As soon as you open the door to your child's room, you know. I mean, you really KNOW. It's the smell. Waking up to a baby (and crib, stuffed animals, mattress, walls, etc) covered in, well... POOP is one of the least fun rites of passage for any parent.
The bad news, as if that wasn't bad enough, is that it renews for EACH CHILD.
This morning, I found Silvia standing in her crib, hands raised in the classic, "Uh-oh" gesture, looking at me. "Poo-poo?", she asked, clearly a bit puzzled. Then, with a wide grin, so utterly charming except for the yuck all over her, "Uh-oh, mess." Ha. That's for damn sure.
I plopped her in the tub, which now has to be scrubbed with bleach during precious nap time hours. Holding my breath the entire time, I sent Anna down to raid the pantry while I cleaned... and soaped... and scrubbed. As I combed out her hair while trying not to actually look, I was visited by a vivid and nearly identical memory: the morning thrill of discovery with Anna in that very same crib and state of quizzical filth.
I know everyone says their babyhood passes too quickly, but these moments are ones I am happy to (hopefully) leave behind. No put intended.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
What day is it?
"Mama, is it Tuesday? Daddy stays home on Saturday and Sunday, is it Saturday and Sunday? It's Wednesday, Mama! I go to school on Wednesday with my sister!"
The days of the week are Very Important around here right now. I've been working to set up a more consistent routine and, boy howdy, has Anna latched on to it like a drowning cat. She LOVES her routine. She loves knowing, as the first light of day touches her face, what today will be.
All throughout the day, too, she reminds me of her expectations. As we walk out of her classroom at school, she says, "Today is Monday, Mom. Now we go home and Cici takes a nap and we read a story and have a snack!"
Never before have I appreciated the full importance of a routine. Sure, I read the parenting tips, I listened to all the media mumbo-jumbo about creating a safe and certain daily path for your child to follow. Whatever. What about free spirit? What about creative boredom and adventure and fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants and leave the house without sippy cups or snacks or diapers?
Turns out, fancy-free is for people without kids. Routine is the way to go, my friends. Happy children and calm days are ALL ABOUT routine.
The days of the week are Very Important around here right now. I've been working to set up a more consistent routine and, boy howdy, has Anna latched on to it like a drowning cat. She LOVES her routine. She loves knowing, as the first light of day touches her face, what today will be.
All throughout the day, too, she reminds me of her expectations. As we walk out of her classroom at school, she says, "Today is Monday, Mom. Now we go home and Cici takes a nap and we read a story and have a snack!"
Never before have I appreciated the full importance of a routine. Sure, I read the parenting tips, I listened to all the media mumbo-jumbo about creating a safe and certain daily path for your child to follow. Whatever. What about free spirit? What about creative boredom and adventure and fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants and leave the house without sippy cups or snacks or diapers?
Turns out, fancy-free is for people without kids. Routine is the way to go, my friends. Happy children and calm days are ALL ABOUT routine.
It's Monday. Monday, we Hula!
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
"What's that sound? Is it growling?"
Black squirrels. Bears. Fluffy white house cats. Cougars. Groundhogs. Porcupines. Terriers.
What do all these things have in common? Anna is now terrified of them.
This weekend, we went up to the Florrisant Fossil beds for a family adventure. The trails are relatively flat and well-kept, so it's easy for the kids to run amok. As we set off on one loop of the trail, Kurt says, (because he's all sensitive to three-year-old imaginations), "Okay, Anna! Watch out for bears!"
Anna stops. Frozen, wide-eyed, legs still bent in the step forward she was about to take.
"Bears? There are bears. Do you hear that growling, Mama? I see the bear!"
I promptly kick my husband in the butt and then tell Anna that kicking isn't nice, Mommy and Daddy are just playing. Riiiiiight.
"No, honey, Daddy is teasing, he's so silly! There are NO BEARS. It's fine, I promise."
After considering this for a moment, while I continue to reassure her as to her safety, Anna begins to slowly walk on the trail. Just as she finally starts moving again, we come across an educational photo stand that has a huge blown up picture of a black squirrel on it.
"Ooooh, Anna, look, I cute squirrel picture!", I say, trying to distract her a bit.
"NONONononono. Where is the squirrel, I don't like the squirrel! Squirrels are so big, do you hear that growling? Is it the bear?"
Oh, dear. As we made our way along the path that day, there was from knee-height an ongoing monologue of, "There aren't any bears, Mama. I'm not scared. There aren't any bears with the squirrels and I don't see any squirrels. There's just trees. I'm not scared of trees because there aren't any bears and you would tell me if there was a squirrel, okay? What is that sound? Is it growling?".
Anna has also generalized this fear to a large array of animals, big and small. At the zoo she is fascinated by the apes, the giraffes, the lions, the jaguars, the meerkats and the monkeys. She will not go near the wallabies, the birds, the cougars, the Pallas cats, or the grizzly bears. But the black bears are okay.
And Sappho? Grandma's cat of long adoration? Yeah. She was reduced to tears last time they came in close contact and needed help and support to walk around the living room where Sappho was lounging center stage.
While, most likely, this is just one of those stages kids go through (I recall being deeply terrified of our house cat as a child), I am going to take this opportunity to place all the blame on Kurt.
Okay, Anna! Watch out for bears!"
Seriously, honey?!
What do all these things have in common? Anna is now terrified of them.
This weekend, we went up to the Florrisant Fossil beds for a family adventure. The trails are relatively flat and well-kept, so it's easy for the kids to run amok. As we set off on one loop of the trail, Kurt says, (because he's all sensitive to three-year-old imaginations), "Okay, Anna! Watch out for bears!"
Anna stops. Frozen, wide-eyed, legs still bent in the step forward she was about to take.
"Bears? There are bears. Do you hear that growling, Mama? I see the bear!"
I promptly kick my husband in the butt and then tell Anna that kicking isn't nice, Mommy and Daddy are just playing. Riiiiiight.
"No, honey, Daddy is teasing, he's so silly! There are NO BEARS. It's fine, I promise."
After considering this for a moment, while I continue to reassure her as to her safety, Anna begins to slowly walk on the trail. Just as she finally starts moving again, we come across an educational photo stand that has a huge blown up picture of a black squirrel on it.
"Ooooh, Anna, look, I cute squirrel picture!", I say, trying to distract her a bit.
"NONONononono. Where is the squirrel, I don't like the squirrel! Squirrels are so big, do you hear that growling? Is it the bear?"
Oh, dear. As we made our way along the path that day, there was from knee-height an ongoing monologue of, "There aren't any bears, Mama. I'm not scared. There aren't any bears with the squirrels and I don't see any squirrels. There's just trees. I'm not scared of trees because there aren't any bears and you would tell me if there was a squirrel, okay? What is that sound? Is it growling?".
Anna has also generalized this fear to a large array of animals, big and small. At the zoo she is fascinated by the apes, the giraffes, the lions, the jaguars, the meerkats and the monkeys. She will not go near the wallabies, the birds, the cougars, the Pallas cats, or the grizzly bears. But the black bears are okay.
And Sappho? Grandma's cat of long adoration? Yeah. She was reduced to tears last time they came in close contact and needed help and support to walk around the living room where Sappho was lounging center stage.
While, most likely, this is just one of those stages kids go through (I recall being deeply terrified of our house cat as a child), I am going to take this opportunity to place all the blame on Kurt.
Okay, Anna! Watch out for bears!"
Seriously, honey?!
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Bumps, bruises, and "I will turn this car around!"
Here's the tally for the week:
Road rash on nose, upper lip, mouth, chin and corner of the eye. Second chipped tooth in the front, both scraped knees and elbows. Freshly grated shin on concrete corner. Sore butt.
And that's just Anna. Silvia has a slightly black eye from I don't know what, pinched fingers from a door, bruises on each of her chins and two deep scratches on her face, one on each cheek.
I swear to you all that I am not responsible! These girls are so accident-prone I've started lunging to catch or pull them back before they even take a step. All my shirts are slightly stained on the front shoulders from cuddling the weepy, bloody and runny-nosed injured. My gratitude is enormous that, so far, there have been no broken bones.
I wait with joyful anticipation for a sense of internal balance to develop. Doesn't that gawky, awkward phase settle down in the late teens? Tell me there is hope.
Road rash on nose, upper lip, mouth, chin and corner of the eye. Second chipped tooth in the front, both scraped knees and elbows. Freshly grated shin on concrete corner. Sore butt.
And that's just Anna. Silvia has a slightly black eye from I don't know what, pinched fingers from a door, bruises on each of her chins and two deep scratches on her face, one on each cheek.
I swear to you all that I am not responsible! These girls are so accident-prone I've started lunging to catch or pull them back before they even take a step. All my shirts are slightly stained on the front shoulders from cuddling the weepy, bloody and runny-nosed injured. My gratitude is enormous that, so far, there have been no broken bones.
I wait with joyful anticipation for a sense of internal balance to develop. Doesn't that gawky, awkward phase settle down in the late teens? Tell me there is hope.
Saturday, July 05, 2008
4th of July
We went down to Memorial Park last night, like we do every year, to enjoy the orchestra and fireworks for the holiday. It was a lovely show and Anna was absolutely enthralled by it all, running, jumping and shrieking with joy the whole time. Silvia was a little less thrilled. As soon as the fireworks started, she went over to the stroller and started patting her seat. Kurt popped her and gave her a blanket and then she started waving and saying, "Bye-bye! All done! Bye-Bye!". That kid was ready to go! She toughed it out for the rest of the show and didn't seem to really mind all the noise, but it wasn't exactly her favorite thing, either.
On a side note, as we were walking back to the car, Kurt realized his phone had fallen off at some point in the huge field full of thousands of people. We pretty much gave it up for lost, which was disappointing since it was his fancy birthday present phone from only a few months ago. On a last ditch effort, he got up early and went back to the park to take a look. He got there to find a handful of men searching the field with metal detectors for lost change and whatnot. He asked the guy closest to where we were sitting if he'd found a phone and he handed it over! That was a nice surprise to start the day right and give us a little hope, too, for an honest humanity.
Here's some pictures from our family night.
On a side note, as we were walking back to the car, Kurt realized his phone had fallen off at some point in the huge field full of thousands of people. We pretty much gave it up for lost, which was disappointing since it was his fancy birthday present phone from only a few months ago. On a last ditch effort, he got up early and went back to the park to take a look. He got there to find a handful of men searching the field with metal detectors for lost change and whatnot. He asked the guy closest to where we were sitting if he'd found a phone and he handed it over! That was a nice surprise to start the day right and give us a little hope, too, for an honest humanity.
Here's some pictures from our family night.
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
"Why?"
Oh, man. We've reached that stage, the stage I've always laughed about with other parents, but dreaded for myself. The "Why?" stage.
Anna: "Mommy? Where are we going?"
Me: "To the grocery store."
Anna: "Why?"
Me: "Because we need milk and bread."
Anna: "Why?"
Me: "Because we ate it all up and now we need more or we'll be hungry.
Anna: "I'm not hungry. Are you hungry, mommy?"
Me: "Not right now, but I will be later."
Anna: "Why?"
It goes on and on and on and eventually I can't answer the "why's" anymore. Then she gets mad, like I've denied her some precious gift. Then it turns into, "WHYYYYYYYYY????"
Times like these, I chant the Serenity Prayer in my head until it, hopefully, starts to drown out the questions. Poor Anna. It must be hard to live with a mommy who doesn't know all the answers to all the questions in the universe.
Maybe she should try asking DADDY.
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