I had put Mark's glasses onto Zack's face. Go ahead, roll your eyes at me.

Their prescriptions aren't very big, but Mark is near sighted and Zack is far sighted. So I was on my way to school to sort it all out, when I called my friend that drove the boys today, and she told me they realized it in the car and gave them to Mark. Thankfully, I made that call because the only thing more embarrassing than going to the school to deliver one pair of glasses and swap them out for the right ones, would be to explain the whole scenario and find that I had been incorrect. Sign me up for the crazy mommy club.

After all of that I decided Zack could make it through the day without his glasses. Are we sure it isn't Monday?

Silencing the Control Freak

There's this girl who lives inside me. I try to deny her existence and hold her back. She wants to do it all. She jumps in too quickly to help her kids. She doesn't like messes. She is kind of a control freak. So I repress her as much as humanly possible.

That girl is right now screaming to come out. Tonight, Mark wanted to make brownies and that girl tried to say no, but daddy jumped in and said he could do it IF he could do it on his own and IF he cleaned up his mess. Which should be fine. He's pretty good about following the directions and stuff. But it is so hard to just.let.him.do.it. It's messy, he had trouble finding stuff and for goodness sake it's been an hour and I just want to jump in and finish it for him.

So I'm quieting inner control freak girl by taking my laptop into the front of the house and ignoring the nagging feeling that I should be taking over helping him. Deep breath in/deep breath out. Let him succeed.

Oh! They just went in the oven...

*Ok, this sounds slightly multiple personality-ish. There's only one of me, and I don't hear voices... please don't be concerned.

Some things I should have mentioned and didn't

Life is so crazy busy and sadly, the blog has taken a back burner. Or maybe that's how it should be. I don't know. The importance of all this silly blathering I do boils down to I'll forget this stuff. I know I will. I've already forgotten a lot of it, and occasionally I'll click a random post and think "Wow! That's really funny. I'd totally forgotten about that. Since I'm not really a scrapbooker, I do this. Although not so well lately.




So, worth mentioning... (or picturing as it were)... Halloween was awesome. The kids had a blast. And it goes without saying they were adorable.

Also, last Saturday I ran my first 5K. It wasn't an official race where you get a bib and a number and an official time... but my friend used to work for the company that was hosting it and got me in. I did it in 39 minutes which was way slower than I wanted to run it, but it still feels good that I met that goal. A few years after I set it, but it's checked off the list. And... I want to do another one, and finish in less time.

The Other Side of It

Yesterday, I forgot the part of 3 and 3/4 that I love.

The part that climbs into bed with me in the middle of the night, and wraps his little hands around my neck and says, "I love you, Mommy. You the best Mommy in the whole world," and goes back to sleep.

Three and three quarters

I'm d-o-n-e with not listening, tantrums and out and out defiance. Ben is a doll, be sure of that, but he is also full of energy of the manic sort. Into everything, completely knowing he shouldn't be.

Of all of my kids, he is the most trying at this phase... unless somehow I've blocked it out.

He climbs to higher heights (and jumps from them.) He runs from me and when I say "STOP" he laughs and keeps running. He listens when I say no, and then does it anyway.

As I typed this, he and Zack snuck into the garage, he climbed up onto my van and I raced when I heard the screams. No one was hurt (thankfully) but he was stuck up there on top of the van, and got scared. So, basically I can never relax or take my eyes off of him.

Which may explain why my blog is kind of sparse on posts these days.

I should be an old pro at this age and stage by now, yet I feel somehow like my mothering ability must be getting worse, because I have no idea how to settle this one down.