Shift

Thankfully, Musical Daddy's schedule changes as of next week and he no longer has to work late on Monday and Friday. While I enjoyed those mornings, I did NOT enjoy those evenings, and I'm more than happy to bid those farewell.


I'm certainly not the first mother to have a husband working "second shift" and not having dinner together as a family as often. Doesn't mean I have to like it.

My current project is looking at local elementary schools to see where we might want to send our children. We have another year after this one for The Boy. The cutoff was moved from September 1 to October 1, but even so, with a birthday of August 30, he'd do well with an extra year.

He can read (on his IEP it was written that he reads at a first grade level). He can write. He can add. I'm pretty sure that by next year, The Bear will be doing those things. Yes, I realize he'll be 3. You need to realize that he's ridiculously smart. Anyhow, I don't send my kids to school for the academics. It's preschool. I send them there to learn how to work in a group, follow directions, behave in an organized fashion, and play nicely. Those things are far more important when it comes to functioning in a school community and later on, the workplace. Sure, the content is important, but that's not really going to change from one building to another. Your intelligence and knowledge won't get you a job if you didn't learn how to talk nicely to other people and wait your turn.

Ender is a super-chunk. Did I mention that he is 20 pounds at 6 months old? He is so happy and sweet, and baby-led weaning (using the British definition for "weaning" which means the intro to food) is once again a big hit.

Still breastfeeding, of course, Bare minimum is 18 months, for my kids (and I wish that I hadn't listened and stopped nursing The Boy at 15 months). Ask me in a year when I plan to stop breastfeeding and I'll say "about 5 minutes, or whenever he's done. Then he'll have more later."

Overall, things are just fine over here. We're busy. We get through our day with as much love and kindness as we can.

Little Indulgences

If you are not a parent of more than one child, this won't make much sense to you.

Getting together with your kids one at a time, if you can, morphs the whole experience from a constant game of Whac-A-Mole into a truly pleasant experience. Right now I am lying in bed with JUST the baby, nursing him, while Daddy bathes the other two. It is so relaxing.

The Boy is at an age where, most of the time, he can be taken places and I really enjoy myself. Or in the case of yesterday, Daddy took just him to see Beauty and the Beast in 3D. I have taken him to shows, and while he does not always pay attention the whole time, he sits and does not screw around.

Difficult age for The Bear. 2.5 years old is too young to sit still and too old to cuddle. So we find our special outings elsewhere. Walks are great, as is playground time, and even meals out.

We are lucky that our kids, while they are far from quiet little church mice, we can take them out for a meal or an outing and they will be pretty civil.

In other news, Ender is 6 months old today! We moved his first meal at the table forward a day, so that everyone could be there. Here are the results of yesterday's and today's dining adventures. Broccoli, cucumber, and green beans, so far.

Just what they ordered

We were blessed today with unseasonably warm weather and also "blessed" with some major attitude problems from The Boy. He has decided that he wants to fight about everything and not do things for himself such as get himself dressed (which I know he can do with no problem, because when he learned how to do it, he'd get up at 1 AM and dress himself, just because he could). The Bear was getting antsy too, so I decided that it was time to get the heck out of the house and go to the Blue Slide Park.


It was just what we needed. And for that hour and a half or so, everything was hunky-dory. Is that even a word?

Ender even sat in the swing a little bit. He was unimpressed.

Playing in the snow

When kids are as little as mine...it's a great idea in theory, but in practice the fun had for effort made just doesn't measure up.

It's more fun when all of the kids don't have to be out at the same time, because The Boy at nearly 4.5 years old was ready to stay out for longer than the 10 minutes that Ender lasted.

Bring the noise

Welcome to yet another year of being in flux.

Job situations for us are questionable, with a likely settling for Musical Daddy into a distinctly non-musical job. I guess eventually it became too much to bear, pouring his heart and soul into this very personal and passion-filled work, only to be met with horse crap from above.

I'm in a bit of a personal rut right now, and I think in one sense I might do well to return to some of the old ways. I should worry less about the long term, particularly that over which I have no control, and just try to make each day count.

In about two weeks, Ender will reach his half-birthday. Six months already!! It will be time for him to start table food. He has been exclusively on Mom milk. As such, I can take credit for his amazing growth. He is SO tall! When they start eating other food (really not right away when I start serving it to them), it isn't all me anymore.

It's the natural order, and it's the right time, but it just means my baby is growing up. My redemption baby. My victory baby. The Boy's little tiny buddy.

So bring on the noise of 2012. I'll handle it one day at a time.