It's been months...again.
I promised myself I'd get better about writing but we all can see how much good that did. So I, again, write after a months-long absence and there is way too much to say. Doing this categorically seems the best solution, as usual, so I will do it that way.
We put Caleb back into public school at the end of November last year. There were a lot of reasons behind that. #1 is that the state online charter school we were using required entirely too much time, attention, and monitoring. I think it would be great if I only had one child to sit with all day, but I definitely don't. He was very excited to go back to public school and jumped right in, loving more time with his friends. Academically, he's still doing great. Right now he's still learning to be a leader, not a follower and to not be tempted to want to look cool to all the other kids. I'm not sure I've really ever gotten over that so I know it's a slow, gradual process. It's been difficult for me to step back and let him make his own decisions and mistakes while trying to talk calmly to him about what's going on. He tells me a lot, and I want him to keep that up. If I worry too much or give him the 3rd degree about everything, it might backfire. The delicate balance I'm having to keep up between listener and mother is slightly exhausting. But I am trying to get used to it. I need to, considering I will be putting that into practice for many, many years to come. Homeschooling him again is always there as well. I wouldn't use the same curriculum but if it becomes appealing to me again, I know I can do it and I will if I feel like I need to. Caleb made a new friend in the neighborhood. His name is Logan. He rides Caleb's bus and he's a nice kid. He lives about two blocks away. My parents gave Caleb some great walkie talkies for his birthday in January and those have been excellent at keeping in touch with him while he's out in the neighborhood. I remember being able to roam free in our neighborhood while growing up, riding our bikes everywhere. Now I make sure he's got some form of communication with me even though he's only going a couple of blocks. I trust him, though. We make sure to have the stranger danger talk every couple of months to make sure he knows the drill. He turned 9 in January. Is that crazy or what?? I think I've been on Pleo since he was 2, Ben's age, so most of you have seen him grow up. I pray that he is growing into a love for God and doing right. He really is a good kid. I have to remind myself that he's also a 9 year old boy. He doesn't have it all down yet. Even though he looks like such a big guy next to his brother and sister. Right now he's into Minecraft and he loves to talk to his Dad about that. He's still stuttering. It's getting better but if he tries to talk too fast or gets upset, he has a hard time getting out what he wants to say without stuttering. I think he'll outgrow it.
Anna will be 4 on the 22nd of this month. Again...Crazy! She's very excited about her birthday party and having some of her friends over. But mostly her cousins. She really, truly loves her cousins Kate and Millie. Lindsay and I took Kate, Anna, and Caleb with us somewhere the other day. The whole way there and back, they were just chattering and laughing away about one thing or another. We never heard a "Moooom..." or "Are we there yet?" And Anna is always asking me "Is Millie going to be there?" if I say we are going anywhere with Kate. She really misses Millie. I guess identical twins' children have the DNA of siblings. After seeing how Anna and Millie are together, I believe it with all my heart. They are so connected. They don't get to see each other very much, but when they do, it's like no time has passed. And these girls RARELY fight! I'm sure that will probably change, but for now, the camaraderie between them is amazing! Anna loves them so much and I'm happy she has her own set of sisters like I did. Anna is now reading! Well, she's sounding out and reading some 3-letter words. Simple words like cat, dog, God, etc. But it amazes me. Caleb wanted nothing to do with learning. Anna is the opposite. I actually need to get her another pre-K-K workbook because she takes hers out and works in it for fun so now it's all filled up. She still loves puzzles and princesses. And she's still very picky about her clothes. Any shirt with a ruffly sleeve or bodice or applique she says it hurts. Obviously she learns to get over it once I check it and tell her she's fine. There are tears, but I'm happy to report that after nearly a year of Sunday morning meltdowns, she will now wear tights with no fuss at all. I admit I catered to her for a while by letting her wear leggings or socks instead, but finally I decided to suck it up and go with tights. Glad that's over....for now. :)
Benjamin is 2 1/2 now and what a little fireball. He's hilarious, sweet, and frustrating. He's also my baby so I'm trying extra hard to snuggle him when I can. Poor guy has to put up with my constant kisses under his fat little neck. There's just so much softness there! The kid is still OBSESSED with all things motorized. Lawn mower (aka the love of his life), weed wacker, and vacuum cleaner. When Chris mows the lawn, Ben gets his toy lawn mower and helps him out. When I vacuum, Ben grabs his little vacuum and gets in my way...I mean helps me out. ;) Everyday, on a loop, this is my conversation with Ben:
Ben: Do you have a lawnmower?
Me: Yes, Ben, you know we have a lawnmower.
Ben: Why?
Me: Ben, why do we have a lawnmower? (Because we've told him 4,345 times why we have a lawnmower.)
Ben: To cut the grass. Why do we cut the grass?
Me: Ben, why do we cut the grass? (Because we've told him 4, 345 times why we cut the grass.)
Ben: Because it's long. Why is it long?
(I think you see where this is going...)
Here's another one...
Ben: Can I see the lawnmower?
Me: Not right now, Ben. Mommy is (_______________). Fill in the blank with any inconvenient time you'd like. Because that's usually when I'm asked to go see the lawnmower.
Ben (now very upset and whining): But I waaaaant to seeeee the laaaawnmoweeeeeerrrr....
Me: If you keep whining, you will not be seeing the lawnmower.
Ben (wiping his face and suddenly chipper): Okay, I not whining. Can I see the lawnmower?
Me: I told you, honey, I'm right in the middle of (_____________). I bet Daddy will take you out when he gets home.
Ben: (So much crying and whining that he is sent to his bed to get a grip.)
Substitute lawn mower for vacuum and I hear that as well, although less frequently. I really hope this all lasts well into his teen years so we get some good use out of his willingness to vacuum and mow the lawn. I'm not counting on it, but I can hope. He still has and loves his doggie. And, in case you were wondering, he will still wake up and cries at night (multiple times) if he does not have doggie in bed with him. This was unintentionally found out a couple of days ago when we couldn't find doggie. I'm seriously considering getting a tracking device for that thing. It's worth its weight in gold.
I should get going, seeing as how it's almost 2am. I guess I was feeling chatty. I will attempt to write more soon(ish). Love to you all. I will try to get around to reading everyone's most recent posts but...let's be honest, most of you won't notice if I do or not. ;)
Goodnight.
We put Caleb back into public school at the end of November last year. There were a lot of reasons behind that. #1 is that the state online charter school we were using required entirely too much time, attention, and monitoring. I think it would be great if I only had one child to sit with all day, but I definitely don't. He was very excited to go back to public school and jumped right in, loving more time with his friends. Academically, he's still doing great. Right now he's still learning to be a leader, not a follower and to not be tempted to want to look cool to all the other kids. I'm not sure I've really ever gotten over that so I know it's a slow, gradual process. It's been difficult for me to step back and let him make his own decisions and mistakes while trying to talk calmly to him about what's going on. He tells me a lot, and I want him to keep that up. If I worry too much or give him the 3rd degree about everything, it might backfire. The delicate balance I'm having to keep up between listener and mother is slightly exhausting. But I am trying to get used to it. I need to, considering I will be putting that into practice for many, many years to come. Homeschooling him again is always there as well. I wouldn't use the same curriculum but if it becomes appealing to me again, I know I can do it and I will if I feel like I need to. Caleb made a new friend in the neighborhood. His name is Logan. He rides Caleb's bus and he's a nice kid. He lives about two blocks away. My parents gave Caleb some great walkie talkies for his birthday in January and those have been excellent at keeping in touch with him while he's out in the neighborhood. I remember being able to roam free in our neighborhood while growing up, riding our bikes everywhere. Now I make sure he's got some form of communication with me even though he's only going a couple of blocks. I trust him, though. We make sure to have the stranger danger talk every couple of months to make sure he knows the drill. He turned 9 in January. Is that crazy or what?? I think I've been on Pleo since he was 2, Ben's age, so most of you have seen him grow up. I pray that he is growing into a love for God and doing right. He really is a good kid. I have to remind myself that he's also a 9 year old boy. He doesn't have it all down yet. Even though he looks like such a big guy next to his brother and sister. Right now he's into Minecraft and he loves to talk to his Dad about that. He's still stuttering. It's getting better but if he tries to talk too fast or gets upset, he has a hard time getting out what he wants to say without stuttering. I think he'll outgrow it.
Anna will be 4 on the 22nd of this month. Again...Crazy! She's very excited about her birthday party and having some of her friends over. But mostly her cousins. She really, truly loves her cousins Kate and Millie. Lindsay and I took Kate, Anna, and Caleb with us somewhere the other day. The whole way there and back, they were just chattering and laughing away about one thing or another. We never heard a "Moooom..." or "Are we there yet?" And Anna is always asking me "Is Millie going to be there?" if I say we are going anywhere with Kate. She really misses Millie. I guess identical twins' children have the DNA of siblings. After seeing how Anna and Millie are together, I believe it with all my heart. They are so connected. They don't get to see each other very much, but when they do, it's like no time has passed. And these girls RARELY fight! I'm sure that will probably change, but for now, the camaraderie between them is amazing! Anna loves them so much and I'm happy she has her own set of sisters like I did. Anna is now reading! Well, she's sounding out and reading some 3-letter words. Simple words like cat, dog, God, etc. But it amazes me. Caleb wanted nothing to do with learning. Anna is the opposite. I actually need to get her another pre-K-K workbook because she takes hers out and works in it for fun so now it's all filled up. She still loves puzzles and princesses. And she's still very picky about her clothes. Any shirt with a ruffly sleeve or bodice or applique she says it hurts. Obviously she learns to get over it once I check it and tell her she's fine. There are tears, but I'm happy to report that after nearly a year of Sunday morning meltdowns, she will now wear tights with no fuss at all. I admit I catered to her for a while by letting her wear leggings or socks instead, but finally I decided to suck it up and go with tights. Glad that's over....for now. :)
Benjamin is 2 1/2 now and what a little fireball. He's hilarious, sweet, and frustrating. He's also my baby so I'm trying extra hard to snuggle him when I can. Poor guy has to put up with my constant kisses under his fat little neck. There's just so much softness there! The kid is still OBSESSED with all things motorized. Lawn mower (aka the love of his life), weed wacker, and vacuum cleaner. When Chris mows the lawn, Ben gets his toy lawn mower and helps him out. When I vacuum, Ben grabs his little vacuum and gets in my way...I mean helps me out. ;) Everyday, on a loop, this is my conversation with Ben:
Ben: Do you have a lawnmower?
Me: Yes, Ben, you know we have a lawnmower.
Ben: Why?
Me: Ben, why do we have a lawnmower? (Because we've told him 4,345 times why we have a lawnmower.)
Ben: To cut the grass. Why do we cut the grass?
Me: Ben, why do we cut the grass? (Because we've told him 4, 345 times why we cut the grass.)
Ben: Because it's long. Why is it long?
(I think you see where this is going...)
Here's another one...
Ben: Can I see the lawnmower?
Me: Not right now, Ben. Mommy is (_______________). Fill in the blank with any inconvenient time you'd like. Because that's usually when I'm asked to go see the lawnmower.
Ben (now very upset and whining): But I waaaaant to seeeee the laaaawnmoweeeeeerrrr....
Me: If you keep whining, you will not be seeing the lawnmower.
Ben (wiping his face and suddenly chipper): Okay, I not whining. Can I see the lawnmower?
Me: I told you, honey, I'm right in the middle of (_____________). I bet Daddy will take you out when he gets home.
Ben: (So much crying and whining that he is sent to his bed to get a grip.)
Substitute lawn mower for vacuum and I hear that as well, although less frequently. I really hope this all lasts well into his teen years so we get some good use out of his willingness to vacuum and mow the lawn. I'm not counting on it, but I can hope. He still has and loves his doggie. And, in case you were wondering, he will still wake up and cries at night (multiple times) if he does not have doggie in bed with him. This was unintentionally found out a couple of days ago when we couldn't find doggie. I'm seriously considering getting a tracking device for that thing. It's worth its weight in gold.
I should get going, seeing as how it's almost 2am. I guess I was feeling chatty. I will attempt to write more soon(ish). Love to you all. I will try to get around to reading everyone's most recent posts but...let's be honest, most of you won't notice if I do or not. ;)
Goodnight.
I have figured out 2 responses to my kids questions that they already know the answer to. 1 is "what does your brain tell you." And next response is you already know all there is to know about that. I love these responses and they have saved me from a lot of frustration and ridiculous questions... Not that you needed my advice, I just learned it from my sisters therapist for her kids and it really has helped all our kids.
I really need to make a post too. Hmmm