Changing His Mind

We recently went to Target, otherwise known as That Store That I Can Never Leave Without Spending At Least $100.  They have an enormous spring display right now - outdoor furniture, grills, and gardening equipment.  It's almost enough to make me believe that it's actually going to be warm out soon.  Until I wake up in the morning and it's 60 degrees in the house because the furnace stopped working overnight and it's 25 degrees outside.  But I digress.
 
Sammy ran over and climbed on the furniture.  I told him to get down.  He didn't listen.  I started counting, "One....two...." and Sammy jumped down, shouting, "I'm coming!  I'm coming!  I changed my mind!"
 
I don't think I've ever made it to the count of 3.  For some reason, he is sore afraid of the countdown and I have no regrets about exploiting that fear for the time being.

Dinner Conversations

Yesterday at the supper table, I had my first s-e-x talk with Sammy.  After a discussion about belly buttons and umbilical cords, he brought up one of Grandma's ponies, the one who's expecting a baby this spring.  "How will that baby come out?" he wondered aloud.  I explained in rudimentary terms, but I could see the gears turning in his head so I knew that wasn't the end of it.  I was expecting the "How did that baby get in there?" question, but he threw me a softball question: "Do I have a baby in my tummy?"  And then a few minutes later, "What are nipples for?"

This seems to be the topic of the week, because we went to the zoo on Saturday and were treated to an X-rated show by the lions.   Surprisingly, even though Sammy watched intently, there were no questions asked.  This time, anyway.

Everything But the Kitchen Sink

I had just returned to my desk after a meeting today when a coworker (who I see in the halls occasionally, but have no idea what her name is) came up to me and said, "You were the person nominated to be most likely to have a safety pin".  I couldn't imagine why someone would have thought of me, but I gamely opened my desk drawer and rummaged through its contents.  Hmm...hand sanitizer, Tums, eyedrops, deodorant, toothpaste, various kinds of tea and hot chocolate, a shaker of salt...aha.  There was my sewing kit.

 

The coworker laughed at the contents of my desk drawer.  "You know what that tells me?" she said.  "You're either a madman or someone's mom." 

 

Yes, and double yes.  Guilty on both counts.  Maybe someday I'll post the contents of my purse so you can all have a good laugh at my expense. 

Tales From the Hamster Cage

Ah, March in Minnesota.  The time of year when you realize that God has a sense of humor.  The snow melts - only to be replaced by a fresh two feet of snow hours later.  The beginning of Daylight Savings Time means more daylight at the end of the day - but also totally messes up the kids' sleep schedules.

 

Last week, I had spring fever and tried to assuage it by heading off to the local Home Depot to buy seeds.  I'm bound and determined that this year I'm going to have a proper garden again, something I haven't been able to do since 1) the children sucked up all of my free time, and 2) the perfectly-sized, perfectly-soiled garden plot was turned into a humongous septic mound and I had to start over with a new patch of soil, which is still much too heavy to properly grow root vegetables.

 

I potted the seeds while the kids helped dug their fingers into the dirt and sprinkled seeds all over the kitchen table.  Now we're anxiously waiting for the first sprout to appear.  Seed Sprout Watch 2009 is the biggest thing to happen in our house since we got a hamster.

 

Speaking of that.  I'm starting to wonder if getting a hamster was such a good idea, after all.  A few days ago, we let the hamster out to play and decided to forego the exercise ball.  You know that little grate thing that's on the front bottom part of refrigerators?  I kind of forgot that when we bought this new fridge, that grate never fit right and would pop off every time we opened the door, so we ended up throwing it out, thinking it wasn't totally necessary anyway.  Turns out it's very useful in keeping small rodents from going underneath the fridge.  So under the fridge Johnny went.  I got the flashlight out and shone it underneath, and could see a couple of black beady eyes shining at me from amidst of the piles of dust.  Hoping that it was Johnny and not some creature from the bowels of hell, I tried to lure it out with tidbits of lettuce and yogurt snacks.  No dice.

 

I ended up taking the back panel off the refrigerator and extracting him that way.  The upside is, it was a good opportunity to vacuum up the dust colonies, and the fridge runs much quieter now.  Who knew?  I thought that recommendation to vacuum the coils once a year was just a scam run by the vacuum cleaner bag companies.

 

A couple of days ago, we again took Johnny out to play.  This time I'd learned my lesson and put him in his exercise ball and warned the kids that there was to be no kicking, throwing, or rolling the ball under any circumstances.  I guess I forgot to mention that the ball was not to be opened without my supervision.  I had my back turned to the kids while I folded laundry, keeping tabs on the situation by hearing alone.  I misidentified the "click" that turned out to be the sound of Sam opening the ball, and only realized what happened when he proudly said, "I let Johnny out!" 

 

I turned just in time to see the hamster high-tailing it for the baseboard heater.  By the time I pried the front off of the heater, he was nowhere to be seen, and the most likely assumption was that he'd disappeared down the hamster-sized hole which contained the water pipe leading to the furnace.  With a sick feeling in my stomach, I started picturing my future - which included a telltale stink each time the furnace would run.  I turned and explained to Sam that Johnny was gone.  Understandably, he got very upset and started to cry.  I felt terrible, but there was nothing I could do short of knocking out the floor and a good part of the wall, and demolition was not on my to-do list that day.

 

Maybe fifteen minutes later, we found Johnny cowering behind a box on the other side of the laundry room.  We all heaved a sigh of relief, and I think it's safe to say Sam won't be letting Johnny out to play anymore.

Crazy but True

The people that ride the city bus that I take to and from work are almost exclusively business people. It's rare that anyone says a word to each other. Most people sit and stare out the windows, sleep, or - like me - have headphones on and read a book. There's rarely a noise to be heard other than the engine noise or the heaters blasting, trying to fight the cold air that seeps in through the poorly-sealed bus doors.

Yesterday, a guy got on the bus with his approximately 3-year-old daughter in tow. Thinking about my own 3-year-old, I figured she would be chatty and exuberant, and extremely bored with sitting after the initial excitement wore off. I wouldn't have cared, but I knew that some of the other bus riders might not be so tolerant, so I started thinking about what toys I had in my purse that I could offer her if her dad hadn't brought enough distractions. (It seems to me, in my experience, that guys don't often think about those sorts of things.)

Her dad had brought her a snack - a staple when travelling with young kids. Good for him! Then she finished her snack, and...nothing. Her dad stared out the window, not speaking, and I expected her to start looking for her own entertainment. Nope - she sat there quietly, looking around at the other passengers, and didn't say a word until 20 minutes later, when we stopped at the first park and ride, and she asked him if that was their stop. Her dad told her that they would get off at the next stop, and again - not another word from her. By the time we got to the second and final stop, she had nodded off, sitting upright, and her dad carried her limp body off the bus.

Wow! I was flabbergasted. I have to believe she was just very small for her age, because it's impossible to imagine a 3-year-old behaving like that. At least mine. I'm breaking out in hives just thinking about trying to take Sammy on the bus with me.

Hot Wheels

In yesterday's episode, Ron and the kids visited their Auntie C., leaving Becky at home with her cleaning supplies and a peaceful house. When the kids returned...

Sammy found me in the bathroom, scrubbing out the sink. His face was puffy, and his voice was shaky. I immediately dropped my sponge. "What's wrong?!" I said, looking from him to Ron for an answer.

He was barely able to choke out the words. "I l-l-l-left my c-c-c-c-c-ar at Auntie C.'s hou-ou-ou-ou-se!!!!" he wailed.

Flashback scene: Earlier in the day, I'd run errands with the kids and we didn't get home until well after lunchtime. The kids were cranky, and I had a trunkful of groceries to unload, so I decided to stop at Micky D's for lunch, a rare treat in our household. Even rarer, I ordered a Happy Meal for the kids to split. I don't think Sammy even knew until now that McDonald's had toys. I might live to regret this rash decision.

"Boy or girl toy?" they asked. "Boy," I said, since Natalie's too young to know or care that she was getting a raw deal. I knew she'd be happy fighting with Sammy over whatever toy they got.

It was a blue Hot Wheels car, that you pulled back and then it would race forward. Sammy was thrilled, and insisted on bringing it to Auntie C.'s house later, to show everyone. You know what happened after that.

I have never seen him so upset about anything. Honestly. It was like the end of his little world. It was 8:30 at night, and Auntie C. lives half an hour away, so I was not about to drive an hour to rescue his 50-cent toy car, but I had visions of fresh bread dancing in my head all day and still needed to make a trip to Target for yeast. And McDonald's is on the way to Target, so yep, I told Sammy I'd stop and get another car for him. I know, if I was hearing someone else tell this story, I'd probably think they were overindulgent, but let me tell you, I have never seen him so happy. If another $2.50 Happy Meal is all it takes to turn his whole world right-side-up again, so be it.

I did tell him to enjoy it, because it's the last time he'll ever go to McDonald's twice in one day, on my watch.

Dreams Really Can Come True

I walked into the living room to see Sammy sitting on the top shelf of his toybox/bookshelf. As I opened my mouth to tell him to get down, he said "Tweet, tweet". Well, then. As long as it's just a bird in his nest, and not a little boy.

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On a totally different note, last night I was reminded of something that happened a long time ago. I had difficulty getting pregnant with Sammy, and after two years, I started to give up hope and thought it wasn't ever going to happen. I remember one night, feeling as low as I've ever felt. As I was going to sleep, I begged for help in getting through this and coming to terms with it. Call it praying, if you want. I'm not exactly religious, but I am spiritual and believe in a higher power, so the word "praying" works for me.

That night, I had a dream. I saw a little boy in my dream, standing in my kitchen and looking up at me with a big smile on his face. I knew intuitively that it was my son (and he looked just like my husband did as a child). The next morning, I woke up with a sense of peace and knew that I was someday going to have a little boy, and I just needed to be patient.

A month or two later, I found out I was pregnant. About a day after I took the test, I was shopping and bought a little blue Mickey Mouse onesie. I was that confident he was going to be a boy. Obviously, he was. I still have that blue onesie tucked away in his memento box.

When Sammy was a little over a year old, that moment that I had dreamed about happened. We were in the kitchen, and he was looking up at me and smiling, and looked exactly as he had in the dream. It still gives me chills to think about this.

Sometimes I feel guilty that I never had any such dreams about Natalie, but I understand why. That night, I really needed that reassurance more than anything. It's one of the many things that's happened in my life that confirms there IS someone watching over us.

Slow-Speed Chase

A couple of nights ago, Sammy was playing with the television remote. He likes to pause the TV and start it up again (DVR). Natalie thinks it's a hoot to tease him, so she went over and got the remote, then started tearing across the room as fast as she could go (which really isn't that fast).

Even though Sammy could have easily overpowered her, I was impressed to see him try his negotiating skills on her instead. He followed her, wailing, "Let's put it on the couch, Natalie. That would be a good idea!" over and over.

She giggled and giggled as she motored around the room, with him in hot pursuit. I debated about intervening since I knew there was a possibility things wouldn't end well, but the current scene was so hilarious that I couldn't catch my breath.

I am happy to say that the situation resolved without any tears, and I'm glad I gave them a chance to work it out on their own. I'm not sure exactly how it ended since I was laughing in the other room, but Sammy apparently refrained from using physical force to get his way, and I was very proud. And very entertained by the slow-speed chase I had just witnessed.

Happy Mother's Day!

Mother's Day didn't start out too great for me. Both kids were a bit owly, and I considered leaving them with Ron so I could go celebrate Mother's Day by myself.

Thankfully, things turned around by mid-day. It was fairly cold yesterday morning, but I decided we all needed to get out of the house, so we bundled up and went to a nearby park with walking trails. I think that was just the thing for Sammy. He was thrilled to discover a fuzzy caterpillar. I picked it up to show him, and he DID NOT want to hold it, but the minute I put it back down, he started talking to it. "Hi, caterpillar! Where you going, caterpillar? You hungry, caterpillar?"

I went over to talk to Natalie, who had just woken up from a snooze in her stroller. "Sammy found a caterpillar, Natalie!" I said to her. A few seconds later, I was shocked to see Sammy walking over, "pinching" the caterpillar between his fingers. "Look, Nye! A caterpillar!" he said. Luckily the caterpillar appeared to be unharmed, and crawled away when we put him down.

Ron & the kids gave me a pair of earrings, and a gift certificate for a one-hour massage. Lest you think, "Oh, how thoughtful!" I should mention that I gave Ron the flyer (on Friday) for the massage therapist, and said, "By the way, this would be a good idea for a Mother's Day gift." He gets points for listening to me, though.

The kids had made a really great present for me at daycare. It was a little throw pillow that had a clear pocket sewn onto one side for a picture. The daycare staff had taken a picture of the two kids together, put it into the pocket, and had Sammy color with marker all around the picture. On the back side were the kids' handprints, their names, and "Mother's Day 2008". A keepsake, for sure.

I think the best gift of all was the 2-hour nap I got in the afternoon. Both kids napped, at the same time, which almost never happens. If it does ever happen, usually Natalie wakes up after half an hour, just as I'm starting to drift off. So that was huge. And greatly appreciated. Odds are, I won't get another nap until 2009, so I will remember this nap with great fondness for months to come.

I know a few of you that read have young toddlers, and like me, you're always trying to think of projects and games to occupy them. Keep tuned for future posts on this subject. I'll start by saying that we have an "art box", which is a large tupperware container filled with all types of art supplies. Right now, Target has a wide variety of art supplies in their dollar section, so I just stocked up again over the weekend. I've ordered a lot of things from Oriental Trading Company, as well. Our art box includes things like: glitter, finger paints, construction paper, "googly eyes", pipe cleaners, and foam shapes. Whenever we finish up a roll of toilet paper or wrapping paper, I save the cardboard tubes and put them in our art box. I get my inspiration from The Toddler's Busy Book by Trish Kuffner, as well as various projects I find on the internet. And, most importantly, imagination. Before throwing away jars and containers, I look at them as potential art projects. For example - we just finished up a sample-size canister of formula. Cut a slot in the lid, decorate the container, and - voila! - you have a coin bank. Anyway, I hope some my research and experiences will help out some of you looking for projects to do with your young children!