A Realization

I had two experiences this week that have made it clear to me that I am no longer a "young mother". 

To many of you reading this you may say, "Duh?  You have six (seven) children! Obviously you're not a young mother anymore!"

But I'll be honest, until this week, I kind of thought I still was.  I thought other young mothers thought I was one of them.  Sure, I had more kiddos, but we were all in the same boat, right?

No, I now see that we are not.  I still have babies, but I'm not a "young mother" anymore.  Sigh.

I went to a baby shower for a friend in my neighborhood, hosted by some other ladies in the neighborhood.  This is her first baby and she is so excited.  She already has a closet and drawers full of adorable clothes, shoes, blankets, and hair bows.  That is what you can do with your first baby-- it is so fun to dress and doll them up.  You can get the newest baby gadgets and everything is fresh and new.   

There is a lot of stress involved with being a first time parent, so I DO NOT pine for those days.  I truly am able to enjoy each subsequent baby more, because I know what to expect-- I know what is normal and I know how quickly the time will pass.  But watching this friend and the other young moms with just a couple of children, I was reminded that my mindset is so much different than it was several years back.  I suddenly saw just how much time has passed.  I am older and I recognized that I am now considered a "more experienced mother".

When Clark and Bethany and Elinor were little we did little preschool activities and playgroups quite frequently.  Faith and Cannon?  Umm... yeah, not really anything.

But Faith has begged for a little book club so I racked my brain to think of little home school friends (her age) we could invite.  Most of our home school family friends have older kids.   I found I needed to extend our invites to a lot of "young mother families". 

I don't think it makes you feel young to hang out with younger people.  It made me feel old.  Old and frumpy. 

That aside, our first "Story Club" went very well this week.  I don't have a lot of spare time, but it's hard to say no to this . . . 

She was so excited.

We read The Story About Ping.  Ping is a duck, but I thought it would be fun to blow ping pong balls with a straw.  And it was fun.  

We played hide-and-seek and the kids took turns hiding our puppet duck, Ping.  The other kids went behind the curtain to count to 20.  That was hysterical to hear 7 little 2,3,4, and 5 years-olds trying to count in unison.

They tried to eat noddles with chopsticks.

Why are we surprised when we get older?  It's not something I have feared, and yet I find myself stunned that it's actually happening.

What? There is another generation of young people?  I thought we were it.

Pavlov Would Be So Proud

You are probably familiar with Pavlov's salivating dogs.  He was a Russian physiologist.  By always ringing a bell when he fed his dogs, he conditioned the dogs to salivate just by ringing a bell.

Today we began our own little science experiment.  We are "conditioning" Cannon to use the potty.  I'm setting my cell phone alarm to go off every half an hour.  When the phone beeps we call it the "Potty Train Whistle" and he has to run and go sit on the potty.

Whenever the alarm goes off I immediately restart the 30 minute countdown and so it continued all day today.  But we ran into a problem at nap time and bed time--as I had forgotten to turn off the repeating alarm.  Cannon would be in bed and he'd hear the alarm downstairs and start yelling, "I NEED GO POTTY!"  He would not settle down until he had sat on the potty.

Pretty good, huh?  Just the sound of the alarm is enough to trigger the bladder!!!

Take that, Pavlov!

Surviving Homeschool in the Winter

We are in the THICK of Winter.  I understand that the year is divided into four seasons, but ZOINKERS-- Winter seems to last three times as long as any other season! 

In warmer seasons the kids are anxious to be outside on the trampoline or climbing the cottonwood tree in the front yard.  They like to escape outdoors and it's like herding cats to get them back inside to get their school work done.   On the plus side, they will usually get their work done quickly so they can head out ASAP.

Homeschooling in the Winter has it's drawbacks, but there are some delights as well-- I just have to look a little harder for them.

They're finding various activities to amuse themselves. 
The cleanliness of the house tends to suffer greatly from their amusement, but I am usually so impressed with their ingenuity, that I can't deny them their projects.

Bethany and Elinor created bows and arrows for everyone to play "Indians" with.

We are always on the look out for ways to burn energy.  The kids value anything they can swing on, bounce on, jump off, roll over, ride on, or slide down.  They regularly saddle one another to ride as a horse.

We're making and eating too many treats.  All three little ladies are very anxious to help out in the kitchen.

 Dress up is the order of the day everyday.  It is getting a bit out of hand and I'm considering a temporary ban on all dress up clothes. 

But where to draw the line?  Old dance costumes clearly would be included in the ban, but what about towels?  In this picture they are used as cloaks, so does that count as dress up?  Sheets are turned into togas.  Need I confiscate all the linens as well?  What about my clothing?  They love how my clothes drape over them. 

It's a losing battle. 

And I'm entertaining myself this Winter by styling my hair as famous literary characters.  Here I am as Bertha from Jane Eyre.  Don't be frightened.

Aaaaaahhhhh!!  How could you not be frightened?  Ha ha ha!  This is my hair "au natural".  Try not to be envious.

"My hair use to have a mind of it's own". (an old Pantene commercial).  Ha ha ha!  (forgive me, it's getting late).

But here's what I'm spending most of my waking-- and sleeping-- moments doing. . .

And on that thought-- I'm off to bed.

Book of Mormon Challenge

Our Primary put on a ward activity this evening-- "Book of Mormon Challenge".  Our ward has a goal for everyone to read the Book of Mormon this year and this was a bit of a kickoff activity.  Abe served as our announcer-- his name was "Amazoriantumr".  We had dinner and lots of games for families to play. 

Clark built our "Ruins of Ammonihah".  You had to race against someone else to blow a ping-pong ball through the maze.

In "Nephi's Beast Hunt" you tried to hit the beasts with toy balls.  As you can imagine the girls were horrified to see their precious webkins abused in such a manner. 
No actual animals were harmed in the playing of this game. 

In "Samuel the Lamanite" the goal was to shoot Samuel off his wall with a nerf gun.  The little lady with the gun in this picture is WAY too close. 
No shooting Samuel point blank.  I had to intercede and make them step back. 
This was a popular table.

If you thought shooting Samuel was bad, "Waters of Sebus" was downright grotesque-- but in a funny sort of way.  If you recall, the Waters of Sebus was the location of Ammon's cutting off the arms of the Lamanite robbers.
I am swinging arms (made of nylons and stuffing) and I'm about to throw them to Abe and Elinor who will try to catch them in a towel. 
Very fun.  Somewhat irreverent, but fun.

We had a few other games: "Amalickiah's Poison Darts" (blowing toothpicks through straws into boxes), "Book of Mormon Trivia" (answer BOM questions), and "Symbols of Zarahemla" (a matching game). 

The final game was "The Title of Liberty Challenge".  There were two teams racing to have everyone on their team put on the t-shirt, and sign their name.  It was close and very funny watching people getting tangled up in the shirt trying to do it quickly. 

Overall the activity was very well attended and I think people enjoyed themselves.

And I'm glad it's done.

Good night.

The Multi-Purpose Room

I am going to put up some pictures, but first I would like to explain.

We have an unfinished basement with two framed bedrooms and a storage room.  One of the rooms serves as Clark's "summer room".  The other room is a bit of a playroom, with boxes of dress up clothes, a toy dish cupboard (that was my mom's, then mine and now my girls'), and a play cottage house. 

The kids use the basement for many things--a spaceship, a store, a school, a giant fort, -- But what the basement is NOT, is clean.  We do pick it up and organize it occasionally (like 3 times a year), but really, what's the use? 

It is so liberating to have an area of the house that can just be messy.  The kids can just go and play down there and create BIG, MESSY games.  Someday I hope to finish those bedrooms-- we really could use them-- but I think when we do, I'll feel it necessary to keep them cleaned up.  I'll miss just closing the basement door and only having 2 levels to keep clean.  Besides, we can only keep one level clean at a time anyway. 

The latest basement game is SCHOOL.
More specifically, "Miss Beth's School For Young Ladies".
Or was it, "Miss Beth's School For the Wealthy, But Orphaned"?
Whatever the name, spelling and math are serious subjects.

The pupils are expected to keep their desks neat and tidy.
(Don't judge the school's orderliness by the piles of clothing strewn around the background).

I understand there are only two pupils that are rich enough to attend Miss Beth's School.  You know how exclusive those schools for rich orphan girls are. 

Today she was Peter Pan.  I don't think we even attempted regular clothing today.

No clothes for this one either.  "Me not take off my 'caws' jammies".

In my defense:  We have been very good about getting all our school work done.  We are cooking good, healthy meals.  We are reading great books.  We are keeping up on laundry and dishes.  We are getting our music practice done. 

We just can't seem to keep everybody clothed and groomed properly. 
Next week we'll go back to the basics!

Something New

Clark went to his first ever wrestling practice today.  This is new for all of us.  First thoughts:
--wrestling rooms are stinky
--I am glad there are no girls signed up for wrestling
--all that Tae Kwon Do prepared him very well for wrestling (flexibility, coordination)
--they are really going to work these boys--Clark is exhausted
--hopefully this will prevent Clark from trying to wrestle with Bethany
--a sport where knocking other kids down and making them beg for mercy is sanctioned?  YES!  I think Clark may have found his sport!

In other news,

I got a flat tire in Abe's car while driving Clark to wrestling.  Exciting, and not in the good way. 

How mean of me.
I'm trying to force feed George some baby food.  He doesn't like it and doesn't really need it, but I do need a bit more sleep and I'd like to shut down the "all-night-diner", (that would be me).  I'm hoping he might sleep a bit better with something a little more solid in the belly.

Faith wears regular clothing for 5-6 hours a day.  That's all she can take before she must put pajamas back on.  I need some sort of reward system for her if she can keep her clothes on all day.  What will she do when she has to go to school all day?  Oh wait... she can wear PJ's at her school.  Oh, all right-- wear your jammies if you want to.

 

We are rapidly approaching the age of potty-training.  We've had some early success thus far, and I don't want to miss any windows of opportunity, but I've got a few big events in the next couple of weeks, so it's going to have to wait a bit longer.

I'm pretty sure when they can clearly articulate, "Don't look at me-- I'm pooping!",   you know it's time.  On a funny little note, Cannon has coined the term "pooties" for poopies (as in "Mom, I have Pooties!!").  More than you probably wanted to know, but then of course, like all good parents, we think our little junior is just adorable.

Perhaps dancing with Faith to "Princess Tea Party" is Cannon's way of trying to make up to her for the gash on her cheek he inflicted with his weapon/claw fingernails that have since been trimmed.

As usual, Faith's immediate response, through tears, "That's okay, Cannon."

No!  No, that is not okay!  Faith, when someone gashes your face, THEY should be the ones to apologize and make nice.  Where did this girl come from?  She is too kind.

Energized

I recently finished reading Gift From the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh for the second time.  I didn't like it the first time I read it and I didn't like it much better the second time either.  Both times I've read it was for ladies book clubs. 

The author goes to the beach for two weeks and thinks about the "shape of her life".  She loves the slow pace, the solitude, the quiet.  She compares life and relationships to different sea shells.  She questions, she philosophizes. 

I do not doubt that this book speaks to some people.  It just doesn't speak to me.  I've been trying to figure out why.  This is what I've come up with.  This woman is an introvert--meaning she gets energy from being alone.  It is probably very draining for her to be around a lot of people.   I'm sure she does feel fantastic after being alone at the beach for two weeks.   I would be depressed.

I am an extrovert.  I love being around people and it is energizing to me.  I feel great after quality time of being around people.  I rarely get tired of being around my children.  If I need a break from them I want to go be with Abe, or my sister, or my girlfriends.

 When I have babies I always plan to take time off, away from social responsibilities and church and such, but I miss the interaction so much that I always jump back in sooner than I planned.

As a mother of many children with different and distinct personalities, I have come to appreciate this introvert/extrovert difference.  I admit, it is easier for me to understand what motivates my extroverted children, because they are much like I was as a child--never tiring of playing with friends.  It took me a while to comprehend that my introverts were happy to be alone sometimes.  That they weren't sad or upset, rather they just needed some time to recharge. 

We went to our family book club this evening and I feel very recharged.  I'm so grateful for the good people who enrich my life so much.  I'd be very lonely without you.

We've Come A Long Way, Baby

Several years ago my mother-in-law (whom I love dearly) commented that Abe and I were very strict with Clark.  I asked if she was joking.
My family all thought (or so I thought they thought), that we were too lenient with him.  

This was back when I had time and energy to take things personally and I felt really bad that perhaps she thought I was being a mean mother to her grandson.
For years I have struggled to not let the pendulum of discipline swing too far either direction.  I've wanted to do the whole "Mary Poppins thing"-- you know gentle, but firm-- practically perfect in every way.  Making sure the children feel loved and cherished, but also running a tight enough ship that we get things done and reach our potential.


Well, I'll tell you what.  If my family thought we weren't strict enough with Clark, I can't imagine what they think of how we discipline Cannon.  As in.... we don't discipline Cannon.  Or at least, we don't do a very good job of it.

Abe's mom would be so proud of us.

We don't make him eat food if he doesn't want to.
We don't have regular bedtime.
We don't make him get dressed everyday.
His crimes against humanity (aka: his siblings) are wiped away with a "Sorry, Faife" or "Sorry Cark".


But SERIOUSLY!  Look at what we're up against!  Can you say C-H-A-R-M-I-N-G!!!!!!

After the "Sorry, Mom".  He'll add in, "Me won't do that ever again!"

Melt my heart. 

"Me wuv you".

Gadzooks!  I can't stand it!  You want a sucker?  Go get one out of the treat basket. 
You want to watch a movie?  Which one do you want?

"Hold me, Mommy".

I give up.