It’s OK

March 09 2010 · 10 Comments
Posted in: The Kids · Tags: Ethan, motherhood

Putting the kids to bed is always an ordeal. We started out doing it wrong, and now don’t have the energy to change it. Instead of letting Ethan fall asleep on his own, I lie there with him until his eyes are closed. Some nights, this time spent in bed next to my son is relaxing. Other nights, it’s thoroughly aggravating. The yin and the yang. Kind of like the rest of parenting.

The other night, all I wanted to do was watch the conclusion of a television show, but as so often happens, it fell right at Ethan’s bedtime. I could tell that he was going to be excessively difficult that night, and I would miss every last second of what I wanted to watch.

I was right. He tossed and turned every which way for an hour, while I sat quietly next to him in the dark. I was frustrated and impatient. Apparently, so was Ethan. He began to whimper and pout, a pitiful enraged cry mere seconds away. Maybe he couldn’t get comfortable. Maybe he wasn’t ready for bed. Maybe he was fighting it with all he had. Maybe he could sense my mood shifting negative.

Even though I was frustrated. Even though I was upset. I leaned over and kissed the small curve of his shoulder. “It’s OK.”, I whispered in his ear. “It’s OK.”

I took a deep breath and exhaled away every bit of paltry frustration. “It’s OK.”

“It’s OK. It’s OK. It’s OK…”, Ethan repeated to himself in a sequentially softer tone. A short time later, he finally closed his eyes and fell asleep.

Maybe sometimes, we all just need a little reminder.

Thank God for Google

March 04 2010 · 13 Comments
Posted in: The Kids · Tags: conversation, Jayden

“Mommy, what’s a soul?”

Jayden is at that tender age where his brain is an absorbent sponge, greedily soaking up every morsel of knowledge it can. What’s scary about this is that the breadth of the information he’s storing comes straight from me, as I’m his preferred go-to person. Though when he must turn to his father, the experience doesn’t fare much better. This responsibility is not taken lightly. I want to make sure I’m answering his questions honestly and correctly to the best of my limited ability. Which means I can’t just make this stuff up.

At 6 years old, most of what he asks is fairly simple. Some, however, hinder me perplexed.

Then, there are those questions that leave me staring slackjawed at the wall, hoping he’ll get distracted by something else and forget it altogether.

“Um, what?”

“What’s a soul?”

“Well… it’s… uh… it’s kind of who you are.”

His eyes began to squint in confusion. I didn’t blame him, I was about to confuse myself.

“You know, it’s… well, like your spirit.”

“Oh… Mommy? What’s a spirit?”

Shit, kid. “Why don’t we just Google it?”

“Helping” Hand

March 03 2010 · 8 Comments
Posted in: The Kids · Tags: letters, Maddie

Dear Madison,

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for all the “help” you’ve been recently. While your coordination on certain efforts leave a little something to be desired, I’m trying to remember it’s the thought that counts. Plus, it’s already more than your brothers have ever done without a lot of finagling.

You “help” us sort toys, throwing cars and figures in the wrong bin, but it’s a bin nonetheless. You “help” put away the laundry after I’ve neatly folded it into piles. While it’s usually a crumpled mess by the time you get it in a drawer, at least you tried and that is reason to celebrate. When the groceries are brought in, you will even “help” put a few things away, before you run off with the rest.

You also like to “help” delitter the floors by hand, picking up and pointing out every single fuzzy and crumb you come across. If this is your subtle way of hinting, I get it. Vacuuming is on my to-do list.

Even when I reprimand the boys, you are always there “helping”. A little echo of “no no no” trailing on the end of a point that has already been made.

However, there is one area where your assistance simply isn’t necessary. As considerate as your motives are, I don’t need you to “help” me take care of business in the bathroom. I appreciate your concern, but I am more than capable of handling that matter all on my own.

Lots of Love,
Your Mom

Pretty in Pink

March 02 2010 · 9 Comments
Posted in: The Kids · Tags: Ethan, life

I may have mentioned once or twice or twenty times how Ethan likes to scale the kitchen counters. It’s not an exaggeration. This doesn’t just happen every now and then. No, he hones this skill on multiple occasions daily. If counter climbing was an Olympic sport, he’d be going for the gold. Usually in an attempt to obtain hidden Christmas figures in an overhead cabinet or a cereal box or to spill olive oil out of it’s bottle. That last one is fun to clean up, I might add.

He’s a daredevil, we’ve been known to explain. No matter how often or harsh I reprimand, he does it anyway. Any attention is good attention when you’re a 3 year old testing your boundaries, it seems. Still, the ebb and flow is aggravating and impossible.

Jayden never did this when he was Ethan’s age. I don’t recall Jayden trying to climb much of anything aside from a chair. To sit down. My kind of kid.

As such, it’s no surprise when I caught him on the kitchen counter yesterday morning. It’s also not much of a shock when I began to storm up to him upset and exasperated, my arms extended and ready to pry him down yet again. It was too early in the day and I wasn’t even fully awake yet.

Walking closer, however, I saw in his hand a tube of lip gloss that I had been hiding in plain sight on top of the microwave. Glancing back at me, he popped off the cap and began to draw a heavy circle along his mouth. Right as I reached him, he sat the tube carefully back in it’s not-so-discreet place. A soft pink sheen glistening in the morning light like a halo around his lips. And chin. And cheeks.

How can I be mad at that?

Little and Littler

February 24 2010 · 8 Comments
Posted in: The Kids · Tags: Ethan, Maddie, photos