Being Sara

Does your kid ever come up with strange rituals?  Mine has lots of them.  I could go on and on about the rituals and “traditions” in our house, from insisting on having music playing while he falls asleep to the “naked baby march” (the march from Parker’s bedroom to the bath tub he insists on doing every time they get ready for a bath, and since it’s still so darn cute – and no one has peed on the carpet yet, we let them).

Last night’s attempt at a new ritual definitely goes down as one of the strangest so far.  Xander usually manages to stay up 20-30 minutes after we put Parker to sleep.  It’s his quiet one-on-one time, and he looks forward to it every day.  Most days, he chooses to do a puzzle with either Zach or me.  Last night, he had time for 2 puzzles.  He did one with Zach, and then I helped him with the second (these were both floor puzzles).  As we finished up the second puzzle, Xander asked us to sit on the puzzle with our legs crossed.  He and I sat on one, Zach on the other.  Then Xander asked us to lean forward in a huddle of sorts.  Once we were all in position, the boy rips out the loudest fart possible.

Zach and I immediately pick up our heads, stared at Xander in a mild state of shock, and then burst out laughing (I’m pretty sure the tears in our eyes were from laughing so hard, not from the smell).  I have no idea what was running through that boy’s head, but that was easily the wackiest stunt he’s pulled with us in a while.  His antics further solidified my fear that I am completely surrounded by boys – loud, rowdy, entertained-by-bodily-functions, boys…

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Last month I helped to chaperon Xander’s day care class at a local apple orchard.  It was something I had been looking forward to for years – some of my fondest childhood memories include my mother coming on fields trips like apple picking with me.  So I was “assigned” 2 boys along with my son to keep track of during the day.  One of the boys is generally pleasant and helpful and listens pretty well.  The other one, not so much…  So, we all hopped into my car (I should note that the “challenging child” also came with a booster seat that I personally feel is entirely inadequate for his little frame) and off we went.

We were about 15 minutes into the trip when I got a reality slap in the face.  The boys (the challenging one started it of course) began a lengthy game of one-upping each other.  “I peed on the floor!”  “I pooped on the seat!”  “I pooped on your head!”  “I pooped on your nose!” and on, and on, and on this went.   Attempts to redirect them fell on deaf ears.  Even after two of the boys tired of the game, the challenging kid kept bringing the conversation back to bodily functions.  It was then, driving down the highway on a sunny September morning, that I realized that I have two sons and this sort of talk is going to continue for years, and years, and years.  I visibly shuddered at the realization.  And then quickly asked my charges “hey, who likes to pick apples?” and then after they tired of that, “hey! Look at that tractor!”  Finally an hour later we arrived at our destination.

I’m pretty sure that herding kittens is easier than herding 3-4 year olds.  Luckily, there were many adults around, so I managed to get some assistance in convincing my challenging child that he could not stay on the play ground, but needed to walk with us to the apple trees.  It helped having a nice big wagon that fit 2 boys.

The picking itself didn’t last very long – maybe 1/2 an hour, but the kids had fun.  We watch some farm animals, picked some apples and spent some time on their playground.  It was a nice day.  This particular apple orchard has a wooden sign with a scarecrow and a flower on it.  The top says “How Tall In The Fall?”  The idea is that you can take a picture of your child in front of the sign and compare from year to year.  Well, last year we took a picture of Xander in front of the sign.  This year I did the same thing.  Unfortunately, last year they had placed a wooden box at the base of the sign, which raised Xander up 6 inches or so.  So if you compare the pictures, he actually looks taller last year.  Not exactly the comparison I was looking for…

I was mostly spared potty talk on the way home, but I think that’s because the boys were tired (thankfully!)  Overall I think the day went really well.  I had fun, the kids seemed to have fun, and we got apples!  Next we we’re headed to a pumpkin patch.  The farm not only has pumpkins but also hay rides and a corn maze, so it should be a good day!  I wish I could continue to chaperon Xander’s monthly trips, but unfortunately after this one I’ll have to save my vacation time for the Christmas break…

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When Xander was very young, Zach used to hold him on the couch and watch The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. For as long as we can remember, the sound of The Daily Show has been soothing to Xander – when he hears it, he will quiet down and listen – especially to the opening music.

I had read/heard that “excessive” television for children under the age of two alters the way their neurons fire in their brains. As a result, we have all but eliminated television from Xander’s daily routine. He’ll watch some on special occasions – as other family members houses, and sometimes in the late afternoons at day care. For the most part though, he doesn’t watch it, and rarely expresses any interest in it.

Recently however, we discovered a few shows on PBS that seem to be about Xander’s speed. Out of curiosity one day, we watched an episode of Curious George. Much to our surprise, our son (who up until this point never expressed interest in watching anything for more than a minute or two) loved it!

Although he’s still a few months shy of 1 1/2 years old, I decided that 1/2 an hour a day probably isn’t going to turn his brain to complete mush. Plus, it lets Zach and me unwind for a few minutes when we get home before we start with toys, books, dinner, bath, etc. Now, in the afternoons when we turn on Curious George, Xander squeaks with delight. This is one of the first characters that Xander has recognized. So much so that last weekend when shopping with his aunt (Mandy), Xander found a shirts with a Curious George logo and refused to let go. Mandy eventually bought the shirt for him. It’s a little too big, but he loves it…

After about 1 half hour show (2 adventures), Xander has had his fill. He gets down off my lap, and goes in search of toys. This makes me hope that my son won’t be a television addict, but I’m glad that we can relax together an enjoy this show. So Xander’s first official “favorite” character is Curious George – given his love of bananas and climbing, this seems somehow poetically appropriate.

baby, boy, Curious George, Daily Show, Jon Stewart, mother, motherhood, mothers, parent, parenting, parents, television, toddler, tv, watching television

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I love my son, and I wouldn’t trade the experience of being his mother for anything. That being said, before he was born, I wanted a girl. I wanted a girl to dress in skirts and pretty dresses. I wanted a girl to play dolls with and have tea parties with. So far, I haven’t missed that stuff too much. Playing trucks is ok, and for the most part, dressing Xander is just as fun as I imagined it would be to dress a little girl. The one complaint I have is with department stores and holiday clothing. I have been to lots of department stores, and this time of year I always scope out the holiday outfits.

In every single store, there are racks upon racks of little red velvet dresses. Dresses with lace, dresses with polka dots, dresses in every style and holiday color you could imagine. Then I begin my search for the boy’s holiday clothes. In places like Sears or JC Penny, there is typically a big column of dresses – 3 racks wide and 4 racks tall on all 4 sides of the column. The boys section is 2 racks wide, 3 racks tall covering two sides of a column. These clothes are far more generic – red sweater vests, black pants. I finally found a cute sweater with a little train on the front this year. Of course they only had one, and it was too small. Places like WalMart are even worse. They don’t seem to have any holiday clothing for boys, unless you count the red on the Emo shirts.

Why is it that girls can get dressed up but boys can’t? I don’t understand why little boys get shafted when it comes to holiday clothes. Why not more sweaters with winter stuff on them – snowmen, toys, teddy bears, etc. And why are these clothes always buried. Why is it that the girl’s dresses are right on the edge of an aisle, but the boys clothes aren’t next to them – they’re buried in the back of the clothing section.

I just want there to be some equality. I want to walk into a store, and not have to dig through an entire section of clothes looking for a holiday outfit. Every time I walk by those red velvet dresses I get angry at the inequality I see. I know in the grand scheme of things this is really nothing, but it still irritates me for the whole season.

baby, toddler, boy, boys, parent, parents, parenting, mother, mothers, motherhood, Christmas, holiday, holiday shopping, holiday clothes, holiday clothing, boys clothing, girls clothing, inequality, Sears, JC Penny, WalMart

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