Archive for June, 2012

Snake Charmer

Wednesday, June 6th, 2012

From Wednesday Mom – Janelle:
Every other month or so, I take an hour or two and rotate all of our toys.  Jack and Tate have a giant bin where we keep some toys hidden until it’s time to rotate them out again. It works great for everyone.  The boys get new toys they haven’t seen in awhile, and I’m not constantly spending money on something new every time they come to the store with me.

Recently, I made the toy rotation from current play pile to hidden pile and vice versa.  It took me a little longer this time due to some toddler interruptions which forced me away from where I was working. I almost finished sorting when all of a sudden, I saw a skinny black snake.  It was actually very small, but I am NOT a fan of snakes.  Of course, my husband was at work and I had to be the tough parent and try to get rid of this thing.  I called for Jack to ask if he wanted to see the snake.  He didn’t respond.  I thought that was strange because he was in the adjacent room.  I called his name again and this time he was giggling.  I knew he was up to something with his silly laugh.

I walked back over to the large bin and noticed the snake hadn’t moved from the position I found it in.  Immediately, Jack screamed “Ha, I got you!”  What a tricky boy he is.  This plastic snake he received as a party favor from a camping party looked more real than the live lizards that run around outside our house.  Tate saw the snakes as well and said “eeewwwwwww” for at least twenty minutes afterwards.  With Tate’s response, I’m hoping he’ll never scare me with a snake.  After my heart stopped racing I picked it up out of the bin and put it in Jack’s room, where I found four more of them.  YUCK!  Even though they’re fake, they still give me chills.

Jack thought it would be funny to trick Daddy when he got home from work.  As soon as Jack heard the garage door open he placed a brown snake right by the back door hoping for a reaction from Daddy.  I told Jack it wasn’t nice to scare people (although I remember scaring my mother countless times with a fake mouse.  Sorry Mom!) I assured Jack that Daddy wouldn’t be scared of a tiny snake.  Well, Daddy walked in,  jumped a bit and asked if it was alive.  Jack couldn’t help but burst out laughing knowing he fooled both of his parents.  I guess in Jack’s mind tricking both parents is quite an accomplishment.  I think I’m I might be in for it during his teenage years.

In the future, I will be more cautious while digging through bins, drawers or anything for that matter.  I know I have a prankster on my hands and I am hoping that number doesn’t turn into two.

 

You Can’t Always Get What You Want

Monday, June 4th, 2012

Last week, we had a wonderful vacation visiting with Haley’s grandparents at their home on the Gulf Coast. We enjoyed going out to eat, introducing Haley to the swimming pool, and spending quality time as a family. Luckily, Haley cooperated on the plane. The car was a different story.

We rented a small sedan that was clean and comfortable enough. We also brought along a cheap car seat that was supposed to be a breeze to install and light for the airport. There was a considerable amount of driving involved in our vacation plans, and I assumed that Haley would do great with it. You know what happens when you assume.

I’m not sure if it was the new, cheap seat that aggravated her. Maybe it was simply being out of her normal routine on the trip. There was also a time change involved. Anyway, it wasn’t pretty. The poor girl screamed for what felt like an eternity on several long car trips. I thought for sure she would just sleep, as she always would in our car at home. Instead, she’d clearly be really tired but rather than fall asleep, she would rub her eyes and wail. I felt so bad for her. It’s a difficult moment for a parent, because when the car is in motion, you just can’t take a baby out of the car seat. We tried taking breaks at rest areas, but she’d be thrilled to get out of the seat—and totally lose it when we strapped her back in.

In the end, we survived. Children sure are resilient. And they change so rapidly. In another month, she may adore the car and totally freak out about something else that’s a cakewalk for us now. That’s the experience of a growing child—and the roller coaster of parenthood.

Conquering the Grouchies…

Friday, June 1st, 2012

Andrew’s idea for this post again is that he loves ALL his teachers, even the ones from his old school, and ALL the sports… And coloring. And books. And… Apparently he was in a very “loving” mood when I asked him last night because there wasn’t much – other than bedtime – that he didn’t tell me he loved.

It’s nice when he’s in that kind of mood. Last weekend we had a lot of grumbling because we were trying to make him do stuff that he didn’t want to do. Like eat. Or do anything other than playing soccer outside on the front lawn when it was 95 degrees out. It took me awhile, but I’ve learned some days are just like that and he’s back to his normal smiley self shortly thereafter.

We all find our tricks to snap our kids out of their moods. With Andrew, it used to be his favorite toy. But these days, as long as there’s the promise of sports, the smiles usually come out pretty quick. I love how he gets so into that stuff, even if he did try to make me watch a soccer game on TV the other day. (“Try” is the operative word. There are some things even I won’t do for this kid. Watching a soccer game on TV happens to be one of them. We settled on basketball instead.)

Andrew is running around upstairs right now trying to figure out what to bring in for show and tell. This week they have to bring in stuff that starts either with the letter T or S. His first idea was to bring in a strawberry. I’m hoping he can find something else upstairs that appeals to him more… Actually, I’d better go help him.

Have a great weekend everyone.