Apparently I am missing something

Can someone please explain to me the wonderfulness of bubble baths? Everyone keeps telling me to treat myself to a bubble bath. Even Dove has gotten into the game! 

 WTF people?!

Judging by the amount of people who have told me to treat myself to a bubble bath, I am, apparently, of a very small minority who doesn’t get it. Perhaps my bathtub is too small? Although, once on vacation we had a big Jacuzzi tub and I wasn’t all that impressed. So what is so special about bubble baths. Do people really find them relaxing? I just feel like there is so many more things I could be doing. Is it just me?

Lily

Rock Climbing - Bud and Babe style

I think I’ve mentioned before that Bud is an awesome climber (I could probably prove it by linking to a few of my old posts but…yeah, no). So when I got an email from the college saying that they were having a Kid’s Day at the Climbing Wall I signed him right up! I have never been to the wall and it said that each child must be accompanied by an adult so I wasn’t sure what the protocol was and if it was ok if we brought Babe too, even though I figured she couldn’t climb. The lady told me we should sign her up too just in case she wants to try. Great!

Bud was SO excited and Babe was excited because Bud was excited. We were all excited! Bud couldn’t stop talking about how awesome this was going to be and he was going to “zoom up the wall so fast!” I didn’t doubt it. He recently did rope climbing in gym class and he was the only one in the first grade to make it to the very top of the rope! So yeah, I figured he’d be awesome!

We got there and they took Babe first. They strapped her into the harness, and after a short discussion about the fact that they couldn't get her harness as tight as they normally make it, she started up the wall.

It's not your eyes, my camera skillz are a little rusty so some of these pictures are a little (or a lot) blurry.

I just love this picture! She's falling off the wall and yet she looks so graceful!

She was really giving it her all!

Last big hurdle!

She made it! 

(There was one more hold but she couldn't reach it no matter how hard she tried)

Proud girl!

Then it was Bud’s turn:

After seeing how easy Babe made it look he choose a harder wall to start with. He got himself up on the first level…and was stuck! 

He couldn’t get himself higher! The girl that was belaying him tried giving him rock climbing shoes but couldn’t find anything that really fit. I asked if he could climb barefoot because that’s usually how he does it at home (he has the most amazing monkey toes you’ve ever seen!) and she said it might hurt his feet a little but he could certainly try it.

That was better! 

He still struggled a little but having his shoes and socks off made a big difference!

Of course, since Bud had no shoes that meant that Babe needed to climb shoeless too!

(If you look just under Babe's left foot you can see all the pink tape. It was holding up a Staples "Easy" button. When you push it, it says "That was Easy!" I think that was Bud's favorite part of the whole day!)

She wasn’t a fan though and quickly came back down.

Definitely a good time

Good times!

Lily

Things I learned in Nursery school

Yesterday I was parent helper at Babe’s nursery school. It meant that Babe was the leader for the day and we had to provide snack. Here’s some of things I learned:

I could NEVER be a nursery school teacher. EVER.

Babe is a very serious bell ringer (she takes her leader responsibility very seriously)

Thirteen 3 year olds are like a writhing mass of jello, always on the move but somehow contained within the shapes carpet.

My daughter rolls her eyes at other people too, not just me. (I’m not sure if it makes me happy that I’m not the only one or makes me upset that she’s already rolling her eyes at 3 years old)

A surprisingly high number of the kids enjoyed the carrots sticks and ranch dip we brought. I definitely thought we’d have more hold outs than just 2. I’m claiming that a success!

I am not at all imaginative when it comes to playing games. I got stuck helping with the beanbag toss and I’m sure lots of mom’s could have made that fun and exciting. Let’s just say that my group was ready to wander pretty quickly.

Having your daughter pipe up from the back seat on the way home and say, “Thank you Mommy SO MUCH for coming to school with me today!” makes my heart melt in ways I didn’t think possible.

Lily

Wanted: breadcrumbs

What if I need to start from scratch? What if all that I have worked for and achieved is taken away? What if I choose to let it go? Because really, the choice is mine. What are the dangers of making myself comfortable with the fact that I may need to start my life from scratch? On the one hand I need to be prepared if it comes down to that. On the other, is it a self-fulfilling prophecy if I get comfortable with the idea? I’m 30 years old and I have two (amazing) kids. We own a nice house that can fit everyone for Christmas. We have a nice yard for our kids to run around. Our vegetable garden finally has more soil than rocks and things actually grow out of it. I have my tree swing. We finally bought a nice car. I like the life we've built; it’s taken us almost ten years to get to this point. The thought of giving it all up, starting over, makes me want to crawl onto my memory foam mattress and bit by bit be absorbed into it so that I’m fully cocooned inside. I already started my life, why do I have to start again? I want to cry and kick and scream and hold my breath until everything is magically better and just as it should be.

The hard part is accepting that maybe things are as they should be. Maybe I need to lose everything I have worked for so that I can achieve the life that is meant for me? I’m a strong believer in “everything happens for a reason.” I’ve made all my choices in life based on the best information I had available to me at the time. It’s looking like some have been, what some might call, “bad” decisions, but I think I’m on the path I’m supposed to be on. The path is bumpy as hell, twisty as shit, but it’s the path I’ve been given and I’ll be damned if I don’t make it to the end battered and bruised but stronger than I was when I started.

But right now? Right now I’m sitting off to the side of that path, nursing my wounds and looking for breadcrumbs. Why are there no breadcrumbs? How am I going to find my way? When are these wounds going to stop bleeding? I know they will leave scars. I can only pray that they are not permanently disfiguring, leaving me unable to rise above. But I won’t let that happen. I’m not a victim. I have choices. I will rise above and make my life what it’s capable of being. I don’t know what form that will take (it’s not a good view from the ditch I’m currently huddled in) and I’m more scared then I’ve ever been. But all of this will just make any future achievement even sweeter, right? RIGHT? (dear God, please tell me I’m right.)

Lily

Conversations with Bud: Competitive streak edition

Bud's conversation with Nana (my mom) this weekend when he got off the ice from hockey practice...

Bud: Nana, when I saw that the other team had 3 goals and my team had 1, do you know what I did to fix it?

Nana: What?

Bud: I switched to the to the other team so I could win too!


That's my boy! Can't imagine where he gets that competitive streak from? Couldn't possibly be me! ;-)

Lily

Warning! Bragging going on here

I’m not going to lie. Things are pretty shitty right now. I’m not going to go into details because it is neither the time nor the place, but I bring it up because I really need some positivity and humor around me right now. And for me, that means I’m going to brag about my kid. I understand people’s distaste for people bragging about their kids. I get it, I do, and I try not to do it very often. But when you have a genius for a son and the rest of your life is crumbling before your eyes, you’re going to focus on the genius. Well, at least I am. It’s my blog and I can brag if I want to. If you don’t want to hear it please move along. This post isn’t for you.

So that’s all to say, if you didn’t catch on, my son is a genius. Also, I really like having my sister-in-law be his teacher. We’ve always known that Bud is a great reader. He isn’t just good at sounding out words he doesn’t know. He can read with expression and he can comprehend everything he reads. He loves reading science and other fact-based books. He can’t read them fast enough and when he has homework that only requires he read parts of a book, he’ll always read the whole thing, sometimes twice, with no prompting at all. He just can’t get enough! So the other day my sister-in-law told us that she was able to see all of the reading scores from all of the first graders in the school (I believe there are 3 or 4 classrooms of 1^st graders) and Bud’s reading scores were higher than anyone else in the entire first grade!! He reads the fastest and has the best comprehension in the entire first grade! My boy is a damn genius and I couldn’t be any more proud of him if I tried!!

Anything you want to brag about? Feel free to share in the comments. Let’s all focus on the awesome for a little while and leave the shitty stuff to rot for a different day!

Lily

Make it good? I'll settle for "eh, it's ok"

On February 9, 2011 I sat in front of my computer, nervously emailing back and forth with Smidge, trying to decide if I should start a blog. Could I do it? Would anyone even care about what I have to say? Failure is hard for me to handle, did I really want to put myself out there for all the world to see? With some pats on the back from Smidge, and lots of back and forth on my blog title, I dove in and clicked Publish.

I can’t fully describe what writing on this blog means to me but those of you with your own blogs probably understand anyway. My readers, you guys, have been awesome. I couldn’t have asked for a better reception and I’m truly grateful for the friendships I’ve developed. I’ve gotten away from writing for many reasons, most of them not particularly good, but I still like knowing that you guys are out there and always willing to welcome me back when I see fit.

Last year I set a calendar reminder so that I wouldn’t forget my blogerversary. I had to put it on the day before so I had time to write something. When I saw the entry there the other day it made me realize how much I’ve missed writing. I’m hoping to start up again. I’m not sure what tone it will take or how well I’ll stick to the plan, but thank you for being you and putting up with me.

Hap, hap, happy blogerversary to me!

Lily

Conversations with the Kidlets

Bud: Mom, if your hands are the dirtiest part of your body how are you supposed to pull out a loose tooth?

Me: Well, you could wash your hands right before you try to pull and then your hands would be clean.

Bud: That sounds like a good idea, but Adam P in my class always puts his hands in his mouth and I KNOW he doesn’t wash them first!

Me: {shudder} Well, when you have a loose tooth you’ll know to wash your hands first!

Babe: Mom, Mom!!! If I wash my hands will I get a loose tooth too?

Me: Sorry Babe, when you have a loose tooth you need to wash your hands before you pull it, but washing your hands does not make your tooth loose.

Babe: Awww man!

I don’t know if I should be concerned that my stubborn three year old wants to lose a tooth like her big brother. I fear she’ll take matters into her own hands. 

Lily