Doctor?? Dr. Seuss

Today while in the car Miles had a thought provoking moment out of the blue,

Miles: "You know Mom, Dr. Seuss was not a doctor."

Me: "Yeah Miles you're right about that."

Miles: "Well why did they call him doctor instead of Mr. Seuss?"

Me awkwardly: " That's a good question Miles but unfortunately I don't know."

Miles matter of fact: "Well you should find out."

That's just great, one more thing to add to the "to do list"

Happy Mother's Day

There really is nothing more special than handmade gifts from your kids on Mother's Day. My boys beamed with pride as I opened my gifts and "ohhed and ahhed" over them. Seeing how proud they are to give their "Mom" a gift is pretty special too. Today, I celebrate them. Without them I wouldn't be the proud Mama I am today. Happy Mother's Day!

Mourning Teeth

So sad to think that I will never see this sweet baby tooth smile again. My baby boy no longer has front teeth. I know he's not a baby anymore but he will always be my baby. And I guess what I'm really mourning is not the loss of his teeth but what it represents, he's growing up. Before kids, I always heard mother's say "it goes by so fast" I never understood what they meant by this. Until most recently, it's hit me I no longer have babies and my oldest is no longer a toddler but really a young boy. When I sit back to think about the time that has gone by and how they're growing up, it all seems so surreal, a feeling of "where did the time go" and now I fully understand what it means when you hear a mom say "they grow up so fast". Yes, I'm mourning the loss of my babies as well as the loss of Aidan's baby teeth. His teeth is just one more indicator of how he's growing up.

Let me add that they didn't fall out naturally. While I know this would have happened naturally at some point the fact that they had to pull them made it that much more difficult. Aidan had 3 adult front teeth coming in, one smack in the middle. The dentist as well as the oral surgeon agreed that the extra needed to be removed so it wouldn't interfere with his others coming in. What that meant was oral surgery. As I was worried sick about it, all Aidan could think about was how great it's going to be to finally be on the tooth board in class and just think what the tooth fairy is going to bring him. In his words, "Not just 1 tooth but 3!"

Although no mother wants to see there child agonizing over discomfort or pain it was a reminder to me that my boys will always be my babies. Even though they are growing up, being a mom means being there to comfort your child and reassure them that everything is going to be ok.

Make It Your Own

We spent sometime this afternoon decorating these new toothbrushes the Easter Bunny brought the boys. It was perfect timing as I've been trying to teach the kids about making things their own, being their own person with their own style. If you didn't know, you might be thinking I have some tweens in the home right? Sounds crazy that I'm having to have these conversations with my 4 yr old twins and 6 yr old, oh excuse me 6 3/4 yr old, right? The truth is I am. The struggle in my house right now is my boys concerns about what their friends might or might not think is cool. Statements like this can be heard every morning in my house, " I don't want to wear that shirt, my friends won't like it.", "I don't want those shoes, [so and so]says those aren't cool." These statements are from my 4 yr olds. I find it frightening that this has begun at such an early age. My 6 yr old is all about, " I want my picture (when he's drawing) to look like [so and so's].", "[So and so] made a cool airplane, I want mine to look the same." Coming from Aidan, this has really surprised me because he's always marched to the beat of his own drum.

I just keep reminding them, that they should wear what they like. It doesn't matter what someone else thinks of it and they shoud wear it proudly. As for their artwork what's most important is their imagination how they would like something to look. The best thing is having your own style and not being a slave to what others think.

So when it came time to decorate their toothbrushes, I kept reinforcing this. The kit came with 141 stickers so you got to choose which ones to use. I pointed out the differences between their toothbrushes and yet they were all cool. They all agreed with me. I tried to tie this back to how great it feels to be your own person. They all nodded in agreement. I really do hope they're getting the message. Only time will tell.

First A's Game for Aidan

Aidan is at his first A's game today with his Dad and pals from his little league team. Of course I had to buy him an A's hat to wear for the occasion. I gave it to him this afternoon before he left, he was so pleased about it. I just love those Mom moments when you know you've thrilled your child with a thoughtful gift or action. It's hard not to feel great when you see your child really happy. I got to have one of those moments today as they left for the game.

They left early to attend a tailgate party, barbecue and drinks. This was going to be a day of firsts for him, first game, first tailgate party, and apparently his first Coke too. OK, so these are the kind of things that happen when Mom isn't around. Dad indulges the kid with a coke. I'm sure I'll be hearing more about how this happened when they get home. Dad reported via text that Aidan took a few sips and handed it back, saying "It burns Dad". This is good news, sounds like I won't be having any future struggles with Aidan asking for the contraband Phew!

The other first that's happening tonight that I've neglected to mention is, he's staying out late with friends. This is a really late night for him as he's usually in bed for the most part by 8pm, no later than 8:30 and we usually call that a late night. For those kind of late nights he's home and we've let him stay up a bit later to finish reading a book he's engrossed in. A late night out at a game with friends has me a bit concerned about what I might have to look forward to in the morning. I'll be praying for a smooth morning with no meltdowns or drama. Let's keep our fingers crossed.

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon

I just finished reading "Where the Mountain Meets the Moon" to my boys. A friend had recommended this read and I'm always interested in introducing Chinese folklore to my kids. So, although its recommended for kids a bit older than mine I decided to take the plunge and read it to them. It was fine for my boys, nothing too scary or provocative. This is a story of fantasy and adventure that does and excellent job of interweaving folklore throughout the tale.

My kids were thoroughly engrossed in the stories, constantly asking questions. As boys, they were most interested in the dragon. However, I love how this tale's main character is a girl, Minli, and has such a positive girl message. Something I don't often think about since I have three boys however, realize it's not only important for our daughters to receive these messages, it's important for our sons as well. Especially, since my boys are going through that "Ewwww girls!" phase. My youngest even had to ask several times, "Minli is a girl?" As if in disbelief, how is it that this cool heroine is a girl...how is that possible. Silly boys!

Not only is this a story of adventure it is a story with a message about the bonds of family, and the perilous nature of envy, jealousy, and want. Grace Lin weaves a tale that substantiates how our role as a parent and our every action influences our children's view of themselves in the world. Definitely a sweet read about the truth of happiness that I'm sure I will be reading to my boys again and will definitely be exploring other books by Grace Lin.

In common

Surgery, construction, new Mac, I say. What do they have in common you ask? Well these are what have kept me from blogging the past few weeks. After recovering from yet another procedure on my bladder, it was time for the jack hammers to start. No not on my bladder, but our home...and because the racket has been more than we could bear, we've been spending the days away from home, coming home on time to make a quick dinner and then begin the bedtime routine.

We also got a new Mac and I've been finding the need to make the transition from PC to Mac daunting. Every night I've been telling myself "tonight I'll sit down to figure this out (you know downloading pics, etc)". I just end up shying away from it, telling myself, I'll do it tomorrow. Suddenly, weeks have gone by and my poor blog has gone neglected.

Soon our Spring break will be over, the construction should be finished in a couple more weeks, I'll have had plenty of time to get comfortable with my new friend Mac, and my blog will be happy to see me again. I'll have lots to share with you. Until then, I hope you're all doing well.