Whose Idea Was It to Give The Baby Couscous?
Oh, that's right, it was me.
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Together We Flew
Yesterday Rachel, Jack, Teddy and I went to a playground while Nicholas was at dance class. It was a normal day, Rachel played on the swings, Jack climbed on everything and Teddy ate mulch. I pretty much let them run free. I am not one of those hovering moms. I figured that we played on metal equipment that was sunk into a cement slab and survived, so molded plastic over soft mulch is probably pretty safe.
At one point I sat down on the swings. Now I must say that all this exercising that I have been doing must be starting to pay off, because, for the first time in a long time, the swing did not immediately become a butt vice.
Without even realizing it, I started to push myself back and forth and before I knew it, I was pumping my legs and flying through the air. Rachel was swinging next to me and a look of surprise and joy passed over her face. We were swinging back and forth together in perfect sync.
Often, as many mothers of daughters can relate to I'm sure, Rachel and I butt heads. I'm suborned and generally stretched to my limit and she is dramatic and prone to whining. This is not a good combination. I love her to death, but I know that karma is paying me back big time for every Sarah Barnheart moment that I had as a kid.
However, all of that evaporated yesterday and for a moment mother and daughter flew through the air in perfect harmony. We laughed and squealed. It was one of the most simple and pure moments of joy I have ever experienced.
Boys Dance Too!
I was so pleasantly surprised to see that there were two other boys in Nicholas' dance class today. Nicholas had a great time and the teacher said that he shows much promise. So much promise in fact that she said that if he wanted to take class with his sister as well as the class he is in, it might be good for him because it would push him a little more.
I have my own little Gene Kelly.
The Games Boys Play
Tomorrow we start our first summer camp. It is a week of dancing for the big kids. They will be introduced to all styles. Rachel is looking forward to ballet and Nicholas is just jazzed about tap. Next month they will have a week of cooking camp and then we round out the summer with 4H camp in August.
After signing the kids up for camp, I realized that I didn't pick the most "boy" camps for Nicholas, but he is so excited about each one. I will be curious to see if there are any boys in dance camp with him tomorrow. Either way, I don't think that it will bother him. He just wants to get his tappin' feet grooving.
Nonetheless, it got me to thinking about gender roles and the expectations that we put on boys. Girls are told that they can do anything that boys can do, but boys are told to avoid all things girlie. I have had a few friends who have giggled at the notion of signing a boy up for dance and cooking. I guess they think I should have chosen hand-to-hand combat and misogyny.
Recently, Jack has gotten very in to Dora the Explorer. He interacts with the characters on the show and it has been a great way to expand his vocabulary. With his birthday coming up, I've been trying to find him a Dora t-shirt, but there are none for boys, only Diego, who he enjoys, but Dora is tops in his world right now. Why is it that just because Dora is a girl, she can't have boy fans?
I am just not one of those moms who freaks out if my son wants to do activities that are seen as outside the norm for boys. I don't tell Jack to change if, when playing dress up with Rachel, he decides to put on the princess outfit. And I love that Nicholas thinks that babies are just the greatest thing ever.
The way that I see it, we can't assign adult values to the games kids play. Rachel loves baseball and Nicholas is a fantastic gymnast. Nicholas is also gaa-gaa for trains and Rachel drools over shoes. There are not things that are just for girls and there are not things that are just for boys. Besides, without boys, who are all those girls going to dance with?
My Spirited Little Boy
Today a friend of mine said, "You know Jack is such a spirited child. He's not like other kids. He must be so much more difficult for you." I smiled, nodded and then chased after Jack before he interrupted the girls jump rope team's practice.
I can't really say that I take offense at what my friend said. Jack is spirited and high energy, which often makes him difficult. I sometimes look at other two year olds who have a little more self-control, speak a little clearer and whose mothers don't look quite as frazzled as I often feel and I find myself wondering if there is something wrong with my little experiment in perpetual motion.
Jack is a handful. He is willful, energetic and at time destructive. This child can drive me to my wits end and then push me off the cliff.
But, on the other hand, he makes me laugh. He is definitely the court jester of our house. The sense of humor on this kid could transform a stoic in to Uncle Albert bouncing on the ceiling with laughter. He puts as much energy in to making me laugh as he does in to driving me nuts. So would I be willing to trade in my bouncy comedian for a calm child? Not on your life.
Jack lives life vigorously and that takes a lot of energy. No matter what he is doing, he is experiencing all of it to its fullest. Unfortunately, at this age that means that he runs away sometimes trying to experience the whole of the world and there is just so much world to explore, but this is a trait that will serve him well as he gets older. He will never be a shrinking violet on the sidelines of life. He will be right there in the think of it yelling for more.
Finally, Jack's destructiveness is not born out of malice, rather curiosity. He is always trying to figure things out. For all of his energy, when he is intent on a project, that is all there is. Tonight he was playing a new game on the computer and turned down ice cream so that he could have more time to play. I know that I am probably looking at years of finding computers, clocks, toys, ect. pulled apart (and Jack will have his partner-in-crime Nicholas helping), but just think about what he could come up with once he starts putting things together for himself.
There are also traits in Jack that make my heart just about burst. A Jack hug is like no other. They usually don't last long, but they are full of sincerity and love. And his laugh is like fireworks, explosive and full of light. His galloping run as he tries desperately to keep up with his big brother and sister is endearing. His daring, while terrify as his mother, is wondrous. There are no strangers in Jack's world and he will make friends with anyone no matter their age. Also, he is a complete ladies man. Just today he had an entire girls jump roping team, about 8 middle school girls, gathered around him and eating out of the palm of his hand. His standard line is, "Hi. I Jack. I fast."
I would be lying if I said that Jack didn't drive me out of my gourd some times or that I look forward to going grocery shopping with him because I am sure that all the other people can see the same potential that I see. He is difficult. He is a handful. He is spirited, energetic and, at times, completely draining, but he is also amazing, loving and determined. I look at him and I see possibility and greatness. I see drive and determination. I see an amazing little guy who has my heart wrapped around his little finger.
Some days I feel like I am just trying to survive his childhood, but I know that when he has grown in to the amazing man I know he will become, I will look back on these as the happiest days of my life.
Adventures in Potty Training
After showing signs that he is ready (i.e. telling me when he needs a new diaper), I have decided to start potty training Jack. I am a big believer in the fact that you can lead a toddler to the potty, but you can't potty train him until he is ready. Nicholas wasn't ready until he was three and no matter what I did before that point (stickers, candy, cooling Pull-Ups) didn't get us any closer to being potty trained.
So today Jack is pantless, but he does have on a Pull-Up. I have had other mother's tell me that the best way to potty train is to let them go totally commando, but I have enough to clean without adding urine to the mix. Besides, Jack is the type of kid who will pee on something and just sit there until someone says something to him. Remember, this is the kid who can lose 20% of his body weight and not bat an eye.
We are visiting the potty every 15 minutes. We started at every 30 minutes, but we were always arriving with an empty bladder and a full Pull-Up. So we've lowered it to 15 minutes and I am pushing the liquids. Hey Jack, you want more juice?
So far we have had two successes on the potty, two wet Pull-Ups and one bizarre experience that involved peeing in the toy box. I don't even know what lead to that. Being that it is only 10 AM, I am taking our two successes as a good sign.
I've also added the positive re-enforcement of a Hershey's kiss every time Jack has a successful trip to the potty. If I had thought about the fact that it is summer, I might have picked a different treat, but these were on sale and I am just too cheap to buy stuff that is not on sale. Maybe that will change when I am back to buying diapers for only one kid.
Because Living in a Zoo Isn't Enough
For Father's Day we took a trip to the National Zoo. The weather was perfect and we had a great time. By the end both big kids were saying, "My dogs are barking," because of all the walking up and down hills.
By far, Jack had the best time. As Marty predicted, this was the first time that Jack "got" what the zoo was all about. Every time he saw an animal he would start to yell, "I see it! I see it! I see it!" However, even more than the animals, Jack loved the cooling misters that are scattered around to give people a respite from the heat. He got soaked to the bone more than once. It was great to watch him, but tough to catch him when it was time to move on. Between the water and the sunscreen, I would have had more luck grabbing a greased pig.
Vynl, Rewinding and Other Relics from the Past
Since school got out, we have sort of been vegging out. Hence the lack of posts. Also, the kids have wanted to watch some very old school Disney movies. Movies that we only have on VHS. Yes, we still have some VHS. Lord help us when the world upgrades to the next technology. We will just be even further behind.
The kids are perplexed every time I have to rewind a tape. These are children who don't know life before DVD. They have no concept of "Please be Kind and Rewind." If they want to watch a movie, they just put it in and start it at any point of the story they want.
They are even further perplexed when I tell them that when I was growing up we didn't have a VHS player until I was in the 2nd or 3rd grade. My parents saved up for one using the money mom made selling Sandex sandlels. A VHS player was a major investment back then.
This revelation brought the obvious question of how we watched movies when I was little. The short answer kids, we didn't. And there were only 3 major channels on the tv and we were usually only allowed to watch cartoons on Saturday. When I tell them all this they look at me like I grew up in the stone age and then they usually ask if we had cars or dinasaurs when I was little. Or if one of their grandparents knew Jesus personally. If not maybe, they knew George Washington. Aren't kids cute?
Today we were at a used book store and I found a couple of records and at 50 cents each, who could resist. When we got home, I turned on the turn table and showed Rachel how these things that are, in her words "just like CDs but big and black," play. As soon as I put the record on the turn table Rachel wanted to know if she could push it back and forth like a rapper. Of course she would ask that, it is her only reference point for records. I told her no and that records were good for more than scratching.
We have had a lovely afternoon watching the Muppets on cassette, listening to old records and making Mommy feel really old.
SCHOOL'S OUT FOR SUMMER, SCHOOL'S OUT FOREVER!
School is Out!!!!! So I shall celebrate our fabulous summer with song. Can you tell I am more than just a little excited?!?!?
