Perspective

Today Jeff went to the visitation for the granddaughter of one of his colleagues. The granddaughter was three months old and was found unresponsive at daycare last week.

It's every parent's worst nightmare, and it offers us good perspective on those days when the kids whine too much or sleep has been in short supply and tolerance is low. It makes you slow down a bit. Listen a little closer. Speak a little gentler. Hug a little more.

We're so blessed to have every one of our kids, and we thank God for every minute we have together.

Please keep the families who are mourning the loss of a child in your prayers tonight. And hug your kids a little tighter tomorrow.

© Trippin' Mama 2012

First Day of Second Grade!

School started the first week of August, but as I'm playing catch up, you get to see the pics today. Amelia bounded onto the bus that first day, and her school year is off to a great start.

The boys didn't make a fuss about her getting on the school bus that morning, but they were upset that she was going back to school and wouldn't be around to play with them. Very sweet.

Alex was terribly upset a couple weeks later when he said he'd be going to school when he turned five. I realized he thought he would be going the minute he turned five, rather than NEXT school year. Yikes! He was not happy when I explained he had to wait until next year.

Hope that enthusiasm for school continues!

© Trippin' Mama 2012

Dapper Dan

Sam is a little particular about what he wears, and he gets excited about new clothes.

So, of course he was thrilled when I asked him to try on one of the suits I found for our friends' wedding. (Only $12 on clearance!)

As I pulled one out, Sam said excitedly, "Does it have a bowtie?"

I had to laugh. What four-year-old asks for a bowtie?

© Trippin' Mama 2012

Lily Lou

Amelia has been telling me about this story she's writing at school.

"It's about a girl named Lily Lou, who is the size of a paper clip. She lives in a mango and has a table and chairs made out of celery and a couch made out of carrot slices. Her bed is a slice of tomato and she sleeps under a lettuce leaf."

Can I tell you how much I hope there are pictures to go with this?

Today Amelia gave me an update: "A human entered the room and Lily Lou hid under her bed and shook with fright."

Then she demonstrated, "It's a h-h-human," she said. "She talks like that, you know, because she's shaking with fright."

That child is a girl after my own writer's heart. And also, she's making me a little hungry.

I can't wait to hear the next installment!

© Trippin' Mama 2012

Progress?

I was at a wedding shower today when someone said to me, "You left all four of the kids with your husband?"

Um, yes. He's a big boy, and HE'S THEIR DAD. Really, he can handle it.

What annoys me about this question is that no one ever reacts that way to him leaving all four kids with me. Not even when I had a two-year-old and three infants.

Jeff gets equally annoyed when people ask him if he's babysitting. It's not babysitting when they are your own kids, folks. Again, no one ever asks me that.

We think we're so enlightened these days, because we believe women can do it all -- motherhood, career, homeroom mom, gourmet cook and uber housekeeper/decorator. Yet we don't think men can be left alone with their own kids for a few hours?

Maybe we haven't made as much progress as we think. 

© Trippin' Mama 2012

Soccer Mom

I am now officially a soccer mom. Amelia wanted to play when she was five, but as I had three two-year-olds on my hands, I said no. I'm pretty sure dragging them to weekly practice and games would have put me right over the edge.

This year the boys are old enough to play, so we went all in. They love it!

I thought Amelia might not enjoy it as much as she thought she would. She's not the most athletic child. (She does take after her mama, after all!) And, most of the other girls on her team have played before. But she's caught on quickly and has great coaches, so she's having lots of fun.

Then there are the boys. First off, there are eight kids on the team, and they play six on six, so if we don't show up their team can't even play. At the first game a dad of one of their teammates thanked me for driving car pool so they had a team. I told him it wasn't a car pool, just a lot of kids from my house.

The boys love the running and kicking, and they are doing a good job of listening to their coaches and seem to be learning a lot. But those rules about not pushing or pulling on someone's shirt or tackling? Those are a little tough for us. It's a good thing they don't throw yellow flags in peewee league.

© Trippin' Mama 2012

Lobbying

A couple kids in this house have undertaken a serious lobbying campaign in the last couple of weeks.

The kids have made past efforts to persuade me to get them a fish, a kitty (Isaac and Sam), a turtle (Alex), a snake (Isaac), a horse (Amelia), a dog (Amelia), a sheep (Amelia), a rabbit (Amelia), a hamster (Amelia), a guinea pig (Amelia). Do you see a pattern here?

But this request is different. It went like this:

Sam: Mommy, when are we going to have a new baby in our house?

Me: *stunned silence*

Sam: Mommy, we NEED to have a new baby. I'm really good at holding babies. I've been practicing!

At that point he ran off, and I regained my ability to speak. Sam came back from his room cradling his doll, Baby Natalie. "See, Mom? See how good I am with babies?" he said. Dang, he was so cute my uterus contracted.

A couple days later Amelia started in about wanting a baby in the house. When I told her Sam was asking for a new baby, too, she took a different angle.

"What kind does he want?" Amelia said. I told her he didn't say. "He wants a girl," she announced. "Because I really need a sister, Mom. Puh-leeeze?"

Look, whining and pestering doesn't get you what you want in this house. ESPECIALLY when what you want is a new baby.

I might have to get them a dog after all.

© Trippin' Mama 2012

Long Time, No See

Whew! What a long hiatus! I'm still trying to figure out how to manage this whole kids + job + home + marriage +... well, seems there's rarely room for another plus!

But today a co-worker of mine found out she's expecting twins, and I started remembering all of the early days. (Through a very hazy fog...) And I'm so glad I wrote so much of it down.  And then I realized that I still have so many things I want to write down, so it's time to try to dive back in here.

I have some notes of stories to capture, so we'll be wandering down Memory Lane a bit here before we get back to the business of keeping up.

Stay tuned for pics from the first day of second grade, vacation, bike riding without training wheels (all four at once!) and the general mayhem that makes up our days around here.

See you soon!

Christy

© Trippin' Mama 2012