The Sickly Serenade

The hubs came home last week looking pale.  He quickly moves to the bedroom jumps into some sweats, and crawls under the covers.  Keeping the boys quiet is a task I'd rather avoid, so we go to the park to give dad some peaceful z's.  I buy a couple of hours then head back home to make a nutritious meal of mac and cheese and apple sauce...(can you blame me?) oh wait, i need a veggie.  Does green JELL-O count?  I'm sure it falls in the food pyramid somewhere (probably right next to chicken nuggests and  peanut butter crackers) GOOD ENUF FOR ME!

Once dinner is over, kitchen cleaned and baths finished, I start to look for the toddler.  I notice my bedroom door is cracked and muffled noise coming from the room.  I tip toe and peak inside, and I see the toddler has climbed into bed with his dad and dragging his fingers lightly up and down his arm (we call this motion"lady-bug") and singing quietly.  At first, I can't tell what the words are he is singing.  Suddenly i realize he is making a beat-box sound with his mouth and he is singing his favorite song, but he is doing it in a soft slow tone.  He is consoling his sick dad, and it sounded like this.  "(with his mouth) boom-boom, ch, boom-boom, ch.  We will, we will rock you! ch, boom-boom, ch. We will, we will ROCK YOU!"

Even though the hubs was truly feeling under the weather, I could see the hint of a grin on his face as he slept.

No Charge for the Show

In the morning i like to go to the gym.  I have been going there since the 1st grader was 6 months old.  I have come to think of the people there as my gym family.  When we arrive in the morning the two little boys always jump quickly out of the car and make it to the door long before I do (via the sidewalk, not the parking lot of course).  They are welcomed with hellos from the trainers and owners and are made to feel like little VIP's. 

Once my workout is done and the boys and i are leaving, we flow out much the same as the way we flow in.  The boys have a huge start while i trail behind.  They stop and talk to the people in the strip of stores that we pass that have their doors open, they wave to people pulling in to park, and they turn the faucet on that sprays the sidewalk with water.  We do this every morning.

One store happens to be a beauty salon with a big picture window where little old ladies come in once a week for their daily hair appts. The middle child (4) announces his need to use the bathroom as he runs down the sidewalk.  I yell back for him to wait til we get home.  TOO LATE.  Before i can get to him, the shorts are dropped and the roo's are at the ankles, he has a nice yellow arch and is situated smack dab in the center of the salon window.  "NOOOOO!", i yell as i race to him.  But once the flow begins, i have learned from experience, not to interfere too much to avoid a bigger problem.  So instead, i grab my work-out towel and do a little dance to try and cover my sweet boy's privates from the onlooking little old ladies.  I can hear the laughs and gasps from on-lookers while I'm sure others were mortified and announced... "i would never allow my child to do such a thing."

The middle child finishes up and has a big smile on his face.  Not the kind of smile where he knew he did something wrong, more of a smile of achievement/mom aren't you so proud of me for not peeing in my pants face.  He says, "look mom, i did it! I didn't have an accident! I'm a good boy!" 

I was at a crossroads and had to make a decision fast.  I could A) bend him over my knee, yell at him and ask WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?? or I could B) smile to the audience we created, vow to change my face with a plastic surgeon, decide this is great blogging material and just remind middle that we save those kinds of things for trees in the country and potties.... Today, I chose B.

The Morning Routine

I was always told that it's a good rule of thumb to wake up before the children in order to help stay on top of things for the day.  While I will not argue that the concept sounds simply magical, the actual action of waking up before the sweet angels is easier said than done in my home.  6am is normal waking time for our family.  My day begins with my slumber being broken to the sound of little feet running across the wood floor to greet me by my bed.  My eyes open to meet the gaze of a little man who is eager to begin the day, quickly followed by a toy tonka to the face while he asks, "let's play truck, let's play truck!".  I decide if he just plays at the foot of my bed I could probably catch 10-15 more minutes of sweet bedtime bliss.  The minute i do that i realize little bit wants to jump in bed too.  This works out even better.  Maybe then i could catch HALF AN HOUR!  As i grab the two year old and sling him over me into the middle of the bed, I catch a whiff of a morning business coming from the diaper that canNOT wait.  Sleep is finished, my day has begun.

While I grab the pampers and wipes from the closet, I stop by the first graders room to wake him for the day.  To refer his morning mood to an agitated grizzly would be an understatement.  The first thing out of his mouth is usually, "but I was up all night, and just fell asleep." which I know isn't true, due to the fact that the child begs to be in bed by 7pm and is snoring 30 seconds later.  By the time I get the toddler to lay down to work on the "gift" he has made just for me via the diaper, i realize it is slowly making it's way south already and that i have come to do damage control JUST IN TIME, however my "supermom" skills are not fast enuf to avoid being sprayed in the face from a yellow fountain that resembles those waky children's sprinklers that flop everywhere when you hook them up to a hose.  Fortunate for me, I'm no new kid on the block and remember to keep my mouth closed.

It's the end of the school year and I can't wait!  The first grader has been doing the same routine for 9 months now.  But somehow, without fail, he doesn't seem to remember what step to do next each morning.  Let me explain:
1. WAKE UP
2. BREAKFAST
3. BRUSH TEETH AND DRESS
4. SHOES
5. HAIR
6. BACKPACK AND OUT THE DOOR

I give this routine an hour each morning.  Why you ask?  Because in his mind, morning goes like this:
1. IGNORE MOM THE FIRST THREE TIMES SHE SWEETLY NUDGES ME FROM MY WARM BED.
2. ONCE THE VOICE BEGINS TO SOUND A LITTLE FLUSTERED, ACKNOWLEDGE AND MOAN THAT I DIDN'T GET MUCH SLEEP.
3. FALL OUT OF BED AND GO TO COUCH WITH BLANKET WRAPPED AROUND ME.
4. STAY ON COUCH TIL OFFERED BREAKFAST OR GO WITHOUT IS THREATENED
5. EAT EACH INDIVIDUAL CHEERIO AT TIME
6. GO BACK TO COUCH
7. UH-OH, MOM IS NOW YELLING, I'LL GO AND BRUSH MY TEETH AND MAYBE MAKE SOME TOOTHPASTE ART IN THE SINK
8. GET DRESSED, BUT WHAT DO I WEAR?...IS IT THE CLOTHES LAYING ON THE COUNTER IN THE BATHROOM? ... NAH!
9. HMMMM, MOM SAYS WHAT I'M WEARING DOESN'T MATCH, MAYBE I'LL TRY THOSE BATHROOM CLOTHES
10. OK, I'M DRESSED, SHOES, OOPS MY SOCKS DON'T MATCH,...O'WELL
11. I WONDER WHY MOM LOOKS SO CRAZY THIS MORNING? MAYBE IT'S BECAUSE SHE DOESN'T HAVE ANY MAKE-UP ON YET!-- we kiss and he is finally out the door!

,,,and this routine goes on each morning monday thru friday. 

The middle child lays in bed as long as possible as well, but luckily for him, he hasn't started school yet and has a pretty carefree life thus far.  Getting him from bed usually takes a bribe of a breakfast burrito on the way to the gym.  I remember once being one of those women who looked down on that type of thing, (you know, bribing, fast food, yelling, etc.) but have come to embrace the idea with open arms, and realize that those ladies weren't so crazy after all!!