Small Successes

1. Sub-coached Anna's last soccer game.
2. Kept up on laundry and the kitchen while our backyard pool demolition project is going on.
3. Did not freak out when Anna came home from zoo camp and informed us she was the first person bitten by a shark there in 30 years.  They were feeding sharks in the estuary.  Her fingers are bruised, scraped, and have a few bite marks.  She got put back together and went back to pet them....that didn't surprise me.

I'm a day late here due to the pool/backyard project.  There has been a bobcat stuck in the hole that used to be the deep end of our pool for the last few hours.  The track busted off.  But, it appears we are back in business!

Accidental Insight

This past weekend two friends and I met for dinner. Jessica and I have been friends for about five years and I feel like she knows me fairly well. We were enjoying dessert as Jess was telling April and I about a problem she had a few weeks ago with an adult relative of hers being too aggressive while playing with her eleven year old son. Her son was moderately injured by the adult while they were playing. However, it was obvious with some caution the situation could have been avoided and it is not the first time this type of thing has happened with this person. Once the son was out of danger and the necessary medical care was being given, Jessica found herself alone with the adult that injured her child. I asked, "What happened then?"

Jess said, "I almost walked away and silently grumbled, but then I thought of you and did what I thought you would do. I was very even tempered about it but I let him know what I thought of the situation in no uncertain terms, as well as, what the terms are for interacting with my children going forward." What she said stunned me. I have never considered myself aggressive, although I can be bossy at times. Then I thought again. Looking back at several situations I realized I do tend to be a Momma Moose. But I would have never considered myself that way before. Isn't it funny when someone tells you something about yourself that you never considered before?

Small Successes

1. Prayed for (and received an answer!) for a dilemma.  I have a child who really wants to take part in an activity and I don't have a lot of extra time for the driving involved, yet I really feel that this is a positive thing and would like to make it work for her.  Solution:  she will compensate me for my time....with her time.  Now I am praying for a carpool.  And, I'm guessing she is too :)
2. Gave Wyatt the watch we were saving for him for Christmas.   This kid has a fascination with time like none of my others.  All day long I was hearing things like, "Mom, it's 11:15", "Mom, it's 10 minutes to 3", "Mom, it's 9 minutes to 3", "Mom, it's 5 minutes to 3".  And...if we are in the van I hear it even more.  You might be thinking something was supposed to happen say, at 3:00?  Nope.  He just likes time and likes watching the clock change.  In fact, he has a favorite time.  It's 7:00 because he is 7.  Well, this just seemed like one those child led learning situations and we gave him the watch.  It's not digital like most of the clocks in our house.  He's learning to tell time on an analog watch and almost never takes it off.
3. I've been allowing my kids (and a couple neighbours) to spend countless hours net fishing for all kinds of strange bugs in our "set for destruction" swimming pool.   The shallow end is empty, the water in the deep end is murky, the liner is gone, and there are plants growing from the bottom and the sides.   It's a bug lovers dream!  They have all kinds of little container along the edge of the pool filled with all kinds of interesting bugs.  AND...I let them set up yet another aquarium in our house to enjoy these things.  My only requirements were that it doesn't smell and they cannot escape. 

Life with a 5 year old

We have one of those 2 minute sand in the hourglass timers, compliments of the dentist.  Brushing for 2 minutes can seem like a very long time.

Elizabeth and I went into the bathroom to brush her teeth and her brother was already in there using the timer.  She didn't get angry.  Instead she said, "GREAT!  I can just join Henry on his timer."  Ummmm, doesn't that defeat the purpose of the timer?

Getting out...too much or too little?

Crunchy Mama and I were talking recently about the differences between the kids in our families.  We both have kids who like lots of extra activity and others who prefer a more peaceful existence.  It is hard to strike a balance when I plan out our week.  How much do we get out?

Nathan and I would love to run all our errands on one big day and be done with it.  This simply doesn't work well for all the kids.  They don't like to go somewhere every day, but they most certainly DO NOT enjoy an all day errand run. 

Along these same lines is the kids who thrive on extra activity and those who melt at the prospect.   My question to you is this, how do you handle the different needs of different children to get out and experience other things?  If I try to strike a balance I feel like I am making more kids unhappy than I am making kids happy (i.e.  if we are out too much one day the next day at home is still off for those home bodies).  Any tried and true advice?

What I enjoy most about summer

Time to sit at the computer and "play"  while my teething 2 year old sleeps on my lap.....and not feel rushed to put him down and get something else done.  (yeah, the list is huge....but this moment is fleeting...and there's always tomorrow.)

Time to relax and play.

Time to (hopefully) make 4 train quilts for our boys.  Therese and I (and Anna as time permits) will make Logan's first using the blue fabric. We need to buy more co-ordinating fabric and create a simple machine pieced design.  If it's not simple it'll be hard to get all 4 done anytime soon.  [I found a website that sells train fabric and just bought a bunch for the boys to pick from and piece together.  Wyatt is leaning towards the blacks, Nathan likes the Union Pacific signs with the routes on the background, Henry is still deciding...but I think most are in the running.  I figured with 4 quilts all that fabric is bound to get used somewhere.]

Small Successes

The vacationing version........

1.  Climbed a 100 ft fire tower at a tourist site because my kids and a nephew really wanted to and they needed an adult.  Then did it again since only 4 people are allowed on the tower at a time.  (I really hate heights, I don't even go on the roof of our rambler.)

2.  Swam in frigid lake water so my dd would have someone to play with in the water when all the other older kids were canoeing and stuff.  I actually enjoyed it.  I'm glad she convinced me.

3.  Attempted water skiing.  Yes, attempting it was a success :)

Laziness....

...is not good.  This morning my husband woke me at 5:15 as usual.  I normally drag myself out of bed to begin the day no matter how tired I am.  This morning was different.  I was kinda tired, but not that tired.  This was the first day in my recent memory (that may be the problem) that I didn't have to rush out of bed to get ahead of the day.  I layed there trying to think of all that was on the agenda for today. I thought we had a lot of free time.  I checked my planner after waking at 7am and discovered I was wrong.  It all worked out...but it would have worked out much smoother if I had been awake earlier.  I am still waiting for that slower paced day.  Maybe it will be tomorrow after I bring my van in again at 7am for more repair work.  Well, lesson learned.  Laziness gets you nowhere and it's best to conquer that "heroic minute".

Small Successes

Sometimes our successes are very very small.  That's when we need to celebrate them the most.  Cleaning my entire house top to bottom isn't necessarily a huge thing if my younger kids are gone all day.  Dusting one room can be huge if it's a very busy week.   It's been a busy week.

1. Successfully threw a birthday party for my 7 and 9 year old boys.  It was supposed to be a water party complete with squirt guns and games to soak 'em.  The weather didn't quite co-operate.  But it still worked out.  This was a biggie.  We don't have parties every year.
2. Surprised Therese with a trip to a movie for on her birthday.  Just Therese and her friend, Anna and her friend, and myself.
3. Remained very very flexible this week (not a strong suit for this ultra planning mama).  We had way too many appointments (what was I thinking when I scheduled 3 well child checks (2 trips) and 1 ophthalmologist appt over 2 days.  Of course those ended up being the two days our vans needed to get in for repair....but mine was, thankfully, back in time for a chiropractor trip across town on W).

Next week will be smoother.  I've already blocked one date on the calendar next week for a mom doesn't drive anywhere and no extra kids here day.