First tooth gone!
“Well… I was a baby and now I’m on to being a kid and then I’ll be a big girl, then a teenager, then a grownup and then a grandma.”
John while trying to settle down all three girls for bed, while they were in various states ranging from wildly happy to upset, mutters: “Let’s not talk about teenagers.”
A Friday ritual.
A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week.
A simple, special, extraordinary moment.
A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.
P.S. Ivy won!
Jane and I had an accidental head bonking that spiraled out of control.
Perhaps if you haven’t bonked heads with a small overtired child that might not make sense. But let me explain, it goes a bit like this.
You are the mom. You accidentally bump head with your own child. Your child completely FREAKS out because clearly you are out to kill them, never mind that the head bump made your own eyes water, you are the mother and that is not important. Instead of accepting your heartfelt apology gracefully, or even reluctantly the child lashes out kicking and yelling. Which makes all the sense in the world because you were trying to maim them by clocking them with your own temple. Then you, the mother with the hurting head, yells back at the child who’s trying to beat you up with their tiny pokey fists and feet because even though you know it won’t actually help anything your head hurts and none of what happened since heads banged together makes sense anyway and besides by this time you have “HAD ENOUGH!”. The child then runs off crying because they hate everyone, in particular, you.
After we retreated to separate corners for awhile, Jane came over and gave me this note.
29
This is clearly a time line to happy. At 2 o’clock Jane is sad because we bonked heads and yelled at each other and she will slowly get happier until 5 o’clock when she is back to being extra happy. I know this because she told me.
Luckily for all of us, Jane didn’t check the clock before making her time line and before long I was able to answer her constant inquires into the time with 4 o’clock! Sure enough, half a smile showed up right on schedule.
A while later I served cheese sticks.
“WHAT?!? MINE ARE HOT?! EVERY TIME YOU MAKE THINGS IN THE OVEN THEY ARE HOT AND YOU KNOW I HATE THAT!… I ONLY LIKE THINGS WARM!”
Thinking I could circumnavigate the ongoing disagreement we’ve been having over the last year that revolves around the necessity of heat to cook things, I checked the time.
“Jane! It’s 5:00! You can be all the way happy now!”
I thought that was a brilliant maneuver on my part – no such luck.
Suffice it to say we needed to start over with a new timeline.
There are a slew of logical reasons why having animals is a pain in the behind and no sane person should ever want to keep a menagerie like we have.
But yesterday I got to wake Clara and Jane up by introducing them to a baby duck that hatched overnight.
And then today, my birthday, another hatched.
Logic and sanity be dammed…
…raising animals is the best!
I am photo blogging from A to Z this April.
I have sweet, kind girls.
I also have kids and kids are by nature boundary pushers, button mashers and tiny manipulators.
My girls have discovered the wonders of youtube and all of the terrible trash that has been produced for kids that it contains.
I, like any good mother, use their smidgen of trash screen time to leverage as many chores out of them as possible before handing over a device.
They, like any kids worth their salt, do their best to wheedle and cajole and push for all their worth to see just how much extra time they can get.
Today my sweet girls found me in the kitchen and presented me with this:
For the record I’m pretty sure they intended to say that I am a person who draws rather than a drawer. However, I probably hold more of their stuff than I do draw things so maybe drawer is more accurate.
I, like any good mother, made admiring noises.
I, like any experienced mother, was touched and also suspicious.
And those sweet, kind, girls of mine, like any true, red blooded kids, waited no more than a half a heartbeat after I expressed my thanks before blurting out- “Can we watch more videos now?”
I have sweet, kind girls.
I also have kids and kids are by nature boundary pushers, button mashers and tiny manipulators.
Did you know that honey bees are actually unrepentant photobombers?
It’s true, just look what this little lady did to my picture of a leaf!
She’s trying to steal the show but this “L” picture is all those baby leaves.
The leaves that uncurl daily at this time of year always seem to be overshadowed by their flowery companions (and photobombing bees) but I think that mist of green that covers everything shouts, “Spring is here!” louder than any flower (or buzzing bee) ever could.
Speaking of shouting, I’d also like to share a little story about listening, in honor of the letter “L”, of course.
(Ivy brings me a container of small bulbs that have started to sprout and asks what they are.)
Me: “Those are the blue-flower bulbs.”
Ivy: “I don’t know what those are.”
Me: “Do you remember which flowers I’m talking about it? We plant them in pots…blue flowers… Granny and Gramps have them on their porch too…”
Ivy: “Oh! Are they red?”
Me: “Did you hear me call them blue-flowers?”
Ivy: “No.”
Me: “Sometimes, when we have conversations like this, I wonder if you actually listen to me when we talk.”
Ivy laughing: “No. I don’t really.”
Me: …
Speaking of conversations like these, I’d also like to share another favorite “L” word – liquor.
Photo blogging my way through the alphabet with:
Sometimes when I’m taking pictures, I catch the moment while missing the “perfect” picture.
Often those are perfect pictures anyway.
Jane delighting in spring weather, running with a stick over her head like a flag and a dog following behind her was joy incarnate. It was only after yesterday’s post that I realized that “Jane” herself could be my letter “j”. Apparently I forget what my kids’ names are on a regular basis…
I am photo blogging through the alphabet this month with…
Tip of the day:
If you are the kind of person who requires multiple hours and large vats of caffeine to morph from something with the brain power of pond slime to the, relatively, normal functioning human being you become after 10am (eh, who am I kidding) 10pm, don’t ask your kids questions without thinking about them first.
Me: *On the way to school, only half way through my first cup of tea.* “Hey girls, I have to take a picture of something that starts with an “I” today, might be a tricky one, let me know if you see anything good.”
Ivy: “Umm… Me?”
This pro parenting tip has been brought to you by caffeinated beverages, embarrassed laughter and the letter “I”.
I am photo blogging through the alphabet this month with…
(chicken, duck, chicken, goose, chicken)
E is also for excuses…
Me: Go back to bed!
Jane: But I didn’t even eat dinner!
Me: What about all that pizza you ate?
Jane: That doesn’t count!
Me: Back to bed!
E is also for empathy…
I didn’t have any for the girl who ate half a pizza before bed.
Behind the Willows 