Motherhood

Tap, tap, tap….

Sarah Matthew, Motherhood

Is this thing on?

It’s been a while, hasn’t it?

Let me explain.  No, wait, there is too much.  Let me sum up.

Lots of everyday, crazy fun and messy life has happened in the past, oh, almost two years now.  I’m not really sure why I stopped blogging except that things got busy for a while, and then I fell out of the habit.  And then things got *really* busy again.  Because, well, this little man joined our family in August, 2013:

Matthew Denis, 4 days old

And nothing makes time shorter than a new baby – they grow and change so fast and the moments slip by even while you’re trying to hold them tight.  New babies completely rock your world.

Matthew @ 6 months - future rock star?

But then, while trying to remember when one of the girls started walking, I thought about my letters to them every month, and the posts I had written capturing all of those little moments that you promise yourself you’ll remember but you’re so busy and sleep deprived and distracted that you don’t.  And I realized that I want those for Matthew, too.  I’ve written some things down in other places, so I may post-date a few things so I can find them someday, but whether I get to those or not I’m going to work to keep things updated going forward.  Because you don’t get those moments back, but reading about them years later is almost as good.

So. Here’s to spring, a renewal of warmth, light, growing things…and blogging.

My three little leprechauns.

 

Just Stay Little

Sarah Motherhood

This afternoon I tried to clear off our overflowing bookshelves.  When the books are all crammed together it’s hard to find anything, and the kids get frustrated looking for what they want.  I thought, OK, I can get rid of most of the board books – I’ll keep a few for when Anna starts reading, but let the rest go.  They’re covered with dust.  Nobody looks at them anymore.

But I can’t.

I tried.  I really did.  There are piles of books strewn all over my living room as evidence of my failed attempt to let go.

Sandra Boynton, Karen Katz, Eric Carl, Eric Hill.  Lift the flaps and crinkly, noisy, touchy books.  This beautiful library of board books started both girls down the path of loving to read.  How could they have been left behind so quickly?

In my head I know that keeping board books won’t keep my girls little, but my heart just isn’t ready to part with them yet.

Sometimes I should probably just nod and say “yes”.

Sarah Carolyn, Motherhood

Conversation in the car earlier as we pulled into the driveway after dance class:

Anna: “Mama, what is that on top of the roof?”
Me: “That’s the chimney, honey, for the fireplace we never use.”
Carolyn: “Yeah, we’ve never used it, have we?”
Me: “Well, not since before you were born.”
Carolyn: “Oh!  Is that because it contributes to greenhouse gases?  When I was born did you start thinking more about the world around you because you wanted to be more environmentally responsible for me and all the other children in the world?”
Me: “Um…well, honestly?  It made the house too stinky.”
Carolyn: “Oh.”

Maybe sometimes honesty is not the best policy!  Also, where on earth did she come up with that whole speech?  I mean, we are pretty environmentally friendly, but have never talked about these things in anything approaching those words…

Puppy Paws

Sarah Motherhood

Yesterday I noticed how big my big girl has gotten recently. You know how puppies – the little 2 month old puppies you bring home – have short little stubby legs and round little bellies and soft, short little faces? And then a few months later, before the adult dog emerges, they become sort of juvenile puppies, with oddly long legs and huge paws and longer, more defined faces.

Carrie has hit that stage. She seems to have grown overnight, into impossibly long legs and really big feet, and something about her face has changed – her nose? the shape of her eyes? – to look older. Suddenly it seems appropriate for her to be watching Arthur and Electric Company instead of Sesame Street and Dora.

They grow up too fast. It’s such a cliché, but it’s true. Much too fast.

Ah, the joys…

Sarah Motherhood

…of motherhood, that is.

So Carrie got off the bus yesterday and declared school to be boring.  She said the only part she liked was recess and that was too short.

And then Anna turned out to be feverish right after dinner, and was up half the night.  She apparently has the same virus that Carrie did last weekend.  The only thing more pathetic and sad than a 4 year old with a tummy bug is a 1 year old with a tummy bug.  Poor baby has been crying most of today…

But at least today seems to have been better for Carrie.  When asked how her day went, she told me it was good, and only a little bit boring.

Hopefully tomorrow will be better for all of us!

A Shopping We Will Go…

Sarah Motherhood

I’m pretty sure that I might be the only mom in the world who actually enjoys grocery shopping with the kids.  Don’t get me wrong, it takes a lot longer than shopping alone, and there are the usual requests for the boxes of brightly colored, sugar laden cereals and snacks.  But we’ve got a system.

It involves one of those magical inventions: the car cart.20090903_car_cart

The big girl is still happy to ride, and in the process entertains her sister and can dole out snacks as needed.  The little girl loves playing with the steering wheel and squeaky horn.  As long as I don’t drag the trip on for too long, it’s great!

Anna and I are going to have to figure out a new plan next week, as I’m not so sure she’ll be happy to ride all alone up front.  I guess I’ll go back to the regular kind of cart until she’s old enough to ask for a car!

Soccer Mom

Sarah Motherhood

Well, I’ve had the car for five years now, but I couldn’t officially call myself a soccer mom until yesterday.  But with Carrie playing soccer, I guess that’s what I’ve become!  Granted, it’s just a week long intro to soccer skills kind of thing, we’re not traveling for games or anything – although with the amount of stuff I need to pack up and get out of the house you’d think we were going across the country to play!

Let’s see.  There’s the diaper bag, of course.  And a small knitting bag just in case for some reason I have time to knit.  (I’ve kept up this delusion for almost five years now, that I might have time to knit wherever I go.  It doesn’t really happen all that often.)  And then there’s the picnic lunch I’ve packed for all of us.  And sunblock, water bottles, hats and a soccer ball.  Plus a camp chair.  Really, I feel ridiculous loading all of this into and out of the stroller basket!

Strong Museum

Sarah Carolyn, Motherhood

Susie and I took the kids to the Strong Museum for what will probably be the last time before the big kids head off to school.  It was pretty deserted, so the kids got to do pretty much everything they wanted to, including riding the train and the carousel.20090807_withjoey

I did have a little run-in with a less-than-nice person when I sat down in an out-of-the way corner of one of the rooms to nurse Anna, though.  She didn’t actually confront me, but accosted a staff member to complain about how all these women had the nerve to just sit down wherever they wanted to and whip it all out to feed their babies, and why on earth couldn’t they just do that in the bathroom?  It creates such awkward situations with her 6 year old screaming “Look, Mommy, boobies!”  And really, what about the dads who come to the museum and have to witness it?  Won’t somebody think of the dads?!?  Somehow there was also some bit about a Jim Carrey movie in there too, about how his (adult) character went up to a nursing mother in a park and started nursing and how disgusting that was.

For the record, other than myself, this woman, and one other mother, plus the 6 or 7 children who belonged to us all, the room was deserted.  Also, I don’t “whip it all out” when I nurse.  Anna and I have a lot of practice being discreet.  You’d have to stare pretty long and hard to even see a flash of my nursing bra, let alone any skin.  Plus, well, my right to nurse wherever I want (and I don’t want to nurse in a bathroom, thank you very much) is protected by law.  Oh!  And the little room set aside for nursing moms, that I would have prefered to use anyway?  That was occupied by a bottle feeding dad.  I have no idea what the Jim Carrey movie has to do with me.

Soooooo.

Luckily I managed to get over her insane ranting (it helped that the staff member apologized profusely (though it certainly wasn’t her fault) after the woman left, and that the other mother in the room was very supportive) and have a great rest of the day at the museum.

But sheesh.  Some people.

Excitement + Melancholy

Sarah Motherhood, School Days

We got Carrie’s teacher assignment in the mail today.  She’s going to be in K/1 multi-age instead of traditional kindergarten.  I’m really, really excited for her, I think this is going to be a great fit for her personality and learning style!

At the same time, I’m not ready for kindergarten.  Carrie is most certainly ready, but I am not.  I wish there were a half-day option in our district.  I wish I could keep her home with me forever.  I wish she’d stay four-and-three-quarters for always.

But, since that can’t happen, we’re going to make the best of it.  Here’s to a wonderful start to school and a lifetime of learning!