The Mighty M Family

The first week of school went by without too many hitches. The kids both like school.  They enjoy their day.  They just have a really hard time saying goodbye to mommy.  I took these pictures last Tuesday – which was Hannah’s second day of school and Eli’s first day of preschool.  Eli is not as into posing for pictures as Hannah.  So I didn’t get too many and he insisted on including the shovel in the picture.

Clearly I am taking a bit of a blogging break. I have pictures to post.  I do.  I have blogs to catch up on. I will.  Probably. The weather has gotten nicer. Occasionally. And the kids want to play outside. Constantly.   I just haven't felt like blogging.  But I'm here, all is well!  Summer approaches.  My daughter is "graduating"  from preschool tonight - very exciting and emotional.  I imagine there will be a lot of momma's with misty eyes tonight at the ceremony.  Our kids are growing up so fast!  Too fast.  

You need a good stock of this: There is a LOT more of this than usual: And you let them do things you would normally never do: (at least they’re eating, something one of them hasn’t wanted to do much of lately.) And when watching TV in the living room gets old, it is always great to mix things up: With more TV.  In a different room.  But only when they’re sick.  Eli is actually the sick one.  Horrible cough and fever since Friday.  He seems to be on the mend (finally) today but is exhausted because the cough has been preventing quality sleep (that includes for parents too) and he has been VERY a little grouchy today. In the last picture you will notice my nearly 3-year old boy still has his paci.  That is another thing I relented on this week.  Lately we only give it to him for sleeping but we’ve regressed with his illness.  Which is only going to make it harder when we take it away next month, one birthday present I don’t...

When I was a kid I used to read those Choose Your Own Adventure books.  You know, the ones that let you make a choice at the end of each section where you skip ahead to a certain page.  If you make the right choices you get to keep on going straight up to the end.  If you make the wrong choices the book might end a little sooner, your character permanently snuffed out.  Or at least snuffed out until you start over again and make different choices.  Many childcare providers use "choices" with kids.  It is a great way to help them learn, simply saying something like "are you making a good choice here?".  I have tried to embrace this in my own home too.  Life is not always black or white.  All of us have a chance every day to make our choices, to choose our path of which the outcome may or may not be desirable.  But right or wrong, the choice was ours. When it came to the books, when it was time to make a choice, I, well....I cheated....

I have a confession to make. Much like the military, up until now I have adhered to my own “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy on the following subject regarding my daughter. The pacifier.   Or “paci” as she likes to call it.  Yes, up until the day of her fourth birthday my daughter was still a proud (nighttime) paci user.  When she turned three we made the rule that the paci could only be used at night.  I refused to buy a new one and I secretly hoped it would tear or get lost so we would be forced to deal with the loss, get used to it, and move on. No such luck. Paci endured. Her dentist said that she needed to be done with it when she was four. We made sure my daughter knew that it was a BIG deal that she was turning four and that there was a lot of big girl things she was going to be able to do now. For example, Dressing herself. And chewing bubble gum. We were clear that she could not have bubble gum until the paci was gone.  ...

We were all getting in the car ready to head to the mall. I was putting my daughter’s seatbelt on when out of her mouth comes the following: “Mom, you need to be a better mom”. Hmm. How do I respond to that? While my husband is laughing in the driveway, I formulate my response. “Well, what do you think I need to do to be a better mom?”. Her well-thought out reply: Drink juice Go night-night Now, I’m pretty happy to report that I go “night-night” every night. Juice is not a daily beverage of choice, but I’m not opposed to it, especially if it’s going to make me a better mom. I did ask if “mommy wine juice” was okay, and she felt that would be fine with her. The reality is that I am always working on being a better mom, and although it might take a little more effort on my part than just drinking juice and sleeping, it’s nice to know my daughter’s insightful enough to help keep me on the right track. But just to be safe I’ll be sure to have an extra glas...