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Five years later we’ve finally undertaken the landscaping project we were going to do as soon as we moved into our house. And truth be told, I’m glad we waited. Because though I’m nearly giddy about the new flowering bushes and the trees we planted, there is no way I would have been able to muster up an iota of excitement about the dump truck and bobcats that have been at our house for the last week. My kids, however, are in 7th heaven. I finally realize that they don’t merely point and exclaim, “truck,” every time we pass one simply because they know the word. They actually find them quite thrilling. Having them on our own front lawn? A fantasy come true.
And that’s not the half of it. Holding the worms and studying the ant colonies that have been unearthed during this project is one hundred times better than watching Animal Planet. Just because I get the willies when they excitedly show me their “wormies,” doesn’t mean I’m not thrilled that they’re finding the natural world exciting. My 6-year-old thinks he’s part of the work crew; he grabs his shovel every time the trucks pull up. Who knows, maybe if things work out he can have an internship next year instead of going to day camp. As for my little “Growing Scientists,” they now have their very own laboratory in their front yard. And in the minds of a 1, 3, and 6, year old, what could be more fun than that.
The other day my son’s kindergarten was cancelled for teacher meetings. Having just returned from a business trip, I planned to take the day off of work and spend some one-on-one time with him. Since summer has finally arrived, I had all kinds of plans: we’d go to the pool, have a picnic, play outside, and go out for ice cream. If there was time left over, we might even squeeze in some miniature golfing. Well, you know what they say about the best laid plans. We woke up that morning to cold, drizzly weather. And if that wasn’t enough to throw us off track, neither one of us was feeling well.
I figured we may as well use the unexpected free time to get some grocery shopping done (I know, I know, not quite as fun as swimming or mini-golf). There we were, trudging through the aisles, when my son spotted the cake mix and suggested we spend the afternoon baking a cake. I readily agreed —– any excuse to eat chocolate frosting. He asked me whose birthday it was, assuming it must be somebody’s birthday if we were baking a cake. When I told him it was nobody’s birthday, he decided we would make a “happy birthday nobody” cake. And did we ever. Frosting, sprinkles, glitter, and M&Ms decorated our masterpiece. Truth be told, it looked atrocious but tasted delicious. The best part was how much fun we had making it. We had our cake and ate it too, and I’m eagerly waiting the next dreary day: what better time to hold a “happy birthday nobody” party?
I got the best gift in the whole world yesterday. CommuterDad picked up CommuterGirl from child care (no, that wasn’t the gift) and they presented me with an original work of art. I’d like to call it modern art by CommuterGirl. Written on top of the creative combination of purple, red, and green was a quote from CommuterGirl. “This is for my Mommy. I love her SO much.” Good thing CommuterGirl can’t drive, I’d probably buy her a car right now if she asked for it. I love being a Mommy. P.S. Thank you to CommuterGirl’s teachers for writing it down and making my day…no, week…OK, month.
In a recent issue of Newsweek, Kathleen Deveny writes about what to do with the mountains of artwork her daughter produces. The article resonated loud and clear. I had been straightening my house in preparation for Thanksgiving, which essentially meant shifting items from several gigantic piles into smaller piles, when I realized I had approximately 752 pieces of “art” created by my two children. Figuring out what to keep and what to toss was the first challenge. But the bigger issue for me was determining where to put the whittled down 100 or so pieces I chose to hold on to.
The refrigerator door is already overcrowded with photos, invitations, and a random assortment of memorabilia. A folder wouldn’t work, since most of the pieces are oversized or three-dimensional. A scrapbook is a great idea — if only I could find someone else who has the time to put it together. So for now, my only solution is a couple of old boxes. It’s not fancy, but it’s free and easy.
We must take hundreds of pictures of CommuterGirl and our dog every month. For every good picture, we probably get five blurry ones. But, that’s what I love about the digital camera — you can take as many shots as you need to get it just right. I dutifully download everything to the computer…and do nothing else. CommuterDad and I have family spread out all of the country, in fact the world, who are always eager to see new pictures. Sending them as attachments is very cumbersome; I’ve tried a couple of the photo sites, but none of them have thrilled me. And I haven’t found one that would allow us to share the video clips either.
How do you share your digital pictures and videos? Any advice on great photo sharing sites?
I have a box in CommuterGirl’s room full of memorabilia from her first year – hair from her first hair cut, the newspaper from the day she was born, a picture of a very pregnant me. In the garage I have a plastic bin filled with pens, pretty papers, adhesive, stamps, etc. On my bookcase I have a one-year calendar that started the day CommuterGirl was born. There are notes on various days and months marking her milestones – her favorite song, first tooth, first rice cereal, first smile, first day at school. On the computer I have hundreds, maybe thousands, of pictures organized by month. Under CommuterGirl’s bureau I have a beautiful blank scrapbook from my aunt. In my head I have the most beautiful album chronicling CommuterGirl’s start in life. What an amazing baby book she’ll have…if I ever get it started. It’s a project I am so excited about, and at the same time completely intimidated. I guess I just need to hold my breath and do the first page…any tips on how to get started?
A couple of months ago CommuterGirl discovered that she loves the Swiffer. We quickly took one of the sections out of the handle so that it was “CommuterGirl-size.” She loves it. Daughter and Daddy…swiffering side-by-side. It got me thinking about how I use household/everyday items to entertain my daughter. Why spend $40 on a tent when you can make one out of pillows and a blanket? Our society is so quick to buy things and use them for one specific purpose rather than being creative and using our imagination. I admit, I’m not very good at that type of creativity — CommuterDad has a much better imagination than I. He has taught me that pots and pans are drums and paper towel tubes make great horns. And, last night, CommuterGirl and I had a puppet show with socks. What creative ideas do you have for everyday household items?
I often wonder what CommuterGirl will be when she grows up. Some days I think CommuterGirl will be a hair stylist — she loves to play with my hair. She will spend a good 10 minutes making sure each hair is in just the right place. And, I’ll never forget the hours that CommuterDad and I sat with the hair dryer running near her bouncy seat so that she would stop crying. Maybe she’ll sell or design shoes. She certainly spends a lot of time bringing our shoes out of the closet every morning. She will proudly stomp around the room with an open-toe black dress shoe on one foot, and a brown flat on the other. Maybe she will be a vet. She loves to play with the dog. Dressing him up, covering him with a blanket when he’s sleeping. Hours are spent outside “throwing” the ball for him. She frequently lifts his ear to see what’s going on inside. Oh, and we can’t forget how helpful she is when it comes time to feed the dog — she gets most of the food in his bowl. She can be anything she wants to be, but what I hope for the most is that she is kind and loving, and a good person. I hope she will treat others the way she treats her baby doll. She wraps her up to keep her warm, cuddles and rocks her, takes her for walks, shares her food with her and teaches her everything she knows.
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