Things I've Learned

Not a life changing, awe-inspiring list. Don't expect to be amazed. But I bet you've learned some of these lessons yourself:

*When Husband says he'll be home early, he does not mean 2 hours early. Not even an hour early. He means he'll be home 5 minutes early, then sit in the truck in the driveway talking (for work, of course!) for another 20 minutes. Technically, he was home early. I used to think "early" meant early and would eagerly await for him to come home and play with the kiddos. I have learned.

*That it's ok to serve vegetable with butter and salt if it's the only way my kiddos will eat them. At least they're eating veggies, right?! I have learned.

*The disappearance of all hair clips, bows, and rubber bands can be blamed on the kiddos. I find Barbies and stuffed animals with the weirdest hairdos, bunny ears painfully pulled back into clips, dog collars laced with ribbons. I have learned. Don't buy more hair clips, just go find the stuffed animals and steal them back.

*I have learned to delegate chores I don't want to do to the kiddos. Don't want to clean up dog poop? Now it's an item on their chore chart. Tired of unloading the dishwasher day after day? Chore chart! This is great! Lesson quickly learned.

*I know when my kiddos need to go the bathroom before they do. They hop, twist, and wriggle around and steadfastly answer, "NO, I do not need to go the bathroom. Stop asking." Two minutes later, BAM, they have to go to the bathroom and it's a matter of national importance that they go NOW. Hurry up Mom. Hurry up! Still, I can't help but asking them over and over, "Do you need to go to the bathroom?" Still learning on this one.

Puke etiquette?

My eldest, the Big Sister, threw up in karate class tonight.

She had been feeling a bit "off" all day. Her head hurt; she wasn't hungry. I took her temperature in the early afternoon and she was fine. We went to karate.

A little more than halfway through class she said her stomach hurt. She was excused to go to the restroom. She came back and asked if she could sit out for the last 10 minutes, because her stomach hurt. This is not typical for the Big Sister. She sat down, called to me, and I saw her face go white.

I got permission to leave the mat (always the rule follower), asked her if she was going to throw up. She nodded, I grabbed her hand and we headed to the bathroom. Two steps later, she lost it.

I had two thoughts flash through my mind at this point: One, we would never make it to the bathroom in time, and two, if we tried to go to the bathroom, we would just leave a nasty trail behind us. I opted to stay where we were and try and keep the mess contained to one spot.

I held my hands out to catch it, VERY aware that we were in the parent viewing area, and on the carpet. She vomited until I had no more room for her to vomit into, and onto the floor it went. (I know this is gross, but bear with me. There's a point.)

Finally, one of the other dads hopped up and ran out. He came back in with a trashcan, but she was done by then. Everyone else just sat there and watched.

One mom did get up and hand us some kleenex when we were done. It was a helpful gesture, as Big Sister had stuff all down the front of her shirt and pants, and her belt. And her feet. (Before you start feeling too sorry for her, let's all remember that I had the stuff in my hands. IN MY HANDS. And on my pants and my feet--cuz, really, it's all about me, right?!)

Is there some sort of etiquette when a child vomits? I felt terrible that we had made such a mess. In the main walkway. In the parent viewing area. On the carpet. Not on the slick, easy to clean mats. Not outside. Not in the bathroom. I apologized profusely as the owner cleaned up. I so wanted to help her. After all, it's my kid's puke. I should be the one to clean it up, right? But Big Sister was embarrassed and feeling poorly. She wanted to get home.

So we went home.

Found out later the instructor had to finish cleaning it up. Ugh. Poor guy.

Big Sister took a shower at home, put her pjs on and crawled into bed. She immediately fell asleep. And three hours later she is still asleep. Poor kid.

Bath Time...or Lack Thereof

Today the Princess announced, "Mom, I haven't had a shower or bath in a long time. I need to take one."

This is from the 5 year old.

This is a problem.

Has it really been since Sunday when she last took a bath?

Holy cow. Bad parenting award, right here. I'm the winner of that one.

She didn't smell, her hair didn't look dirty. I had no idea she had gone so long without washing. Eeewwwwwwww. I apologize to all who have come into contact with my daughter in the past few days, especially her school mates.

However, despite my poor parenting skills and her dirt, the Princess managed to meet her husband at school this past Wednesday. She got in the car and announced that she had decided who her husband was going to be. She wanted to double-check with me to see if it is ok for her to marry someone with darker skin than herself. I told her yes, she smiled and told me the name of the boy she is going to marry. I asked her if she had informed the boy about her plans. "Not yet," she said.

At least a little dirt hasn't stopped her world from turning!

Anyone else ever forget to wash their kids?

2 Things NOT To Do On An Airplane

1) If your daughter (or son) is playing her Nintendo DS Mario Bros. game, DO NOT yell out, "Kill the bomb!" on an airplane. Nothing bad happened to me, except I freaked out Scott, but the potential was there. I thought nothing of it at the time. She's playing a game, for goodness sakes. But, really, it's not a good thing to yell on a plane.

2) Do not let your kids play with Glitter Lava. It's kinda like Silly Putty and kinda like Play-Doh. It's oozie, it's stretchable, and it has glitter in it. Perfect to keep the girls occupied on our flight- so I thought. Once again, husband pointed out that playing with gel on an airplane isn't a good idea. Point taken, especially since I had already yelled Bomb (see #1).

*An opinion about Glitter Lava. DO NOT BUY IT. It does not come out of clothes. It's a great toy if you're going to let the kiddos run around, outside, naked, but other than that, it's a no go.

Things Our Kids Teach Us

Aren't kids amazing?

They teach us so many things. Patience, for one.

But they also introduce us to parts of life that we would have missed out on otherwise. Take karate, for instance. I never thought I would be working toward my yellow belt; I am because of my children. Isn't that great?!

I am now tackling one of my fears: skiing.

I used to love skiing. Somewhere along the way, I developed a fear of skiing. Not of falling. I don't mind if I fall. I'm scared of not stopping. I'm scared of getting on and getting off the ski lift.

But we decided as a family to go skiing for Spring Break, so here I am, facing my fears for my kids. I don't want them to know I'm scared, because I want them to fall in love with skiing.

First run of the day after dropping the kiddos off at ski school--I cried the entire way down. It just scared me.

At the bottom of the run I told Scott I wanted to take a group lesson. I got signed up and within the first 30 minutes, ski instructor Chuck got me over my fears. Yup. No more ski fears! YES!

So, tomorrow Big Sis, Dad and I will go skiing together for the first time. Princess didn't quite pass Ski School so she has to go back tomorrow.

I love my kids! I'm skiing again, without fear, because of them.

Week 1, Tri Training

I have completed week one of my first ever Triathlon Training.

Whew!

Honestly, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Meaning, I could actually complete each day's worth of exercises. No small feat for someone as nonathletic as me.

Swimming on Day One was harder than I thought. I realized that even though I can run a 5K (again, something of a challenge for this asthmatic, nonathletic mom) I am not in the best of shape. However, I LOVED the swimming. Now I am on a hunt to find a place where I can swim several times a week. I've even got the gear: (because if you're gonna attempt something, you gotta look your best!) swim cap, nose clip, goggles. Bring it on!

My bike has been in the shop getting a tune up so I had to use the stationary bike at the gym. Not a big fan of the stationary bike. It just doesn't really feel like a workout; which makes me think I may not be doing it correctly.... But, I picked up Sparkles (the bike. Yes. I named my bike) today and she is ready to go. Group bike is tomorrow. I am already intimidated because I know I am the weakest of the group- which lends itself to predatory animal analogies, but I try not to go there. Have not been on a real (non-stationary) bike in about 5 years, so tomorrow will be very interesting. Hope I don't fall off.

Couldn't do the run on Thursday because I hurt my knees in karate class the night before. I walked around the zoo for three hours though, so that counts for something! My knees have recovered, so I completed the run for today. Yay me!

The Core workout for the swim was a nice change. Hard, but I really enjoyed it.

So, there ya have it. Week One. Check.

Next week looks to be about the same, but Week Three we step things up a bit.

Haven't noticed any weight loss yet, but overall I just feel healthier.

My arm is finally better, so I can start weights this week.

I am really enjoying this whole experience so far, and am super glad to have a reason to look forward to exercising.

Learning New Things

Just wanted to share a few new things going on in our household:

**I have discovered the most wonderful book EVER. It describes my Princess perfectly and how to "handle" her.

Strong-Willed Child or Dreamer? by Dr. Spears and Dr. Braund

I've always known that Princess wasn't strong-willed. But she is...something. According to this book, she is a dreamer. Imaginative, sensitive, moody, compassionate, and stubborn. It's almost as if the authors have been spying on my family for the past 5 years. That's how PERFECT this book is describing Princess. I have highlighted something on almost every page. I FINALLY feel that I understand my child. She is not an easy one to figure out, but she is amazing.

Scott and I have been implementing some of the techniques used in the book and we have seen a change in Princess. More compliance. More happy (if that's possible!). Fewer tears and whining. I'm going to buy a copy of this book for every teacher that Princess has!!

**The chore chart.

We have tried these in the past, and we are pitiful at following through with them. This time, we have vowed that we will be better.

The one thing that sold me on this chore chart as opposed to the others we've tried, is that the kiddos get to choose whether or not they get an allowance at the end of the week, or a special treat that they choose.

Both of my kids picked the special treat. Big Sis chose to make a special cake with Mommy on Saturday. Just the two of us. Princess chose to have Dad take her to the park on Saturday--just the two of them.

As expected, Big Sis is WAY into the chore chart. She's Type A, first born child. Princess has shown more interest than usual, I think because her reward is so special to her.

Just an update on what is going on here. Hope all is well in your household!