One of the things I miss most about my boys as babies is snuggling up with them at naptime. I loved gathering them close, cuddling up under a warm blanket and taking a nice mid-afternoon snooze. I am not a good sleeper, and even a worse napper, but somehow smelling my babies and holding them close, always made me relax enough that I could drift off to sleep.
I will often lay down in the couch in the afternoon to take a breather. Immediately upon my laying down, the boys will run to jump on me, to lay on top of me and to give me hugs. Chris will yell at them to leave me alone, to give me a break. But for some reason, I can't seem to drift off to naptime all alone in my bed in the quiet. I need those sweet boys of mine, cuddling, jumping and hugging, in order to grab a few minutes of naptime slumber.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Damage Control
You do your best to teach your children to be good people, but then you have to send them out into the world where other children get to have their say. And let's just say that some parents can impart some very interesting tidbits upon their kids. Tidbits that they then pass on to your kids.
And then you are left perfecting your best parental damage control.
There is a boy in Brennan's class that I am not too fond of. He is a bit on the wild side, tends to get into a lot of trouble and he makes alot of comments to Brennan that make me want to hit him upside the head.
Last week, he teased Brennan because Brennan admitted that he still had a blankey at home. (Given that I have a blankey at the ripe ol' age of 38, Brennan did not know he was stepping into a kindergarten minefield by admitting he had one.) Brennan came home upset and tearfully asked me if he had to get rid of his blanky soon because they were just for babies. When I assured him he did not, he clutched his blanket and smiled. I told Brennan just to ignore this little boy and if anything to feel sorry for him that he doesn't have a nice soft blanket to make him happy.
This week, the same little boy told Brennan that he hates "fat people." Brennan recounted the conversation for me at bedtime. My stomach clenched with anger, but I managed to keep a straight face when Brennan told me this boy told him that "all fat people are weird".
"And what did you say back Brennan?" I asked, trying hard to let him have his say without my jumping headfirst into my afterschool special lecture of accepting people of all sizes, colors and creeds.
"I told him he was wrong. I said fat people aren't weird. They are just like us. Just with bigger bellies!"
I breathed a big sense of relief. Sometimes, your kids can handle the damage control all on their own.
And then you are left perfecting your best parental damage control.
There is a boy in Brennan's class that I am not too fond of. He is a bit on the wild side, tends to get into a lot of trouble and he makes alot of comments to Brennan that make me want to hit him upside the head.
Last week, he teased Brennan because Brennan admitted that he still had a blankey at home. (Given that I have a blankey at the ripe ol' age of 38, Brennan did not know he was stepping into a kindergarten minefield by admitting he had one.) Brennan came home upset and tearfully asked me if he had to get rid of his blanky soon because they were just for babies. When I assured him he did not, he clutched his blanket and smiled. I told Brennan just to ignore this little boy and if anything to feel sorry for him that he doesn't have a nice soft blanket to make him happy.
This week, the same little boy told Brennan that he hates "fat people." Brennan recounted the conversation for me at bedtime. My stomach clenched with anger, but I managed to keep a straight face when Brennan told me this boy told him that "all fat people are weird".
"And what did you say back Brennan?" I asked, trying hard to let him have his say without my jumping headfirst into my afterschool special lecture of accepting people of all sizes, colors and creeds.
"I told him he was wrong. I said fat people aren't weird. They are just like us. Just with bigger bellies!"
I breathed a big sense of relief. Sometimes, your kids can handle the damage control all on their own.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Early On Set Memory Loss
It's been a busy week or so in our home. Chris had a crazy week at work and was often home well after the boys and I were asleep. We spent most of the week trying to catch up while we stuffed backpacks and made lunches in the morning rush. (In other words, we managed two to three sentences in between running here, there and everywhere.)
After barely seeing each other all week, it was almost surreal that I had to meet Chris in the driveway Friday night. He was on his way home from work and I was waiting for him to arrive home so I could rush off to my tennis league. I swear we should have slapped high five as we passed each other to designate our change of the parental guard.
We were all up way too early Saturday morning to take Aidan and Brennan to a swim meet. As I have mentioned swim meets are crazy, chaotic places. A pool, a gym, a cafeteria filled with kids, parents and coaches rushing to swim, rushing to line up to swim, and rushing to find a warm towel. On top of our trying to navigate each of the boys' swim events (six for Aidan and four for Brennan), we also were responsible for the morning shift at the concession stand. And we had our four year old in tow. (Griffin helped me at the concession stand by taste testing the pizza, the juice, the donuts and the push up lollipops. He's a giver that kid.)
Yes, it was a nice relaxing Saturday morning. Thanks for asking.
The boys did great at the meet. Brennan handled his first 50 yard events (freestyle, breast and backstroke) without a care or a worry. (Although when I told him how proud I was of his bravery, he did whisper to me that he had been a little bit nervous. Oh, I could eat him up with his cuteness.) Aidan was a rockstar swimmer. He won his heat for both breast stroke and freestyle, and took the top time out of all boys 8 and under for freestyle, besting his fastest time by over two seconds. He also did a few 50s and his first ever 100 free.
(Watching those poor young kids do the 100 free is tough. By the third lap, you want to take bets on which one is going to break first and hold onto the rope while screaming for someone to come fish them the hell out of the pool already.)
After our five hour stint at the swim meet, we headed home with our hostages Travis and Lynda, who the boys never wanted to go home. Ever. (While they were trying to leave our house, Brennan asked Travis for one last hug. When Travis went to give him a hug, Griffin and Brennan staged an ambush and grabbed onto each of his legs, refusing to let him leave. Oh, the love of a nephew. It's crazy love.)
On Sunday, the boys had their ski and snowboard lessons. And while many of our friends opted to skip the lesson this week due to the minus 12 below windchill, Chris just laughed at the weather and told the boys to suit up. In layers. Lots and lots of layers. (Frost bite? What frost bite?)
They returned home early Sunday afternoon exhausted. And so we all collapsed on the couch together as a family to watch a movie in comfy (and warm!) pjs under many a blanket.
It wasn't until the movie was over that I realized I had forgotten Brennan had been invited to a birthday party. A birthday party that we had RSVPed yes to attend. A birthday party that had ended all of an hour ago.
The same birthday party that was marked on my calendar and our home dry erase calendar. The same birthday party invitation that was up on the bulletin board in our kitchen.
Yep. That party.
It was fun to call the parents of the birthday girl and explain that I had, well, forgotten all about their party.
Early on set memory loss brought on by insane levels of busyness. It was bound to happen sooner or later.
After barely seeing each other all week, it was almost surreal that I had to meet Chris in the driveway Friday night. He was on his way home from work and I was waiting for him to arrive home so I could rush off to my tennis league. I swear we should have slapped high five as we passed each other to designate our change of the parental guard.
We were all up way too early Saturday morning to take Aidan and Brennan to a swim meet. As I have mentioned swim meets are crazy, chaotic places. A pool, a gym, a cafeteria filled with kids, parents and coaches rushing to swim, rushing to line up to swim, and rushing to find a warm towel. On top of our trying to navigate each of the boys' swim events (six for Aidan and four for Brennan), we also were responsible for the morning shift at the concession stand. And we had our four year old in tow. (Griffin helped me at the concession stand by taste testing the pizza, the juice, the donuts and the push up lollipops. He's a giver that kid.)
Yes, it was a nice relaxing Saturday morning. Thanks for asking.
The boys did great at the meet. Brennan handled his first 50 yard events (freestyle, breast and backstroke) without a care or a worry. (Although when I told him how proud I was of his bravery, he did whisper to me that he had been a little bit nervous. Oh, I could eat him up with his cuteness.) Aidan was a rockstar swimmer. He won his heat for both breast stroke and freestyle, and took the top time out of all boys 8 and under for freestyle, besting his fastest time by over two seconds. He also did a few 50s and his first ever 100 free.
(Watching those poor young kids do the 100 free is tough. By the third lap, you want to take bets on which one is going to break first and hold onto the rope while screaming for someone to come fish them the hell out of the pool already.)
After our five hour stint at the swim meet, we headed home with our hostages Travis and Lynda, who the boys never wanted to go home. Ever. (While they were trying to leave our house, Brennan asked Travis for one last hug. When Travis went to give him a hug, Griffin and Brennan staged an ambush and grabbed onto each of his legs, refusing to let him leave. Oh, the love of a nephew. It's crazy love.)
On Sunday, the boys had their ski and snowboard lessons. And while many of our friends opted to skip the lesson this week due to the minus 12 below windchill, Chris just laughed at the weather and told the boys to suit up. In layers. Lots and lots of layers. (Frost bite? What frost bite?)
They returned home early Sunday afternoon exhausted. And so we all collapsed on the couch together as a family to watch a movie in comfy (and warm!) pjs under many a blanket.
It wasn't until the movie was over that I realized I had forgotten Brennan had been invited to a birthday party. A birthday party that we had RSVPed yes to attend. A birthday party that had ended all of an hour ago.
The same birthday party that was marked on my calendar and our home dry erase calendar. The same birthday party invitation that was up on the bulletin board in our kitchen.
Yep. That party.
It was fun to call the parents of the birthday girl and explain that I had, well, forgotten all about their party.
Early on set memory loss brought on by insane levels of busyness. It was bound to happen sooner or later.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
January Schmanuary
January is one of my least favorite months. It is such a let down after the wonder of the Christmas season to wake up to a month of cold, snow and well, winter. Don't get me wrong, I do love the snow (otherwise why would I live in Buffalo of all places?), but when you look at a calendar of months promising nothing but hibernation (with three very energetic children!), it begins to wear on you.
January, you wear me down.
January is also a month of reflection, of where you are and where you want to go. There is no wrapping or cookie baking or holiday decorating to hide behind. In the starkness of winter, there is nothing but reality to contemplate. And so reality it is.
I hope for some exciting changes in my life this new year. I am working to make it happen. I am also working hard to continue to inspire myself to make it happen. But while most people seem to feel energized to work for change in the new year of January, I just want to curl up in a ball, hide under a soft blanket and read a good romance novel.
Damn you January. I think February will be better.
January, you wear me down.
January is also a month of reflection, of where you are and where you want to go. There is no wrapping or cookie baking or holiday decorating to hide behind. In the starkness of winter, there is nothing but reality to contemplate. And so reality it is.
I hope for some exciting changes in my life this new year. I am working to make it happen. I am also working hard to continue to inspire myself to make it happen. But while most people seem to feel energized to work for change in the new year of January, I just want to curl up in a ball, hide under a soft blanket and read a good romance novel.
Damn you January. I think February will be better.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Marching to His Own Drummer
Brennan tends to live in his own world. From his constant joyful demeanor and endless stream of giggling, it looks like a fairly nice world.
But sometimes, you have to shake your head. Last night I am getting the boys to bed. (Which, now that they can dress themselves, basically involves me yelling out "brush your teeth!" "wash your face!" "get dressed" about a million and one times while they run around the upstairs buck naked trying to hit each other on the butt. I always imagine our neighbors watching us in our giant front window, shaking their heads and just wondering about what goes on in our house behind closed doors. Hell, I'd be wondering if I saw our antics on a replay.)
Brennan starts to get undressed into his pjs, when he stops and starts laughing hysterically.
"Look at me! I have three pairs of underwear on!" He hollers.
We all look. And yes indeed, Brennan somehow got dressed for school in the morning and layered himself into three pairs of underwear.
Brennan isn't quite sure how he did it, but it was definitely an excuse for a nice long dance jumping around in his three pairs of underwear. And then yet another dance in his birthday suit. 'Cause that is just the way Brennan rolls.
And we wouldn't have it any other way.
But sometimes, you have to shake your head. Last night I am getting the boys to bed. (Which, now that they can dress themselves, basically involves me yelling out "brush your teeth!" "wash your face!" "get dressed" about a million and one times while they run around the upstairs buck naked trying to hit each other on the butt. I always imagine our neighbors watching us in our giant front window, shaking their heads and just wondering about what goes on in our house behind closed doors. Hell, I'd be wondering if I saw our antics on a replay.)
Brennan starts to get undressed into his pjs, when he stops and starts laughing hysterically.
"Look at me! I have three pairs of underwear on!" He hollers.
We all look. And yes indeed, Brennan somehow got dressed for school in the morning and layered himself into three pairs of underwear.
Brennan isn't quite sure how he did it, but it was definitely an excuse for a nice long dance jumping around in his three pairs of underwear. And then yet another dance in his birthday suit. 'Cause that is just the way Brennan rolls.
And we wouldn't have it any other way.
Wednesday, January 05, 2011
School Break!
I think one of the things I miss most about being a student is vacation. School holiday breaks are amazing things, aren't they?
The boys loved break. What's not to love? Endless days of playing, relaxing, watching movies? It's all good.
Over the holiday break, I took the boys to my Firm's box at HSBC Arena for the International Junior Hockey Championships. (I have to keep explaining to them that the whole attending a hockey game in a box is not true reality. I think they barely heard me over the unlimited popcorn, chips, drinks and french fries.)
We played a whole lot of Wii. And while I was partial to Just Dance and Glee Karaoke (love!), even the boys took a break from conquering the world in Nerf Gun Elite to Just Dance their sweet little heads off. (They are dancing to Just Like an Egyptian in the pic below. I had tears in my eyes from laughing so hard at their antics. I should have taken video.)
He busted out the castle and after four hours (FOUR HOURS!) of building and painstakingly following each and every direction, he built that castle. All. By. Himself. It was quite a feat.
The boys loved break. What's not to love? Endless days of playing, relaxing, watching movies? It's all good.
Over the holiday break, I took the boys to my Firm's box at HSBC Arena for the International Junior Hockey Championships. (I have to keep explaining to them that the whole attending a hockey game in a box is not true reality. I think they barely heard me over the unlimited popcorn, chips, drinks and french fries.)
We played a whole lot of Wii. And while I was partial to Just Dance and Glee Karaoke (love!), even the boys took a break from conquering the world in Nerf Gun Elite to Just Dance their sweet little heads off. (They are dancing to Just Like an Egyptian in the pic below. I had tears in my eyes from laughing so hard at their antics. I should have taken video.)
We went sledding on "our" sledding hill in Whoville. It is the perfect hill, steep enough for a good ride, but little enough that the boys can hoof it back up, again, again, and well, again. Our toes and noses were frozen, but after they had all the sledding they can handle, we escaped home for hot chocolate with a whole lot of marshmallows. (And maybe just a bit of Mint Bailey's for Mommy.)
And, of course, the boys played a whole lot of legos. Santa brought much legos to our house this year, and the boys got to a-building. Aidan was thrilled with his haul of both the Harry Potter Hogwart's castle and the Harry Potter train.
He busted out the castle and after four hours (FOUR HOURS!) of building and painstakingly following each and every direction, he built that castle. All. By. Himself. It was quite a feat.
At the end of the break, I think we spent most of our time lounging at home, playing games, watching movies and living in our pajamas. There were many days of us basically changing from one set of pjs to another at bedtime. I couldn't have asked for anything more.
Even Chewy loved break. Three little boys, at home, loving him up all the live long day. It's good to be the pup!
Sunday, January 02, 2011
Hello 2011
We celebrated New Years Eve at a friends' house at a kid friendly party. (A kid friendly party with cosmos and chicken wing dip. Game on.)
We had been at the party for all of ten minutes before my crazy ruffian of children started to wrestle. And during said wrestling match, Griffin ran into the fray with a plastic horn in his mouth. The plastic horn got shoved into the top of his mouth and made a nice giant sized hole.
Oh the blood. There was a whole lot of blood.
Unfortunately, Chris had just left with our host Tony to grab our pizza. That left me with our other host, our sweet friend Justine, to deal with all the blood and all the screaming.
My screaming. Not Griffin's.
Yes. I did not deal with the giant hole, oh so much blood, situation too well. Instead of dealing with the blood or comforting Griffin, I clutched Griffin to me and started to scream at my other two children for roughhousing. As this was a side of me that had never been exposed to our host, let's just hope we get invited back to their house. Odds may not be good.
We got the blood cleaned up and thankfully, shortly thereafter, our dear friends PJ and Danielle arrived. Dr. PJ checked out Griffin's mouth, conferred with a fellow medical friend via phone, and told me Griffin would, indeed, live to see another day. (And eat solid food.) Our hosts promptly made me a very big cosmo and kept it very full for the rest of the evening.
Happy New Year to me.
Griffin has loved having a giant hole in his mouth and has regaled anyone and everyone with the story. Good times.
Otherwise, the evening was lovely. We told the kiddies that ten pm was actually midnight. (Liar, liar, pants on fire.) And after a throwdown of a pillow fight, did a huge ball drop to celebrate.
After my hoarder kids had shoved half the balloons into the car for home, we were home and in bed by 10:45. That's my kind of night out. (Yes, I am not as much fun as I like to think I am.)
We spent New Year's Day in our pjs. It was a day of reading, watching movies, playing games and well, nothing. A whole lot of nothing. It was a perfect beginning to the new year.
We had been at the party for all of ten minutes before my crazy ruffian of children started to wrestle. And during said wrestling match, Griffin ran into the fray with a plastic horn in his mouth. The plastic horn got shoved into the top of his mouth and made a nice giant sized hole.
Oh the blood. There was a whole lot of blood.
Unfortunately, Chris had just left with our host Tony to grab our pizza. That left me with our other host, our sweet friend Justine, to deal with all the blood and all the screaming.
My screaming. Not Griffin's.
Yes. I did not deal with the giant hole, oh so much blood, situation too well. Instead of dealing with the blood or comforting Griffin, I clutched Griffin to me and started to scream at my other two children for roughhousing. As this was a side of me that had never been exposed to our host, let's just hope we get invited back to their house. Odds may not be good.
We got the blood cleaned up and thankfully, shortly thereafter, our dear friends PJ and Danielle arrived. Dr. PJ checked out Griffin's mouth, conferred with a fellow medical friend via phone, and told me Griffin would, indeed, live to see another day. (And eat solid food.) Our hosts promptly made me a very big cosmo and kept it very full for the rest of the evening.
Happy New Year to me.
Griffin has loved having a giant hole in his mouth and has regaled anyone and everyone with the story. Good times.
Otherwise, the evening was lovely. We told the kiddies that ten pm was actually midnight. (Liar, liar, pants on fire.) And after a throwdown of a pillow fight, did a huge ball drop to celebrate.
After my hoarder kids had shoved half the balloons into the car for home, we were home and in bed by 10:45. That's my kind of night out. (Yes, I am not as much fun as I like to think I am.)
We spent New Year's Day in our pjs. It was a day of reading, watching movies, playing games and well, nothing. A whole lot of nothing. It was a perfect beginning to the new year.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Christmas!
We spent Christmas amidst wrapping paper, discarded packaging, and legos. Oh, the legos. Our house is lost among a sea of legos. After the unwrapping frenzy was done, you could barely walk in our family room or living room without stepping on some Christmas package carnage (or a lego.)
We spent the day watching the kids run from opening one toy to another, but all in the comfort of our pjs. In fact, we kept those pjs on right up until it was time to go to dinner at my Aunt and Uncle's house. (If we could have gone to dinner in our pjs, we just might have.)
The best gift of the morning was the gift Brennan selected for Griffin, all by himself, at his school's Elves Magic Workshop. We give each boy a set amount to buy small gifts for everyone in the family. They buy them and wrap them at school, so unless they fill us in, we have no idea what they have hidden under the tree.
We spent the day watching the kids run from opening one toy to another, but all in the comfort of our pjs. In fact, we kept those pjs on right up until it was time to go to dinner at my Aunt and Uncle's house. (If we could have gone to dinner in our pjs, we just might have.)
The best gift of the morning was the gift Brennan selected for Griffin, all by himself, at his school's Elves Magic Workshop. We give each boy a set amount to buy small gifts for everyone in the family. They buy them and wrap them at school, so unless they fill us in, we have no idea what they have hidden under the tree.
Griffin's gift from Brennan? Fantastic.
I mean, really, who can possibly top the gift of red felt reindeer antlers with tiny bells? Not even Santa can top that genius. (And if that gift doesn't scream that it was picked by Brennan. I am not sure what gift does.)
The other winner in the gift department was Just Dance 2 for the Wii. It was purchased for Griffin by Seth and Tennille, but quickly became more of a gift for anyone and everyone in the family. While there was a small break in the dancing action for Christmas dinner, everyone was Just Dancing all night long, including my 81 year young grandmother. (I have more pictures. So many more. But as most of them were taken by my husband while I was Just Dancing my foolish, red wine indulged head off, those pictures are going to have to stay stashed on my hard drive. Forever.)
Christmas 2010. We miss you already.
Monday, December 27, 2010
Twas the Night Before Christmas
We spent the night before Christmas Eve out to dinner with my mom, my brothers and my sister in law Lynda. I think we ate so much food that we were going to have to be rolled out of the restaurant. (And we were so loud, howling with laughter over our shared genetic quirks, that I am sure the restaurant was tempted to toss out of the restaurant.)
Christmas Eve morning! First things first on Christmas Eve morning, let's look up Santa's coordinates on the NASA website to see exactly where the sleigh and reindeer are visiting.
And then after a morning of sledding and snowboarding in the backyard, (even Griffin got up on his skis!) we headed out to Grandma Jo Jos for round one of presents, appetizers and cocktails. Presents, presents, and more presents, oh my.
Aidan opened up what may be one of his favorite gifts for the season, a brand new kindle thanks to his Aunt Tennille and Uncle Seth.
Seth showed off his spectacular red holiday pants. (We were just grateful he didn't break out the turkey pants.)
Christmas Eve morning! First things first on Christmas Eve morning, let's look up Santa's coordinates on the NASA website to see exactly where the sleigh and reindeer are visiting.
And then after a morning of sledding and snowboarding in the backyard, (even Griffin got up on his skis!) we headed out to Grandma Jo Jos for round one of presents, appetizers and cocktails. Presents, presents, and more presents, oh my.
Aidan opened up what may be one of his favorite gifts for the season, a brand new kindle thanks to his Aunt Tennille and Uncle Seth.
Seth showed off his spectacular red holiday pants. (We were just grateful he didn't break out the turkey pants.)
I think Griffin's favorite part of Christmas Eve - Part One was the orange soda in wine glasses. He soaked up as much of that as he possibly could.
And then we were off to my grandparents' house for our annual Christmas Eve extravaganza. Christmas Eve dinner is one of my favorite family traditions. My family truly enjoys each other. We chat. We laugh. We drink much wine. And we laugh heartily at the toasts made by our family members after the consumption of much wine. (Travis and Lynda hit it out of the park this year with their toasts at dinner. Lynda did not leave a dry eye in the house.)
And then we were off to my grandparents' house for our annual Christmas Eve extravaganza. Christmas Eve dinner is one of my favorite family traditions. My family truly enjoys each other. We chat. We laugh. We drink much wine. And we laugh heartily at the toasts made by our family members after the consumption of much wine. (Travis and Lynda hit it out of the park this year with their toasts at dinner. Lynda did not leave a dry eye in the house.)
Thursday, December 23, 2010
What a Difference a Year Makes
At the end of the Christmas hullaballo last year, I realized we spent way too much of the holiday season rushing from one activity to the next, without a whole lot of peaceful, quiet moments. Christmas is my favorite time of year and I want to savor each bit of it, not race through it like we are running to a finish line.
I vowed this year would be different. And so in January, I wrote myself a letter and stapled it to my calendar for December. (Yes, I still use a paper calendar. I love my iphone more than life itself, but there's something about a paper calendar that I just can't do without.)
In my letter, I told myself to do less and to say "no" more. I told myself that last Christmas I had missed doing the simpler things of the holidays, like baking cookies and watching a Christmas special curled up on the couch with the kids. I told myself that the holidays are happier and we are all a happier family when we have more unscheduled time to simply be at home, soaking up the holiday season.
What a difference a year makes. We have said "no" more. We skipped five holiday cocktail shindigs. Five parties that I didn't miss at all. (Well, I missed the wine. That I missed. But otherwise, not missed!) I gave myself a day to bake all the Christmas cookies I could handle. We have had many moments watching Christmas specials, reading holiday books and just watching the lights of the tree.
Last night, instead of rushing around to wrap and bake, Chris and I piled the boys into the car to drive around Whoville and look at Christmas lights.
To me, this is what makes Christmas. The time you spend with the ones you love doing the simple holiday traditions. As I have grown up, I have realized that sometimes to find that time you have to learn to prioritize and say no with comfort and confidence.
I am already composing a letter to myself for 2011. And that letter will say - you did great last year, so please do 2010 all over again. Christmas is but two days away and I am relaxed and joyful. That speaks volumes.
I vowed this year would be different. And so in January, I wrote myself a letter and stapled it to my calendar for December. (Yes, I still use a paper calendar. I love my iphone more than life itself, but there's something about a paper calendar that I just can't do without.)
In my letter, I told myself to do less and to say "no" more. I told myself that last Christmas I had missed doing the simpler things of the holidays, like baking cookies and watching a Christmas special curled up on the couch with the kids. I told myself that the holidays are happier and we are all a happier family when we have more unscheduled time to simply be at home, soaking up the holiday season.
What a difference a year makes. We have said "no" more. We skipped five holiday cocktail shindigs. Five parties that I didn't miss at all. (Well, I missed the wine. That I missed. But otherwise, not missed!) I gave myself a day to bake all the Christmas cookies I could handle. We have had many moments watching Christmas specials, reading holiday books and just watching the lights of the tree.
Last night, instead of rushing around to wrap and bake, Chris and I piled the boys into the car to drive around Whoville and look at Christmas lights.
To me, this is what makes Christmas. The time you spend with the ones you love doing the simple holiday traditions. As I have grown up, I have realized that sometimes to find that time you have to learn to prioritize and say no with comfort and confidence.
I am already composing a letter to myself for 2011. And that letter will say - you did great last year, so please do 2010 all over again. Christmas is but two days away and I am relaxed and joyful. That speaks volumes.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
From the Mouth of our Griffin
At seeing how much snow had fallen overnight, Griffin turned to me, smiled and said, "You know Mommy, I am so glad we have all this snow. It is going to make it much easier for Santa to land his sleigh in our backyard."
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After I laughed at some funny comment Griffin shared at a recent grocery shopping trip and said, "G - you are so funny. How did you learn to be so funny?"
Griffin thoughtfully replied, "I learned it all from Brennan. He is the funniest person I know Mommy. He can even make petting the dog funny!"
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One of our favorite holidays books this year has to be Santa Duck. Griffin can not get through it without giggling over the sight of a Duck dressed up as Santa Clause. We have read it a million and one times, but it still brings the funny.
Now, instead of singing Jingle Bells, Griffin roams the house singing "Jingle Quack, Jingle Quack, Jingle Quack, Quack, Quack."
It doesn't get old. Griffin's second favorite holiday song is the Glee version of Jingle Bells. He requests it at least once or twice a day. Ah, his love of all things Glee brings but a tear of pride to my eye. I am hoping Santa brings us the Glee Karaoke game for the Wii. Griffin and I may have to bust out a duet.
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The end of Toy Story 3 is heartbreaking for me. I can't help but cry. Griffin and I were watching it together when he turned to me with his eyes full of tears. He made a face and said, "Mommy, sometimes this movie makes me really cry some tears."
Then he gave me a hug and said, "I don't ever want to go away to college."
Oh, love. I was tempted to tell him he could just move into our finished basement and go to college here in Buffalo. It would save both of us from much tears.
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After I laughed at some funny comment Griffin shared at a recent grocery shopping trip and said, "G - you are so funny. How did you learn to be so funny?"
Griffin thoughtfully replied, "I learned it all from Brennan. He is the funniest person I know Mommy. He can even make petting the dog funny!"
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One of our favorite holidays books this year has to be Santa Duck. Griffin can not get through it without giggling over the sight of a Duck dressed up as Santa Clause. We have read it a million and one times, but it still brings the funny.
Now, instead of singing Jingle Bells, Griffin roams the house singing "Jingle Quack, Jingle Quack, Jingle Quack, Quack, Quack."
It doesn't get old. Griffin's second favorite holiday song is the Glee version of Jingle Bells. He requests it at least once or twice a day. Ah, his love of all things Glee brings but a tear of pride to my eye. I am hoping Santa brings us the Glee Karaoke game for the Wii. Griffin and I may have to bust out a duet.
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The end of Toy Story 3 is heartbreaking for me. I can't help but cry. Griffin and I were watching it together when he turned to me with his eyes full of tears. He made a face and said, "Mommy, sometimes this movie makes me really cry some tears."
Then he gave me a hug and said, "I don't ever want to go away to college."
Oh, love. I was tempted to tell him he could just move into our finished basement and go to college here in Buffalo. It would save both of us from much tears.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Forgetful
Any mother is already multi-tasking day and night to levels I never knew possible until I had children. Multi-tasking is the center of motherhood. But add in the hustle and bustle of the holidays and well, the multi-tasking and endless to do lists get taken to the extreme.
All the listing and to-doing makes me a bit forgetful of all the regular, every day stuff. Like, say for instance, where my children go to school.
Today, I drove the boys to school. After I passed right on by the entrance to their school, driving to some unknown destination, Brennan yelled out, "Mom, where are you going?"
Oops! I laughed and quickly turned down a side street. Rather than circle back, I decided to save a minute or two by attempting to sneak in the back entrance to the school.
Except - the back entrance is one way. And it is morning drop off time. Which means a whole lot of cars going the right way and me, all alone, trying to go the wrong way. Yes, not a good idea.
I abandon that plan, turn the car around yet again and head back to circle around the school to enter into the proper drop off driveway. As I am driving, I am laughing so hard, I literally have tears in my eyes. Over my chuckling, I mutter, more to myself than the boys, "This is just too funny!"
There is absolute silence in the back seat. After a moment Aidan says, "I do not find anything about this funny at all."
Alrighty then.
All the listing and to-doing makes me a bit forgetful of all the regular, every day stuff. Like, say for instance, where my children go to school.
Today, I drove the boys to school. After I passed right on by the entrance to their school, driving to some unknown destination, Brennan yelled out, "Mom, where are you going?"
Oops! I laughed and quickly turned down a side street. Rather than circle back, I decided to save a minute or two by attempting to sneak in the back entrance to the school.
Except - the back entrance is one way. And it is morning drop off time. Which means a whole lot of cars going the right way and me, all alone, trying to go the wrong way. Yes, not a good idea.
I abandon that plan, turn the car around yet again and head back to circle around the school to enter into the proper drop off driveway. As I am driving, I am laughing so hard, I literally have tears in my eyes. Over my chuckling, I mutter, more to myself than the boys, "This is just too funny!"
There is absolute silence in the back seat. After a moment Aidan says, "I do not find anything about this funny at all."
Alrighty then.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Conquering Gingerbread Houses with the Hood
Our little Whoville neighborhood probably already wins the award, hands down, for most involved and most activities. We have some nice families who are generously willing to expend much time and effort to plan lots of fun things for the rest of us (who are generously willing to soak up all the activities planned through others' time and effort.)
We already have the neighborhood picnic with climbing wall and ice cream truck, the halloween party, the neighborhood campout, the ladies' cocktail holiday shin dig, the neighborhood ski club, and now, the children's gingerbread decorating party. (What will they come up with next?) In addition to all that we have actually involved ourselves with, the neighborhood also has monthly bunco for the ladies (I declined), monthly happy hours for couples (we declined) and seasons tickets to Shea's theater (also declined.) Yes, it is quite an involved neighborhood.
We had a great time at the gingerbread house decorating party. The boys split decorating two houses, managing to get a million and one different types of candy onto each house. Cotton candy, candy canes, chiclets, oh my. It was a whole lot of candy. After pizza and juice boxes, each child had their picture taken with their gingerbread creation to take home in a personalized frame and a holiday themed goodie bag. (I could never manage to pull anything like this off. Never.)
The houses are beautifully full of candied goodness and are still standing. Very much unlike the ones we attempted at home last year, that caved into several pieces under the weight of all our decorating.
We already have the neighborhood picnic with climbing wall and ice cream truck, the halloween party, the neighborhood campout, the ladies' cocktail holiday shin dig, the neighborhood ski club, and now, the children's gingerbread decorating party. (What will they come up with next?) In addition to all that we have actually involved ourselves with, the neighborhood also has monthly bunco for the ladies (I declined), monthly happy hours for couples (we declined) and seasons tickets to Shea's theater (also declined.) Yes, it is quite an involved neighborhood.
We had a great time at the gingerbread house decorating party. The boys split decorating two houses, managing to get a million and one different types of candy onto each house. Cotton candy, candy canes, chiclets, oh my. It was a whole lot of candy. After pizza and juice boxes, each child had their picture taken with their gingerbread creation to take home in a personalized frame and a holiday themed goodie bag. (I could never manage to pull anything like this off. Never.)
The houses are beautifully full of candied goodness and are still standing. Very much unlike the ones we attempted at home last year, that caved into several pieces under the weight of all our decorating.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Brennan's Christmas Concert
First, let me preface this by saying that I adore my children's school. We have many reasons why our children attend the school they do. Many, many reasons. But their music program? Probably not one of those reasons.
The annual Christmas program tops the list of why the music program is not one of the top reasons my boys attend their school. It is, well, not good.
The school has it set up so that the program skips a grade so that every other grade performs some musical numbers each year. As a parent, you get really excited when you are on an off year and therefore, do not have to attend. Unfortunately for Chris and I, the numbers stacked against us and Aidan and Brennan are not in the same "off " years. So essentially, we will be attending this Christmas monstrosity every single year for the next 8 or so years.
Dear Lord help us.
That being said, Brennan's kindergarten class rocked the house. They were the best part of the entire musical program. And they are just so damn cute.
Brennan was so proud of his performance that his chest almost puffed with pride when he walked onto that stage. Afterwards he asked me if I liked it.
"I did B! You did great!" I replied giving him a hug.
"Great? You should say I did EXCELLENT Momma." Brennan said with a sniff.
Hmmmm, we may have a prima donna on our hands.
The annual Christmas program tops the list of why the music program is not one of the top reasons my boys attend their school. It is, well, not good.
The school has it set up so that the program skips a grade so that every other grade performs some musical numbers each year. As a parent, you get really excited when you are on an off year and therefore, do not have to attend. Unfortunately for Chris and I, the numbers stacked against us and Aidan and Brennan are not in the same "off " years. So essentially, we will be attending this Christmas monstrosity every single year for the next 8 or so years.
Dear Lord help us.
That being said, Brennan's kindergarten class rocked the house. They were the best part of the entire musical program. And they are just so damn cute.
Brennan was so proud of his performance that his chest almost puffed with pride when he walked onto that stage. Afterwards he asked me if I liked it.
"I did B! You did great!" I replied giving him a hug.
"Great? You should say I did EXCELLENT Momma." Brennan said with a sniff.
Hmmmm, we may have a prima donna on our hands.
Creative Forts
The weather outside is frightful. When the boys are done with romping in the snow, they like to find different ways to pass the time. (Forget playing with one of the five million toys littered across our house. Forget that.) Instead, let's pull all the sheets and blankets off our beds and make gigantic forts.
Game On!
You will also note that the boys are all wearing their pjs in these pictures. We take winter as an excuse to basically live in our pjs all the live long day. Snow pants fit right over them and they are warm and comfy. What's not to love about pjs?
Game On!
You will also note that the boys are all wearing their pjs in these pictures. We take winter as an excuse to basically live in our pjs all the live long day. Snow pants fit right over them and they are warm and comfy. What's not to love about pjs?
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