So Polite

I am a big stickler for how we talk to each other in our house. Rick can vouch for this. I believe the way we speak to people is a choice and I am REALLY trying to teach the kids how to "use nice words".


BUT, we aren't always "nice talkers", and our kids aren't with us all the time, so who knows what they hear (both when they are and are not with us). We have avoided our kids dropping the f-bomb in church, so I will consider that a parenting win for now.


I did find this exchange with Annie entertaining:


Annie got in the car after an evening with family.
A: for no good reason, really "Shuuuuttt UP!"
Me: We don't say that. It's not nice.
A: What does it mean?
Me. It's a not nice way of telling someone to be quiet.
A: So can I say "Shut up, please"?

Potty Talk

Note: Because we live in a tiny little home with only one bathroom, it is completely natural for all four of us to be crammed into this space at once. One in the tub, one on the potty, one at the sink and one on the floor. Any one of us could be assuming any of these four positions depending on the time of day this little tableau is unfolding. Here is one from last night after Annie apparently learned about making wishes on eyelashes at her new school:


SCENE: Annie on the potty pre-bedtime, me sitting on the tub facing her, and Rick in the bathroom doorway (John blessedly asleep because he's an angel):
Annie: I have an eyewash (eyelash), I'm gonna make a wish.
Rick: I have a wish.
Annie: What's your wish, Daddy?
Rick: That you go to bed quickly.
Annie: Well you aren't gonna get your wish.


At least she's honest. And she was 100% right.

A Chilling Short Story

Annie is on her game all day. Right up until the bitter end of the day as I sit with her and we talk before bedtime. Two nights ago this exchange happened:


Annie (with a REALLY mischievous grin on her face): Do you know where my gum is, Mom?
Me: No....I thought you put it in the trash?
Annie, after a dramatic pause for effect: I put it somewhere in your ROOM!!!!


So, I was laughing so hard at her delivery that I forgot to follow up on exactly where in our room the gum was hidden. I completely forgot about it until yesterday at work, when I found two of my work reports stuck together with watermelon gum.


Well played, Annie.

Annie's Art

Filed squarely under "Things I did not anticipate being fascinated with" is the development of Annie's artwork. It's essentially blown up this year, and in the last three months in particular. Her teachers don't really know what spurred it, but every day she comes home with droves of little pictures she's sketched of various magical and everyday things. She's also just started drawing things in the air, asking me if that "looks right" and I can tell there's so much whizzing around in that little head of hers.

I love getting these little glimpses into how she sees the world and what's important enough to her to sit down and draw it for us.

Annie at the beach in the water.

A "newcorn" (unicorn-note the horn)

Mommy in a bikini

And her family (left to right, Mom, Dad, John and Annie)

It has really showed me that she SEES everything. When I broke my toe, drawings of me had the little support shoe. When we were at the beach, drawings of me were in a bikini (it's a fairly accurate representation). But her drawings also seem to be skewed by how she sees others. For example, she has started drawing me with "red lipstick and high heels" (shown in picture above). Now, those of you who know me, know I am not really a red lipstick and high heels kind of gal. But somehow, that's how she sees me. Or maybe that's her subtle way of saying she wants me to dress up more. No idea. But either way, it's fascinating.

I love that, for the most part, she will draw our family together. Or she will draw herself with her cousins and her brother. And everyone is always smiling or doing something fun. So while her pictures aren't always 100% accurate in the details, I think they are a good representation of Annie's life in general. And based on her pics, it looks like a pretty good life, and that makes me very happy.

Priorities

Apologies for the radio silence. There's been an unbelievable amount of sickness going on over here since the beginning of February, when John started a new school and the winter bugs seemed to be in full effect.


Since that time, there has been only one week (of 12 weeks) where both children have gone all five days to school, or I haven't gotten called to pick one of them up for having some random ailment (pink eye! hives! fever! ear infection! vomiting!). So there has been a lot of trips to the doctor and urgent care. In the midst of all this, one of my employees left, which doubled my work load. Then we hired a new person, so I essentially had to cease working and help train him. so it's been exciting around here. Thankfully, the dust seems to be settling at work. The health of my children remains to be seen, but hopefully that will be under control soon.


Annie has basically become a pro at the doctor's visit. She sits down, lifts her arm for the temperature reading, takes big breaths while they listen to her tummy/lungs, holds perfectly still for the checking of the ears. John, on the other hand, is not quite so enthusiastic. He starts shrieking the second the ear-checker thing comes out and pretty much doesn't stop until the doctor/nurse leaves the room. My theory is that he doesn't yet experience the thrilling rewards of the doctor's office that his sister has learned to appreciate: the sticker and lollipop.


With all the doctor's visits, Annie has amassed quite the collection of stickers. We were discussing them last night after our most recent trip to urgent care. She's been there so much that she's become somewhat of a collector, only wanting the rarest and most unusual stickers.


Annie: I like my Aurora sticker I got today. I hadn't seen that before. I didn't like that thing they put on my finger though.
Me: Yeah, that's to make sure your heart is ok. They put the same thing on Mommy when she was in the hospital having you and John.
Annie, sensing a shared experience: So what kind of sticker did you get when you were at the doctor having me and John?
Me: My prize was I got to come home with a wonderful baby.
Annie: So....no sticker?


Here's to hopefully a sticker-free spring for us!

Nightmares Courtesy of Disney...and her mother

To say that Annie's mind is a fascinating thing is a bit of an understatement. It goes quickly in directions I would never anticipate. She quickly can assess situations and understands more than I would ever imagine. But it's all through the lens of a 3.5 year old, so it can be a somewhat precarious trip.


We used to watch movies in silence. No questions, no comments. I am not even sure if she was paying attention, but rather just admiring the pretty colors and shapes on the TV.


No more.


We were watching Tarzan yesterday morning, because we wanted to see if the parents in Tarzan were the same as the parents who were lost at sea in Frozen (long story).


If you will recall, the shipwrecked family of the boy that will become Tarzan builds themselves a nice little tree fort and all is well until a pesky leopard (who is much more frightening looking than I recall...I would post a pic but I am terrified of Disney copyrights) comes and kills them dead. Tarzan somehow miraculously hides/escapes. He is found in the now-destroyed hut by a mama gorilla. Here's how it went:


A: Where are his mommy and daddy? (chin quivering, me sensing this might not be a good idea)
K: well, they died. The mama gorilla is going to save the baby.
A: Save the baby from what?
K: Well the leopard, like the ones we saw at the zoo, killed the mommy and daddy (firmly aware this is going off the rails at this point)
A: Why the zoo monster kill his mommy and daddy?
K: Some animals, like this leopard, eat other animals, that's how nature works.


three seconds for this to sink in.


A: ZOO MONSTERS EAT BABIES????? (full on tears instantly flowing)


I expect our next trip to the zoo to be a real treat, that is, if Annie ever has any desire to run the risk of being a snack for a zoo monster.

Midnight Pears

We have finally joined a church and have been attending fairly regularly. I have always prayed with the kids before bed (whether they realize it or not) but usually Annie would interrupt me and we would go of on some other tangent and I would circle back to quietly finish the prayer as I sat with her.


But lately Annie has been saying she's "scared" at night. Now, who knows if this is just a ploy for additional parent time or if she is actually scared of the dark? But either way, part of my prayer is that Angels will watch over them and keep them safe while they sleep.


After about 1,523 questions from Annie about these "angels" (do they have wings? are they "ghostses"? how big are they? can you see them, mommy? do they like my room?) I think she finally has accepted the night time prayer and finds comfort in the angel portion of it.


Last night Rick put Annie to bed and I just gave her a quick kiss goodnight and started getting ready for bed myself.


At midnight I hear her padding over to Rick's side of the bed:


A: Mommy needs to see my pants.
R: What? What about your pants? Do you have to go to the bathroom?
A: No, my pears. Mommy needs to see my pears.
R: .....rolls over..."she wants you"


Annie and I walk back into her room and she is talking about her pears and how I forgot them. At this point I think she's sleepwalking and just tuck her back in because, pears????


But she isn't having it. She jolts back up in bed and demands pears.


Me: I don't know what you are talking about with the pears.
Annie: You know mommy, like God?


Oh.....I forgot to say your prayers.


Thank you, God, for these sweet babes. I promise I won't ever forget their pears again.