15 posts tagged “children”
What was your random act of kindness today?
I did not knock my kids' heads together. (Not that I've ever done that on any other day, or that I ever will.... ;-)
Where do you want to be in ten years?
Submitted by baby3194.In our own house.... We have owned in the South and the North East but never the far West, very different market out here! In my opinion, 1500 square feet would be plenty of room for a family of 5, with enough room outside for vegetables, fruit trees, some grape vines, and a cutting garden.
Disciplined writing every day, working for a publication, all kinds of those in the Bay Area.
Traveling by then, our youngest is four, so traveling very far doesn't feel like an option right now. Yosemite is about as far as we want to vacation right now. Preferably Great Britain, all over, and India, but 10 years from now, who knows what we'll have added to the list.
In ten years, we'll be sending our eldest to college. That's an exciting thought, seeing our children's education and life unfold. Savannah has always been intrigued by the idea of university education and life, the array of study choice, and living away from home. When she was 4, Savannah was sure she would still live at home during college, but now she knows about apartments and dorm rooms. She leans toward science and math. We will see. She's already had about 50 start ups.
Yesterday I rolled Arwen's window down so she could say goodbye to a little friend, and her purple balloon got sucked out the window! If you've ever witnessed this, it is a true heartbreak for a child. Their tears are genuine.
Trying to put a good spin on her tragedy I said, "But he's free now! He got his freedom!"
I expected more tears, but she said, "You mean she."
Seth teased me by pretending to eat a big slice of apple, as opposed to the small bite that he knows I prefer. I ignored it.
"Seth, they say that an apple a day keeps the doctor away. What do you think that means?"
My interesting tone took his attention away from The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, and he said, "Doctors don't like apples?"
What are you ashamed of?
the times I hurry my children to bed so that I can sit down and watch tv. then I wonder, did I hurry them to bed for this?
Either it was for fun that we scared ourselves as children or the dark side of our imaginations. Savannah got out of bed last night, trying not to smile and a bit embarrassed to admit it, whispering, "I feel like someone's watching me."
I remember that. When I was a teenager, the eyes of my pop star posters followed me. (I wonder if that feeling ever really leaves.) For me, the big fear was getting into bed after the light was out. I had to take a running leap because I was sure snakes would grab my feet! What a terrible thrill!
Funny thing about having children. Fears creep in that you never had before. I had no problem with Brad's traveling before our eldest was born, but the first time he went away on business when she was a baby, I was more surprisingly paranoid. I was sure a woman at the craft store was stalking me. Now, whenever I finish a netflix movie at night, I should package it up and get in the mailbox before I forget. But I hate the thought of opening the door at night, due in part to that awful Kevin Bacon movie Hollow Man. I know that if anyone did show up at the door, they'd just be trying to sell me something. And that's not scary. That's just annoying. Somehow, knowing doesn't make a difference.
I've heard that the birth of a baby takes part of a mother's spirit. I know what it means. I've felt it a lot. When Savannah was tiny, I used to come home with her from running errands and wonder how we made it home alive. Last night, I completely woke up from a half-sleep realizing how dangerous it was for me to do 80 on the interstate. It was accidental, but how careless of me with three kids in the car! I can see how my "spirit" has changed. Perhaps it's something we need to pass on to them. Father's too, to a degree. Put simply, you get to trade in your old fears for new ones.
On the way to pick up pizza, we're listening to Michel Thomas's Spanish. Savannah and I are tripping along with sentences like "Can you make a translation for me today?" It's Klingon to Arwen, 3 1/2 years old. She asks, "Are these bad words?" I chuckle and answer, no. If they're bad words, Mama is in big trouble 'cause it's been in our rotation for a long time.
There are so many things for children to learn, zippers and buttons, burping with the mouth closed, keeping the umbrella still so they don't poke a sister's eye; then there's the vague concept of potty words. What are potty words to a kid? How does a three year old really understand why it's offensive and forbidden to say? Adults must seem so uptight! Admittedly, a lot of the scolding is simply motivated by the need not to be seen as a "bad mom" (Gasp! "What must she be saying in front of her children?") instead of just teaching manners.
I think the first potty words are actually harmless, poop, butt, etc.... and actually kind of funny, but only the first few times. Lots of things are cute the first time, not so cute after a thousand times. Once a little one knows it's forbidden, it's followed by a room full of 3 and 5 year old giggles. (I should point out here that a 16 year old coming home and cussing his parents is another issue, born out of some other tolerance or perpetuation of disrespect.) Somehow, by the time they're in first grade or so, they know that some are really forbidden, because of the consequences from teachers, reactions from other children....; these words become known as "the F Word", "the S Word," etc...... and with it, the strange fascination to know them all.
The kiddies used to run to the ice maker, which is on the bottom of our fridge, whenever they heard it filling with water. They were trying to see the water before it finished filling. Of course, we haven’t used ice for months….
Recently, I was digging into the sweet cabinet. This is where we keep the candy bowl, candy acquired from Halloween, Valentine’s, pretty much every recognized holiday and then some. They’re allowed a few pieces every Monday. We call it candy day. One day, not a candy day, Mama was digging into the cabinet. I have my own stash. The cabinet creaked and they came running round the corner squealing for candy. How did they know, out of all our kitchen cabinets which one I was sneaking into?
When Seth and Arwen get chocolate milk, I mix milk with Trader Joe’s Midnight Moo straight into their “spill proof” cups. They love to stir it themselves. We sing our Spanish mixing song. But I’m often in a hurry in the mornings and try to mix it quietly. But they’re on to me. Two rooms away, one will hear the spoon tapping the inside of the plastic cup, and since they’re practically joined at the hip, for better or worse, they both come running to the kitchen to have a turn.
A couple of weeks before Easter, for the second year, I put out a basket of chocolates on the front stoop. It’s intended for anyone who wants them, including the kids, the mailman, the neighbor, Jehovah’s Witnesses… and every time I checked the mail, the kids heard the front door open and came running. It was wild, the mad dash for sugar. !You’d think I never gave them any! So deprived, I know.
