It seems appropriate that I should blog about the Connecticut tragedy, although I'm sure it'll be exceedingly random and frustratingly rambling.
First, all of these sorts of tragedies (and it sucks that there are enough of them to warrant a statement like "all of these sorts") make me sad. But this one. This one hit really close to home. I don't think I've shed tears over any of the other ones. But this one. I cried like a baby. I teared up on my way in to the school to get Jack from afterschool care. I cried watching Obama's press conference. I cried when Chuck brought Ryker home. I cried harder when Ryker pulled an attitude and wouldn't let me hug him.
This one hits ridiculously close to home. It struck me in a very sensorial (is that a word?) kind of way. I know what small kids look like and sound like when they are scared. I can picture it. I have a first grader. I know what first grade classrooms look like, sound like, smell like. I grew up in them because my mom was a first grade teacher, and I'm in one all the time now with Jack. I can picture that too. It also hit me as a person who has a mental health diagnosis myself, and as the mom of a kid who has some special needs that we're addressing with a counselor. So yeah, this one hit me hard.
There seem to be two general camps right now. One believes this is all about gun control. The other believes it's all about access to mental health care. I believe it's both. There are so many people who NEED care and who either can't get it, can't afford it, or just don't seek it out because of the stigma. I pay a LOT of money to see a counselor, and I am fortunate enough not to need to see him as often as some people do. Mental health care has got to change. Gun reform needs to happen. But I'm gonna steal from Morgan Freeman here. He said that the media's coverage, and our consumption, of these events is what tees the next one up. We treat it like it's a contest. This one "ranks" second. RANKS? We know the names of the shooters of Columbine, but try to name ONE victim... Can you? I can't.
Then there's the desensitization of our kids to violence. Today I was at a bowling party for Jack's classmate. The kids got bored after about the 6th frame and started chasing each other with their fingers pointed like guns, making shooting sounds. The ones that got "hit" put their hands around their throats, made choking noises, and then dropped to the ground laughing. The mom of the birthday boy and I were not okay with this, and spent the rest of the time keeping them from doing it. Jack and I left there and went to the library, where we saw a boy playing a computer game wherein he held a rifle and walked through a building shooting people. His dad was there watching him.
So many things are independently broken, but they are connected and together they have created a massive problem. And our babies and our nation are in trouble because of it. My heart hurts. All I know to do is help my children be good people, deal with their anger and sensitivity issues. I can be an advocate for destigmatizing mental illness. I can help my kids understand that kindness is key, and that violence is not an answer. And I can support anyone who needs it. (I just wrote a note to Jack's teacher saying I wasn't sure how this was hitting her, as a first grade teacher and mother, but that I hope she knows how much we all support her and are grateful that we can entrust our children to her every single day.)
I'll leave you with a random, goofy list to lighten things up.
Things I Never Thought I Would Have to Say, or Hear:
1. me: "Ryker, why are you bringing pencils to your bath?"
2. Jackson: "Mom, so you know how in Latin, ...."
3. me: "Ryker, stop combing your foot."
4. Jackson (at 7, remember): "Mom, can I please watch that program on King Tut An Khamun?"
5. Chuck: "Don't you want to rent Magic Mike in HD?"
6. me: "Ryker, do you think that prisoners get to play Pokemon?"
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Bad Blogger
2 months since my last post? Really??? Crap. Sorry y'all.
Okay, we'll do this update-style. It's gonna read a little like a novel and a little like a newsletter.
Ryker:
He had his holiday performance this week. Always a highlight, and also a surprise because we're never sure if he's going to stand perfectly still and not say a word or if he's going to sing his heart out. This time around, it was the latter. He ROCKED it, which is funny given that a few weeks ago he asked me to legally change his name to Rockstar.
He continues to be hilarious at home, loves singing and dancing and being a goof. He has learned to write his name, both forwards and normal-looking and backwards and mirror-imaged. I have no idea why he does that or how he taught himself but it's kind of interesting to watch him do it. YOU try to write your name in a mirror-image. Not easy.
We had a bit of a behavior situation with him for awhile, but nothing that a cubic-ton of stickers and some parental strategy couldn't fix. Knock on wood, but I think we've handled it.
Jackson:
He is rocking the faster pace at Seven Hills, but also seems bored still. And when Jack gets bored, it's not a pretty picture. His teacher is awesome and has regular communication with me so we're working on it, but the kid is just too bright and too easily frustrated for his own good. We are working with him on it. He is writing a ton, reading some, and creating his own math problems. The other day we were playing with cars and he told me he wanted us to take turns and then explain why our cars went the distance they went. (Chuck works in analytics.) So we did that and then I told him about the marble shooter my friend and I made in high school and he patiently listened and then told me exactly how I could have made it better.
The other side of Jack - when he's not bored or dealing with some frustrations - is this amazingly sweet and thoughtful and caring little man. He wrote me the cutest note the other night, as well as one for Chuck and one for Ryker. Then another night I went to bed and tripped over a note he taped to the carpet for me to find. It was for my buddy Sean, who is really sick and has been for awhile. We talk about Sean and his family a lot, but hadn't talked about him for awhile. The note was addressed to Sean and told him that he hopes he feels better soon and that he knows he can do it! Soooo sweet.
He, too, had a performance at school. It was awesome. He was nervous but got up and sang and did his thing. So proud! Ryker about had a coronary when he spotted him. He is literally a head taller than everyone else, so he's not hard to spot. Plus he's the adorable one.
Siblings:
They are brothers and they act like it. Case in point, I'm sitting here blogging and Chuck comes out and tells me that when he was driving the kids to his holiday party tonight Jack was going "Abracadabra - poof - ..." and then making things disappear. Then he goes "Abracadabra - poof! Ryker's not annoying!" Not the nicest thing to say, I know. Ryker cracks up laughing and goes "hahahaha - I'm STILL annoying!" then waits a few beats and then goes "you're not cool."
So yeah. We deal with a lot of that sort of thing, and try really hard not to laugh.
Chuck:
Chuck's on this crazy weigh-loss tear. He's working hard and now having to buy all new clothes because he doesn't fit into anything anymore. Work is good. We are maybe going to have to buy a new car, so he spends a bunch of time looking at those and trying not to stress about taking on a car payment. We got to go on a vacation a few weeks back (thanks Grandmommy!) and had a very nice, relaxing, quiet weekend at a lake in central Minnesota. Ahhhh.
Me:
The kids' stuff is listed above, but obviously it takes a lot of energy to keep up with both of them and help them through their behavior stuff.
I continue to be amazingly grateful to have the friends that I do (hi friends!) and my fun and supportive and awesome family (hi family!). And I've made some new friends, which is awesome and fun and they are just about the coolest people on the planet.
Work is nuts. Absolutely nuts. I've spent the last week hanging out with a world-renowned culinary historian who happens to be the world's nicest and most interesting man. He took a shining to me and I think I now have a place to stay in England whenever I get over there. I learned to make Grand Sallets, Taffety Tarts, and some sort of very firm marmalade. I learned how one would have eaten in the Tudor era, and I also got to hang out with one of our amazing trustees and her husband and it was awesome. I'm crazy, crazy busy though, and exhausted.
So yeah, that's about it. Happy Holidays to all of you if I don't post before then!
Okay, we'll do this update-style. It's gonna read a little like a novel and a little like a newsletter.
Ryker:
He had his holiday performance this week. Always a highlight, and also a surprise because we're never sure if he's going to stand perfectly still and not say a word or if he's going to sing his heart out. This time around, it was the latter. He ROCKED it, which is funny given that a few weeks ago he asked me to legally change his name to Rockstar.
He continues to be hilarious at home, loves singing and dancing and being a goof. He has learned to write his name, both forwards and normal-looking and backwards and mirror-imaged. I have no idea why he does that or how he taught himself but it's kind of interesting to watch him do it. YOU try to write your name in a mirror-image. Not easy.
We had a bit of a behavior situation with him for awhile, but nothing that a cubic-ton of stickers and some parental strategy couldn't fix. Knock on wood, but I think we've handled it.
Jackson:
He is rocking the faster pace at Seven Hills, but also seems bored still. And when Jack gets bored, it's not a pretty picture. His teacher is awesome and has regular communication with me so we're working on it, but the kid is just too bright and too easily frustrated for his own good. We are working with him on it. He is writing a ton, reading some, and creating his own math problems. The other day we were playing with cars and he told me he wanted us to take turns and then explain why our cars went the distance they went. (Chuck works in analytics.) So we did that and then I told him about the marble shooter my friend and I made in high school and he patiently listened and then told me exactly how I could have made it better.
The other side of Jack - when he's not bored or dealing with some frustrations - is this amazingly sweet and thoughtful and caring little man. He wrote me the cutest note the other night, as well as one for Chuck and one for Ryker. Then another night I went to bed and tripped over a note he taped to the carpet for me to find. It was for my buddy Sean, who is really sick and has been for awhile. We talk about Sean and his family a lot, but hadn't talked about him for awhile. The note was addressed to Sean and told him that he hopes he feels better soon and that he knows he can do it! Soooo sweet.
He, too, had a performance at school. It was awesome. He was nervous but got up and sang and did his thing. So proud! Ryker about had a coronary when he spotted him. He is literally a head taller than everyone else, so he's not hard to spot. Plus he's the adorable one.
Siblings:
They are brothers and they act like it. Case in point, I'm sitting here blogging and Chuck comes out and tells me that when he was driving the kids to his holiday party tonight Jack was going "Abracadabra - poof - ..." and then making things disappear. Then he goes "Abracadabra - poof! Ryker's not annoying!" Not the nicest thing to say, I know. Ryker cracks up laughing and goes "hahahaha - I'm STILL annoying!" then waits a few beats and then goes "you're not cool."
So yeah. We deal with a lot of that sort of thing, and try really hard not to laugh.
Chuck:
Chuck's on this crazy weigh-loss tear. He's working hard and now having to buy all new clothes because he doesn't fit into anything anymore. Work is good. We are maybe going to have to buy a new car, so he spends a bunch of time looking at those and trying not to stress about taking on a car payment. We got to go on a vacation a few weeks back (thanks Grandmommy!) and had a very nice, relaxing, quiet weekend at a lake in central Minnesota. Ahhhh.
Me:
The kids' stuff is listed above, but obviously it takes a lot of energy to keep up with both of them and help them through their behavior stuff.
I continue to be amazingly grateful to have the friends that I do (hi friends!) and my fun and supportive and awesome family (hi family!). And I've made some new friends, which is awesome and fun and they are just about the coolest people on the planet.
Work is nuts. Absolutely nuts. I've spent the last week hanging out with a world-renowned culinary historian who happens to be the world's nicest and most interesting man. He took a shining to me and I think I now have a place to stay in England whenever I get over there. I learned to make Grand Sallets, Taffety Tarts, and some sort of very firm marmalade. I learned how one would have eaten in the Tudor era, and I also got to hang out with one of our amazing trustees and her husband and it was awesome. I'm crazy, crazy busy though, and exhausted.
So yeah, that's about it. Happy Holidays to all of you if I don't post before then!
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Uh Oh
Jack has been in Chess Club for exactly one day.
He rushed into the house, got on my laptop, and got into the website that they all have access to.
He doesn't even really know the names of the pieces, but was already thinking 3 moves ahead. Literally. I'd suggest moving somewhere and he'd go "no, because they they'll move here and I'll move there and they'll move here and then they'll get me."
He will be beating me by the weekend. I guarantee it.
He rushed into the house, got on my laptop, and got into the website that they all have access to.
He doesn't even really know the names of the pieces, but was already thinking 3 moves ahead. Literally. I'd suggest moving somewhere and he'd go "no, because they they'll move here and I'll move there and they'll move here and then they'll get me."
He will be beating me by the weekend. I guarantee it.
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
A Plan
So this behavior thing has GOT TO CHANGE.
Chuck and I have a plan. A new strategy for the kids. We will triumph. Mark my words.
It's concise. Straightforward. Like my writing right now. It's nothing revolutionary but we feel good about it, and I think it will get us all on the exact same page.
For Ryker, we are also instituting a new sticker chart. Instead of having a very consequence-focused approach with him, which is what it's come to in the last few months, we are focusing on rewards. It will be based on him talking about his feelings as well as his behavior at school.
I came home completely jazzed about this. I also planned to really work on getting them to talk more about their feelings. Ryk is barely doing that. Jack does it sporadically. Before I could even get going, Ryker revealed that some kids are being mean to him at school, complete with details about what they are saying.
I started to talk to Jack about that at bedtime, in the hopes that me letting him in on the "adult" stuff would help his behavior towards his brother. He cut me off, in a nice way, and said "kids are teasing me too."
I must have just had a "tell Momma all about it" kind of look on my face. I'm really glad they both told me, and we have plans in place, and neither is anything horrifically awful, but hearing that your kids are feeling sad is THE WORST THING EVER. We'll work on it all though - their feelings, their reaction to peers, their control over their own words and actions. Giddy up.
As an aside - we had Jack's well child appointment yesterday. I love those. We love our pediatrician a lot. Jack is 4'5" and 74 lbs. That puts him in the 92nd percentile for weight and 99th for height. Height predictors now put him at 6'6".
He was adorable - answering questions himself and giggling through the entire appointment, including his Tetanus shot. I would think that was really odd, but I used to laugh (instead of cry) while the trainers at Carleton worked all the knots out of my back with their elbows, so I kind of get it.
That's all.
Chuck and I have a plan. A new strategy for the kids. We will triumph. Mark my words.
It's concise. Straightforward. Like my writing right now. It's nothing revolutionary but we feel good about it, and I think it will get us all on the exact same page.
For Ryker, we are also instituting a new sticker chart. Instead of having a very consequence-focused approach with him, which is what it's come to in the last few months, we are focusing on rewards. It will be based on him talking about his feelings as well as his behavior at school.
I came home completely jazzed about this. I also planned to really work on getting them to talk more about their feelings. Ryk is barely doing that. Jack does it sporadically. Before I could even get going, Ryker revealed that some kids are being mean to him at school, complete with details about what they are saying.
I started to talk to Jack about that at bedtime, in the hopes that me letting him in on the "adult" stuff would help his behavior towards his brother. He cut me off, in a nice way, and said "kids are teasing me too."
I must have just had a "tell Momma all about it" kind of look on my face. I'm really glad they both told me, and we have plans in place, and neither is anything horrifically awful, but hearing that your kids are feeling sad is THE WORST THING EVER. We'll work on it all though - their feelings, their reaction to peers, their control over their own words and actions. Giddy up.
As an aside - we had Jack's well child appointment yesterday. I love those. We love our pediatrician a lot. Jack is 4'5" and 74 lbs. That puts him in the 92nd percentile for weight and 99th for height. Height predictors now put him at 6'6".
He was adorable - answering questions himself and giggling through the entire appointment, including his Tetanus shot. I would think that was really odd, but I used to laugh (instead of cry) while the trainers at Carleton worked all the knots out of my back with their elbows, so I kind of get it.
That's all.
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
The Boys
We seem to have a teeter-totter kind of house around here. One kid up (good behavior), and the other down. At least they take turns, right? That's thoughtful.
Ryker is having a tough time with his behavior. Dealing with his "fwust-twa-tions". He's working through it, learning that he does NOT like the consequences at home when he has a bad day at school. Hopefully he'll turn it around soon, and luckily for us, his behavior at home is not-too-shabby.
And while he has fallen down a bit, Jack has SOARED. He's doing SO well. He graduated (my term) from his therapy yesterday. She doesn't think he needs to keep seeing her because he's doing such a good job dealing with his anger and frustrations. Go Jack! He also started 1st grade at a new school. He's now attending Seven Hills Classical Academy, which is right up the street from us. It's a free public charter and really rigorous academically. They teach the kids Latin and he's loving learning that. Did you know there is no W and no J in the Latin alphabet? I didn't. So they replace the J with an I, making his first name Iackson.
The kids continue to crack us up - behavior aside. Jack and I decided that Ryker should be an Ewok for Halloween, only then I couldn't find any costumes that were for bigger kids. Jack then declared that he wanted to be the Incredible Smash. Huh? He meant the Incredible Hulk. Then he goes "Ryker can be Superman and we wouldn't have to buy a costume because he fits in mine." I asked how he knew that and he goes "I tried it on him - last night."
Ryker is learning to speak English in a way we can understand. He routinely cracks us up with his creative phrasing. He was trying to tell us about how much something cost the other day, insisting it cost "six eight monies."
Last night he showed me two tiny tins that he keeps in his room. They have a few Pokemon cards in them, some monies, two little green BBs that he found in the backyard from previous owners which he insists on calling "green beans," and one little folded up piece of paper. He pulled the piece of paper out last, carefully unfolded it, and showed me. It was a little note saying "45 cents," which was one of many that Jack made to denote the cards he would sell and for how much. Ryker goes "and den dere's dis." He was so proud of it. He goes "Jackson gave it to me. It says 'this costs $20, Ryker'." Then he nodded earnestly, carefully folded it back up and placed it back in the tin.
And I'll leave you with a story from last night that perfectly explains both of their personalities right now. We were in Walgreens and Jack decided he wanted to go a few doors down in the strip mall to the Dollar Store (thanks to Gaga for introducing him to that particular shopping experience!). We marched into the store and promptly realized it was NOT a dollar store. It was the Family Dollar, which was a deceptive title, and highly disappointing to Jack. I'm trying to play it cool and not turn on a dime to walk back out, and while I'm standing there, the saleslady grabs my bag from me and gives me a clothespin. 'Cause that's normal. So now I'm busy contemplating why she just did that, and Jack has stopped dead in his tracks and is trying to figure out what in this store is ACTUALLY one dollar. I go to him to whisper that this is NOT the Dollar Store and that we made a mistake. I turn around and see the saleslady coming back to me with Ryker trailing her. Apparently he had chased her down to ask why she took my bag from me and to make sure she was going to give it back.
That pretty well sums up the boys.
Ryker is having a tough time with his behavior. Dealing with his "fwust-twa-tions". He's working through it, learning that he does NOT like the consequences at home when he has a bad day at school. Hopefully he'll turn it around soon, and luckily for us, his behavior at home is not-too-shabby.
And while he has fallen down a bit, Jack has SOARED. He's doing SO well. He graduated (my term) from his therapy yesterday. She doesn't think he needs to keep seeing her because he's doing such a good job dealing with his anger and frustrations. Go Jack! He also started 1st grade at a new school. He's now attending Seven Hills Classical Academy, which is right up the street from us. It's a free public charter and really rigorous academically. They teach the kids Latin and he's loving learning that. Did you know there is no W and no J in the Latin alphabet? I didn't. So they replace the J with an I, making his first name Iackson.
The kids continue to crack us up - behavior aside. Jack and I decided that Ryker should be an Ewok for Halloween, only then I couldn't find any costumes that were for bigger kids. Jack then declared that he wanted to be the Incredible Smash. Huh? He meant the Incredible Hulk. Then he goes "Ryker can be Superman and we wouldn't have to buy a costume because he fits in mine." I asked how he knew that and he goes "I tried it on him - last night."
Ryker is learning to speak English in a way we can understand. He routinely cracks us up with his creative phrasing. He was trying to tell us about how much something cost the other day, insisting it cost "six eight monies."
Last night he showed me two tiny tins that he keeps in his room. They have a few Pokemon cards in them, some monies, two little green BBs that he found in the backyard from previous owners which he insists on calling "green beans," and one little folded up piece of paper. He pulled the piece of paper out last, carefully unfolded it, and showed me. It was a little note saying "45 cents," which was one of many that Jack made to denote the cards he would sell and for how much. Ryker goes "and den dere's dis." He was so proud of it. He goes "Jackson gave it to me. It says 'this costs $20, Ryker'." Then he nodded earnestly, carefully folded it back up and placed it back in the tin.
And I'll leave you with a story from last night that perfectly explains both of their personalities right now. We were in Walgreens and Jack decided he wanted to go a few doors down in the strip mall to the Dollar Store (thanks to Gaga for introducing him to that particular shopping experience!). We marched into the store and promptly realized it was NOT a dollar store. It was the Family Dollar, which was a deceptive title, and highly disappointing to Jack. I'm trying to play it cool and not turn on a dime to walk back out, and while I'm standing there, the saleslady grabs my bag from me and gives me a clothespin. 'Cause that's normal. So now I'm busy contemplating why she just did that, and Jack has stopped dead in his tracks and is trying to figure out what in this store is ACTUALLY one dollar. I go to him to whisper that this is NOT the Dollar Store and that we made a mistake. I turn around and see the saleslady coming back to me with Ryker trailing her. Apparently he had chased her down to ask why she took my bag from me and to make sure she was going to give it back.
That pretty well sums up the boys.
Monday, August 13, 2012
What Pokemon Has Done to My Family
No really, this is going to be a positive post! Well, most of it.
Jack got sucked in to the Pokemon craze. I'm not sure exactly when it happened. I know that several neighbor kids are into it, so I think he got exposed and I didn't have time to properly talk him out of it.
I will admit to having bought him some cards. I paid for half of a pack and then made him earn my half by stopping sucking his thumb. Yes, we're still dealing with that and yes, I'm not above bribery.
But mostly he buys his own with the money he earns from his chores. Fine.
He has binders and pocket sleeves and he carries them around with him often. He tries to teach me how to play. I'm hopelessly confused, which I guess is frustrating to him because his Monday Wish the other day (a new tradition in our house) was that Mommy and Daddy would suddenly know how to play Pokemon without him having to explain it anymore.
But it has redeeming qualities. He does lots of math while playing with them. Pokemon is all about how much "damage" each card does to the other one - as in "this card does 180 damage to your card." And while that's a really negative thing to base a game on, and not remotely grammatically correct as a statement, it does make him add and subtract like a mad man.
He also tries to read the cards, which include relatively hard words which he attempts with gusto.
He saves his money to buy more cards and researches which stores sell their packs the cheapest. He's learning valuable money-management lessons, like the now infamous "It is not okay to use daddy's Ebay account to buy ONE Pokemon card for $15." It was a bold move though - you have to give him credit for that.
He also, with absolutely ZERO prompting from us, gave Ryker a huge stack of cards and his very own pocket sleeves. It was the happiest day of Ryker's entire life. They now sit contentedly for MINUTES ON END looking at the cards and rearranging them in the pocket sleeves. They sneak into each other's rooms to sit quietly playing with them.
So it's not all bad.
Jack got sucked in to the Pokemon craze. I'm not sure exactly when it happened. I know that several neighbor kids are into it, so I think he got exposed and I didn't have time to properly talk him out of it.
I will admit to having bought him some cards. I paid for half of a pack and then made him earn my half by stopping sucking his thumb. Yes, we're still dealing with that and yes, I'm not above bribery.
But mostly he buys his own with the money he earns from his chores. Fine.
He has binders and pocket sleeves and he carries them around with him often. He tries to teach me how to play. I'm hopelessly confused, which I guess is frustrating to him because his Monday Wish the other day (a new tradition in our house) was that Mommy and Daddy would suddenly know how to play Pokemon without him having to explain it anymore.
But it has redeeming qualities. He does lots of math while playing with them. Pokemon is all about how much "damage" each card does to the other one - as in "this card does 180 damage to your card." And while that's a really negative thing to base a game on, and not remotely grammatically correct as a statement, it does make him add and subtract like a mad man.
He also tries to read the cards, which include relatively hard words which he attempts with gusto.
He saves his money to buy more cards and researches which stores sell their packs the cheapest. He's learning valuable money-management lessons, like the now infamous "It is not okay to use daddy's Ebay account to buy ONE Pokemon card for $15." It was a bold move though - you have to give him credit for that.
He also, with absolutely ZERO prompting from us, gave Ryker a huge stack of cards and his very own pocket sleeves. It was the happiest day of Ryker's entire life. They now sit contentedly for MINUTES ON END looking at the cards and rearranging them in the pocket sleeves. They sneak into each other's rooms to sit quietly playing with them.
So it's not all bad.
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Nikki's Wedding!
We returned yesterday from our trip to Chicago for my best friend's wedding. If you'll remember, I met Nik our first day at Carleton College for pre-season soccer practice. We've been best friends ever since, and I had the honor of being her Matron of Honor (aka Wingman).
If you are on Facebook you saw some of these already, but I wanted a complete set. Various quality, sorry.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/vannostrandfamily/sets/72157630844824806
If you are on Facebook you saw some of these already, but I wanted a complete set. Various quality, sorry.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/vannostrandfamily/sets/72157630844824806
Monday, July 16, 2012
Math
I'm not that good at math. I'm okay, but nothing to write home about. Chuck's no better. He always said that he would have majored in physics if he had been better at math.
This makes Jack even more of a conundrum. The kid is a freak at math. I mean that in a good way.
The most recent example:
We were discussing rental properties. Random, I know. Jack goes, without pause, "so if they pay $1500 a month, I think they would pay about..hmm..almost $20,000 a year. Not quite."
He's not even 7.
This makes Jack even more of a conundrum. The kid is a freak at math. I mean that in a good way.
The most recent example:
We were discussing rental properties. Random, I know. Jack goes, without pause, "so if they pay $1500 a month, I think they would pay about..hmm..almost $20,000 a year. Not quite."
He's not even 7.
Thursday, June 28, 2012
7 Plagues
Is that what they are called?
Here's last night - ready?
Chuck got up at 3am to tell the kids to go back to bed. They have, as you'll recall, picked up the really nasty habit of getting up at 3-4am most days. I always am the one to address this in the night, as Chuck is always the one to get up in the morning. The "real" morning.
Anyway, Chuck got up, told Jack to go back to his own room and told them both to go back to sleep. A bit later they were at it again. Chuck again beat me to the punch and got in there.
When he came back, I apologized for not hearing them, and promptly got dive-bombed by some insect. I brushed it off and tried to go back to sleep. Then I had one on my arm. Fine. I always freak out about insects when I think they are on me, but I was trying to behave so I stayed quiet.
Looking back on it, I also heard some sort of...well...fluttering sound, coming from near the window (which is 6 inches away from Chuck's side of the bed).
After a few minutes, Chuck whispered "are you awake?" and I whispered "yep" and he whispered "can I turn the light on?" and I whispered "sure." He turned his reading light on but I couldn't see past him and I think I had my eyes closed anyway.
He turned it back off and got up out of bed calmly. I got up too because I had to go to the bathroom. As I walked into the bathroom, Chuck goes "I'm going to vacuum some bugs up, is that okay?" and I was completely confused but nodded. I was even more confused because it was totally dark in the room.
This is 4am, by the way.
I said "why don't you turn the light on?" and he goes "I've seen enough." I said it again and he turned it on, and then I understood.
PILES of winged something or others all over the windowsill next to Chuck's side, and once the light went on, they all took flight towards the ceiling fan. They were all over the bed too.
OMG it was AWFUL. Are you squirming? Well good! I was too and now you all have to share it. So there.
Ryker came in, hearing the shop vac running. (4am, remember?)
I got him back to his room, then Jack back to his. I came out to the living room and started googling "there are insects flying around my bedroom." Flying ants, it turns out. I didn't know ants could fly. They can. Not well, but they can. Ryker's light went on. I went in there, turned it off, came back out. Jack's light went on. I went back, ordered Ryk into Jack's room, and declared a slumber party. We piled on to Jack's bed and I read them stories about flying ants off the iPad. Around 5am I let them turn a movie on because they couldn't sleep (I have no idea WHY) and I tried unsuccessfully to sleep myself. Chuck was 60 minutes into his 90 minute marathon vacuuming session and visions of flying ants danced in all of our heads.
Anyway, all's well that ends well. I met Larry the Exterminator, who is the greatest guy ever. Owner/operator and just a sweet older guy. He had a great time harassing me about my growing fear of bugs - telling me these ants had been here awhile, "watching" me. Thanks Larry.
I think they are all taken care of though. I will try to sleep tonight. Wish me luck.
Here's last night - ready?
Chuck got up at 3am to tell the kids to go back to bed. They have, as you'll recall, picked up the really nasty habit of getting up at 3-4am most days. I always am the one to address this in the night, as Chuck is always the one to get up in the morning. The "real" morning.
Anyway, Chuck got up, told Jack to go back to his own room and told them both to go back to sleep. A bit later they were at it again. Chuck again beat me to the punch and got in there.
When he came back, I apologized for not hearing them, and promptly got dive-bombed by some insect. I brushed it off and tried to go back to sleep. Then I had one on my arm. Fine. I always freak out about insects when I think they are on me, but I was trying to behave so I stayed quiet.
Looking back on it, I also heard some sort of...well...fluttering sound, coming from near the window (which is 6 inches away from Chuck's side of the bed).
After a few minutes, Chuck whispered "are you awake?" and I whispered "yep" and he whispered "can I turn the light on?" and I whispered "sure." He turned his reading light on but I couldn't see past him and I think I had my eyes closed anyway.
He turned it back off and got up out of bed calmly. I got up too because I had to go to the bathroom. As I walked into the bathroom, Chuck goes "I'm going to vacuum some bugs up, is that okay?" and I was completely confused but nodded. I was even more confused because it was totally dark in the room.
This is 4am, by the way.
I said "why don't you turn the light on?" and he goes "I've seen enough." I said it again and he turned it on, and then I understood.
PILES of winged something or others all over the windowsill next to Chuck's side, and once the light went on, they all took flight towards the ceiling fan. They were all over the bed too.
OMG it was AWFUL. Are you squirming? Well good! I was too and now you all have to share it. So there.
Ryker came in, hearing the shop vac running. (4am, remember?)
I got him back to his room, then Jack back to his. I came out to the living room and started googling "there are insects flying around my bedroom." Flying ants, it turns out. I didn't know ants could fly. They can. Not well, but they can. Ryker's light went on. I went in there, turned it off, came back out. Jack's light went on. I went back, ordered Ryk into Jack's room, and declared a slumber party. We piled on to Jack's bed and I read them stories about flying ants off the iPad. Around 5am I let them turn a movie on because they couldn't sleep (I have no idea WHY) and I tried unsuccessfully to sleep myself. Chuck was 60 minutes into his 90 minute marathon vacuuming session and visions of flying ants danced in all of our heads.
Anyway, all's well that ends well. I met Larry the Exterminator, who is the greatest guy ever. Owner/operator and just a sweet older guy. He had a great time harassing me about my growing fear of bugs - telling me these ants had been here awhile, "watching" me. Thanks Larry.
I think they are all taken care of though. I will try to sleep tonight. Wish me luck.
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Gala 2012
My third pass at a Gala at the museum. Each has had it's own challenges, and this was no exception. Keeps me on my toes. Here are some pictures:
The After Party
Shawn (the artist) inspecting his work
The Boom Boom Room - before guests arrived
Crowd shot
Scott (a member of the Gala Committee) and me
Front Steps
Annie, Julianne, Dan, Emily, me and Michelle after the party
Annie, Emily and me
Ryker is 4
I've done the birth story before, I won't make you all relive it. But my sweet boy is 4 years old today.
He looks so GROWN to me all the sudden. He's been getting so much taller the last few months, and losing the baby-chubbiness.
Here's a rundown of this moment in Rykerdom, for posterity's sake.
He's the sweetest thing - loves giving hugs and kisses, tells me often that I look beautiful as I'm getting ready in the morning, and genuinely worries about his big brother. He STILL cries when he thinks Jack is getting in trouble or is upset about something.
He's also hilarious. He loves cracking people up - making funny faces and dancing all around, even in public. He's a complete ham and, so far, very outgoing.
He asks very strange questions all the time that keep me on my toes. His latest was on the way to school on Friday. Out of the clear blue, he asks "What would happen if a giant baby sat on our car?" I was sure I hadn't heard him right. Jack stared at him for a sec, and then goes "A giant baby? That'd be YOU!" and cracked up laughing. Ryker laughed too, then paused, and then asked it again completely seriously.
He is convinced he saw a camel at Fort Snelling State Park yesterday.
He loves cookies and ice cream and pancakes and mac n cheese and Jimmy Johns (his birthday lunch). He loves baths and cleaning and playing with Lincoln Logs and watching movies and getting up at 4 in the morning. I approve of 4 out of 5 of those.
I'm completely mesmerized by how adorable he is - I could stare at him all day and be perfectly content. I often do, actually. He has beautiful eyes and a sweet sweet face.
So happy birthday to my sweet guy. I love you lots.
He looks so GROWN to me all the sudden. He's been getting so much taller the last few months, and losing the baby-chubbiness.
Here's a rundown of this moment in Rykerdom, for posterity's sake.
He's the sweetest thing - loves giving hugs and kisses, tells me often that I look beautiful as I'm getting ready in the morning, and genuinely worries about his big brother. He STILL cries when he thinks Jack is getting in trouble or is upset about something.
He's also hilarious. He loves cracking people up - making funny faces and dancing all around, even in public. He's a complete ham and, so far, very outgoing.
He asks very strange questions all the time that keep me on my toes. His latest was on the way to school on Friday. Out of the clear blue, he asks "What would happen if a giant baby sat on our car?" I was sure I hadn't heard him right. Jack stared at him for a sec, and then goes "A giant baby? That'd be YOU!" and cracked up laughing. Ryker laughed too, then paused, and then asked it again completely seriously.
He is convinced he saw a camel at Fort Snelling State Park yesterday.
He loves cookies and ice cream and pancakes and mac n cheese and Jimmy Johns (his birthday lunch). He loves baths and cleaning and playing with Lincoln Logs and watching movies and getting up at 4 in the morning. I approve of 4 out of 5 of those.
I'm completely mesmerized by how adorable he is - I could stare at him all day and be perfectly content. I often do, actually. He has beautiful eyes and a sweet sweet face.
So happy birthday to my sweet guy. I love you lots.
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Shopping
I posted part of this on Facebook, but I'll do it again because is was THAT good.
Last night I got home before Chuck and the boys. They came running in -- Jack first, waving $15 in the air; Ryker following, wearing shoes, a tshirt and an oversized sweatshirt. No pants.
Jack screams "I got $15!!!!" and Ryker screams "I'm not wearing any PANTS!!!"
I got Ryk into pants, verified that Jack came by that money honestly, and we headed off to Target to SPEND IT! I remembered that Grandmommy had given Ryker $3 during a recent visit, so I gave that to him to spend too.
We spent 20 minutes in the dollar section picking 3 items. Ryker emerged with a squishy ball, a Superman book and a pack of Airheads.
Jack picked another Pokemon set. He's obsessed. It cost $20 but he told me he brought an additional $5 of his money to cover it. (The $15 was a graduation present from his former preschool teacher. He's back there this summer.)
We got to the 10 Items or Less check out lane and Jack wanted to be rung out separately. Fine. Ryker and I stepped up. I had added a few items, because who can go to Target and NOT come out with a piece of clothing and a new sheet set? Honestly...
So anyway, I tried to convince Ryker to give ME his $3 so I could pay with a credit card. He thought I was scamming him and refused, so the nice checkout man said he'd take the $3 and put the rest on the card. Ryker proudly handed over his money, and then asked him where it went and kept asking him for it back. We got all checked out, so it was Jack's turn.
By now we have a half a dozen people queued up behind us. Jack's total was $21. He put the $15 in cash out there, then dumped $4 and something in change on the counter. The line of people cracked up (some rolled their eyes but I chose to ignore them). He only had a total of $19 and I only had a one dollar bill and a twenty. So I handed over the twenty and the dude gave us change and I made the kids say sorry to the line and thank them for their patience, and off we went.
Just another Friday.
Last night I got home before Chuck and the boys. They came running in -- Jack first, waving $15 in the air; Ryker following, wearing shoes, a tshirt and an oversized sweatshirt. No pants.
Jack screams "I got $15!!!!" and Ryker screams "I'm not wearing any PANTS!!!"
I got Ryk into pants, verified that Jack came by that money honestly, and we headed off to Target to SPEND IT! I remembered that Grandmommy had given Ryker $3 during a recent visit, so I gave that to him to spend too.
We spent 20 minutes in the dollar section picking 3 items. Ryker emerged with a squishy ball, a Superman book and a pack of Airheads.
Jack picked another Pokemon set. He's obsessed. It cost $20 but he told me he brought an additional $5 of his money to cover it. (The $15 was a graduation present from his former preschool teacher. He's back there this summer.)
We got to the 10 Items or Less check out lane and Jack wanted to be rung out separately. Fine. Ryker and I stepped up. I had added a few items, because who can go to Target and NOT come out with a piece of clothing and a new sheet set? Honestly...
So anyway, I tried to convince Ryker to give ME his $3 so I could pay with a credit card. He thought I was scamming him and refused, so the nice checkout man said he'd take the $3 and put the rest on the card. Ryker proudly handed over his money, and then asked him where it went and kept asking him for it back. We got all checked out, so it was Jack's turn.
By now we have a half a dozen people queued up behind us. Jack's total was $21. He put the $15 in cash out there, then dumped $4 and something in change on the counter. The line of people cracked up (some rolled their eyes but I chose to ignore them). He only had a total of $19 and I only had a one dollar bill and a twenty. So I handed over the twenty and the dude gave us change and I made the kids say sorry to the line and thank them for their patience, and off we went.
Just another Friday.
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Graduation
I love Kindergarten Graduation. What a hilarious concept. I think he stops graduating now until high school, right? As the principal kindly pointed out to all of us, Jack's class is the graduating class of 2024. The whole room gasped.
Today we all took our seats in the cafeteria and the kindergarteners all filed in. Jack was BEAMING. It was adorable.
They marched right up to the risers on stage and all stood there fidgeting and smiling and waving and swaying. They sang two songs and then got called one by one to receive their diplomas. Jack was the very last child called, and looked so proud walking to get his diploma, and then anxious to get the heck off the stage.
After that we had a reception in his room. His teacher made a slideshow of pics of them from the entire year, which she showed us but also gave to everyone as a present. It was so sweet to see the kids through the year, and even more sweet to see them sitting on the ground together WATCHING themselves, and singing along with the songs.
All of his work and his artwork were nicely put together for us to take home, and we started to look at that, but got distracted by taking pictures together, and with his teacher, and with Izzy, of course.
And then we were out of there.
It's been a big year. He's learned a lot - is a much better reader and writer and has found a love of math. He's also worked a lot on his emotions and controlling them.
I'm so proud of my big man. In 2024, do you think we'll all be sitting together watching our graduates fidget and sing This Little Light of Mine, then eat cookies and look at their artwork? It's a nice image, no?
Today we all took our seats in the cafeteria and the kindergarteners all filed in. Jack was BEAMING. It was adorable.
They marched right up to the risers on stage and all stood there fidgeting and smiling and waving and swaying. They sang two songs and then got called one by one to receive their diplomas. Jack was the very last child called, and looked so proud walking to get his diploma, and then anxious to get the heck off the stage.
After that we had a reception in his room. His teacher made a slideshow of pics of them from the entire year, which she showed us but also gave to everyone as a present. It was so sweet to see the kids through the year, and even more sweet to see them sitting on the ground together WATCHING themselves, and singing along with the songs.
All of his work and his artwork were nicely put together for us to take home, and we started to look at that, but got distracted by taking pictures together, and with his teacher, and with Izzy, of course.
And then we were out of there.
It's been a big year. He's learned a lot - is a much better reader and writer and has found a love of math. He's also worked a lot on his emotions and controlling them.
I'm so proud of my big man. In 2024, do you think we'll all be sitting together watching our graduates fidget and sing This Little Light of Mine, then eat cookies and look at their artwork? It's a nice image, no?
Thursday, May 31, 2012
3am Wake Up Calls, and the Reasons Why
If you're ever struck with a case of insomnia around 3am, call my cell. I'll be there. And awake.
Two nights in a row. The kids are 6 and 3 (almost four) - why are we still getting up in the night???
Tuesday night I woke up at 3:15am to the sound of Jack and Ryker talking to each other. Jack has a habit of waking up in the night and moving all of his bedding into Ryker's room and sleeping the rest of the night in there. We don't like this particularly, but we are picking our battles, and that's not one of them.
I woke up, dazed, and prepared to launch myself into Ryker's room, scare the daylights out of both of them, threaten them with death if they didn't go back to sleep, and hobble back to bed. I opened my door, ready to storm down the hallway, and almost tripped right over Jack. He was sitting in the middle of the hallway, lights on, tub of batteries in his lap, putting fresh ones in the Leap Pad, while carrying on a conversation with Ryker, who was sleepily thrashing around in his bed.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING???"
Scared them, yes.
Threaten certain death, yes.
Only at 3:45 it happened again. Not the batteries, but the waking up and the talking. I sent Jack to his room, whisper-yelling at both of them.
Fast forward to last night. I had a whole conversation with Jack, imploring him to be a big boy and stay in his own bed. He did GREAT. Ryker did not. Wanna know why? Because his lip is busted. He hurt it at school Wednesday afternoon and I spent all of last night trying not to look at him. Christi (my cousin-like-a-sister) made me look, and I'm holding her solely responsible for the knots in my stomach.
You all can thank me later for not getting an actual picture of his lip. Except my mom, who had to look at it via Facetime last night.
Chuck thought he was fine and that we shouldn't take him in. I went along with that and put myself to bed at 9pm - figuring unconscious was a better state than awake and trying not to think about my baby's lip.
Ryk awoke at 3am. What is it about 3am? He awoke, mumbling "mama" through a severely swollen lip.
"My wip is hurtin."
I had a moment of Mommy Genius - 3 in the morning - and got him a soda can to hold against it. No edges, no bumps. Gold Star to me. I patted his head until he fell asleep again.
This morning I looked sideways at him, averting my eyes but trying to gauge the severity. Then I left the room and made Chuck take a closer look. Then I demanded he take him somewhere. Most of you know about my aversion to blood and hospitals. I have fainted more than once because of those two things.
We spent the morning trying to call the clinic, talk to the triage nurse, keep ice (or Popsicles) against his lip, and telling him to "be kind to your face." I tried to quickly make Jack's lunch, which ended with him locked in the bathroom sobbing and refusing to go to school because I hadn't put raspberries in there. We actually DID put raspberries in there, on the second attempt, but that wasn't good enough to overcome the first error (read: the lack of attention he was getting). I told him, through the bathroom door, that he was, in fact, going to school - because one parent was taking his little brother to the hospital for his busted lip and the other had to go to work to earn money to paid for said raspberries and the medical bills. So there.
Back to Ryk. He's out of Children's Hospital - no stitches. Wash with saline and he'll be fine. Whew.
So anyway, call me at 3.
Two nights in a row. The kids are 6 and 3 (almost four) - why are we still getting up in the night???
Tuesday night I woke up at 3:15am to the sound of Jack and Ryker talking to each other. Jack has a habit of waking up in the night and moving all of his bedding into Ryker's room and sleeping the rest of the night in there. We don't like this particularly, but we are picking our battles, and that's not one of them.
I woke up, dazed, and prepared to launch myself into Ryker's room, scare the daylights out of both of them, threaten them with death if they didn't go back to sleep, and hobble back to bed. I opened my door, ready to storm down the hallway, and almost tripped right over Jack. He was sitting in the middle of the hallway, lights on, tub of batteries in his lap, putting fresh ones in the Leap Pad, while carrying on a conversation with Ryker, who was sleepily thrashing around in his bed.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING???"
Scared them, yes.
Threaten certain death, yes.
Only at 3:45 it happened again. Not the batteries, but the waking up and the talking. I sent Jack to his room, whisper-yelling at both of them.
Fast forward to last night. I had a whole conversation with Jack, imploring him to be a big boy and stay in his own bed. He did GREAT. Ryker did not. Wanna know why? Because his lip is busted. He hurt it at school Wednesday afternoon and I spent all of last night trying not to look at him. Christi (my cousin-like-a-sister) made me look, and I'm holding her solely responsible for the knots in my stomach.
You all can thank me later for not getting an actual picture of his lip. Except my mom, who had to look at it via Facetime last night.
Chuck thought he was fine and that we shouldn't take him in. I went along with that and put myself to bed at 9pm - figuring unconscious was a better state than awake and trying not to think about my baby's lip.
Ryk awoke at 3am. What is it about 3am? He awoke, mumbling "mama" through a severely swollen lip.
"My wip is hurtin."
I had a moment of Mommy Genius - 3 in the morning - and got him a soda can to hold against it. No edges, no bumps. Gold Star to me. I patted his head until he fell asleep again.
This morning I looked sideways at him, averting my eyes but trying to gauge the severity. Then I left the room and made Chuck take a closer look. Then I demanded he take him somewhere. Most of you know about my aversion to blood and hospitals. I have fainted more than once because of those two things.
We spent the morning trying to call the clinic, talk to the triage nurse, keep ice (or Popsicles) against his lip, and telling him to "be kind to your face." I tried to quickly make Jack's lunch, which ended with him locked in the bathroom sobbing and refusing to go to school because I hadn't put raspberries in there. We actually DID put raspberries in there, on the second attempt, but that wasn't good enough to overcome the first error (read: the lack of attention he was getting). I told him, through the bathroom door, that he was, in fact, going to school - because one parent was taking his little brother to the hospital for his busted lip and the other had to go to work to earn money to paid for said raspberries and the medical bills. So there.
Back to Ryk. He's out of Children's Hospital - no stitches. Wash with saline and he'll be fine. Whew.
So anyway, call me at 3.
Sunday, May 20, 2012
The Garage Sale
First and Only.
Awhile back Chuck decided we should have a garage sale. I said no. I wanted to just donate it all and be done. Everyone I knew that had had a garage sale had only had A garage sale. Singular. I took that to mean it wasn't a very good idea.
We did it anyway.
I should back up a sec. I have a little tendency towards hoarding important things. Like everything ever associated with my kids. We have a fourth bedroom in the basement, and I have been using it to store all of the old kids toys and clothes. I have clothes back from when they were infants. I have hats, coats, mittens, boots, onesies, sleep sacks, overalls. SO MANY OVERALLS. I have car seats, three strollers, a crib, a race car bed, a highchair, baby swings, bouncy seats.
We also have hoarded books, computer stuff, cords, cameras, alarm clocks, vases. We have a set of bar stools. I'll stop now. You get the point.
Okay, so we decided to join the rest of the city of Bloomington in the city-wide garage sale.
I worked for weeks to get things thrown away, sorted, and cleaned. The last week was spent in the garage - setting up the tables and pricing everything. Nicki joined in our efforts, so I got to hang with her quite a bit, which was fun.
We started with a goal in mind of paying off the tires we had to put on the van last week. Not cheap, and I was scared we wouldn't make it.
We paid them off by 3pm on the first day, and doubled it by the end. WHEEE!
I also met some very interesting people. There was the woman who was negotiating with me about the toys and seemed kind of gruff, until she softened and told me she buys toys and then takes them to Mexico to give to children there on Christmas. There was the man who got me to take half off my price for kids' clothes and made me button every button and fold them "nicely," who I was about ready to kick to the curb. Then I asked what he does with all of these clothes (he took over 40 pieces), and he told me he sends them back to his country, Kenya, for the children. His wife and kids still live there.
All in all I'd call it a success. We got rid of most of the major items we wanted to get rid of, made some extra money, and got a good lesson in not judging a garage-sale-attendee by its cover.
Awhile back Chuck decided we should have a garage sale. I said no. I wanted to just donate it all and be done. Everyone I knew that had had a garage sale had only had A garage sale. Singular. I took that to mean it wasn't a very good idea.
We did it anyway.
I should back up a sec. I have a little tendency towards hoarding important things. Like everything ever associated with my kids. We have a fourth bedroom in the basement, and I have been using it to store all of the old kids toys and clothes. I have clothes back from when they were infants. I have hats, coats, mittens, boots, onesies, sleep sacks, overalls. SO MANY OVERALLS. I have car seats, three strollers, a crib, a race car bed, a highchair, baby swings, bouncy seats.
We also have hoarded books, computer stuff, cords, cameras, alarm clocks, vases. We have a set of bar stools. I'll stop now. You get the point.
Okay, so we decided to join the rest of the city of Bloomington in the city-wide garage sale.
I worked for weeks to get things thrown away, sorted, and cleaned. The last week was spent in the garage - setting up the tables and pricing everything. Nicki joined in our efforts, so I got to hang with her quite a bit, which was fun.
We started with a goal in mind of paying off the tires we had to put on the van last week. Not cheap, and I was scared we wouldn't make it.
We paid them off by 3pm on the first day, and doubled it by the end. WHEEE!
I also met some very interesting people. There was the woman who was negotiating with me about the toys and seemed kind of gruff, until she softened and told me she buys toys and then takes them to Mexico to give to children there on Christmas. There was the man who got me to take half off my price for kids' clothes and made me button every button and fold them "nicely," who I was about ready to kick to the curb. Then I asked what he does with all of these clothes (he took over 40 pieces), and he told me he sends them back to his country, Kenya, for the children. His wife and kids still live there.
All in all I'd call it a success. We got rid of most of the major items we wanted to get rid of, made some extra money, and got a good lesson in not judging a garage-sale-attendee by its cover.
Monday, May 7, 2012
Help For Jack
Oh man do I feel better. It's not about me, but I'm just sayin'. In case you're wondering how *I'm* doing.
We had our first appointment with Jack's new therapist today. She was great. We're in good hands. Jack was perfectly adorable, as usual. Her office was at the end of a long corridor, which he spotted quickly. When she came to get us, he said "is that your office?" and she said yes and he took off running to get into it. Not the response I was expecting.
She got medical histories from us, asked his history with frustration and anger, and asked him a bunch of questions.
At one point she asked what he liked to do most when he wasn't in school. He goes "umm...cuddling with Momma..." and then he listed other stuff but honestly I stopped listening then because I was grinning so hard I couldn't hear anything.
Anyway, she will have two more appointments with him, alone, and then she'll have one with just Chuck and me to give us her assessment. We'll go from there, but she made it sound like she thinks she might be able to teach us some good ways to help him ourselves without him needing to be in therapy for an extended period of time. As she put it, "6 year olds have better things to do than sit in therapy."
It felt good to take the first step towards helping my Jack Attack feel better.
We had our first appointment with Jack's new therapist today. She was great. We're in good hands. Jack was perfectly adorable, as usual. Her office was at the end of a long corridor, which he spotted quickly. When she came to get us, he said "is that your office?" and she said yes and he took off running to get into it. Not the response I was expecting.
She got medical histories from us, asked his history with frustration and anger, and asked him a bunch of questions.
At one point she asked what he liked to do most when he wasn't in school. He goes "umm...cuddling with Momma..." and then he listed other stuff but honestly I stopped listening then because I was grinning so hard I couldn't hear anything.
Anyway, she will have two more appointments with him, alone, and then she'll have one with just Chuck and me to give us her assessment. We'll go from there, but she made it sound like she thinks she might be able to teach us some good ways to help him ourselves without him needing to be in therapy for an extended period of time. As she put it, "6 year olds have better things to do than sit in therapy."
It felt good to take the first step towards helping my Jack Attack feel better.
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Dinner Date
Tonight Chuck was putting Jackson in bed and they got talking about the fact that Chuck and I are going to dinner tomorrow night.
Jack asked if he and Ryker were going too and Chuck said "nope, just Momma and me." And Jack asked why. Chuck said that we just want to have dinner together and Jack goes "peaceandquiet?" kinda as one big word.
Chuck said "yes, peace and quiet" and Jack said "inner peace" and then went on a Kung Fu Panda rant.
Jack asked if he and Ryker were going too and Chuck said "nope, just Momma and me." And Jack asked why. Chuck said that we just want to have dinner together and Jack goes "peaceandquiet?" kinda as one big word.
Chuck said "yes, peace and quiet" and Jack said "inner peace" and then went on a Kung Fu Panda rant.
Monday, April 30, 2012
Also....
The Blogger platform now gives you stats. I only rarely look at them, but tonight I was playing around with them.
One of the features is that it will show you how people got to your blog through keyword searches. We've all done this, right? We're not sure what the name of something is, or how to describe it, so we type a bunch of words into the search function of Google and hope for the best.
The keyword search that brought the most people to this blog is "she and 3 hes." That makes sense.
The rest were all tied for 1 referral. Most were variations on the title of the blog. But my favorite two?
One of the features is that it will show you how people got to your blog through keyword searches. We've all done this, right? We're not sure what the name of something is, or how to describe it, so we type a bunch of words into the search function of Google and hope for the best.
The keyword search that brought the most people to this blog is "she and 3 hes." That makes sense.
The rest were all tied for 1 referral. Most were variations on the title of the blog. But my favorite two?
- What do agnostics do with rabbits?
and
- Most words spoken in a day guinness record
What does that even mean?
Bad Blogger!
I haven't posted since April 16? Bad blogger! And I left you on such a sad note!
I have a couple of funny Ryker stories, but first I'll tell you that Jack has had a couple of very good weeks since I last wrote. We see his new therapist a week from today, which will also help (I hope), but he seems to be managing things a bit better recently. Go Jack! Also, I went to give him medicine the other night and the dosing on the label said that his weight was the equivalent of a 9-10 year old. HA!
Okay, on to Ryker. He renamed our family last week. This is not news to those of you on Facebook, but I should post it here for posterity's sake.
He kept calling me Dadda, which is fairly normal for him. I reminded him that I'm Momma, and he asked if we could rename our family. Sure. So I'm Dadda, and Dadda is Momma. I was following up to then. I asked what his name was. He stuck his tongue out, then moved it side to side going "lalalalalala." Good. Then I asked what Jack's name was. Without missing a beat, he said "Music Teacher." I want to be a 3 year old. Seriously. How much fun must they have, up inside their own head?
And apparently he gets really worried about other people's children. I don't think he trusts adults. I was home one day from work with him, and we went with Nicki up to the school to get her son from morning kindergarten. Nicki runs an in-home daycare and only had one baby that day, and that baby's mom happens to be Nicki's son's kindergarten teacher. Are you following? It doesn't really matter I guess ... Well, yeah, actually, it does. Go back and re-read until you are following ... Okay? Okay. So we have the baby in the stroller as we head up there. We gave her to her mom for some good cuddle-time when we arrived, and then her mom said that she'd just walk her back to Nicki's in a bit because she had time before her afternoon students arrived. Sounded like a decent plan, so we left the stroller for her too. We started to walk back home, and Ryker immediately began bombarding us with questions about where "that baby was" and why weren't we taking her back, and where was her "baby cart"?
And tonight I was talking about there being an adorable boy in the backseat of a car I was trying to help jump this morning (long story), and he goes "what did you do with that 'adorable'? You take him to your work?"
We used to call Jackson "Officer Jack" because he was so concerned with safety. I think Ryker might need to be dubbed "Child Protective Services Case Worker Ryker," although that doesn't have quite the same ring to it.
I have a couple of funny Ryker stories, but first I'll tell you that Jack has had a couple of very good weeks since I last wrote. We see his new therapist a week from today, which will also help (I hope), but he seems to be managing things a bit better recently. Go Jack! Also, I went to give him medicine the other night and the dosing on the label said that his weight was the equivalent of a 9-10 year old. HA!
Okay, on to Ryker. He renamed our family last week. This is not news to those of you on Facebook, but I should post it here for posterity's sake.
He kept calling me Dadda, which is fairly normal for him. I reminded him that I'm Momma, and he asked if we could rename our family. Sure. So I'm Dadda, and Dadda is Momma. I was following up to then. I asked what his name was. He stuck his tongue out, then moved it side to side going "lalalalalala." Good. Then I asked what Jack's name was. Without missing a beat, he said "Music Teacher." I want to be a 3 year old. Seriously. How much fun must they have, up inside their own head?
And apparently he gets really worried about other people's children. I don't think he trusts adults. I was home one day from work with him, and we went with Nicki up to the school to get her son from morning kindergarten. Nicki runs an in-home daycare and only had one baby that day, and that baby's mom happens to be Nicki's son's kindergarten teacher. Are you following? It doesn't really matter I guess ... Well, yeah, actually, it does. Go back and re-read until you are following ... Okay? Okay. So we have the baby in the stroller as we head up there. We gave her to her mom for some good cuddle-time when we arrived, and then her mom said that she'd just walk her back to Nicki's in a bit because she had time before her afternoon students arrived. Sounded like a decent plan, so we left the stroller for her too. We started to walk back home, and Ryker immediately began bombarding us with questions about where "that baby was" and why weren't we taking her back, and where was her "baby cart"?
And tonight I was talking about there being an adorable boy in the backseat of a car I was trying to help jump this morning (long story), and he goes "what did you do with that 'adorable'? You take him to your work?"
We used to call Jackson "Officer Jack" because he was so concerned with safety. I think Ryker might need to be dubbed "Child Protective Services Case Worker Ryker," although that doesn't have quite the same ring to it.
Monday, April 16, 2012
Jack's Anger
I've touched on this periodically on the blog, but here's an update on Jack's anger stuff.
Since he was born, Jack has had trouble controlling his anger and frustrations. He was colicky for the first few months, and has cycled in and out of it since then. You can SEE him getting angry, and see that he is unable to control it sometimes.
He is trying, he really is. I had a good talk with him the other day about it. I asked him why he doesn't get so mad at school (his teacher said she had never seen the rage we see at home). He said that he gets mad at school but doesn't want to scream or make angry faces because he doesn't want to be embarrassed, so he just keeps it in. I asked if it just feels safer to get it out at home, because he knows he won't be embarrassed, and he said yes.
That's pretty impressive self-control, if you ask me. He's 6.
Anyway, it DOES come out at home. Oh boy, does it. And here's the bad part - it comes out in ways that are pretty self-degrading. He says mean things about himself, and says that he'll hurt himself. HUGE red flag, obviously, although Chuck and I both think he says those things because he knows they are BIG threats and BIG words and that they get our attention - and my attention in particular. He hasn't ever hurt himself, but I refuse to test that theory.
So today we took him to see his pediatrician to talk about it. I was so proud of him. He spoke very eloquently about it and answered all of her questions. What a sweetie.
We're going to see a therapist out of the same offices that works with kids. We're also probably going to call this other clinic that does more integrative approaches to pediatric psychology. That sounds awesome to me.
I feel like we're being proactive, which is good. I just want my sweet boy to be calm and happy. That's all.
Since he was born, Jack has had trouble controlling his anger and frustrations. He was colicky for the first few months, and has cycled in and out of it since then. You can SEE him getting angry, and see that he is unable to control it sometimes.
He is trying, he really is. I had a good talk with him the other day about it. I asked him why he doesn't get so mad at school (his teacher said she had never seen the rage we see at home). He said that he gets mad at school but doesn't want to scream or make angry faces because he doesn't want to be embarrassed, so he just keeps it in. I asked if it just feels safer to get it out at home, because he knows he won't be embarrassed, and he said yes.
That's pretty impressive self-control, if you ask me. He's 6.
Anyway, it DOES come out at home. Oh boy, does it. And here's the bad part - it comes out in ways that are pretty self-degrading. He says mean things about himself, and says that he'll hurt himself. HUGE red flag, obviously, although Chuck and I both think he says those things because he knows they are BIG threats and BIG words and that they get our attention - and my attention in particular. He hasn't ever hurt himself, but I refuse to test that theory.
So today we took him to see his pediatrician to talk about it. I was so proud of him. He spoke very eloquently about it and answered all of her questions. What a sweetie.
We're going to see a therapist out of the same offices that works with kids. We're also probably going to call this other clinic that does more integrative approaches to pediatric psychology. That sounds awesome to me.
I feel like we're being proactive, which is good. I just want my sweet boy to be calm and happy. That's all.
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Ambidextrous and The Nightmare
Two stories.
First story - Ryker and his Ambidextrousness:
Ryker and I were playing catch in the living room, which went remarkably well. (I should stop right there and devote a whole post to the fact that no damage came to the house, no humans or animals were hurt in the process, and no one ended up crying or screaming. But then the title of the post wouldn't make any sense.)
Anyway, he was throwing with his right hand, which surprised me because we have dubbed him a leftie. I asked him which hand he writes with. He thought about it, then held up his left and said "wif pens and pencils." I looked at him with confusion and he added "wif crayons, dis one" and held up his right. I asked which hand he eats with and he held up his left. Which hand he throws with? Right. Which foot he kicks with? Left. "Unwess da ball come on dis side (pointing right). Den it's dis one (right leg kicks out)." So...we'll see. He's going to be confusing to defend in basketball.
Second story - Jack and The Nightmare:
Jack came out the other night after being in bed for maybe 10 minutes. He wanted hugs. Then he went back to bed for another 3 minutes and came back out. "I had a nightmare." I tried to explain that he wasn't even asleep and therefore couldn't possibly have had a nightmare. He was on the verge of tears so I skipped the semantics. He said he didn't want to tell us why he had a nightmare. We prodded. "We watched a movie at Nicki's (where he goes every day after school) and it made me scared." We prodded. He resisted. We prodded more.
"I think it was about........Justin Bieber."
It was all we could do to not die laughing at him. We did a lot of rubbing our faces to hide the grins, and coughing to mask the giggles.
Finally I just lost it. Cracked up. Chuck followed. Then we tried to explain to Jack why Justin Bieber is about the least scary thing you could possibly dream about. He said he thought that it was something in the movie that was dark and someone was in the movie and he couldn't really see him because he was dark and hooded.
We got him back in bed and I spent parts of the next day hypothesizing with coworkers about what could have been scary in a Justin Bieber movie. Backup dancers? Some plot about him saving some girl from a bad guy?
The day after that I wrote to Nicki and asked her if the kids watched a Justin Bieber movie. She wrote back that this wins some sort of funniest story contest. Jack apparently told Nicki that he had a nightmare before he fell asleep, about Justin Bieber. She had to correct him, because the kids hadn't watched Justin Bieber, they had watched Harry Potter.
HAHAHAHAHA! Awesome.
First story - Ryker and his Ambidextrousness:
Ryker and I were playing catch in the living room, which went remarkably well. (I should stop right there and devote a whole post to the fact that no damage came to the house, no humans or animals were hurt in the process, and no one ended up crying or screaming. But then the title of the post wouldn't make any sense.)
Anyway, he was throwing with his right hand, which surprised me because we have dubbed him a leftie. I asked him which hand he writes with. He thought about it, then held up his left and said "wif pens and pencils." I looked at him with confusion and he added "wif crayons, dis one" and held up his right. I asked which hand he eats with and he held up his left. Which hand he throws with? Right. Which foot he kicks with? Left. "Unwess da ball come on dis side (pointing right). Den it's dis one (right leg kicks out)." So...we'll see. He's going to be confusing to defend in basketball.
Second story - Jack and The Nightmare:
Jack came out the other night after being in bed for maybe 10 minutes. He wanted hugs. Then he went back to bed for another 3 minutes and came back out. "I had a nightmare." I tried to explain that he wasn't even asleep and therefore couldn't possibly have had a nightmare. He was on the verge of tears so I skipped the semantics. He said he didn't want to tell us why he had a nightmare. We prodded. "We watched a movie at Nicki's (where he goes every day after school) and it made me scared." We prodded. He resisted. We prodded more.
"I think it was about........Justin Bieber."
It was all we could do to not die laughing at him. We did a lot of rubbing our faces to hide the grins, and coughing to mask the giggles.
Finally I just lost it. Cracked up. Chuck followed. Then we tried to explain to Jack why Justin Bieber is about the least scary thing you could possibly dream about. He said he thought that it was something in the movie that was dark and someone was in the movie and he couldn't really see him because he was dark and hooded.
We got him back in bed and I spent parts of the next day hypothesizing with coworkers about what could have been scary in a Justin Bieber movie. Backup dancers? Some plot about him saving some girl from a bad guy?
The day after that I wrote to Nicki and asked her if the kids watched a Justin Bieber movie. She wrote back that this wins some sort of funniest story contest. Jack apparently told Nicki that he had a nightmare before he fell asleep, about Justin Bieber. She had to correct him, because the kids hadn't watched Justin Bieber, they had watched Harry Potter.
HAHAHAHAHA! Awesome.
Friday, March 23, 2012
Ryker and the Pharmacist
Ryker was with me at Walgreens the other night. The friendly pharmacist struck up a conversation with him.
Pharmacist: And what's YOUR name?
Ryker: Wykuh.
P: Michael?
Me: No, Ryker.
P: Oh, that's a nice name. How old are you?
Ryk: Free (unfolding three of his fingers with his other hand)
(while he's answering)
P: Five?
Me: No, three.
P: THREE?!
Me: Yes. He's big.
P: But your birthday is soon.
Ryk: Not for couple munfs.
P: Oh. And do you have any brothers or sisters?
Ryk: Nope. (plain as day)
P: Oh.
Me: (flicking him in the head) You do TOO.
Ryk: Yeah, I have one brudder. His name Sassin. He tell me what to do.
Pharmacist: And what's YOUR name?
Ryker: Wykuh.
P: Michael?
Me: No, Ryker.
P: Oh, that's a nice name. How old are you?
Ryk: Free (unfolding three of his fingers with his other hand)
(while he's answering)
P: Five?
Me: No, three.
P: THREE?!
Me: Yes. He's big.
P: But your birthday is soon.
Ryk: Not for couple munfs.
P: Oh. And do you have any brothers or sisters?
Ryk: Nope. (plain as day)
P: Oh.
Me: (flicking him in the head) You do TOO.
Ryk: Yeah, I have one brudder. His name Sassin. He tell me what to do.
Thursday, March 22, 2012
The Difference Between My Kids
There are many, obviously. One of the differences is sleep habits. Tonight was a good illustration.
I had to work at an event, so I got home right after the kids went to bed. I had texted Chuck and told him to tell the kids that I would come in to say goodnight.
I got changed and went into Ryker's room first. He was awake and SO excited. He got out of bed, ran around his room and whispered all about the pieces of paper he was giving me and the bad day he had (he hit someone) and that he wanted pajamas on (did I forget to mention he was naked?). We cuddled and talked and cuddled some more. We discussed why I call him my baby (because he came out of my tummy so I get to do that forever), and who came out of Grandmommy's tummy (me and Ry Ry, which is why SHE gets to call ME baby forever) and that there is a picture that happened before he was alive yet. Sure. Many, actually, but yes, I know the one he is referring to. We talked about the pictures he planned to put up around his room "to make it beautiful."
I told him I needed to go say goodnight to Jack. I went in there and Jack was sound asleep. I smoothed his hair down and kissed him on the head. Nothing. I kissed him again and said "goodnight sweetie - love you" and he opened his eyes really fast and just stared at me. Zero recognition of who I was. I said "it's okay baby, it's Momma, I'm just saying good night." His wide eyes kept staring. Nothing. It's a little creepy, I have to say, to have your kid staring at you with no recollection of who you are.
I left my confused and 95% sleeping boy in one room and heard my AWAKE baby in the other room, happily talking to himself still. AWAKE has come out once already as I'm writing this. I have my money on one more time.
I had to work at an event, so I got home right after the kids went to bed. I had texted Chuck and told him to tell the kids that I would come in to say goodnight.
I got changed and went into Ryker's room first. He was awake and SO excited. He got out of bed, ran around his room and whispered all about the pieces of paper he was giving me and the bad day he had (he hit someone) and that he wanted pajamas on (did I forget to mention he was naked?). We cuddled and talked and cuddled some more. We discussed why I call him my baby (because he came out of my tummy so I get to do that forever), and who came out of Grandmommy's tummy (me and Ry Ry, which is why SHE gets to call ME baby forever) and that there is a picture that happened before he was alive yet. Sure. Many, actually, but yes, I know the one he is referring to. We talked about the pictures he planned to put up around his room "to make it beautiful."
I told him I needed to go say goodnight to Jack. I went in there and Jack was sound asleep. I smoothed his hair down and kissed him on the head. Nothing. I kissed him again and said "goodnight sweetie - love you" and he opened his eyes really fast and just stared at me. Zero recognition of who I was. I said "it's okay baby, it's Momma, I'm just saying good night." His wide eyes kept staring. Nothing. It's a little creepy, I have to say, to have your kid staring at you with no recollection of who you are.
I left my confused and 95% sleeping boy in one room and heard my AWAKE baby in the other room, happily talking to himself still. AWAKE has come out once already as I'm writing this. I have my money on one more time.
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Back Update
Update On My Back - better title?
I had an MRI last week, 124 days after the initial "injury." I met with my spine doc yesterday to go over the results. The short version is that it didn't provide much clarity on what our next steps should be. You may stop reading now if that's all you needed.
The longer version...
Essentially, the L5-S1 is still herniated (5mm, which they consider mild) - but that is interesting because it's 4 months after the initial problem. So it's still herniated but there is also something they are referring to as a "fragment", although my doc is unclear whether it's completely broken off or not. But it's a disc fragment of decent size (10mm by 6mm by 9mm) that is displacing my nerve root. That piece is showing a higher T2 signal, which he tells me means it has some globbiness to it - either fluid like a normal disc would, or inflammation. It's paracentral, which means it's closer in to the spinal cord than where we initially thought the pinch was occurring.
There is a mild bulge at the L4-5 and mild to moderate degeneration and something else that I don't understand. I'm reading my copy of the results while I'm writing this.
The tech's conclusion on me: moderately severe L5-S1 degeneration with a herniation that is pinching the S1 nerve. Mild degeneration in the next disc up (L4-5).
So basically that didn't help. I can either watch and wait (this was my pick), have an epidural steroid (to reduce inflammation if that is, in fact, the problem), or get some surgical consults. He was open to all three. I opted to wait. We can get to the other two later.
I'll continue doing the circuit training they taught me (all spine-safe activities), try to get some cardio added in, and go back to rehab once a month in their maintenance program. And at some point, if I decide I've had enough, we'll explore the injections or surgical consults.
There ya have it.
I had an MRI last week, 124 days after the initial "injury." I met with my spine doc yesterday to go over the results. The short version is that it didn't provide much clarity on what our next steps should be. You may stop reading now if that's all you needed.
The longer version...
Essentially, the L5-S1 is still herniated (5mm, which they consider mild) - but that is interesting because it's 4 months after the initial problem. So it's still herniated but there is also something they are referring to as a "fragment", although my doc is unclear whether it's completely broken off or not. But it's a disc fragment of decent size (10mm by 6mm by 9mm) that is displacing my nerve root. That piece is showing a higher T2 signal, which he tells me means it has some globbiness to it - either fluid like a normal disc would, or inflammation. It's paracentral, which means it's closer in to the spinal cord than where we initially thought the pinch was occurring.
There is a mild bulge at the L4-5 and mild to moderate degeneration and something else that I don't understand. I'm reading my copy of the results while I'm writing this.
The tech's conclusion on me: moderately severe L5-S1 degeneration with a herniation that is pinching the S1 nerve. Mild degeneration in the next disc up (L4-5).
So basically that didn't help. I can either watch and wait (this was my pick), have an epidural steroid (to reduce inflammation if that is, in fact, the problem), or get some surgical consults. He was open to all three. I opted to wait. We can get to the other two later.
I'll continue doing the circuit training they taught me (all spine-safe activities), try to get some cardio added in, and go back to rehab once a month in their maintenance program. And at some point, if I decide I've had enough, we'll explore the injections or surgical consults.
There ya have it.
Monday, March 12, 2012
Concert
By a crazy twist of fate, I ended up with Lady Antebellum tickets, courtesy of Grandpa and Uncle Ry Ry. Jack and I suited up in our best (and only) cowboyish outfits and off we went.
Half of the adventure for Jack was just getting to the concert. He loved the parking garage, and finding the skyway, and walking THROUGH the skyway, and getting into Target Center, and up the escalator, and down the concourse, and to our seats. It was adorable how wide-eyed he was.
When we arrived, the first act had already played and they were setting up for the second act (the pre-headliner). Jack loved watching all the people, but was a little nervous. Then the lights went down and all the ladies started shrieking. That made him REALLY nervous. I had to lean over and explain that people yell and scream at concerts. He jumped every time. He also held my hand the entire time. =)
The second act was Darius Rucker, during which I kept going "I know this voice!!!" and then finally, like 10 songs into it, I realized that it was Hootie. Like, Hootie and the Blowfish. My mind was blown.
We took a break during Darius and went up to the concourse. The noise was bothering him. I bought him a huge box of M&Ms, which almost made him fall over. He professed his undying love for me, and then his gratefulness to Ry Ry and Grandpa for giving us these tickets. So sweet.
There was another break between Darius and Lady A. They played about 10 minutes straight of dance songs, and told the audience that the best two dancers would get to move down to the floor. Jack hopped up and danced his little heart out. It was awesome. The people around us noticed, and loved it, and commanded me to get him up on his chair so the cameras could see him. So we got him up there, and I danced right along with him, taking a short break to film a bit. By then, the other sections had started to notice him too, and were pointing and cheering and trying to get the cameras to see him. He loved it.
Awhile into Lady A I asked Jack if he was okay still, or if he wanted to go. He goes "I'm not sure if I feel fine." Ha! I had visions of him puking all over everything, so I got him up into the concourse. Turns out he was just thirsty.
Anyway, I had a great time. Jack had an even better time. =)
Half of the adventure for Jack was just getting to the concert. He loved the parking garage, and finding the skyway, and walking THROUGH the skyway, and getting into Target Center, and up the escalator, and down the concourse, and to our seats. It was adorable how wide-eyed he was.
When we arrived, the first act had already played and they were setting up for the second act (the pre-headliner). Jack loved watching all the people, but was a little nervous. Then the lights went down and all the ladies started shrieking. That made him REALLY nervous. I had to lean over and explain that people yell and scream at concerts. He jumped every time. He also held my hand the entire time. =)
The second act was Darius Rucker, during which I kept going "I know this voice!!!" and then finally, like 10 songs into it, I realized that it was Hootie. Like, Hootie and the Blowfish. My mind was blown.
We took a break during Darius and went up to the concourse. The noise was bothering him. I bought him a huge box of M&Ms, which almost made him fall over. He professed his undying love for me, and then his gratefulness to Ry Ry and Grandpa for giving us these tickets. So sweet.
There was another break between Darius and Lady A. They played about 10 minutes straight of dance songs, and told the audience that the best two dancers would get to move down to the floor. Jack hopped up and danced his little heart out. It was awesome. The people around us noticed, and loved it, and commanded me to get him up on his chair so the cameras could see him. So we got him up there, and I danced right along with him, taking a short break to film a bit. By then, the other sections had started to notice him too, and were pointing and cheering and trying to get the cameras to see him. He loved it.
Awhile into Lady A I asked Jack if he was okay still, or if he wanted to go. He goes "I'm not sure if I feel fine." Ha! I had visions of him puking all over everything, so I got him up into the concourse. Turns out he was just thirsty.
Anyway, I had a great time. Jack had an even better time. =)
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Family Portraits
Reminder to myself for the next round of family portraits:
1. You will be frustrated. Just know that going in...
2. The lead-up is worse than the actual session.
3. Do not take the 10am time-slot. It seems reasonable, but you will never get there in time.
4. Make sure Jack has pants that fit. And don't rest on your laurels if you JUST bought a bigger size. That doesn't mean they still fit.
5. Make sure Jack owns a non-patterned dress shirt.
6. Make sure the children own dress shoes.
7. Be ready to assure Ryker all morning that he will, in fact, be wearing pants. He will be worried.
8. Don't let Ryker stand in front of the door while Jack opens it.
9. Bring makeup so you can cover up the welt on Ryker's forehead from said door-opening incident.
10. Don't be surprised when Ryker is a male model and Jack wants to hold on to him for dear-life. This makes sense, given both of their personalities.
1. You will be frustrated. Just know that going in...
2. The lead-up is worse than the actual session.
3. Do not take the 10am time-slot. It seems reasonable, but you will never get there in time.
4. Make sure Jack has pants that fit. And don't rest on your laurels if you JUST bought a bigger size. That doesn't mean they still fit.
5. Make sure Jack owns a non-patterned dress shirt.
6. Make sure the children own dress shoes.
7. Be ready to assure Ryker all morning that he will, in fact, be wearing pants. He will be worried.
8. Don't let Ryker stand in front of the door while Jack opens it.
9. Bring makeup so you can cover up the welt on Ryker's forehead from said door-opening incident.
10. Don't be surprised when Ryker is a male model and Jack wants to hold on to him for dear-life. This makes sense, given both of their personalities.
Thursday, March 8, 2012
A List - Things I Hate About the Gym
And all of these have happened to me in the last thirty days.
1. People who talk on their cell phones in the sauna.
2. When there are a grand total of 2 yoga balls in the entire gym, even though we have absorbed the members of another local gym that has closed.
3. Old ladies who push me aside to get to their locker. On purpose.
4. When a new guy on the basketball court looks at me to see if I want to play, and I say I can't, and he says "it's okay - it's like the international women's league here." Ummm. I'm not sure who should be more offended by that. (Luckily one of my buddies in there stared him down.)
5. People who shower and come into the sauna without drying off. The dripping makes them sound like they are peeing.
6. People who steal the yoga mat that is 6 inches from my feet, with my PT binder resting right in front of it.
7. When that happens twice in one workout.
8. People who move closer to me in the whirlpool while my eyes are briefly closed.
9. When they play Adele over the loudspeakers. Love her, but not while I'm working out.
10. People who lay down on the benches in the locker room. Why?
1. People who talk on their cell phones in the sauna.
2. When there are a grand total of 2 yoga balls in the entire gym, even though we have absorbed the members of another local gym that has closed.
3. Old ladies who push me aside to get to their locker. On purpose.
4. When a new guy on the basketball court looks at me to see if I want to play, and I say I can't, and he says "it's okay - it's like the international women's league here." Ummm. I'm not sure who should be more offended by that. (Luckily one of my buddies in there stared him down.)
5. People who shower and come into the sauna without drying off. The dripping makes them sound like they are peeing.
6. People who steal the yoga mat that is 6 inches from my feet, with my PT binder resting right in front of it.
7. When that happens twice in one workout.
8. People who move closer to me in the whirlpool while my eyes are briefly closed.
9. When they play Adele over the loudspeakers. Love her, but not while I'm working out.
10. People who lay down on the benches in the locker room. Why?
Thursday, March 1, 2012
More Updates
Time for some updates! Sheesh. Sorry about that...
Chuck went to Mancation a few weekends ago. I think it's their 6th year? 7th? Impressive, whatever it is. They have a great time though, and then Chuck is really glad to be home and in a house that is NOT full of a dozen guys.
We had conferences for Jack last week. He's kicking his academic work's *ss. Can I say that? He really is though. Example - the expectation for the END of kindergarten is for him to be at level 4 of this one reading program. In February he was on level 8. So he's doing really well. His teacher is great and we are able to bounce lots of ideas off of her and work together with her to help Jack with things he's struggling with. Example - the final statement on his conference form was "We need to work with Jack on truth-telling and making good choices." I wanted to slither off of my chair and under the table, but I thought that wasn't really modeling good choices so I sat upright and quietly mumbled obscenities to myself instead.
We found out that he kissed Izzy again. He hadn't for a few months, but I guess he put his jacket up over his mouth and then leaned in. Bad Jack. We talked about it a LOT on the way home, and all through dinner. He was in his room for awhile, then came out with "I LOVE IZZY" printed neatly across his entire forearm. The upshot? He spelled it correctly, and I guess he's a kid who knows what he wants. Plus he's adorable.
Ryker continues to be our little puppy. He's hilarious. Tonight he was "reading" us a joke book, after I read it first. He'd look at an illustration of an elephant and then go "why da eh-ya-phent sooo big?" and we'd say "why?" and he'd go "I don't know" and turn the page. We did that over and over and over.
I keep forgetting to post some of my favorite words of his - but my current one is "moan" which really means "more." "Can I have some moan?" Hilarious every single time. Also, he now "chaps his yips" before bed, with his chapstick, and asks you if you want him to chap YOUR lips as well. Makes perfect sense, when you think about it.
I'm getting discharged from PT/OT tomorrow. That will be my 24th appointment, and that is all that insurance covers. 24 appointments since November. It's like a second home now. I saw the spine doc on Tuesday and he spent a full hour with me in the room - not leaving once. Mostly he was scratching his head and re-reading his notes and testing and re-testing various things on me. I appear to be a conundrum. I have progressed really well with their machines - achieving the goal weight on both of the two machines I'm in. I am also able to do the home program (circuit) just fine by myself. So they are discharging me because I can't achieve much else IN their gym. They'll discharge me to their maintenance program, which means I'll actually be back there once a month for a long time, but it's better than twice a week! The question then became what to DO with me since I'm still numb on the right side of my right leg, and I still can't do any cardio without increasing my leg symptoms. So we're doing an MRI on Monday and then I'll go back to him to review the films. We'll go from there. For extra sympathy, I'll remind you all that this started back in OCTOBER.
But now we're moving into spring, planning summer camps/trips already, setting up a chore-chart for Jack, and marching forward.
Chuck went to Mancation a few weekends ago. I think it's their 6th year? 7th? Impressive, whatever it is. They have a great time though, and then Chuck is really glad to be home and in a house that is NOT full of a dozen guys.
We had conferences for Jack last week. He's kicking his academic work's *ss. Can I say that? He really is though. Example - the expectation for the END of kindergarten is for him to be at level 4 of this one reading program. In February he was on level 8. So he's doing really well. His teacher is great and we are able to bounce lots of ideas off of her and work together with her to help Jack with things he's struggling with. Example - the final statement on his conference form was "We need to work with Jack on truth-telling and making good choices." I wanted to slither off of my chair and under the table, but I thought that wasn't really modeling good choices so I sat upright and quietly mumbled obscenities to myself instead.
We found out that he kissed Izzy again. He hadn't for a few months, but I guess he put his jacket up over his mouth and then leaned in. Bad Jack. We talked about it a LOT on the way home, and all through dinner. He was in his room for awhile, then came out with "I LOVE IZZY" printed neatly across his entire forearm. The upshot? He spelled it correctly, and I guess he's a kid who knows what he wants. Plus he's adorable.
Ryker continues to be our little puppy. He's hilarious. Tonight he was "reading" us a joke book, after I read it first. He'd look at an illustration of an elephant and then go "why da eh-ya-phent sooo big?" and we'd say "why?" and he'd go "I don't know" and turn the page. We did that over and over and over.
I keep forgetting to post some of my favorite words of his - but my current one is "moan" which really means "more." "Can I have some moan?" Hilarious every single time. Also, he now "chaps his yips" before bed, with his chapstick, and asks you if you want him to chap YOUR lips as well. Makes perfect sense, when you think about it.
I'm getting discharged from PT/OT tomorrow. That will be my 24th appointment, and that is all that insurance covers. 24 appointments since November. It's like a second home now. I saw the spine doc on Tuesday and he spent a full hour with me in the room - not leaving once. Mostly he was scratching his head and re-reading his notes and testing and re-testing various things on me. I appear to be a conundrum. I have progressed really well with their machines - achieving the goal weight on both of the two machines I'm in. I am also able to do the home program (circuit) just fine by myself. So they are discharging me because I can't achieve much else IN their gym. They'll discharge me to their maintenance program, which means I'll actually be back there once a month for a long time, but it's better than twice a week! The question then became what to DO with me since I'm still numb on the right side of my right leg, and I still can't do any cardio without increasing my leg symptoms. So we're doing an MRI on Monday and then I'll go back to him to review the films. We'll go from there. For extra sympathy, I'll remind you all that this started back in OCTOBER.
But now we're moving into spring, planning summer camps/trips already, setting up a chore-chart for Jack, and marching forward.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Another Ryker-ism
This morning Ryker announced that he couldn't get his sweater down. He means sweatshirt but it's cute so I don't correct him. Also, I vaguely remember having trouble with this distinction myself, or maybe it was Ryan. Or my Grandmother Fern. Who knows. Anyway, I know what he means.
I went into his room to help him and said "oh Ryk - this is a NEW sweatshirt!" Correction here too, it was Buster's, then Jack's, now Ryker's. New to him.
He beamed up at me and said "what's it's name??"
"Umm, I'm not sure. What do YOU want to call it?" I said.
"Cartwheel."
Sure babe. Why not?
I went into his room to help him and said "oh Ryk - this is a NEW sweatshirt!" Correction here too, it was Buster's, then Jack's, now Ryker's. New to him.
He beamed up at me and said "what's it's name??"
"Umm, I'm not sure. What do YOU want to call it?" I said.
"Cartwheel."
Sure babe. Why not?
Monday, February 13, 2012
Ryker Listens
The other night Jack was having a rough time. He was throwing a tantrum and had been sent to his room. Chuck and I were both in Ryker's room, explaining that Jack was making bad choices and that he was in a timeout because of that.
Ryker didn't really appear to be listening to us, and was busy getting his pajamas ready for bedtime. Without turning back to us, and kind of under his breath, he goes "God bwess it." Then three more times "God bwess it. God bwess it. God bwess it."
Chuck and I stared at each other, eyes WIDE open and jaws on the floor.
Chuck goes "what are you talking about Ryker?"
Ryker goes "Sassin's 'havior."
Awesome.
Ryker didn't really appear to be listening to us, and was busy getting his pajamas ready for bedtime. Without turning back to us, and kind of under his breath, he goes "God bwess it." Then three more times "God bwess it. God bwess it. God bwess it."
Chuck and I stared at each other, eyes WIDE open and jaws on the floor.
Chuck goes "what are you talking about Ryker?"
Ryker goes "Sassin's 'havior."
Awesome.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Proverbs
I read the funniest thing on Facebook today. I don't know if it was true, but the story goes that a 1st grade teacher gave her student the start of famous proverbs and made them finish them.
So I decided to try it with my kids. I had a hunch they wouldn't participate for long, so I bribed them by throwing gummy bears at them at random intervals.
Here were their answers:
1. Don't change horses
Jackson: because the other one might be mean.
Ryker: bad or good.
2. Strike while the
J: painted zebra.
R: zebra.
3. It's always darkest before
J: night
R: (silence)
4. Never underestimate the power of
J: because you might be smarter than you think you are.
R: change. (I kid you not - that's what he said.)
5. You can lead a horse to water but
J: there's water in the way.
R: we need gas.
6. Don't bite the hand that
J: is a skunk.
R: is a shark.
7. No news is
J: no fun.
R: changeable.
8. A miss is as good as a
J: shoot.
R: tigress.
9. You can't teach an old dog new
J: tricks that dogs already know.
R: changing invisible.
10. If you lie down with dogs, you'll
J: it will be soft.
R: bite.
11. Love all, trust
J: Momma.
R: (silence)
12. The pen is mightier than the
J: horse.
R: no one.
13. An idle mind is
J: nothing that talks.
(At this point Ryker takes a break to eat the rest of his dinner.)
14. Where there's smoke there's
J: fire. (good one!)
15. Happy the bride who
J: marries.
16. A penny saved is
J: a dime. (we need to work on money, I guess)
17. Two's company, three's
J: makes fours.
18. Don't put off till tomorrow what
J: because it might be a terrible day tomorrow.
19. Laugh and the whole world laughs with you, cry and
J: whine.
20. There are none so blind as
J: Old Man Jankins. (I looked perplexed, and Chuck and Jack cracked up laughing. I guess the other day in the store Jack pointed up at some random old man and goes "Look - it's Old Man Jankins!" We have NO IDEA who Old Man Jankins is. Some of you will recall John Millman. I think this might be a similar figment of his imagination.)
21. Children should be seen and not
J: so big.
R: (reenters the game to win more gummy bears) be nice.
22. If at first you don't succeed
J: you do it again.
R: no one.
23. You get out of something only what you
J: don't like.
R: (silence)
24. When the blind lead the blind
J: it gets you nowhere.
R: (silence)
25. A bird in the hand
J: doesn't fly.
R: nothing.
26. Better late than
J: early.
R: no one.
So, clearly we have some work to do on our proverbs with Rykie. Jack, on the other hand, has some pretty decent insights I think.
So I decided to try it with my kids. I had a hunch they wouldn't participate for long, so I bribed them by throwing gummy bears at them at random intervals.
Here were their answers:
1. Don't change horses
Jackson: because the other one might be mean.
Ryker: bad or good.
2. Strike while the
J: painted zebra.
R: zebra.
3. It's always darkest before
J: night
R: (silence)
4. Never underestimate the power of
J: because you might be smarter than you think you are.
R: change. (I kid you not - that's what he said.)
5. You can lead a horse to water but
J: there's water in the way.
R: we need gas.
6. Don't bite the hand that
J: is a skunk.
R: is a shark.
7. No news is
J: no fun.
R: changeable.
8. A miss is as good as a
J: shoot.
R: tigress.
9. You can't teach an old dog new
J: tricks that dogs already know.
R: changing invisible.
10. If you lie down with dogs, you'll
J: it will be soft.
R: bite.
11. Love all, trust
J: Momma.
R: (silence)
12. The pen is mightier than the
J: horse.
R: no one.
13. An idle mind is
J: nothing that talks.
(At this point Ryker takes a break to eat the rest of his dinner.)
14. Where there's smoke there's
J: fire. (good one!)
15. Happy the bride who
J: marries.
16. A penny saved is
J: a dime. (we need to work on money, I guess)
17. Two's company, three's
J: makes fours.
18. Don't put off till tomorrow what
J: because it might be a terrible day tomorrow.
19. Laugh and the whole world laughs with you, cry and
J: whine.
20. There are none so blind as
J: Old Man Jankins. (I looked perplexed, and Chuck and Jack cracked up laughing. I guess the other day in the store Jack pointed up at some random old man and goes "Look - it's Old Man Jankins!" We have NO IDEA who Old Man Jankins is. Some of you will recall John Millman. I think this might be a similar figment of his imagination.)
21. Children should be seen and not
J: so big.
R: (reenters the game to win more gummy bears) be nice.
22. If at first you don't succeed
J: you do it again.
R: no one.
23. You get out of something only what you
J: don't like.
R: (silence)
24. When the blind lead the blind
J: it gets you nowhere.
R: (silence)
25. A bird in the hand
J: doesn't fly.
R: nothing.
26. Better late than
J: early.
R: no one.
So, clearly we have some work to do on our proverbs with Rykie. Jack, on the other hand, has some pretty decent insights I think.
Saturday, January 21, 2012
School Dance
Thursday night we were at Jack's school for Kindergarten Literacy Night. They taught us all about reading strategies and showed us how the kids work on reading at school. It was super fun to hear all of the kindergartners doing their best to read.
We were telling Jack that we were going to be here again the next night for their school dance. Jack had known about it, but still looked nervous. I asked him about it and he said "but they haven't TAUGHT it to us yet so I won't know what to do."
It took me a minute - "school dance" he thought meant something akin to the Hokey Pokey or the chacha. A dance to be learned. HA! Adorable. He told me that he and Izzy were both worried about it.
Izzy, you'll remember, is the little girl in his class that he's particularly fond of.
After the literacy night was finished we went over to meet Izzy's mom. I told Izzy what a school dance was and not to worry. I promised we'd see them there.
So Friday night rolls around and we get decked out. It was a sports-themed party and the whole family was invited.
While we were waiting at the make-shift coat check (adorable), one of Izzy's moms (Leslie) yells out "you're lucky you're here or I was going to be really mad!" We went in and said hi to Izzy and met her other mom (Rhonda) and her little sister, Olivia, who is four. Izzy was dressed in her soccer stuff, just like Jack.
They gave hula hoops out to the kids for a few songs, and we learned three things:
1. Jack is a hula hoop savant. He says he learned from Wii Fit.
2. Hula hoops leave welts if they hit your face. (That was Izzy. Tough kid though, she bounced right back. I don't have a pic. That would have been weird.)
3. Jack's idea of sharing his hoop with Izzy meant having both of them in it at once.
Jack and Izzy were perfectly adorable. She seems as enamored with him as he is with her. Whenever something happened that they were both a little nervous about - the drawing for a contest, lining up for the limbo, gathering to do a dance all together - they stuck to each other like glue.
Jack's teacher played basketball against me in college so we like to flaunt our Carleton-ness for her. She wasn't at the dance but we sent her this pic:
Ryk was a little nervous about this whole thing and spent the first part of the night in Chuck's arms.
Eventually he warmed up to it and we spent a good part of the time dancing our hearts out - ALL of us. Olivia, Ryker, Izzy, Jack, Chuck, Leslie, me and Rhonda. It was hilarious. We kept looking around laughing that the other parents weren't having nearly as much fun as we were.
By the end, Ryker clearly had his own crush on Izzy and Olivia both. They wanted to be chased, and he just wanted to hug them.
It was a blast.
We were telling Jack that we were going to be here again the next night for their school dance. Jack had known about it, but still looked nervous. I asked him about it and he said "but they haven't TAUGHT it to us yet so I won't know what to do."
It took me a minute - "school dance" he thought meant something akin to the Hokey Pokey or the chacha. A dance to be learned. HA! Adorable. He told me that he and Izzy were both worried about it.
Izzy, you'll remember, is the little girl in his class that he's particularly fond of.
After the literacy night was finished we went over to meet Izzy's mom. I told Izzy what a school dance was and not to worry. I promised we'd see them there.
So Friday night rolls around and we get decked out. It was a sports-themed party and the whole family was invited.
While we were waiting at the make-shift coat check (adorable), one of Izzy's moms (Leslie) yells out "you're lucky you're here or I was going to be really mad!" We went in and said hi to Izzy and met her other mom (Rhonda) and her little sister, Olivia, who is four. Izzy was dressed in her soccer stuff, just like Jack.
They gave hula hoops out to the kids for a few songs, and we learned three things:
1. Jack is a hula hoop savant. He says he learned from Wii Fit.
3. Jack's idea of sharing his hoop with Izzy meant having both of them in it at once.
By the end, Ryker clearly had his own crush on Izzy and Olivia both. They wanted to be chased, and he just wanted to hug them.
It was a blast.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
My Love, In Tattoos
A long time ago I decided I liked tattoos. I wanted one. I wanted something that meant something really special to me and would make me smile every time I looked at it. I wanted one to represent my mom and Chuck - the two most important people in my life. My mom and I have a thing about sunflowers. Chuck and my wedding song was At Last. I spent hours drawing those two things together, figuring out ways to incorporate them into one design. Hours turned to days, days to months. A year or two later, I was still talking about it incessantly, but was scared. Finally, Chuck told me to put up or shut up. It was the walk-in appointment day at the tattoo parlor I was going to go to, and Chuck told me I could either go get it that day, or SHUT UP ALREADY. (Okay, he probably didn't say it that harshly.) So off we went, and here's what happened (photo taken tonight - it was much more vibrant 8 years ago or whenever I got it):
When I was pregnant with Jack I started thinking that I'd like to have a tattoo to represent him too. After he was born I waited and waited, trying to think of what I'd like to get. We got our first-year portraits done, and one of them just stuck out to me. That was the one. Again, it took me awhile. I went the day before Mother's Day when Jack was one and a half. Here's that one - that's his foot in my hand, with his initials (JMV), but it's backwards because apparently I'm photo-challenged:
After that I knew I would have to get one for any other kids we might have. You know how second kids complain that our parents didn't fill out our baby books the way they did for their first kid? Yeah - well this would be MUCH worse. "Mom got a TATTOO for me and nothing for you! Ha ha! She loves me MORE!" Okay, so that was a done deal before Ryker was even a twinkle in our eye. Then the wall mural went up, and as Marianne (3rd generation family friend) painted the flag on the wall and harassed us for the initials of Baby To Be Named Later, I knew that would be the tattoo for him. Here's the Flickr set of photos of the nursery. This one took me a LONG time to go do. Not because I'm scared of the permanency, or the pain, or the needles, or wondering if it was the right thing to do. I was just nervous. Normal state for me, as you know. Anyway, I finally committed to doing it, thanks to some gentle nudges from friends and Dr. Tom. I went on Friday, loved the tattoo artist, and here it is. It's still healing, and the picture is a bit dark, but you'll get the idea:
I have one more planned, and it's for ME. I'll get that sooner rather than later, I hope. Then we'll see what happens. I told my tattoo artist I was going to be done then, maybe, and he looked up from his work and laughed at me. "Yeah, I've heard THAT before."
Monday, January 9, 2012
There Aren't Enough Wristbands
Subtitle: Stop Reading if You Don't Want a Buzzkill
Does anyone else think the wheels have come off? Like...on the world? Does it feel like that to everyone else too? Just me? World ending? Mayan Calendar? Apocalypse now? Anyone?
I'm wearing a wristband to support my friend Sean. He was diagnosed with a very rare, very deadly disease. The websites devoted to this disease don't have any tabs called "Survival Stories". He has been in the hospital for four weeks now and has a ways to go before he can even go home. He's had chemo, full body radiation, and a bone marrow transplant. He has a five year old daughter.
One of my best friends, Nicki, is waiting to hear how bad her mom's cancer is. She was diagnosed as Stage IV back in November. We'll hear tomorrow what the prognosis is and what the treatment options are. Her father-in-law has two aneurysms that can't yet be operated on. Her mother-in-law passed away seven months ago.
My other best friend, Nikki (confusing, no?), has a mom who has been fighting cancer for a very long time, going in and out of "good" times. Nikki's boyfriend's mom has had major health issues and was in the hospital over the holidays.
Half of the people in my department at work (literally) have had close family members get diagnosed with cancer recently. Maybe more - those are the ones I know about.
There are more stories - really important ones - but I'll stop there. Like the old saying goes, "if I had a wristband for every person going through major life trauma, I wouldn't need sleeves on my shirts." Or something.
I keep wondering if it's just a weird coincidence or if my eyes are just open to it more now. Has it always been there? Struggles and heartache and hurt? Have I been too focused on my own business to see it, and now that my blinders are off I'm just seeing it EVERYWHERE? Am I finally at the stage in my life where this is the new normal?
I learned something about myself today. When the going gets tough, I do three things:
1. Workout
2. Clean
3. Teach my kids lessons
Poor kiddos. They made the very, very bad mistake of refusing the chili-mac Chuck was offering to make them for dinner. Chili-mac. I was halfway through the dishes I was doing, after I killed myself at the gym (all safe for my back, don't worry). I haven't done dishes in 2 months. It hurt.
The kids refused dinner. I said they should go to bed without dinner then, if they don't appreciate it. Maybe THEN they'd appreciate it. There are people who can't even swallow WATER right now, that are getting their food from a TUBE in their STOMACH and they would LOVE to be able to eat CHILI-MAC.
The kids freaked out. They didn't have any idea what to do. I texted Chuck to see if we should cave. After a good 15-20 minutes of them believing they were not getting fed, we decided (out loud) that if they didn't want the food we were offering, they could make their own. That wouldn't have been so bad, except they were already all worked up. Totally crying and running around the living room giving us hugs and asking if we loved them and sobbing some more. It was pitiful. Then a funny thing happened. They just calmed down. Jack found pizza in the fridge, Ryker said "k, here what we gonna do. ok. here." He sounded very convincing even though I don't think he was adding value at all. First order of business was figuring out how to open the tupperware. I've failed as a parent. They did figure it out, Jack microwaved it, and they spent the next few minutes commenting on how much they loved it and how appreciative they were. Ryker can't really say the word but he tries hard. "I pre-...pre-...she... it."
I put them in bed and told Jack how I was sorry we had to teach them that lesson but it's important. He asked why I wanted kids. HA. Then he asked how long I was going to live. Umm?
Anyway. Where was I going with this?
I'm sending SO much love and support out to all sorts of people. And I'm grateful that my biggest problem tonight was two healthy kids who refused to eat chili-mac.
Does anyone else think the wheels have come off? Like...on the world? Does it feel like that to everyone else too? Just me? World ending? Mayan Calendar? Apocalypse now? Anyone?
I'm wearing a wristband to support my friend Sean. He was diagnosed with a very rare, very deadly disease. The websites devoted to this disease don't have any tabs called "Survival Stories". He has been in the hospital for four weeks now and has a ways to go before he can even go home. He's had chemo, full body radiation, and a bone marrow transplant. He has a five year old daughter.
One of my best friends, Nicki, is waiting to hear how bad her mom's cancer is. She was diagnosed as Stage IV back in November. We'll hear tomorrow what the prognosis is and what the treatment options are. Her father-in-law has two aneurysms that can't yet be operated on. Her mother-in-law passed away seven months ago.
My other best friend, Nikki (confusing, no?), has a mom who has been fighting cancer for a very long time, going in and out of "good" times. Nikki's boyfriend's mom has had major health issues and was in the hospital over the holidays.
Half of the people in my department at work (literally) have had close family members get diagnosed with cancer recently. Maybe more - those are the ones I know about.
There are more stories - really important ones - but I'll stop there. Like the old saying goes, "if I had a wristband for every person going through major life trauma, I wouldn't need sleeves on my shirts." Or something.
I keep wondering if it's just a weird coincidence or if my eyes are just open to it more now. Has it always been there? Struggles and heartache and hurt? Have I been too focused on my own business to see it, and now that my blinders are off I'm just seeing it EVERYWHERE? Am I finally at the stage in my life where this is the new normal?
I learned something about myself today. When the going gets tough, I do three things:
1. Workout
2. Clean
3. Teach my kids lessons
Poor kiddos. They made the very, very bad mistake of refusing the chili-mac Chuck was offering to make them for dinner. Chili-mac. I was halfway through the dishes I was doing, after I killed myself at the gym (all safe for my back, don't worry). I haven't done dishes in 2 months. It hurt.
The kids refused dinner. I said they should go to bed without dinner then, if they don't appreciate it. Maybe THEN they'd appreciate it. There are people who can't even swallow WATER right now, that are getting their food from a TUBE in their STOMACH and they would LOVE to be able to eat CHILI-MAC.
The kids freaked out. They didn't have any idea what to do. I texted Chuck to see if we should cave. After a good 15-20 minutes of them believing they were not getting fed, we decided (out loud) that if they didn't want the food we were offering, they could make their own. That wouldn't have been so bad, except they were already all worked up. Totally crying and running around the living room giving us hugs and asking if we loved them and sobbing some more. It was pitiful. Then a funny thing happened. They just calmed down. Jack found pizza in the fridge, Ryker said "k, here what we gonna do. ok. here." He sounded very convincing even though I don't think he was adding value at all. First order of business was figuring out how to open the tupperware. I've failed as a parent. They did figure it out, Jack microwaved it, and they spent the next few minutes commenting on how much they loved it and how appreciative they were. Ryker can't really say the word but he tries hard. "I pre-...pre-...she... it."
I put them in bed and told Jack how I was sorry we had to teach them that lesson but it's important. He asked why I wanted kids. HA. Then he asked how long I was going to live. Umm?
Anyway. Where was I going with this?
I'm sending SO much love and support out to all sorts of people. And I'm grateful that my biggest problem tonight was two healthy kids who refused to eat chili-mac.
I'll Regret This Later
In the spirit of chronicling the lives of my young ones, and Chuck and me as parents, I'm going to out myself.
I'll regret this later.
I was picking Ryker up from school last week and one of the teachers pulled me aside and said that they were going to be moving him up to the upper preschool room. The way our school works is there is an infant room, toddler room, and then a lower and an upper preschool room.
My reaction? "Is he smart enough for that?"
I kid you not. That is the first thing that popped into my head, and I lost my filter a long time ago, so it came spilling right out of my mouth unabridged.
Here's the thing - it's not that I don't think Ryker is smart. It's just that he doesn't get the chance to show it to us that often, or I don't have a comparison. The comparison I DO have is Jackson, who is 3 years older and brilliant. Jack has conversations with me about democracy, the civil rights movement, physics, and social justice. (Okay, he has the physics discussion with Chuck, not me.) I have conferences with his teacher wherein she tells me that he's smart.
Ryker, on the other hand, is sort of like a pet. He's my little puppy. He's a goof and likes music and sports and doing anything Jackson does. But I have no barometer on his intelligence. He sits quietly while Jack and I have our discussions and then participates by yelling "booty!" once in awhile.
To be fair, I also used to pay attention to all the mile-markers with Jack. I was all OVER Baby Center's website to see what Jack should be doing and when, so I knew if he was doing something that OLDER babies were doing. Comparisons. With Ryker, I am not nearly as paranoid and don't have nearly as much time on my hands.
So I let that slip to the teacher. She looked at me with wide eyes and said "umm, yes. He's a really smart kid." I tried to not look surprised.
While I'm outing myself - my NEXT thought was "oh crap, I have another too-smart-for-his-own-good child."
Wish me luck.
I'll regret this later.
I was picking Ryker up from school last week and one of the teachers pulled me aside and said that they were going to be moving him up to the upper preschool room. The way our school works is there is an infant room, toddler room, and then a lower and an upper preschool room.
My reaction? "Is he smart enough for that?"
I kid you not. That is the first thing that popped into my head, and I lost my filter a long time ago, so it came spilling right out of my mouth unabridged.
Here's the thing - it's not that I don't think Ryker is smart. It's just that he doesn't get the chance to show it to us that often, or I don't have a comparison. The comparison I DO have is Jackson, who is 3 years older and brilliant. Jack has conversations with me about democracy, the civil rights movement, physics, and social justice. (Okay, he has the physics discussion with Chuck, not me.) I have conferences with his teacher wherein she tells me that he's smart.
Ryker, on the other hand, is sort of like a pet. He's my little puppy. He's a goof and likes music and sports and doing anything Jackson does. But I have no barometer on his intelligence. He sits quietly while Jack and I have our discussions and then participates by yelling "booty!" once in awhile.
To be fair, I also used to pay attention to all the mile-markers with Jack. I was all OVER Baby Center's website to see what Jack should be doing and when, so I knew if he was doing something that OLDER babies were doing. Comparisons. With Ryker, I am not nearly as paranoid and don't have nearly as much time on my hands.
So I let that slip to the teacher. She looked at me with wide eyes and said "umm, yes. He's a really smart kid." I tried to not look surprised.
While I'm outing myself - my NEXT thought was "oh crap, I have another too-smart-for-his-own-good child."
Wish me luck.
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Just Like Momma
Last night Jack and I were reading a book about Monster Trucks that he purchased at the school book fair. We hadn't read it yet, and at one point it talked about shock absorbers. He found them on the trucks, but didn't know what they were. I said "you know how you can be in shock when something happens?" and I made a shocked face. He said yes. I said that that same thing can happen physically to you. I asked if he ever jumped down from a high place and had his feet and legs feel funny.
"Yes!" he said. "Also when I use screechy markers."
Being afflicted with all kinds of weird sensation woes, I knew immediately what he meant.
"When I use screechy markers, it makes my whole body feel stingy and weird. I don't like using them."
I know, baby. Me either.
"Yes!" he said. "Also when I use screechy markers."
Being afflicted with all kinds of weird sensation woes, I knew immediately what he meant.
"When I use screechy markers, it makes my whole body feel stingy and weird. I don't like using them."
I know, baby. Me either.
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