Instant Gratification

The Sickness is upon us.
A stomach bug, head cold and strep throat swept through our house over the last 5 days.
First hit was Walks With Purpose, then D, then GoGo and finally, Mom.
There is only so much vomit a person can clean up and not actually get sick as well.

Hopefully everyone is on the mend.
Beautiful weather is here this week and I hate for us to be inside breathing each others's cooties, instead of running through the leaves.

But tending to little people when they are ill leads to instant gratification, in a weird way.  We snuggle, I dole out meds, we watch cartoons and eat noodles in our jammies.  Voila!  Everything is better.

Many days as a parent I wonder if what I'm telling them, showing them, etc is sinking in at all.  It may be another few years before I see the fruit of all this labor.
Sure, there are lots of moments with spontaneous hugs, smiles, hand-drawn pictures and such.
When Walks With Purpose says "Awww...poor Dommie" because he is sick, when I see D congratulate GoGo on something at school, when I hear GoGo talking about her great her big bro' is to her friends...then I know I'm doing something a little bit right.   I'm raising empathetic, family-first people here.

But the big stuff may not reveal itself for quite a while.  The choices they will have to make daily as they get older, when it really counts.  Decisions that will affect the rest of their lives - friends, college, lifestyle.  I can only hope all my "nagging" about choices and consequences will have sunk in by then.  So no instant gratification - just a wait and see.

Sick, but still cute.

I know, right??  She thinks anytime I get my camera out, we're doing a "shoot".

Love that she is managing it all - driving, sippy cup and her baby.  

Also, GoGo was awarded the Star Student for her class last week - so proud.
Her teacher noted "Margot is always considerate and kind to her classmates".
Her teacher let her call me from school and tell me which I thought was way cool.  So did GoGo.
D congratulated her and it sounded sincere.
Walks With Purpose gave her a big hug.

A little bit of instant gratification...love these guys.

Sounds of Silence

The last few days I feel like I need to be cloned in order to handle all the little people requests of me.
More than usual, I think.
There is so much they want to show me, tell me, do with me.  And it's exhausting.
Sometimes the din is so loud with all of them trying to "out-loud" the next one that I want to scream.
Instead, I grab a Blue Moon and go with it.

But later when the house is quiet as they are all tucked safely in their beds, I ponder.
On how quickly the day will be here when my house is quiet with them here because they won't want to talk to me.  I know this will be a phase but it could be a doozy, while it lasts.
They won't burst in the door yelling for me to come look at what they've just make in the backyard.
They won't draw me pictures telling me how much they love me while I cook dinner.
They won't want me to read the same book over and over and over again to them.
They won't make a hundred different requests of me anymore-tv shows, snacks, playdates.

What will I do then?
I try really hard not to lose my mind when I'm feeling overwhelmed or frustrated with them, but I fail often.
Instead, I want to try and enjoy even these crazy days where I feel like I'm drowning.
Because I will miss this crazy when it's gone.

In the midst of all this chaos from the past few days, a few funnies.

I found some huge cardboard boxes in the attic and I gave them to the kids to make a fort with on a rainy afternoon.  We got duct tape out, markers to decorate, blankets for the inside.
All was well at first.
Then GoGo got a wild hair and started messing with the somewhat fragile design.  D yells at her to stop.
I ask her to stop annoying D and to leave the fort alone.
D says "I Told You Mom.  She's Butt."  Just butt, nothing more.

At dinner the other night there was a bit of silence while everyone chewed happily.
A random toot was heard.  Eyes lifted, scanned each others' faces to determine the culprit.
A wee little voice from the end of the table says "twee fwahg!"  Walks with Purpose...

I am putting books away in GoGo's room the other and I spy her recently purchased Sharks book.
It is open to the pages with the Great White and I notice she has circled the picture with the gnashing teeth and gaping mouth, wrote YOU ROCK and put a gold star sticker on it.  Jacque Cousteau wannabe...

Bend an elbow, here's to The Crazy.

Fall, Meet George of the Jungle

Fall finally decided to show up this weekend and it was fantastic.

We took the kids to the high school's Homecoming game.  We were not dressed for the chilly temps but it was fun anyway.
We made home-made chili, played outside, built a fort and enjoyed the sun and cool blue skies.  In jackets and boots.  Love.

Walks with Purpose learned the appropriate time to say "Tree Frog" and sang "We Will Rock You" while feeding the birds (although her version is more like "We WHIL WoK U".

Hubs and I went with some friends to do the Canopy Tour at the National Whitewater Center.
It was awesome and I can say that with confidence, now that I am on the ground again.
I am not really a wuss when it comes to heights or "mildly adventurous things" but I was a bit freaked for probably the first hour.  I was several platforms and zips into it before I could actually look around me and take in all the incredible scenery.  Up to that point, there was a lot of wild-eyes and cursing.
I would highly recommend it to anyone not afraid of heights or peeing their pants in public.  Wear black.