Who wouldn't be proud of this guy?!?Monday, May 21, 2007
THOMAS AGAIN
Erin captured this lovely image with her camera so I'm not sure if its agony or just a sneeze! 
Saturday, May 19, 2007
I'M GRUMPY
Yesterday it occurred to me that I get grumpy at the end of every school year. You may think that it is because I dread the thought of having my children home with me all summer. That's not the case at all. Its a time of year when all the concerts, field days, awards ceremonies and end of year parties happen. YUCK!
I love to hear my kids play their instruments or sing. I don't like to hear the other parents be rude and talk continuously throughout the entire performance. Hey, they might not be very good but they deserve the respect of having people listen.
I think that my children deserve awards for being good people but I'm leery of the way we've turned everything into a competition. It's not a question of sour grapes because my kids have always gotten plenty of awards. It just seems wrong to me every time I sit through one of the award ceremonies.
I always help for field days and they are always desperate to get parents to come in but the person who plans it has a problem with me. One year I told her that I was more than happy to be a helper for the field day but was too busy to help with the initial organization. She got mad and said we are all busy and that maybe I wouldn't be allowed to help at all. She said that they didn't really need that many parents to be there on the actual day and she usually asked her friends that were willing to help her organize it right from the beginning. Of course a couple weeks before the field day we got an email notification that they were desperate for parents to come in to help and I had to call again. I am the only person who feels like they have to beg to be allowed to come to help. Weird. I hate these petty parent battles.
I no longer need to help with my kids class parties because they are older now but I recently went back to help Thomas and Sarah's kindergarten teacher with Grand Parent's Day. The lone mother that was there from the actual class had the martyr syndrome. "I can't BELIEVE I'm the ONLY parent that helped!" She didn't seem to catch on to the idea that I didn't even have a kid in the class but was just trying to help out an old friend/teacher. I don't feel like a martyr. I think everyone should do things for other people.
So, I spend my days in a constant state of underlying annoyance. What keeps me sane is the thought that its almost over. I am thrilled at the idea of day after day spent hanging out at home with my kids. The weekends right now are the best. With spring here I can freely spend my time outside as well as inside. Getting my hands dirty in the garden then catching up on sewing projects. This makes the end of the year bearable!
I love to hear my kids play their instruments or sing. I don't like to hear the other parents be rude and talk continuously throughout the entire performance. Hey, they might not be very good but they deserve the respect of having people listen.
I think that my children deserve awards for being good people but I'm leery of the way we've turned everything into a competition. It's not a question of sour grapes because my kids have always gotten plenty of awards. It just seems wrong to me every time I sit through one of the award ceremonies.
I always help for field days and they are always desperate to get parents to come in but the person who plans it has a problem with me. One year I told her that I was more than happy to be a helper for the field day but was too busy to help with the initial organization. She got mad and said we are all busy and that maybe I wouldn't be allowed to help at all. She said that they didn't really need that many parents to be there on the actual day and she usually asked her friends that were willing to help her organize it right from the beginning. Of course a couple weeks before the field day we got an email notification that they were desperate for parents to come in to help and I had to call again. I am the only person who feels like they have to beg to be allowed to come to help. Weird. I hate these petty parent battles.
I no longer need to help with my kids class parties because they are older now but I recently went back to help Thomas and Sarah's kindergarten teacher with Grand Parent's Day. The lone mother that was there from the actual class had the martyr syndrome. "I can't BELIEVE I'm the ONLY parent that helped!" She didn't seem to catch on to the idea that I didn't even have a kid in the class but was just trying to help out an old friend/teacher. I don't feel like a martyr. I think everyone should do things for other people.
So, I spend my days in a constant state of underlying annoyance. What keeps me sane is the thought that its almost over. I am thrilled at the idea of day after day spent hanging out at home with my kids. The weekends right now are the best. With spring here I can freely spend my time outside as well as inside. Getting my hands dirty in the garden then catching up on sewing projects. This makes the end of the year bearable!
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
I REMEMBER WHEN THEY COULDN'T TALK
One of my favorite things to do is have a good conversation with one of my kids. I still can remember when they couldn't talk and now appreciate their talent to communicate.
Thomas was somewhat of a late talker and had many words he mispronounced. He called his sister Erin "Ya Ya". The moon was "mmmm". He could not pronounce the sound "oy" until he was almost 5 years old. So boy became bear and toy became tear. I can still remember the look of shock and joy on his face the first time boy came out of his mouth sounding right. My husband still calls pillows "boopahs" because of Thomas's mispronunciation. My friend was always looking for the why. She said Thomas was a late talker because I didn't let him interact with other kids enough. She suggested I get out of the house more. Then she told me my youngest was not talking because apparently she was having too much interaction with kids - my other kids were talking for her and she became too lazy to talk. She suggested I ignore her until she said things clearly. I guess she thought Erin talked early because she had the middle child syndrome of trying to get more attention. Some how, at the time, I knew that they were just born that way. They were hardwired to talk when they were good and ready!
Once Thomas and Sarah began to talk they kept me smiling with what they had to say. Thomas saying the hose had a canker sore when it had a kink and Sarah with her grown up analysis of life's problems. Erin has always made me smile with the sheer volume of what she had to say. She could talk almost perfectly by the time she was two but even before her words were clear she made complete paragraphs out of her gibberish. All of her dialogues were emphasized with her various hand movements. You can imagine how cute an 18 month old looks having a completely indecipherable conversation with me. I actually would respond as if I knew exactly what she was saying.
I'm still listening with interest although I have to admit sometimes even now I pretend to know exactly what they are saying...when in reality all I hear is "whan, whan, whan, whan, whan, whan". You know how the kids in the Peanuts gang hear grown-ups talk. Well kids, sometimes it works both ways!
Thomas was somewhat of a late talker and had many words he mispronounced. He called his sister Erin "Ya Ya". The moon was "mmmm". He could not pronounce the sound "oy" until he was almost 5 years old. So boy became bear and toy became tear. I can still remember the look of shock and joy on his face the first time boy came out of his mouth sounding right. My husband still calls pillows "boopahs" because of Thomas's mispronunciation. My friend was always looking for the why. She said Thomas was a late talker because I didn't let him interact with other kids enough. She suggested I get out of the house more. Then she told me my youngest was not talking because apparently she was having too much interaction with kids - my other kids were talking for her and she became too lazy to talk. She suggested I ignore her until she said things clearly. I guess she thought Erin talked early because she had the middle child syndrome of trying to get more attention. Some how, at the time, I knew that they were just born that way. They were hardwired to talk when they were good and ready!
Once Thomas and Sarah began to talk they kept me smiling with what they had to say. Thomas saying the hose had a canker sore when it had a kink and Sarah with her grown up analysis of life's problems. Erin has always made me smile with the sheer volume of what she had to say. She could talk almost perfectly by the time she was two but even before her words were clear she made complete paragraphs out of her gibberish. All of her dialogues were emphasized with her various hand movements. You can imagine how cute an 18 month old looks having a completely indecipherable conversation with me. I actually would respond as if I knew exactly what she was saying.
I'm still listening with interest although I have to admit sometimes even now I pretend to know exactly what they are saying...when in reality all I hear is "whan, whan, whan, whan, whan, whan". You know how the kids in the Peanuts gang hear grown-ups talk. Well kids, sometimes it works both ways!
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Saturday, May 12, 2007
WE NEED THE RAIN
Why is it, whenever I water my plants, its rains right afterwards? Well, I'm not stupid, I've got it all figured out. I DID water them, but only a little bit, afterall, it was going to rain! Well, it DID rain.....but only a little bit. Apparently, the rainfall amount is in direct proportion with how much I water.
I'm somewhat convinced that the reason that its been so dry is because our lake looks like this!
It had to be drained in order to repair the outlet pipe and it almost seems as if its desperately sucking all the available moisture in the area in order to stay alive!
I seem to be having trouble inserting extra space/blank lines around my pictures. It lets me insert as many as I want before the picture but not a single one after the picture. Hmmm, as with many things with blogger, I just wait for the problem to go away. Afterall, blogger is free and I am cheap...oops I mean frugal!
I'm somewhat convinced that the reason that its been so dry is because our lake looks like this!
It had to be drained in order to repair the outlet pipe and it almost seems as if its desperately sucking all the available moisture in the area in order to stay alive!
I seem to be having trouble inserting extra space/blank lines around my pictures. It lets me insert as many as I want before the picture but not a single one after the picture. Hmmm, as with many things with blogger, I just wait for the problem to go away. Afterall, blogger is free and I am cheap...oops I mean frugal!
Monday, May 07, 2007
PRACTICE WHAT YOU PREACH
I have recently come to the revelation that I am teaching my children skills that I myself don't have. I am teaching them how to handle unhappiness in everyday life. I'm teaching them to be able say "oh well" and then just move forward. This is something that I have difficulty doing. Logically, we understand that we can't be happy every minute of the day. People experience anger, sadness, boredom, frustration and failure. We will have small and large tragedies in our life. Not everyone will like us. Some people will treat us in unfair ways. This is just life. I teach my children to accept this and deal with these situations and then go on living. They are much more successful in doing this than I am. I'm working on it but have a ways to go.
I used to have a friend who lost both of her parents in horrible accidents. As a result she has always taught her children that if anything happens to her or their father, it is important to go on a lead a wonderful life. In the past I have never understood this. Aren't there just some things that you can never get over? I've since realized that if we tell ourselves that we could never go on if such and such happens, then we are setting ourselves up for failure. Its not that we have to dwell on all the horrible possibilities, but we do have to see ourselves as strong individuals who can deal with whatever life has to send our way. If we don't do this, there can be no hope.
I realize that the best time to acquire these skills is in childhood. No one taught them to me. Will I be successful in teaching my children? Will they see the hypocrisy in the way I deal with things? Will this hypocrisy affect their success?
As the saying goes, "life goes on".
I used to have a friend who lost both of her parents in horrible accidents. As a result she has always taught her children that if anything happens to her or their father, it is important to go on a lead a wonderful life. In the past I have never understood this. Aren't there just some things that you can never get over? I've since realized that if we tell ourselves that we could never go on if such and such happens, then we are setting ourselves up for failure. Its not that we have to dwell on all the horrible possibilities, but we do have to see ourselves as strong individuals who can deal with whatever life has to send our way. If we don't do this, there can be no hope.
I realize that the best time to acquire these skills is in childhood. No one taught them to me. Will I be successful in teaching my children? Will they see the hypocrisy in the way I deal with things? Will this hypocrisy affect their success?
As the saying goes, "life goes on".
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