Last night I re-organized some of our kitchen cupboards and got rid of a whole bunch of Kyle and Owen’s kitchenware that they’ve outgrown (sippy cups, plastic cups with spill-proof lids, etc.). I had bought a bunch of new glass and plastic cups to replace the “little kid” stuff and while the boys were sleeping last night I had set it all up on the bottom shelf of one of the cupboards. Today I was showing them all of this, and explaining to them that from now on they will get their cups from here, and showing them that Meera’s “baby stuff” is there, etc., etc., etc. They get very excited about anything like this. And this whole ‘out-with-the-old-in-with-the-new’/cupboard-re-org was oh-so-thrilling for them. (absolutely no sarcasm there; seriously– they are just absolutely beyond thrilled with things like this). Of course, right away, they wanted to “try out” one of the new “big boy” “real glass” cups so they each pulled one out of their “new” shelf area and pranced off to fill them with water. As Kyle strutted off with glass cup in hand I heard him announce giddily to himself: “We’re five years old now — and my life is all changing!!!”
Cereal for breakfast this morning, sans the “hurry-up-and-eat-eat-eat-we-don’t-want-you-to-be-late-for-school”-thing:
(Meera woke up with her bruises not looking too bad)
Thursdays and Fridays this summer I’m going to be home with the bambinos (Margie is doing a M-T-W schedule with us for the summer). This means I’m busting by bum-bum to squeeze two days of work in around all the edges (late nights working, frantic checking of email during boys’ “Rest Hour”, coffee required at 4:30 p.m. to get me through the night shift, constant paranoia that important things are falling through the cracks, ETC.), but… and this is a big but… I’ll be able to be with them a lot this summer and that is worth it. I’m sure some day when this is all behind me I’ll be glad I grinned and beared it and tolerated the work-home-imbalance stress in exchange for the big chunks of quality time it provided for really being engaged with my babies. One positive to all of this is that I’ve always been someone who can focus pretty well and be in the moment (usually)… so… when I’m home with my threesome, I’m really with them. And when I’m working, I’m really working. I know that for a lot of people that is extremely challenging (if not impossible). So, I’m really grateful that I just so happen to have the ability to really do that (mostly) o.k. most of the time. Anyway, this is our first week of the summer schedule, so today was my first Thursday at home. And it rained very hard all day long. A cold raw ugly rain. Lovely. (that was sarcasm). The only time I was inspired to take a photo was this morning, during Meera’s nap, when the boys did puzzles and ate bananas on the kitchen floor. Something about it just struck me as something I want to remember. It wasn’t a blissful moment or anything. But it was just very ‘normal’ and grounded and easy. And if you can’t be outside riding bikes barefoot on a summer day, then puzzles and bananas on the kitchen floor has to be just about the next best thing.Soon we’ll be all settled in to a summer routine. But right now it still feels brand new. And I’ve got to admit, it feels like a big exhale after a long year.
Today all three of the J-M bambinos got owies. Meera’s was by far the worst. The boys got theirs from a massive scooter collision (scrapes and bruises on their knees and legs and elbows and arms… what else is new? scrapes and bruises on their knees and legs and elbows and arms are a daily occurrence for those two). Meera got hers from trying to learn to walk. And scrapes and bruises are definitely not a daily occurrence for her. She was standing up on her own, holding onto my legs, as we were standing in the driveway saying goodbye to Margie at the end of the day. And then she fell. Hard. Smack on the side of her face onto the pavement. We heard her head hit the ground and it sounded bad. And it was bad. This stuff is bound to happen when you’re learning to walk. And this is just the first of many scrapes and bruises, I’m sure. But still… poor baby. And I felt terrible that I wasn’t watching more closely to catch her when she fell (and the boys did not help with that; they berated me for the entire time she was crying). Anyway, this photo was taken shortly after the fall. It looked worse and worse as the evening progressed. To the point where when we were washing her face after dinner it was not clear what was bruises and what was blueberry stains. I’m not at all looking forward to the looks of it when she wakes up in the morning. Poor baby.
MorFar & Owen Grilling in the Rain
On Sunday while the boys were having the TIME OF THEIR LIVES (at the Red Sox game in Philly with my dad and Braydon), big things were happening here at home too. First of all, I just have to mention, it was sooooooo quiet. It is so quiet without K & O here. So very, very quiet. But the big deal was that with them all gone for the day, Meera and I had our first opportunity for a real Mother-Daughter Day. My mom and I have always had these from time to time over the years. I love them at age 36 as much as I did when I was 16. And I really want Meera to be able to have those kind of days too— for my mom and I these days mean things like pedicures and having coffee and going out to lunch and maybe to a movie or to a concert. Often they involve a new pair of shoes. They always involve food. They are days that don’t necessarily have a big agenda (although they might); the only priority is some time together alone. Of course over the past year Meera and I have spent a lot of time alone. But Sunday was our first real Mother-Daughter Day. Our first stop (and only real agenda item) was to get her 1-Year-Old-Portrait taken. We went and had it done, and it was a huge success. The photos are adorable. She was, in true Meera form, a perfect angel for the portrait-taking-session (when is she not a perfect angel?!? she’s so completely absolutely ridiculously angelic that is is surreal). Next we went out to lunch together (we shared a chicken souvlaki pita with tziki sauce; we both loved it). And then we strolled around in and out of shops– including a shoe store for a new pair of shoes for her (the sandals she’s wearing in photo below), coffee for me, and some other things we are keeping between us (note: part of Mother-Daughter Days is that you don’t necessarily divulge the whole truth about all of the purchases you might have made to the men of the household). Anyway, we had a very, very good time. Such a good time that she fell asleep in the car on the way home. I took this picture just as I was carrying her into the house:
It was a sweet day that ended with her current favorite meal for supper (strawberries, cheese, brown rice, and a jar of Earth’s Best Spinach & Potatoes… the only baby food still remaining in her life– she still loves the stuff), then a leisurely bath, before I rocked her to sleep for the night (something I don’t do every night but was happy to do that night as we had the whole house, all quiet and peaceful, all to ourselves). I am hopeful that we’ll have many Mother-Daughter Days in the years to come. I’ll be grateful for each and every one.
(There is something about the two photos below — both taken very early this past spring — that make me feel as if I can almost see glimpses of who Meera will become in the future)
It was a momentus Sunday in the J-M household. Mor Far came down and took the boys to their first Major League Baseball game. And not just any old MLB game – but a Red Sox Game. They played the Phillies in Inter-league play at Citizen’s Park in Philadelphia. It was a gorgeous spring day for the 4 guys (me, Mor Far, K & O) to go down for 1:30 first pitch.
In addition to the completely unobstructed view (section 307 is so unobstructed it’s actually higher that foul ball pole), we had hot dogs, drinks (the boys had Sprite), and, of course, cotton candy. Later we also had ice cream. Baseball does not get better than that!
Particularly special was seeing Jacoby Elsbury (the boys current favorite player) steal second, and then in the same play, on an error, steal 3rd. Then seeing Big Papi too – what a treat! Sadly, though the Sox were up 5 to nothing in the 4th, they crashed and burned and ended 11-6. But, the boys did not care one iota – and have been “playing Red Sox” here at home every second since then. The latest thing is that they say a Phillies player catch a pop-fly against the wall – so the couch in our living room is “the wall” and they “catch the ball” and then flip over the wall to indicate how big a catch it really is. Yahoo!
Citizen’s Bank park is a great place, and although very very white, was also very friendly to our family. I love the layout and design of the place. They have captured the feel of an old park, and made it very accessible and easy to enjoy. Very nice.
Kyle relished hearing the play-by-play Mor Far gave for every pitch for the entire 3.5 hours. That kid really sat there and absorbed the whole thing. Mor Far reported that everytime he would say something (eg: Base on Balls) Kyle would prompt “Morr Far, what’s Base on Ball” and he would answer, which would lead to more questions, which would led to more questions. And now, we’re hearing it all come back out in discussions with Kyle.
Owen loved seeing the players swing and hit. He was frustrated that he couldn’t be a Red Sox right now. And he loved walking around the park with Papi when the game felt a little slow. We got to tour the whole thing and interact with lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of people. Who all loved to interact with him.
After the game, we hit our favorite Carrabba’s and the boys had their normal penne with alfredo.What an incredible experience. The perfect way to have your first MLB game. Kyle is now dead-set on going to Fenway! Watch out Red Sox, here we come!
This was the scene in our yard Wednesday when I arrived home from work. I pulled in the driveway laughing out loud in my car. What a hoot! And what the neighbors must think! (click to enlarge)
Two notes:
- The boys have absolutely no idea what Spider Man is. The year they were 3, their Christmas present from Braydon and I was a huge box of dress-up clothes. Included in it were a bunch of Halloween costumes that I had bought on clearance after Halloween that fall, including two Spider Man costumes. I knew they’d love the costumes, even though I knew they had absolutely no clue what Spider Man was. They did love those costumes (because they are slick, close-fitting, whole-body costumes… what’s not to love?!), and those costumes have gotten a lot of use! One day, at a playdate at a friend’s house that same winter, they saw a toy Spider Man and recognized it from their costumes. They noticed their friend referring to it as “Spider Man,” but they interpreted what they heard as “Vitamin Man.” Since then, a year-and-a-half-later, they still –cluelessly– call Spider Man “Vitamin Man.” Whenever they wear the costumes they run around saying, “I’m Vitamin Man!” And of course, we have never corrected them.
- The boys continue to be fascinated (verging on obsessed) with mowing. The toy lawnmowers that we bought them the summer they were 2 are still two of their most-loved toys (they pretend to mow almost daily…even in the depths of winter). They also continue to be fascinated (verging on obsessed) with our lawncare guys. Our lawn is huge and we made a decision when we were deciding whether or not to buy this house that we would have to factor in lawncare if we were to do it. It would take Braydon all weekend to mow, and we don’t want to prioritize our time that way. We did buy the house, and we’ve had someone mow ever since. But the boys wish wish wish that Braydon did the mowing. And they’ve always been absolutely enthralled with whoever else does mow. We are on our 4th lawncare guy (the first one triple and quadruple billed us on multiple occassions and we believe that although he claimed “it was his wife’s mistake” it was actually on purpose; the second one sometimes didn’t show up because he was sometimes in jail [seriously]; and the third one just didn’t do the work he was supposed to do way too often). The latest in our lawncare guys is Brian. The boys, of course, love him. And so far –knock on wood– he is working out great. He seems to take the two responsibilities that he has here seriously: #1) to act appropriately as hero/role model/BIG MAN –at least while he’s on our property– as K & O follow him around endlessly for the entire time he’s here, and #2) to mow our lawn. I can only imagine the stories he must tell about us at the bar at the end of the day. But at least while he’s here he seems to take it in stride while scenes like the one above play out.
P.S. to this post… Thursday (the day after the photo was taken) as Margie was getting ready to go home she told me that she was having a problem that day with Owen spitting. Spitting?!?! Yes, spitting. She said that he had been spitting on the ground left and right, that she had to tell him multiple times not to do it, and that he had kept on doing it despite the fact that she had repeatedly told him that it was “disgusting.” Owen, standing right there in the driveway with us as Margie was telling me this, then proceeded to spit onto the ground right in front of us to demonstrate. “OH MY GOSH!!!! OWEN?!?!” I said… and then something along the lines of, “WHAT THE HECK DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING?!!! WHERE THE HECK DID YOU LEARN THAT FROM?????” With a look of sheer innocence on his face, he looked me right in the eyes and said, “That’s what Brian does Mommy.” Well, that cleared it up instantly. I turned to Margie and said, “Brian is the mowing guy.” “Ohhhhhhhhhh…” she said, relieved to finally understand what was at the root of it, “it’s chew!!!!” “No,” said Owen, “it’s spit!!!!!” “Whatever it is,” I said, “it is not o.k.,” and then he rode off on his bike and nobody has seen him spit since. I’m sure Brian will hear all about it from Owen when he comes to mow next week.
summer = grilling BBQ chicken
Today was K & O’s last day of school. It is hard for them to end the year. Very hard. They love school. LOVE SCHOOL. Today they were both very sad, weepy, emotionally in turmoil. (Owen cried a river, and Kyle even threw up…twice… today –he was that upset). Oh how they’ll miss their teachers, their classrooms, their school, their daily play with their friends. Oh how sad it is to end the school year. Oh how in love with their Waldorf School they are (and for the time being at least, if they are this happy and thriving and self-confident and assured and rooted with it, then we are surely sticking with it). They got through their little year-closing-ceremonies ok. And Owen managed to have one last hurrah in the school playground creek (the mud-covered clothes are currently being soaked by our home’s Laundry Master, Braydon). Braydon is looking forward to a summer-long break from that creek that causes so many laundry problems. I am looking forward to a summer-long break from that darn school-lunch-making routine five nights a week. And as much as they don’t fully realize it now, the boys are in store for a splendid childhood summer. And since today was, afterall, the last day of school, tomorrow is, therefor, our official First Day of Summer. So, yet another era ends and a new one begins. As I say to the boys every single night as I’m tucking them into bed: “Today is all done, and tomorrow is a new day.”
(For other posts in this series, click here and here.)
This happened a few weeks ago, but it keeps sitting in my mind. So, I’m going to blog about it.
I was out alone with Kyle and Owen on a gorgeous Saturday morning. We were doing some errands and we were having a great time. We stopped at our favorite gardening center, Bucks Country Gardens. It is a beautiful, fun place to visit with the boys. They love looking at all the flowers, the fountains, the pond, etc. And the plants there are spectacular. We were there for quite awhile. The place was relatively empty and we had fun roaming around feeling like we virtually had the grounds to ourselves. We took our time picking out two big potted plants — one for Kyle and one for Owen. The plants were identical, of course (because if it were up to K & O they would still have everything –down to the socks on their feet– be identical… but that is a whole other story). Anyway, we had gone to the register, I had paid for the plants, and we were walking through the place to leave. Kyle was right ahead of me, carrying his plant. Owen was right behind me, carrying his plant. We had almost made it to the parking lot when I hear, behind me, a man’s voice, kind of loudly, saying/shouting, “Hey, little boy! Little boy!” I turned around and saw that Owen, who obviously heard it too, had stopped just a few feet behind me to turn around to see what was going on. A young man who was clearly an employee there (he was dressed in the Bucks Country Gardens employee t-shirt), was running out of his office, toward Owen, still shouting to him, “Little boy! Wait! Little boy!” I was standing there as I watched my Owen, sweet little boy that he is, standing there doing his best to be careful with his big potted plant, with his back to me, waiting to see what this man wanted. As the guy approached he glanced at me, we made eye contact for a second, and then, to Owen he said, “Are you lost?” Owen, surely confused, didn’t respond. The man repeated it, “Are you lost?” I heard Owen say, “No.” The man said, pointedly, “Well, then, are you o.k.?” Owen said, “Yes.” And then the man said, “Well, where is your mommy???” Owen turned slightly to nod toward me and said, “She’s right there.” I quickly put my hand on Owen’s shoulder, and, for lack of anything better to say at the moment, simply said, “I am his mommy” to the guy, and then led Owen and Kyle to the car to go home.
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