Ben - I knew she was here because Cattie smells like Grandma.
This afternoon:
Olivia - Why didn't you name me Caroline?!?! (imagine a very dramatic, exasperated voice)
This evening:
Saragh - This will be your 26th anniversary?
Me - No, this will be our 10th anniversary
Saragh - That's 3 and 7, right?
Me - Ummm... (she's five and we've never done math)
And a bonus:
We hear Saragh run outside and a few mintues later, the doorbell rings. When Oliver goes to see whose there, he finds Saragh hiding under a box giggling. Yeah, she's awesome :o)
So, the other night, the boys had a friend spend the night. They had pizza, watched movies, played video games, you know, the whole teenage boy shebang. After they got done eating, the friend brought his plate to me to ask what he should do with it. I tols him to just put it in the sink and I would take care of it later when I loaded the dishwasher. He informed me that he had already washed it. This took me completely by surprise and it really annoyed me. Now, I know that I should have been grateful that the boy had such good manners, but I really do not consider it good manners, and I'll tell you why.
First, when you are a guest in someone's home, especially a first time guest, you don't know what the rules and routines are and you shouldn't assume that you do. Now, in his home, it may have been the rule that you wash your own plate, but it is not here. Good manners dictate that you ask what the procedures are before you act.
Second, both of my boys had put their plates in the sink (as had Oliver and I), as per the routine of our house. I found it to be quite presumptuous and a little up-staging-ish for this boy to wash his plate when he could clearly see that the rest of us had put our plates in the sink. I might not have thought that if he hadn't also done similar things throughout the evening. Like when the boys burst out of the house and bellowed that they were going off to a bike ride to the jumps and the friend turned to me and said, "I guess the plan is that we're going on a bike ride, is that okay with you?" This was after I had already bellowed "Whatever, dude!" back to the boys (which is code in our house for, "Sure, that's great, don't kill yourselves because I don't have time for the drama!"). I just found it a little irksome.
Third, I now have this compulsion to make the boys wash their own dishes whenever they are at someone else's house. I hate that this has me second guessing myself, even if it is just a tweeny-tiny bit. Now, this is totally my problem and I own it, but it still pisses me off a bit. I normally have great confidence in my children's social graces. Most of the time, I feel quite at ease sending them off to a friend's house because we have made manners and niceties a priority so that they do not offend people. But now there is a little eensy part of me that thinks maybe I haven't been quite diligent enough. Should they be washing their own dishes at other people's houses???
Yes. This is when the crazy starts to come out. You'll have to excuse me now, I have to go shove it back in.
A few months ago I decided that I'd had it up to here with the lousy breakfast habits of my children (nevermind mine, do what I say and all that...). I really wanted to get them off cereal for many reasons; purchasing less milk, more nutrition, less processed food to name a few. We only ever buy Cheerios, so it's not like they were eating sugar for breakfast, but still, there are better things they could be eating first thing in the day. I tried nagging them, bribing them, beating them pleading with them, but none of those things work. Habits are hard to break when we want to, let alone when we're perfectly happy.
I finally decided that the only way to make this happen was to devise a menu and prepare breakfast for them each morning. I am not a morning person, so this is a major sacrifice for me. I finally settled on a weekly breakfast menu and put it into action. It goes a little something like this:
Monday - Breakfast cookies
Tuesday - Smoothie
Wednesday - scrambled egg
Thursday - pancakes and sausage
Friday - oatmeal
Saturday and Sunday - leftovers
This has worked really well for us for several months now and it has successfully gotten the kids off cereal, for the most part. I make a big batch of breakfast cookies on Monday because they can choose to eat them for breakfast any other morning until they are gone. On Thursdays I make a triple batch of pancakes and then freeze the leftovers so that they can pop those in the toaster oven when they want to as well.
I was very surprised when this method actually worked as well as it did. We're enjoying eating breakfast together most mornings and the kids really like that I have taken the time to prepare something for them to start their day on. If they really don't want to eat what I make (Olivia doesn't like smoothie and Benjamin hates oatmeal, for example) there will always be leftovers from another day that they can eat.
I love that I can control that much more of what goes into their bodies and that I don't have to fight them about it. Now, that may be because they're too groggy, but hey, I'll take what I can get! I know I could buy toaster waffles or or organic pop tarts, but by giving it that much more effort, I ensure that they get sinple, nutritious food with only ingredients that we can all pronounce.
So, the next big step for me is implementing a lunch menu. I have been waiting until I really got the breakfast thing down before I attempted preparing an organized lunch. When I get that going, I'll let ys know!
And just because I know you'll ask:
Breakfast Cookies
1 c. butter, melted (i often use 1/2 c. butter + 1/2 c. coconut oil)
3/4 c. honey
2 eggs
1 t. salt
1 t. cinnamon
1 t. baking soda
1 t. vanilla
1/2 c. plain yogurt (or milk or buttermilk or kefir)
2 c. whole wheat flour
2 c. rolled oats (NOT steel-cut oats)
1/2 c. coconut
1 c. raisins
1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips(or whatever your preference is)
Mix the first 11 ingredients together and then add in the raisin and chocolate chips. Scoop large (really big, I use one of those ice cream scoops with the scooping arm thing, very easy!)) spoonfuls of batter on to baking tray, bake at 350F for 18 minutes. yields 12-15 cookies per batch (I've have actually found that I get more like 20 some cookies per batch, but that probably is just the way I scoop or the added coconut or something). Lately, I have been leaving out the raisins (Olivia's request) and adding in about 1/2 of peanut butter. The kids really dig this. Enjoy!
"Be it little or much, be content with what you have and pay no heed to him who would disparage your home" Sirach 29:23
Dear God, it's hard for me to let go of things I think I have a "right" to--like a good night's sleep or time to my self. Help me to find contentment in accepting these small sacrifices whenever you allow me the opportunity.
This really hits home with me right now (and for the past few months, actually) as we are busier and the kids have been sick several times. All of which makes it hard to acheive a good night's sleep or "me" time. Whenever I turn around, someone needs me and that is a hard burden for me to bear. I like how self-sufficient and independent my children are and it grates on my nerves when they need more. This simple little page in my book has got me thinking about how lucky I am to "only" be needed a little and I'm going to work on changing my perspective a bit.
I think I have written before here about the enormous responsibility I feel towards raising my three daughters. Speaking as a woman who got to where she is by a long, windy and often treacherous road, I know that it's going to be a challenge to help them reach adulthood in one piece. I'm not going to go into a long, drwan out post at this point. Suffice it to say that this is a subject I am constantly thinking about and praying about.
I've been hearing this song on the radio for several weeks now and it is emotional for me each time. I think Pink really hit the nail on the head with this one. However, hearing the song is nothing compared to watching the video. Pink views herself as an underdog and vastly different from many other female vocalists and I think it's somehting that she's still struggling to accept, as evidenced by her music. I love that she's putting this issue out there and hopefully getting her point across to girls. You don't have to be like everyone else. You just have to be you.
So, Oliver is sick today. He came home from shuttling Braidon to a writing class yesterday and could not stop shivering. So, up to bed he went and that's where I found him when I got home. With a fever of 101, he surely felt miserable and I am stil trying valiently to be sympathetic and take care of him. Yes, trying. You see, I can't quite shake the feeling that I will get this too and he will be at work. What do you think are the chances that he'll be able to stay home? It always works out this way. He gets sick on a weekend, when he's supposed to be running the Nut House, so I end up ditching all the things I had planned because I have to run the Nut House AND take care of him. Then I get sick on a weekday, inevitably on his busiest day of the week, and he can't take time off of work to run the Nut House and take care of me. Not that I begrudge him the time he needs to recover or that I refuse to take care of him. I just get caught up in the injustice of it all. I know this is a feeling that most moms share, so I think I'm probably in good company. I do care very much that my husband is sick and I am hoping fervently that he feels better very soon because I know he's miserable. I just think that if he could get sick from 7-6 on a Wednesday, it would be way more convenient for me and would not at all disrupt the routine.
Also, it's, apparently, Superbowl Sunday. Who knew? I have a feeling that the men in my life are going to be tuned to the game later today and that will leave me with plenty of knitting time tonight. Maybe I'll go downstairs and watch something on Netflix. Maybe I'll watch the commercials. Who are you rooting for? I usually choose by color, and I don't like either this year. Horrible, really. And we're probably equi-distant from both teams, so that's not helpful. I know some people from both places, so that's also not going to hlep. I just can't decide and I have to admit that I'm not that willing to spend much more time on the decision. Ah well, hopefully the commercials are entertaining!
Last week I had great hopes for getting back into a routine and getting back to "school." Well, you'd think I would know better by now. As I was sitting at the table drinking my coffee and alternately reading a book and knitting, the girls sauntered down the stairs and into the kitchen. I cheerfully informed them that we would be buckling down and getting things done today. They un-cheerfully growled at me and I chalked it up to a lack of sustenance so I fed them breakfast. While they were eating, I went back upstairs to get dressed and make my bed, thereby setting a good example of getting back into the routine. When I came back downstairs, this is the scene I found. Olivia decided to write a book, Anna thought illustrating a graphic novel would be a good use of her time and Saragh was designing the ultimate weapon to take over the world (Her words, not mine. No joke.). Well, of course their plans for the day sounded way better than what I had dreamed up. I mean, seriously, if Saragh's going to take over the world, her future is pretty much set, right? It will certainly save on college tuition. It's times like these when I wonder why I ever doubt their ability to navigate their own way in this world? If they can come up with this kind of stuff, it would be almost cruel of me to make them abandon it. So, I definitely learned my lesson, at least for the time being. I'm going to continue to sit back and enjoy the ride they are taking me on.
Eight?!?! Really??? How can that be? Can she really be eight? Oh yes. She can be and she will be eight. And she'll do it with a vengence because that's who she is. This little girl could rule the world, if only she were a bit taller. I have watched her grow these past eight years and I can tell you without a doubt that she is going to set the world on fire and never look back. She know what she wants and she'll figure out a way to get it. But behind that tough girl exterior lies a very sensitive young lady who reminds me every day to be gentle and kind and thoughtful. I would like to say that I can't wait to see who she becomes, but I can and I will and I will enjoy the ride in the meantime.
Anna is settling down for an overnight hospital stay after having her tonsils and adenoids out. Surprisingly, we have gotten very mixed reactions about our three daughters having this procedure done. In their cases, it was due to sleep apnea which was the result of extremely large adenoids. I mean, really ridiculously large. They snored, they stopped breathing many times each night, they truly did need to have this procedure. But still, we took quite a bit of flack for it.
Now, I know there are so many parents out there who insist on subjecting their kids to unecessary medical treatments, but we are so far from that. I am an antibiotic nazi, rarely giving my permission to have any prescribed. We are very selective and careful about vaccines, preferring to boost our kids immune systems and keep a watchful eye on thier health. I don't freely give them pain or fever reducing medication, relying instead on homeopathic treaments and letting fevers run their couse.
So why, when we choose what we believe is a potential life saving procedure, do we get attacked? Do my mindful and carefully chosen health precautions count for nothing? Does it appear that we gave this no thought and jumped headlong into it? I'm baffled by the reaction to this.
Not that everyone feels the same way. We have plenty of supporters who know that we make only the best available decisions for our kids. They know that the terrifying knowledge of a child not breathing may times throughout the night more than makes up for any risks involved. It is understood that we will all sleep better once we get home and recovery really starts.
So thank you supporters, for being there for us and loving us through this. Anna appreciates your concern and we know your love and support will help her on her road to recovery. And to those who are negative about our decision, you can still choose to love and support Anna, even if you don't agree with her parents.
