Cute

At a coffee drive thru....

Me: Wow! That girl was annoying.

John: Yeah, but she was cute at least.

James: Is that why you gave her a tip?

John, laughing: Sure, James.

Abby: Dad! You are already married!!

James: Giving someone a tip doesn't mean you are getting married!

Abby: But saying another older woman is cute isn't ok when you're married!

John: And what if I said you were cute? 

James and Abby, in unison: Gross!!

Back at it!

Spring soccer returns. It was chilly, but the sun came out, and I remembered how much I love to watch my kids play. Abby is on a small team this year, so she played nearly every minute. They had a slow start, but then suddenly seemed to remember how to work together. The coach said she wants them to work on defense this year and focus on positions, rather than running up the score.  These girls might need a little more instruction on that one. They won 8-2. 

Abby is so focused on the field, and she is just happy when she's playing. I love it. And finally, a few other girls are starting to catch her in height (at least the third graders!) so she doesn't look quite so tall out there. Her legs still look a mile long though! (She's in the middle in the teal socks.  I've given up trying to get her to wear matching clothes.) 

He May Want to Work on His Compliments

Tonight....

Josh: Who was that lady, Mom?

Me: Oh, I had her son in my class. He's grown up now... Maybe 26 or 27? 

Josh, laughing: You're old!

Me: Right? I'm ancient!

James: Mom! You shouldn't say that! You're not old, you're... Mom age. You aren't like, 45.

John: Hey! I'm almost 42, James. 

James: Well... (Smirking) No comment.

Same trip to BiMart.....

James: Mom, do you want Junior Mints? 

Me: No! We have ten boxes at home! (This is a true story. I love the heart shaped ones, so John bought me ten boxes!) 

James, totally serious: Is that enough? 

Two aisles later...

James: Mom! Do you want a Coke?

Me: No! You really want me to have sugar tonight! I definitely do not need any extra sugar. 

James: You don't need to worry about sugar, Mom. Unless you get fat. Then you might want to worry about it. 

Me: Awww, James are you saying I'm skinny? 

James: No, I'm saying you're just regular.

Me: Um.... Thanks? 

Weirdos!

Instructed to do their jobs (clear the table, empty the dishwasher, fill it with dishes and run it), they obviously created a three kid pile up on the couch. Josh groaned, Abby screeched, and James was downright content to be the filling in the James sandwich. And John and I snickered because what was Abby screeching? "I like to be on top! I like to be on top! Being on top is the best!" And so on. We are way to immature to let that one go. PS You better believe this led to injury and whining in two minutes flat. Sigh. 

Big Kids

The little kids go to an after school program each day where they get a snack, do their homework with help from school staff, and then play until I come get them. They can stay until 5:30, and it costs about a dollar an hour. Pretty great deal, and although they don't love it all the time, it's been a lifesaver since I went back to work full time a few years ago. 

The only drawback is that because it is largely staffed by the college students in town, when the college is closed, so is after care. Not a lot of days, but still something to figure out every so often. Normally, they go to one of our neighbors' houses or get picked up by any one of our many village friends. It's worked out fine, but does require me to ask favor after favor. 

Long story longer, there is no after care this week. We decided to try full on latch key kids. Well, actually full on garage code kids. At 10.5 and 8, they are in the age range where it starts to be acceptable, and if they could be responsible in the 45 minutes until someone else gets home, it would sure make these weeks easier to manage! 

They got lots of instructions and then it was time to try it out. My kids are actually pretty responsible, and with my neighbors home, I felt more than comfortable. When I got home, I found them sitting next to each other on the couch watching a Disney movie.  They had completed their homework, eaten a snack and Abby was completely ready for dance! I was super proud of them, and even though it makes me sad to see how grown up they are getting, I couldn't help but see the possibilities!! They were seeing the same possibilities because they both told me that I could cancel after care since they could clearly do it on their own. Ha! We're not quite there yet, kiddos. (But I'm kind of already dreaming of the day when I can leave anyone for any length of time. It'll be amazing.) 

Day Thirty One

I decided on December 30 that I wanted to do a "365 days of gratitude challenge" I saw posted on a blog I read. On December 31, I had a little talk with myself. "Self, I'm not sure if you've met me before, but just so you know, 365 days might be a little ambitious. Remember the time you signed up for a 5k because surely you could manage a 5k, and then had to sell your entry to someone else? Remember how you feel guilty every time you see the shirt you didn't earn? Oh! And don't forget about the drink-64-ounces-of-filtered-water-a-day plan. Boy, that pretty water bottle looked nice on your desk for the eight days you followed through with that plan. And do we even need to talk about the gym memberships?? No? Good." 

So I decided to make things a bit more manageable. One month of gratitude. Surely I could do that? Even though my inner self was a little skeptical, I'm pretty happy that I followed through for once. The app on my phone does make it look I missed a couple of days and had to double up, but I actually did blog each day. And each day records something that I was thankful for on that particular day. I doubt I'll keep up once a day, but it's something I would like to continue. 

30 days seems to be a little more my style than a year, so I think I might try some other "thirty days of".... Maybe 30 days of physical activity? 30 days of a clean car? 30 days of a load of laundry a day? The possibilities are endless. What I do know is that in order to fulfill my promise to myself, I need to say that I'm grateful that I can look back over this month and see exactly why I'm so lucky to have this life of mine. 

Day Twenty Nine

My van is pretty embarrassing right now. And by right now, I mean every day. There is garbage in the back, enough random articles of clothing to clothe an entire family, and I'm pretty sure I saw a cookie under the seat today, hanging out with his Goldfish cracker friends. The battery died the other day, and I'm a little suspicious that it was a nonviolent protest. 

Even though it's dirty and smells vaguely like old fruit snacks, I love my van. (Not enough to clean it regularly, but still.) It's a magical place. With one teenaged athlete already here, two other teenaged athletes are waiting in the wings. In the car, I learn all their secrets.  The lack of eye contact combined with being trapped in a small space with your mom works especially well on the teenage boy, but the others succumb to the power of the van too. 

It's in the van that confessions happen, that fears are shared, that good news comes bursting out. Today alone, I heard about a teacher struggle, a good test score, a friend problem, a fear, and a sports frustration. And today, I only had a child (or three) with me for about 40 total minutes. Some days it's much more than that. (And, funny story, one of the things confessed today came from a child that is not even related to me. The power of the van is strong.) 

I'm thinking that maybe this weekend, a good cleaning might be in order. It's really the least I can do.