summer 2011

summer 2011

Paul and I, all 16 kids and Ashley, Benjamin's wife...Christmas 2012

Paul and I, all 16 kids and Ashley, Benjamin's wife...Christmas 2012
family

Friday, April 16, 2010

vacation!!!

Today is Grandparent's and Special Friend's Day at school for the elementary kids. It makes them too sad to go today, so they are home. I tried to set up some friends for them, but Emily has work and Abigail has work, and Joseph has work. And Margaret remembers on year when Ben said he would try to come, and he didn't, and she kept watching for him....wah.

The plan was to take them to a "different" McDonalds (different because we never go there) to redeem their free HappyMeal coupons from the school reading program. But Suze says she doesn't feel well, and she is already home from school, so it may just be real.

Yesterday afternoon, I had an idea. School pool. I checked the hours, and it was open. Charlotte Claire and Camille were taking the first nap of the week, they have been really exhausted. Mirielle was here, so I decided to go and leave her to watch the soup, and the two little napping girls....then I felt guilty, and woke Charlotte Claire up and took her with us. It would just be too mean to leave her here. It felt so nice to be in the water, and it was enjoyable to be with the kids, too. But later, when I was sitting with Camille, she smelled Charlotte Claire's hair, and said, "I want to go to the pool!" So next time I'll be waking her up, too.

I had a dream the other night in which my mother was still alive. She told me that I had better start getting my little girls on a better schedule. She said I shouldn't let them skip naps, go to bed early (early, ha!), then sleep in late, thus missing naps again. She said it was like they are fussy all the time, mostly Camille. hmm. Did she really tell me this, or is it my subconscious, or a total coincidence? Camille HAS been a bit brattier than usual lately. But she took a good nap yesterday, and still had a little fit at the table because she wanted the WHITE spoon.

Two year olds like to do things their own way. They like to do things themselves. When Camille wants to get her own drink, fine, I will hold her and turn on the water and let her fill her cup. But when she wants to get something out of the refridgerator, sorry sweetie. Little children cannot have access to that. She cannot pour her own milk or cereal, but she can put the top on the milk and put the cereal back in the cupboard. I understand that she doesn't try to do things herself to be BAD, just because it is in the nature of a young child to become independent. She isn't trying to be the boss, or run the house. But I also need to work on not being afraid of the little fits and fusses that come when I decide that she cannot do what she wants. Like pulling the Sit'NSpin over to the stove when I am cooking...nah...

Well, we smell something electrical....is something on fire?

1 comment:

Mike and Katie said...

We've been having a lot of that drama at our house. If you tell Amanda "no" about anything she's likely to burst into tears. We've been teaching her to calm down by blowing on her thumb. It's pretty funny to see her sobbing trying to calm down and blow on her thumb.