Sunday, April 28, 2013

Yoga

The daycare that the littlest people attend does some really great things with the children. One of those things is yoga. I hadn't really given it much thought... yoga seems like a great transitional activity for their morning routine, getting all of the kids acclimated after drop-off and before breakfast. Aside from helping the kids adjust in the morning, The benefits of yoga and the impact on concentration and overall health are great, yet I didn't think it had much of an impact on my little people. 

Benett, however, surprised me one day last week when he excitedly told me all about his yoga, in great detail. He was so excited to share that he decided to show me some of what he's learned. This activity is obviously much more than a transitional exercise and it's something that is having an impact.

As I sit here typing, I can't recall the names of each of the poses, with the exception of this one... this is aptly called "Dead Bug." I like his technique, specially the facial expression. Benett is great at getting into character...

There are so many parts of my kids' lives that I wish I had a bigger window into. The little things... the big things... the boring things... the thrilling things. I want to know and see it all; soak it in.

I used to have that nagging feeling daily. It would live like are dark cloud in the back of my mind. Hovering over me when I wasn't with them, but strangely, at times it would happen when I was with them, but not fully engaged... if I was giving more attention to my work. It was a little like the two parts of my life couldn't cohabitate in a balanced way.

Happily, I don't feel that way as often anymore. There is a better balance. But even so, things like this really make me wish I knew, really knew, all of the little details of each of my little people's lives. Even when they're as mundane as yoga.


Thursday, April 25, 2013

Skeptical

The winter has been so very long. It has felt as though spring would never come... despite the persisting wintry weather, the willow in our front yard just couldn't resist any longer. Both of the shrubs are full of soft and fuzzy catkins that are a true and real measure of springtime.

The little people were so excited to see this interesting occurrence... So much so that we decided to take a few cuttings and bring them in to dry. Maybe we'll make a wreath or add them to an arrangement... Even though I'm not quite certain how we'll use them in the future, Benett had his own immediate plans and decided to take one of the slender branches with him to bed. The catkins are a botanical replacement for the soft silky edge of his blankie that he strokes when attempting to drift off to sleep.

Now that the willow has opened my eyes, I'm seeing other signs of spring too... tender shoots of grass, the irises pushing up through the cold and wet ground, buds on the cherry trees and chickens contentedly scratching in the boundary of the yard looking for a patch of dry soil in which to bathe. All of these things seem so simple and glorious and helping to fade that memory of winter ever so slightly.

Despite my skepticism, it appears spring is here to stay... even so, we haven't put away our winter coats just yet... after all, I don't want to jinx anything.

Monday, April 22, 2013

Consoling

We tried to console ourselves yesterday with some baking. It seemed the only sensible thing to do, when faced with a snowy day in April.

I think I could have cried when we rose on Sunday morning to snow... snow on the ground, snow in the air... the snow was replaced with rain later in the day... but somehow that didn't feel like much of an improvement.

The little people are taking their lack-of-spring frustrations out in a much different way. Their tactic is to refuse to sleep at night. They've got stalling down to an art form. And for an encore, they've resorted to additional late night tactics.

We're used to Ellie wandering into our room in the wee hours, but until recently, we could convince her to go back to her own bed to sleep. Not any more. She stands at the foot of the bed crying loudly, if you can call it that, until she's satisfied that we understand her frustration. After we've managed to fall back asleep, we're roused by Benett for round two, with some pre-dawn issue of his own.

I swear, when the sun shows itself, I plan to have those little people outside running until sunset... I want them to be so tired that they fall into bed and sleep from the moment their head touches the pillow until we wake them the next morning. That may never happen... but a mama's gotta dream...

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Jammies

I love the footie, zip-up jammies for little people. They are so warm and snugly and when the little people required late night diaper changes, they made that process a measure easier.

Now that the little people are older, they have started to express their own PJ preferences. Benett, like me, loves the footie pajamas... but for a very different reason. He uses them the way I use my purse; as a great way to take important things with me, and keep them close at hand.

It's not uncommon to see him unzip to his belly, stash a few match box cars or a stuffed animal in and zip right back up. Even when those small cars work their way down into the feet of his PJs, he remains unperturbed. Sometimes I wonder if Benett has the same problem I do, finding that lost article that is inevitably collected somewhere at the bottom of my purse?

I will say that it's always an adventure helping Benett out of his jammies in the morning. I never know what I'll find.

Sunday, April 14, 2013

Piggy

This weekend, we decided it was time for Ellie to have a smart new haircut. I say that a little like we planned it... but that's not really how it happened.

It was time for a little trim, and that was our intention when we stopped at our favorite little spot on Saturday morning. But when Ellie hopped into the chair and we asked her (jokingly) if she wanted to cut off her pony tail, she said, "Sure."



"Sure..." Like it was no big deal. It had taken her three years to grow that pony tail into something that actually hung as opposed to those short little bits of hair we used to wrangle into sparse bunches which we lovingly called 'Piggy Tails.'

"Sure..." I guess it's only hair... but I will miss seeing my half-dressed little girl, pausing to play, with her wild and crazy hair trailing down her back. She'd pause only as long as it took for me to ask if I could brush her hair... and off she'd run again.

"Sure..." She can decide for herself if she'd rather have long hair or short. With summer coming, it makes sense to cut it short... it's easier that way. Even though braids are so much fun...

"Sure..." With little time to rethink the decision, off went the pony tail. The treasure was handed to me for safe keeping. I have the blondish bundle safely tucked into my hope chest... I can't part with it; not yet... who knows, perhaps years from now I'll wonder why I felt so attached... most likely I won't.

I think the reason I never planned for this hair cut is because I would over-think it. I would get sentimental... I would think about this last part of my little girl that remained from when she was a baby... and I'd find a reason not to do it. All the better to put the decision into the three-year-old's hand and let the sharp scissors do the rest.


Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Pink

Hello. Yes, it's been a long time, but I'm back... and I must say, I feel a little bit like a stranger to this place.

Last week, I came down with a very ferocious bug. I was sick for a week with a decommissioning illness that prompted me to do some extreme WebMD and Google searches, in my more lucid moments, all in an effort to self-diagnose. (I was relieved to learn I did NOT have the bird flu.) But I wanted nothing more than to feel like myself again. To feel well. To have enough energy to put on socks.

It took a long time, but hallelujah, I'm back!

Now I'm getting caught up... and I may be on a bit of a cleaning terror. I've been washing and wiping every surface. I'm going to eradicate any virus that remains in this house, if not with household cleaners, then by will alone. If it weren't sleeting outside, I'd even throw open the windows and full the house with fresh air.

We are beyond ready for spring. I'm so eager for color that Ellie and I decided to paint her nails. It was a momentous occasion. I guess I have been one of those moms with the opinion that make-up, even nail polish, ear piercings and the like are reserved for double-digit ages.

Maybe that makes me old-fashioned... I just think that so many times those kinds of embellishments are designed to make others think or feel a certain way about our looks, more so than making us feel good about ourselves. Not the territory for my little girl.

Maybe it's my extreme need to add some color to our little world, maybe it's me relaxing my thoughts on appearance... the reason doesn't really matter I guess, because Ellie loves her new pretty nails. And I love that she's happy. On a side note, I've also used the new experience to try and gain an upper hand in the area of nose-picking. It's not a glamorous discussion, but my Ellie is no different than many kids her age. She spends a good part of the day with her right index finger in her nose. Awkward. Gross. Bad habit.

I had managed to convince her that if she had her fingernails painted, she could no longer pick her nose. Until today she's been pretty good about it... perhaps at least being thoughtful about her actions. At dinner time tonight I happened to notice that one finger is absent it's pretty pink polish... that finger just happens to be her right index finger. I hope it's a only coincidence.