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Thursday, February 07, 2013

Just an ordinary day

Despite this head cold I've got going on, yesterday was a fairly pleasant day. Andrew took Rachel to the bus and popped in a movie for Miriam to watch before he left for school so Benjamin and I had a lovely sleep in (and did the same again today), something we deserved since he's been up crying until midnight most nights this week (and still getting up to nurse several times after falling asleep).

Miriam and I spent some time outside drawing with chalk on the driveway. She wanted to go to the park but I just couldn't see myself walking there and back with both kids and still having energy left to do anything else (besides which, the last time we went to the park she decided she had to go potty just as we arrived so we ended up walking there and home and there again before actually playing (so I think I was remembering the walk being much more exhausting than it really is, considering I have to carry a big, heavy boy, and drag a big, heavy three-year-old by the hand)). So, chalk it was. Miriam decided that it was so bright outside that she needed sunglasses. She can be quite the fashionista.



She was being so silly with her glasses!


She got rather whiny in the afternoon and kept bursting into tears over every little thing so by 2:00 she was down for a nap (her first nap in a long time). Soon after she fell asleep there was a knock at the door—it was my friend Kim with a baby bouncer for Benjamin. It's been sitting in her attic collecting dust since her baby (Miriam's friend Claire) stopped using it a couple of years ago. Kim just had another baby but that baby isn't ready for the chair yet so Kim said Benjamin could use it until he was done with it.

I let Benjamin try it for a minute after we put it together and he seemed to like it.


Then he and I went down for a nap. I set the alarm on my phone just in case everyone stayed asleep until it was time to get Rachel from the bus and everyone did stay asleep until it was time to get Rachel from the bus! So I ran outside to meet the bus while my sweet kids slept on—I figure it's alright since I don't even have to leave the yard to meet the bus, technically.

Rachel helped wake the kiddos up and then she and Miriam went outside to blow bubbles...for an hour. And then we all did some yard work.


Benjamin enjoys sitting in the grass and playing with it (when he wears a jacket with short enough sleeves that his hands are actually available (they aren't available in this coat)) though he doesn't much like when he takes a tumble and ends up with grass in his face (or anywhere on his head for that matter).


Here's Rachel looking a little too grown up, helping put yard waste into the bin.



She uncovered a stone under some of the clippings from trimming the hedge in front of our porch. It's a beautiful stone set with a "stained glass" heron. She ran inside to get a baby wipe so that she could wash it off.

"Did you know that was here when we got this house?" she asked in a tone that indicated that she thought her find increased the overall value of the house tenfold.

Rachel happily went about doing her chores—no complaints, no lollygagging. It was a nice change from the day before when she threw an epic temper tantrum when I asked her to come home from the neighbour's yard for dinner. Her punishment was three extra chores and she was doing chores right until it was time to climb into bed. She was a complete monster about doing her chores and kept yelling things like, "It's no fair that grown-ups get to punish children! I want to punish you, Mom!"

And I was like, "What are you going to punish me for, exactly?"

"I don't know but I'd punish you for something if I could!" she yelled.

I didn't yell back at her through her entire fit (thank you, very much, Crystal) though I did keep tacking on chores periodically until she got the message that she'd be doing chores until next year if she didn't cool it.

It was nice that she so willingly did her chores yesterday to make up for her bad behavior the day before. She was happy to have only the regular work rather than 50% more!

Benjamin happily bounced in his chair while I made dinner and helped Rachel with her homework and so forth. I think he bounced in his chair for about two hours yesterday evening. He loves it!


That's actually where he is now, happily bouncing away and twirling all the gagets. He went to bed last night at 8:30 and didn't wake up this morning until after 10:00! I think he bounced himself to exhaustion.

We inherited a similar thing from my sister when Rachel was a baby but gave it to cousin Michael when Rachel grew out of it. It was a life saver with Rachel, who was a very busy baby. We never had one with Miriam and I don't ever remember thinking I needed one. She was such a content baby, so easy to please. Benjamin's got a busier, needier personality and I can see that we'll definitely benefit from the use of this bouncer!

This post ended up a lot less comical than the day actually was, so here are a few snippets of the day (and a couple days previous)...

While colouring a Valentine's Day banner with Miriam:

Miriam: Mommy, what is Pennsylvania?
Me: It's a state. Like North Carolina is a state and Utah is a state.
Miriam: Oh. Well, I think about Pennsylvania. I think about it all the time.

While Benjamin was shaking a rattle (obviously):

When Benjamin shakes his rattle Miriam shakes her booty. He finds this a most amusing development. There's nothing quite as entertaining as cause and effect.

While eating dinner last night:

Rachel: How long is it until Valentine's Day?
Me: Eight more sleeps.
Rachel: Okay, okay, okay. So, eight sleeps. I'm five. Eight minus five is three. Valentine's Day is in three days! I can't believe this! I've got to get crackin' on my Valentines!
Me: I do not think math works the way you think it does.

After Rachel should've been asleep last night:

Rachel came out of bed to hand me a reminder note:

Beymembre to trase hrts and cut them uwot.

What can I say? Sometimes I forget to do things so I can always use someone to help me beymembre. It's just Mommy Brain, I'm sure.

Last week when we went to the park (and home and to the park again, remember?), Kim brought Claire to play with Miriam and stayed to get some sunshine. She had her sweet little newborn with her (who was double Benjamin's size at birth yet looks so tiny now...) and we were chatting about life.

"Did you make it to book club in January?" she asked. "I didn't. Why didn't I? I can't remember."

"Wasn't it just a couple of days after you had Sarah?" I asked.

"Oh, yeah. I guess it was. Well, that would explain that. But I feel like I haven't been in forever! I didn't make it in December either. Did you?"

"I did. And so did you, Kim," I told her.

"I did?" she asked.

"You did," I assured her. "It was at your house in December."

"Really!? Oh, wow. Talk about Mommy Brain!"

Forgetting anything is excusable when you're being woken up every couple of hours at night!

2 comments:

  1. I love that you used the word lollygagging! So fun!

    What kind of chores do your girls do?

    I had to smile at Rachel saying it's no fair that adults get to punish children. I'm sure I felt the same a time or two.

    Also it's cute that Miriam thinks of Pennsylvania. Makes me wonder what kinds of things she things about it since she didn't know what it was.

    Cute pictures as always. :)

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    Replies
    1. Their chores are fairly open-ended. I have a whole stack of cards and I just attach whatever ones I want them to do on the back of their "ice cream" blobs (they build an ice cream cone every day to earn ice cream at the end of the week). They get six chores a day and it really depends on how ambitious I want to be...because making them do chores is so time consuming!

      One of Miriam's chores every day is to get dress (because she hates getting dressed in the morning but will do it for ice cream). She also unloads the dishwasher, tidies up the entry way, dusts the floor boards, cleans up toys, things like that.

      Rachel's chores are more complicated—she helps to load the dishwasher, cleans the bathroom sinks, tidies the living room, etc. But doing her homework/reading is usually also one of her chores. She loves to dust her bedroom fan (she can reach it from their bunk bed).

      As far as Pennsylvania goes, she kept saying something about Beauty and the Beast's castle. But I don't recall anything about Pennsylvania in that storyline.

      Thanks for reading. :)

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