Being Sara » parenting http://beingsara.com Thu, 02 Feb 2012 17:58:49 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.2 My High and Low Kid http://beingsara.com/story/my-high-and-low-kid/ http://beingsara.com/story/my-high-and-low-kid/#comments Wed, 05 Oct 2011 19:09:33 +0000 Sara http://beingsara.com/?p=881 My first kid was pretty even tempered.  Sure he had his moments, but he is pretty much the same relatively happy kid all the time.  Parker on the other hand, is my high and low kid.  He certainly makes things interesting!

High: Spontaneous ‘I love you Mama’

Low: Pulling out the 6th and last pair of clean underwear and pants for the day during potty training (and yes, the dryer has been broken for over a month…)

High: Excited exclamation from the back seat as Zach is driving past a speed reader “39! Mama, that’s 39!” (yep, the number on the reader was 39 – no clue how that happened…)

Low: Ear piercing screeching in public places while spread flat on his stomach (i.e. Olive Garden, Boston Museum of Science, etc…)

High: Happily playing with his brother for nearly an hour!

Low: REFUSING to let anyone except Mama comfort him (which is simultaneously sweet, but sad because this ‘phase’ has been lasting for over a year now…)

High: Getting closer to potty trained!

Low: Still going through 1-2 pair of underwear and pants every day (the shoes are slightly more problematic)

High: The mimicking is just so adorable ‘Have good dreams Parker’; ‘Have good dreams Mama’

Low: He figured out how to properly use the word nuts. ‘You drive me nuts Mama’ or (loud Parker sigh) ‘Them dinosaurs drive me nuts Xander’ (yep, it’s really tough to keep a straight face when he says this stuff)

High: Regardless of the day I’ve had, or the day he’s had, when I walk in the door at day care I am always greeted with a running hug and the biggest smile ever.  Hand’s down one of the best parts of my day (who doesn’t love it when someone is happy to see you?)

He’s my high/low kid.  The highs totally make the lows worth it and I wouldn’t want him to be any other way.

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]]> http://beingsara.com/story/my-high-and-low-kid/feed/ 1 Conflicting Feelings http://beingsara.com/story/conflicting-feelings/ http://beingsara.com/story/conflicting-feelings/#comments Tue, 13 Sep 2011 18:26:33 +0000 Sara http://beingsara.com/?p=876 I like to sleep.  I sleep pretty well when I don’t have small children climbing into my bed in the middle of the night.  I also like to eat foods that my kids don’t yet find appetizing.  I like to go out to dinner and a movie with my husband.  I like to close the door to the bathroom and keep it closed the whole time I’m in there.  I like it when my house stays picked up for more than an evening.  Sometimes I miss the days of sleeping in and eating what I wanted and the freedom to do things on my own schedule.  Sometimes I look forward to the days when my children will be self sufficient.  When they will be old enough to stay home alone, or to the days after they have moved out of our house and I find free time again.

The other day I told Xander when he was older he wouldn’t want to hang out with me, he’d choose to hang out with his friends instead.  Xander giggled, smiled and told me he’d always want to spend time with me because he loves me (duh Mom).

And then, things like this happen.  And last night when Xander crawled into my bed at 11:30pm saying he’d had a bad dream, I didn’t send him back to his bed.  I wrapped my arms around him and held him for the rest of the night.

When I drag my exhausted body out of bed at 5am so I’ll have enough time to make lunches and breakfasts and find clothes for everyone it feels like these days will never end, but I remember that soon enough I’ll be trying to drag my boys out of bed and frowning at the piles of smelly laundry on their floors.  I will think back to all of those nights where I held a sleeping child in my arms and miss the days that I sacrificed sleep or privacy or sanity for my babies.

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]]> http://beingsara.com/story/conflicting-feelings/feed/ 1 He Never Looked Back http://beingsara.com/story/he-never-looked-back/ http://beingsara.com/story/he-never-looked-back/#comments Wed, 31 Aug 2011 01:18:12 +0000 Sara http://beingsara.com/?p=871

He never looked back

Today was Xander’s first day of kindergarten.  We were prepared.  We’d been to the open house, we’d toured and visited the school and had endless conversations with Xander about what to expect.  We had plans for before and after school.  Supplies were purchased, clothes were ironed, backpacks were packed, forms were completed.  Last night near midnight though, I couldn’t stop the tears.  My baby was going to get on a bus, go to a school where I do not know every child and every adult.  He was going to spend his day with these people who barely knew him, and couldn’t possibly be prepared for his shyness.  And I was sure his shyness would prevent him from making friends, or from letting his teacher see how smart he truly is.

But, as I should have learned by now, my kids continue to surprise me.  Adding to my regular dose of motherhood guilt, I could not drop off or pick up Xander on his first day.  Hurricane/Tropical Storm Irene threw off all of our plans, so PSU student move-in day landed on the same day as kindergarten started.

So, we jumped right into the regular routine.  Zach took the boys to the bus stop, and waited with Xander.  Parker was seriously unimpressed that Xander not only got to ride the school bus and he did not, but also that Xander was not walking into ‘school’ with him anymore.  After bouncing around with his backpack, lunch box and friend, the bus arrived and they both walked right on – never looking back.

It was worse than pulling teeth, but after much begging, I finally got some details out of the close-lipped kid tonight.  Riding the bus is his favorite part.  Pretty much everything else pales in comparison to that.  But, if he had to pick something he enjoyed most at school, that would be recess.  And, if he had to pick something in his classroom that he liked the most, that would be the science station.  He really wanted to play with the dinosaurs, but at free play only two kids are allowed at each station, and there were already two kids at the dinosaur station.

There were no tears and no complaints.  He met all of his friends (his whole class) though he doesn’t yet remember anyone’s name.  He has three other students who sit at his table (where his assigned seat is) but one girl is in the half day program, so she leaves early.  One boy at his table got in trouble today for yelling at another kid (but not him) and had to sit at his table for two minutes.  Rest time is nice, and Xander thinks I should ask my boss for a rest time at work.  I’m sure that will go over well.

So, Xander is clearly more ready for kindergarten than I am.  He went through the first day like it was nothing.  I’m not sure I’m ready for day two, but he can’t wait to go back (and ride the bus again of course).  Obviously not every day can be wonderful, but I am so incredibly relieve that the first day was.

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]]> http://beingsara.com/story/he-never-looked-back/feed/ 2 Happy 2.5 Birthday Peanut! http://beingsara.com/story/happy-2-5-birthday-peanut/ http://beingsara.com/story/happy-2-5-birthday-peanut/#comments Tue, 09 Aug 2011 20:18:03 +0000 Sara http://beingsara.com/?p=866 Just in case anyone reading this isn’t already aware, we celebrate Parker’s half birthdays.  He was born at the end of December, and it’s not a great time for anyone to get together to celebrate a birthday when we’re all busy celebrating Christmas and New Year’s.  We decided before his first birthday that we would acknowledge the day with a brunch for family, but not celebrate with a party or presents until the summer.  It’s worked out well.  Parker gets his special day, and he isn’t sad about it being in the summer instead of winter.  We kind of like kicking off the summer with Parker’s party and then ending it with Xander’s party.  This year Parker’s wasn’t really at the start of the summer, but we’ll get back into the swing of things next year.

So, we celebrated.  Lots of people came and it was a great afternoon.  Pretty hot, but not bad in the shade.  Parker got his cake (which was really his primary focus for the day) and wound up with some really fun toys.  He is finally getting to an age where he has friends that he likes to play with, and a few of them came – it was great to see him playing so well with them.  Making this little boy happy was totally worth the 7+ hours of cleaning I did along with the 4-ish hours we drove to have a free day to clean, plus all of the hours in the hot sun Zach spent working in the yard.  We always say parties are a good excuse to make sure your house is really clean…

He is a stereotypical two year old, fiercely independent one minute, and desperate to cling to my leg the next.  His speech is getting better and better by the day, and the things he says are so freaking cute, most people can’t help but mimic everything he says – we’re guilty of it too, but if I were him, I’d be sick of people copying me by now…  Just recently he’s been in to ‘singing’ his A,B,C’s but can only do it if he’s watching someone and mimicking them (oh, the irony).  He can count to 16, but won’t do it anytime we want to show off his new skill of course.  He tries his hardest to keep up with his older brother and manages to succeed most of the time.  His imagination is phenomenal and he can play make believe with his brother for lengthy periods of time.  I am still the favorite, but sometimes Dad can kiss a boo-boo.  And he melts my heart every day when he calls out ‘I love you Mommy’ as I’m walking out the door.  He doesn’t always make it easy, but I’m still head over heels in love with this little guy.

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]]> http://beingsara.com/story/happy-2-5-birthday-peanut/feed/ 1 This Kid http://beingsara.com/story/this-kid/ http://beingsara.com/story/this-kid/#comments Thu, 21 Jul 2011 17:58:20 +0000 Sara http://beingsara.com/?p=863 It’s been a while since I’ve blogged about this kid.  He is still head-over-heals in love with dinosaurs.  We talk about and learn about dinosaurs every day.  He teaches me new things every time the subject comes up (which is quite often).  He knows and understands the differences between Therapods, Sauropods, Prosauropods, Ceratopsians, Stegasaurs and more.  If you’ve got a question about dinosaurs let me know – I’m sure he’ll have an answer for you.

He loves to be in the water, and refuses to get out even after his teeth are chattering and his lips match his blue swim suit.  He is so close to having the confidence to swim unassisted – if only we had more time to spend in the water…

He is very excited about Kindergarten, but I’m not sure his mind has fully wrapped around the huge changes in his life happening in 4 short weeks…

He is still my shy guy, and takes a long time to warm up to strangers and still refuses to speak when people he doesn’t know are watching him.

He is however a very sweet brother and friend.

He is still planning to marry Katie and have four children with her, though the names keep changing.  He’ll give you answers to any questions about his future plans – the kid has their entire life planned out already.

Even though he’ll be 5 faster than I am ready for, he still likes to cuddle and will once-in-a-blue-moon wind up snuggled next to me in bed in the middle of the night.  When I ask him the next morning why he got in my bed, the answer is sometimes ‘I just needed some more cuddles Mama’  I am happy to accommodate that request any time.

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]]> http://beingsara.com/story/this-kid/feed/ 0 What Do You Do With Your Mom’s Chap stick? http://beingsara.com/story/what-do-you-do-with-your-moms-chap-stick/ http://beingsara.com/story/what-do-you-do-with-your-moms-chap-stick/#comments Wed, 20 Jul 2011 12:00:34 +0000 Sara http://beingsara.com/?p=856

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]]> http://beingsara.com/story/what-do-you-do-with-your-moms-chap-stick/feed/ 1 I’m Hungry http://beingsara.com/story/im-hungry/ http://beingsara.com/story/im-hungry/#comments Tue, 19 Jul 2011 10:46:25 +0000 Sara http://beingsara.com/?p=852 So, I was prepared for the invasion of locusts disguised as my children when they become teenagers.  I know that my cupboards will be bare and I’ll spend hundreds of dollars in food each week only to see it devoured in days.  I was not however prepared for this to happen when they are 2 and 4.  The most common refrain I hear in my house these days is ‘I’m hungry’.  I hear it every afternoon without fail when I pick the boys up from day care.  I give them a snack when we get home, and then they have dinner, and often another snack after dinner.

Last night was a perfect example.  We got home, the boys ate applesauce.  I gave them a bath and then made dinner.  While making dinner they ate cheese sticks and two helpings of yogurt.  They ate sandwiches for dinner (I didn’t have the energy to convince them that homemade pesto really is yummy) followed up by a popsicle and more cheese sticks.  They ate constantly from about 5:30-7:30.  And since I hadn’t really planned that much snacking into the weekly shopping list, it sort of depleted their breakfast options for the next few days.

Please tell me this is just a growth spurt and eventually we’ll get back to normal.  I’m not sure my wallet can handle this level of eating for the next 16 years.  I’m certainly not filling them up with junk food, and we always have plenty of leftovers for them to have seconds or even thirds of dinner and sometimes they do.  Apparently the locusts are making an early stop at my house…

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]]> http://beingsara.com/story/im-hungry/feed/ 0 My Graduate… http://beingsara.com/story/my-graduate/ http://beingsara.com/story/my-graduate/#comments Tue, 14 Jun 2011 13:16:09 +0000 Sara http://beingsara.com/?p=847 You did it :-)  Even though it took begging, pleading, lots of snuggles, endless practices and discussions about the big day, you did it (well, some of it).  You participated in your preschool graduation to the very best of your ability (which consisted of signing the pledge of allegiance in tears, playing a drum nearly in tears and taking your diploma before retreating back to my lap).  Despite your fear that the people you don’t know in the crowd won’t like you, you did the very best that you could and I’m proud of you for that.

Your preschool must be one of the most fabulous preschools on earth.  The amount of effort and preparation the entire staff and students put into the event truly shows how much they care and love your class.  From the large framed picture of what you want to be when you grow up (a paleontologist of course) to the gift bag, to the book with personal messages from each of your teachers to the CD with pictures of your class throughout the 4 years you’ve been there – all amazingly wonderful.

You are also amazingly wonderful – and I’m not the only one who thinks that.  The evidence is in the book, where every message from your teacher refers to you as a sweet, kind, smart child who is happy to play with everyone.

Your current love/obsession is dinosaurs.  I’ve learned more about dinosaurs from you and trying to keep up with you than I ever thought I would want or need to know.

You are currently this wonderful mix of an adorably sweet little boy who thinks about dinosaurs about 90% of his day and a kid who is still little in a few ways.  You still like help getting dressed even though we all know that you can do it on your own and have been able to for years now.  Every few months you still wake up in the night and crawl into bed beside me, and I don’t make you leave because I cherish those cuddles – I know they will become more and more scarce in the coming years (although you can’t seem to believe that yet).

You know all of your letters and numbers and enjoy doing addition and subtraction on your hands.  You like to write, but some of your letters still give you a little trouble, and adding the extra tails to your small a’s and to the tops of your small n’s is still super cute, though I expect/hope that kindergarten will help you get those figured out.

I am so excited to see your next milestones – to see you play organized sports, to make new friends, to start at a new school in the fall and I have to keep reminding myself that despite your smarts and excitement, you are still the youngest child in your class and some of the things might be more of a challenge for you.  Don’t worry though, your father and I will be there to help, support and cheer you on the whole way.  It is bittersweet to see my squishy little baby shed his baby-ness and grow up.

Congratulations little man – we love you so very much!

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]]> http://beingsara.com/story/my-graduate/feed/ 2 I’m going to hold you to that. http://beingsara.com/story/im-going-to-hold-you-to-that/ http://beingsara.com/story/im-going-to-hold-you-to-that/#comments Fri, 13 May 2011 11:18:01 +0000 Sara http://beingsara.com/?p=836 035Xander informed me yesterday that when he grows up he is taking all of his ‘guys’ (stuffed animals) with him, and that he’s going to put them all on his bed or in his room.  So, he can’t be surprised or upset when I arrive at his college dorm room with a big box of stuffed animals, right?  I’m sure I’ll be happy to get them out of the house by then.

He also tells me that he plans to marry Katie (a girl in his school – they’ve had this planned for almost a year now). And that he is going to ‘grow’ three children and name them Parker, Shell and Foot.  I’m not sure if Katie got a say in what to name her children, so hopefully there is some room for negotiation there ;-)

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]]> http://beingsara.com/story/im-going-to-hold-you-to-that/feed/ 0 “I Do It Self!!!” http://beingsara.com/story/i-do-it-self/ http://beingsara.com/story/i-do-it-self/#comments Tue, 10 May 2011 14:32:15 +0000 Sara http://beingsara.com/?p=833 006“I do it self!” is a phrase that we hear in our house many times a day now.  Parker, right on schedule, has decided to exert some independence on his life.  Sometimes, it’s fine.  When he woke up yesterday morning and wanted to walk down the stairs by himself, I watched from the bottom, complimenting him and telling him how big he’s gotten.  His smile when he reached the bottom was worth the extra three minutes it took to wait for him.  On the other hand, sometimes those exclamations are not really useful, like when he wants to take off his clothes.  Thankfully, I got to stay downstairs working on dinner while Parker exclaimed no less than 12 times last night that he would put his diaper on himself.  Luckily for Zach, Parker could not hear me chuckling in the kitchen or I’m sure he really would have hammed it up ;-)

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