Snot-faced

I have come to realize, that my son will never stay clean-faced, clean-clothed, or clean-anywhere for that matter. I have thought back upon, my new-mommy days often--remembering how over-excited I was to wipe my daughter's face/hands/chair/toys/everything every 5 seconds or so...

We kept her pretty clean most of the time, and her clothes were immaculate enough to be sold in second-hand stores--

and then there was a BOY!

Sure, some of it was also that he was the 2ND baby--and mommy was wiped out (pun intended). I could not and still canNOT keep up with the dirt this boy attracts. His face is like a magnet for dirt and grime--and his FEET--even worse! The biggest difference is, that it does not bother him in the least. His sister, always had to wash her hands and face, and still does to this day- Was that because I was a psychotic mother wiping her face every time there was a speck on it? Who knows--but, I do know that I have given up on keeping my SON clean...

I know that I am being forced to eat my words in a sense-- because, I was one of those "know-everything-about-parenting-but-have-never-really-done-it" kind of people at one time. (I know you know these type)

I stood in stores, with frazzled moms in front of me, with dirt on their children's faces, and thought-"ugh-my child will never have a dirty face like that," with my nose just slightly in the air ;).

And....now, I am that frazzled mom, trying to keep my son from climbing out of the cart, while digging for my debit card, that I swear I put in my purse--but for some reason, can only find suckers, baby wipes (unused, because my kids face is still dirty, remember?), half-eaten cookies, a shoe?....not daring to glance around me to see that snotty, little used-to-be-me, lady who is saying to herself--"my child will NEVER have a dirty face like that...."

And, do you know why-- I don't turn around to see that snotty lady, and give her a look of--"oh, honey--if you only knew..." because I am too busy looking at my snotty-faced son, wondering how long he has been holding my debit card!!

Then I remember, not even the cruelest, snottiest women in the world could scare me--because I am the mother of a TODDLER BOY!

Sweet Non-existant Sleep

My DH and I have been going to bed at vastly different times lately- either I go to bed earlier or he does--but we are never on the same schedule. If I go to bed at the same time as him, and am not ready for bed yet--I lay awake thinking of all that needs to be done, and getting extremely annoyed by his snoring.

It is this difference in sleeping schedules that I have noticed that, "heading to bed," means 2 totally different things for me (the mom) than it does for him (the dad.)

When the dad heads to bed, there are very few steps before getting to the snoring part. They shut off the tv/computer, sometimes turn out the lights, do the whole bathroom routine, and then climb into bed, close their eyes...zzzzzz

For the mom, when she decides to go to bed, the list of things on her checklist are much longer--and time-consuming. She wipes down the counters, loads the last few dishes, starts the dishwasher, picks up toys as she's headed up the stairs, puts those away, sees her sweet children asleep--kisses them and tucks them in extra tight, throws a load of laundry in, goes back downstairs to make sure the garage door got shut, and the front door got locked. Then she heads back upstairs, turning off lights as she goes, to do her bathroom routine--and sees a cluttered sink. Does a quick tidy-up of the sink, while brushing her teeth, takes off her makeup- and sees clothes that she has been meaning to hang up. Hangs up the clothes, and then crawls into a bed with a snoring husband --and it is only then that she realizes the coffee she so desperately needed at 4:00, has finally kicked in. Since, she can't sleep, she tries to read a book, and finally as her eyes get droopy and she begins to drift of to sleep--only to be waken up half an hour later to her child squeezing into bed. With a hand to the face, and a twist and a turn, the child is finally comfortable, and mom can try to get some sleep again--

5 minutes later it is time to wake up :)....

This is the life of a mom- What a wonderful, blessed job-- and all mothers find out very quickly- that SLEEP is for the WEAK ;)

Moms - get some sleep!!

Dads- Stop SNORING

Laugh-a-Lot

My son is rough. He likes to jump, tackle, wrestle, and pick on his older sister. I believe I will have my hands full, for the rest of my life. The thing is, though, I had a little brother also--who was very much like my son, and I was the big sister he liked to pick at.

Today, as I could see the frustration on my daughter's face, after Jaxen chased her around the kitchen--I decided to let her in on my little secret. I told her that I had a baby brother, who picked on me when I was younger--but, I learned a very good 'defense mechanism'- I learned to laugh at him- *well, for me--and my brother who was 5 years younger instead of just 2--it was honestly very funny when he would go after me...*

She looked at me puzzled, when I told her to laugh at her brother-when he pinched/poked/picked on her. I told her that by laughing, she would probably get on his nerves more than if she fought back, and she wouldn't get in trouble, but when mommy realized her brother was misbehaving-he would get into trouble. The idea seemed to sit well with her, and it didn't take long for her to give it a little try.

I heard her force a laugh, and then I saw it make Jaxen mad-- and go after her a little more-- as I watched, I began to think, that maybe this was the wrong thing to tell her. But, she hung in there laughing, and I corrected him for his behavior. This went on all day long, as I heard forced laughs, until eventually Jaxen would just give up on picking on her.

The best part of the whole plan was, that I didn't have to hear bickering, screaming, squealing--only laughing. As a mother, this is a whole lot more relaxing than the latter. Did he pick on her less? Probably not. Did she fight back? In a way, but not in a way that would get her in trouble. Will I regret this advice later in life? Maybe, or maybe not--depends on who she laughs at I guess.

Later on, she did ask me about how my little brother picked on me--and I told her a couple of stories--and she asked me if it was hard to laugh, when the things he did hurt. I told her sure, it did hurt--but, I just pretended like it didn't bother me-

Little brother, if you are reading this-- thanks for teaching me to laugh at your frustration :)-- and thanks for growing out of throwing things at me, even if you didn't grow out of picking on me....oh, and Alexis is not happy with the black eye you gave me as a kid!

Scooter Scare

I have found that as a mom, there are about a million things going on in your head as you load up kids in the car. We go through a mental checklist of all the things we are supposed to remember to bring with us, while trying to lift kids into carseats, strap seatbelts around our precious cargo, remember to open the garage door, and so on.

As the kids and I were headed to the gym for mommy's workout the other day--I thought I had remembered everything- I had my cell phone, both kids belted in, shoes on everyone, the ipod all charged and ready to go, the earbuds--and the garage door open. I started to back out, and thought I heard something crunch over the sound of my 2 kids chattering. I backed up just a little more, only to hear that crunch again. Not knowing what it could be, I got out of the car only to see that my daughter's scooter had been parked directly behind the car on the other side of the garage--*my new car will have a backup camera ;).

I moved the scooter, which now had a broken plastic wheel. I held my ground as my daughter dramatically pointed out that now she didn't have a scooter and as she hopefully suggested that I could probably just fix it. (you know us, super-mom's can fix anything--and if we can't -dad can)

I already knew by looking at it for that few seconds, that it was not going to be fixed. I gave her the mommy-talk, about how she was told not to park her toys in the driveway--and that I would not be buying her another one, because she knew better. (Of course, she will be getting another one, probably at Christmas--but, for the eternity of 5 months she will hopefully learn her lesson, and not come to the conclusion that her mom is a sucker.)

Being the worrier I am, I started thinking about backing over something a million times more valuable--a child. Sure, my kids are nearly always with me, so it would likely not be me, that backs over them--but, someone not used to having kids around. I began teaching my kids to stay in the grass when ANYONE is getting in a car in a driveway, or pulling up. I have been repeating worse than a parrot, to STAY in the GRASS-- when a vehicle is moving, and I will continue to do so, and I want to urge you to remind your small children of this safety precaution. Because, all too often, adults have a million things going thru their mind, and are not paying attention to the tiny things behind their vehicle--or they simply cannot see them, until it is too late.

So, to the kids out there--STAY in the GRASS, and keep your toys parked there too, if I am driving!!

And, to the adults--Please use extra precaution when in neighborhoods with children--you never know when one will run to get their ball that rolled right behind your Expedition.

Peanuts, Get your Peanuts!!

Before my husband and I had children, we decided as a couple, that when the time was right, we would teach our children the correct name for the female/male anatomy. We hadn't really thought about it as my daughter lived her 4 1/2 years of life--the topic really never came up-- "bottom" sufficed as an adequate all-around term.

But, about a week ago, there was a little confusion in her vocalizing clearly what she wanted to say. So, I took the time to introduce her to the proper name for the female anatomy--opening up a whole can of worms. "Well, then what does my brother have...?" So, I told her, and then decided, that even though Jaxen was only 2 1/2 he should also be told within the next couple of days. Because, in my mind I thought it better to come from mom or dad than to come from Big Sister.

The timing could not have been more perfect--as Jaxen came running down from upstairs, stark naked and giggling. He was running, jumping, and having a "free" time. I decided, to take him aside, and ask him if he knew what "it" was--to which he replied-- "my butt," with a devilish look in his eye. I gently told him that no, that wasn't correct, but it was called a, "penis."

His eyes lit up with this new knowledge--it was almost like seeing Helen Keller discover that water was called water, in the old movie-- I was witnessing a life-changing discovery. Jaxen spun around, smiling and continued the jumping and dancing--singing "peanuts, peanuts...peanuts, peanuts.." I giggled to myself, not bothering to correct him--because afterall, it was close enough--

As I thought about it more, I realized that I would have some heavy explaining to do at his first baseball game, when the peanut boy comes around!

Sir Robin the Brave

A couple of weeks ago, we visited some friends who live in the country. The boy, who is a little older than Alexis, had an endless supply of nature at his fingertips. He had an aquarium full of freshly caught frogs, a flowing river in his backyard, cats chasing mice--the whole 9 yards. I could tell it was fun for my 2 kids, as I hauled them into the back of the dirt-covered Audi, with their muddy little hands and barefeet, and their insect bites welting up as they tried to keep their eyes opened.

But, my kids kept talking about the fun they had and those dang chubby frogs! They put them in the pool with them, they put them in the sandbox with them and they tried to put them at the dinner table with them. "I wish I had a frog..I wish I could go see thief frogs again..."

So, it was very exciting for Alexis and Jaxen when we found our very own little frog in the backyard of or new home. It was the smallest frog I had ever seen--I was half expecting it still to have a tadpole tail...

I got out the Mason Jar, and placed the little hopper inside. The kids named him Sir Robin the Brave, or for short, "ruvy." I told the kids to be gentle, and to keep the jar upright so that he couldn't hop out--

They played for what seemed like hours with this frog--feeding it, and taking care of it. They thought he needed oreos and homemade focaccia bread--but then again what do city frogs eat, anyway?

Well, next thing you know, the little frog isn't being as active and Alexis is concerned because he is not coming out from under the oreo--so I take the jar, and tell the kids to go find Sir Robin the Brave a friend--

It was evident that Sir Robin was no longer with us and I was not going to be the bearer of such tragic news--so I handed the jar to daddy. He disposed of the froggy--and when asked--said that the froggy had gotten out of the jar. And, he had- with a little help. Crisis averted.

Luckily, we have not found any other frogs yet, and if we do, I hope they are healthy, fat frogs that like oreos, focaccia and little hands!

New Home

We have recently purchased a home in a small suburb of Des Moines--and are very happy with our choice, and very tired from the move--which is why I haven't written in a while.

As we have come to know our neighbors, we realize we fit in with this neighborhood beautifully and we can see our children growing up here- We have met almost all of our nearby neighbors, and have been warm welcomed by all. They BBQ together, keep an eye on each others dogs, they even build fences together. The point is--it is a very small town feel, where everyone knows everyone, but close to the amenities that I can't seem to live without--STARBUCKS, TARGET and the MALL.

Our kids have already become very friendly with the neighborhood kids, and Jaxen has been dubbed, "Action Jackson," --who would've guessed right? Alexis has memorized the address, and tells everyone she meets--so I keep waiting for the hyvee checker to come knocking on my door with something I have forgotten in my scramble to grocery shop with 2 kids!

I am excited to be content in our home, in our neighborhood, with the schools, with the people- Now, on to the "messy" stuff like painting rooms and finishing basements ;)