Art Class With Mom

Emma and I went to art class last Thursday. It was only $5, and I really wanted to see if she would enjoy it. Art is something that I love, but I don't want to make her take a whole string of classes of a subject that she doesn't enjoy! It was a fun time. The teacher was a little tardy, and consequently frazzled, and the first thing that she handed us was a connect the dots and a castle to color that were clearly printed off of the internet. I was thinking, "Well, for $5, maybe this is all we get." But connecting the dots was just the "appetizer" and Emma moved on to painting, mixing colors, cutting, and stamping. It was really fun to see her be artsy-fartsy, but when an hour was up she was DONE. I don't know how her little internal clock does it, but it was almost exactly an hour and she was walkin' out the door, telling me that she'd meet me outside! I highly recommend spending as much individual time with each kid, for those out there who have kids or may have them in the future!

To the Zoo, To the Zoo!

On Father's Day we ventured, for the first time, to the National Zoo in D.C. It was a really great day, started off by finding free parking on the street just 2 blocks from the zoo entrance! And with the zoo itself being free and bringing our own lunches we made out pretty well that day...except for the "Father's Day $5 ice cream," the "Father's Day $4 pretzel," and the "Father's Day $4 soda." We met our friends from Son of David, Jessica and David, and their kids Sophia and Zack, who are just about 1/2 a year older than our kids. It was just such a great day. And I say this again because some long days with kids just don't go very well. We were at the zoo past nap time and then the kids fell asleep in the car pretty quick, so we decided to explore the area with the car so that we know what we're talking about when people come to visit and we want to bring them to cool places in the D.C. area. We drove through Georgetown, Bethesda, and Potomac (where there are gigantic houses), and we rounded out the day eating at California Pizza Kitchen (another Father's Day splurge) and walking around the shops and pond at The Rio. Hurray! for a great day!

Being a Mom

I'm sure this is something that every stay-a-home mom questions at least once, if not many times during her career, but I'm starting to see this being a cycle for me. My wondering usually pops up after quite a few days of being at home, doing the routine, without any specific, carved out "me time." I think, to myself, after unloading and loading the dishwasher, washing the same sheets, and vacuuming the floor AGAIN, that I'm not really "doing" anything. I'm just going through routine. I've got my schedule and it works and then when 8 o'clock hits and the kids are in bed and I have free time, I'm EXHAUSTED. I just want to watch TV. And then I feel guilty because I didn't actually DO anything that day...I just did the routine! But my mind does usually start to reason with itself. I realize that even people who have jobs feel that their lives are mundane and its not being physically at home that provokes this feeling. Then my brain goes through a couple of more steps until I remember that what I am doing IS the most important job on earth, (to quote Oprah.) I am instilling values into them. I am teaching them manners. I am teaching them to respect others. I am trying to teach them to eat their vegetables. I am showing them what a loving family looks like. I am teaching them to value their alone time. I am showing them that life isn't all about rules. I am showing them what God's love looks like.

So, all this is to say that I do believe that I will cycle through these questions and answers many times during my life, probably many times during the year, and that's OK.

Choices and Consequences

So I recently heard about a couple of kids in their very late teens traveling in Europe who made some interesting choices that ended up in physical harm. The result was not life threatening, so no worries, but it got me thinking. When I hear stories like this I think about what I would do if and when my kids end up in a similar situation. I think my initial reaction would be frustration at the choice, and probably anger, and then restrictions on everything they do from then on out. But upon thinking about it more, its these choices and consequences that make each of us who we are. It's progressive revelation. Experiences and consequences are what make us wiser as we go through life.
Many of you know that Siri has been slow to talk. And by slow to talk I don't mean that she's developmentally delayed; I mean that she is slowER than Emma was. Emma was having conversations by 18 months, and Siri's vocabulary totals about 10 words, most of which can only be understood by her immediate family. It's really hard to have a non-talker after having a talker. I realize that I have been treating her like a baby much longer because she is not talking. And thus, letting her get away with more. Siri likes to throw things so we've been trying to stop this behavior when I realized the other day that I throw things all the time. I chuck their toys all over their room when I'm cleaning up, so it occurred to me that it doesn't make sense to her when we tell her not to throw things. And who in the world really grows up not throwing anything EVER? I have adjusted my instruction to, "Don't throw your toys at people." No, it's still not acceptable to throw toys, but from my life experience I have learned where and with what velocity to throw a specific toy. Siri will have to learn all of this through trial and error. A toy breaking will be a great lesson, I'm sure, and we'll have to wait til this happens for Siri to understand. And it will make her wiser...progressively.

Organizer's Heaven

We recently had two days of solid rain, (if you're wondering how a liquid could be a solid, well, I experienced it.) The first day drove me insane because it was Matt's late night at work so I got the kids up, spent 12 hours in our apartment with them and put them to bed. Then I woke up to another day exactly like the first. Needless to say I had to get out, so I did what makes any woman cheer up instantly...I went shopping. I've been wanting to go to "The Container Store" so I swung by and walked into what could just possibly be what heaven will look like for me. Honestly, I avoided a couple of isles so that I wouldn't be too frustrated that I had not come to this store when we first moved, but the entire store makes the heart of a person who is organizationally inclined beat a little faster. I realize that not everyone would get sweaty palms walking through The Container Store, and I love that its those preferences that makes each person unique.