The Problem With Bunk Beds

Up until now I thought, "wow the bunk beds are great, why didn't we do this sooner!?" It made more space and the boys love hanging out in their room much more. So yes, I thought it was the next best thing to bacon....that is up until child on top started to vomit and I realized there was no good way to get him down. He spewed down the side landing on his brother below. We tried to coax him down but his terror of what was happening had him fixed right where he was, while he continued to projectile barf landing on mom and dad on its way to the rug. Not until he was good and empty and we were thoroughly grossed out, was he good and ready to make his way down. There just wasn't a safe way to get him down without his cooperation. Bunk beds....not so great anymore arghhh.

Soccer Mom Begins

My new soccer mom role began this weekend. Aidan had his first soccer game of the season yesterday. He has several school friends on his team so he was excited to play. He hustled out in the field and kicked every chance he got. Now those kicks didn't always land on the ball so thank goodness for those shin guards. The opposing team had several of his school friends as well, this added to the fun.
As soccer mom I stood on the sidelines, cheered on cue while working the moms for a carpool schedule for practices. You see, this is just the first of 3 soccer players in the house. Unless I can help it, I'll be going to 2 practices and 2 games a week (Miles and Liam are on the same team). I'll be living the life of the quintessential soccer mom with my mini van to boot.

A Close Call For The Tooth Fairy

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Recently, the tooth fairy had a really close call that left her frozen in her tracks. The boys had gone to bed, and the tooth fairy wanted to wait a good while to make sure everyone was sound asleep before it was time to do her duties. This multi-tasking tooth fairy got lost somewhere between folding laundry and trying to catch up with some emails, that she almost forgot her most important role. One little boy was sleeping on his tooth that was wrapped up in a vintage hankie waiting for the power of magic, to have that tooth turn into some bounty. So this tooth fairy went to her handy wallet to get her golden dollar coin, recently acquired at a nearby bank, then tip toed into said little boy's bedroom to perform some magic. Tooth fairy reached under the pillow, took hold of the special hankie, replaced the tooth with the golden reward. Just as she was returning the hankie to it's place under the little boy's pillow, little boy's eyes opened wide. Little boy stared at tooth fairy with a glazed stare for what was mere seconds but felt like an eternity, he proceeded to roll over and was back to dreaming about whatever little boys dream about. Tooth fairy quickly scurried out of little boy's room and realized she had been holding her breath for much too long. She let out a giant sigh and counted her lucky stars, that little boy was in REM. Certainly he'll have no recollection of this tooth fairy's visit. phew!

Lock Down Drill

This week was drill practice at Aidan's school. They did fire drills, earthquake drills, and lock down drills. What, you aren't familiar with lock down drills? Yeah, neither was I until Aidan told us all about them during dinner.

A lock down drill in Aidan's words "you have to close the door and stay away from the windows so that the criminal or robber doesn't see you. You can hide under your desk."

There was no discussion about the criminal possibly being a shooter. I was relieved about this, because frankly, I really wasn't prepared to explain to my boys that during a lock down there would possibly be someone with a gun who may shoot someone.

What I do know, is hearing my kids have to practice lock down drills in elementary school makes me truly sad. What has our society become that my kids innocence has to be tainted in such a manner.

Not a Shred

I'm really trying hard not to interfere with my boys disagreements in hopes that they'll learn to work things out on their own. I don't step in unless it gets out of hand. So this weekend, Liam and Aidan were having a disagreement about the rules of a game they were playing. As I listened from another room, I had to muffle my laughter when the discussion turned to this...

Liam - "Aidan your name is butt man"

Aidan - "No it's not. You're really upsetting me, I don't have a shred of joy left in me! "

So when did my 5 yr old start calling people butt man and where did he learn this? And really Aidan not a "shred of joy" left in you? Wow that's deep, especially for a 7 yr old.

The Scoop on Poop

My kids are just obsessed with a certain bodily function ... As you can probably guess the one that makes you fart and poop. I think it's a boy thing, or that's what I'm trying to convince myself of. You know, make it all feel normal. And to take it a step further, while at the library I came across this book and thought "would you look at that, I can make this obsession educational too". This book was just what I needed and my boys sure got a kick out of it because 1.there's actually a book on the topic and 2.Mom was indulging them in their poop obsession. If your kid is poop obsessed, you might want to check this book out.

First Game For the Rockies

Aidan's first official game of the season. The majority of the players on his team were the same as last year, so it was amazing to see how much they've improved since then. The boys seem more coordinated and clearly have a better handle of the rules of the game. Aidan played pitcher this game. He managed to catch a ball, pass it to first for an out. It was such a smooth play and a proud parent moment. Yes I'm becoming one of those parents on the side line struggling to keep quiet lest be asked to leave.

Who Says The Dentist Has To Be A Scary Place?

My boys sure don't think the dentist office is a scary place. As a matter of fact, Aidan's comment to his brothers dentist visit was "Awe man, they're lucky. They got to go to the dentist and play with a GameBoy." But it's not just about the video games, they get a kick out of wearing "cool" sunglasses during the exam, they giggle with delight about the child height sinks with the fun timers that make sure they brush long enough, and of course, the giant treasure box and rolls of stickers they get to choose from when all is said and done. I've taken the boys to this pediatric dentist from the very beginning so they absolutely enjoy going. When I hear stories about parents struggling to get their kids to cooperate with dentist visits, I'm so grateful to have found the perfect dentist for us.

Homework

I'm amazed at the amount of homework that is assigned to my 1st grader...and sometimes I'm also a bit resentful because it cuts into family time. Even though it's all pretty easy for Aidan, he insists that I be there right with him while he does it. Somehow I'm going to have to cut him loose and have him work on it maybe at the kitchen counter as I complete some of my own tasks.

I usually try to get Aidan to do his homework before we pick up his brothers in attempts to reduce the distractions. We aren't always successful with this so the next best option is to have Miles and Liam do homework too. Miles especially really enjoys this, as a matter of fact, he often requests to do homework. I'm glad he sees it as a game an has fun with it. I sure do hope he feels the same about it when he's in elementary school and has real homework that needs to be turned in.