A Moment in Time

Wild Child is at a moment in himself that I would like to freeze, put in a bottle and when I am an old woman rub into my skin so I remember what youth is, and motherhood and joy.

He is spontaneously joyful. He hugs us, loves us in random moments without embarrassment or shame.

He laughs, and sings and make horrible noises.

He still sits on Pete's lap during Mass, and wants to sleep next to me every once in a great while.

Before his Boy Scout campouts he makes Little Madam cards and hides them for her, so that she won't be too lonely.

His imagination runs wild, and his ideas are huge. I am forever laughing at some idea or another of his.

I see him wrap his arms around G-Man at scouts in a way that G-Man would never let myself or Pete touch him.

He likes pretty much everyone, and rarely has fights, issues or drama.

He reminds me every day to seize the day, to enjoy it to its fullest and to smile. Gosh I love that kid.

Screwed the Pooch

Do you ever have those parenting moments when you realized - you've screwed the pooch?

I had one this weekend. (Mother, if you are reading this - You were right. Please don't rub it in).

Little Madam loves dancing, and so after weeks of deliberation, I let her try out for dance team. In the course of deliberation I asked the dance studio lots of questions about cost, commitment etc. I just couldn't get a straight answer.

So, I let her try out on Saturday.

She came home with a packet detailing the commitment and cost, and let's just say I sprayed coffee out of my nose.

In order to be on dance team she will have to take at least 2 classes per week of ballet and one in a specialty like lyrical, jazz or tap for a grand total of $170/month from August to June. Beginning this June she will have take 4 classes of dance/week to the tune of about $300/month. This does not include costume fees, dance shoes or make-up. This also does not include studio fees or choreography fees.

And of course she desperately, desperately wants to do it.

Not only can I simply not afford this,  I'm not sure I want to make this kind of time commitment for my 8-year old.

I should never have let her try out. I should have 'forgotten' like I did last year.

And now I'm stuck between a rock and hard spot. Since Saturday, I've been praying a quiet prayer that sounds something like this,

"Dear Lord, Please don't let my daughter make the dance team. Amen."


I wonder if that makes me a terrible mother? Or if letting her try out in the first place already established that.

&%*$

As soon as the words were out of my mouth, my kids decided to like Cold Play. Not just like, but to be OBSESSED with it. As in, know every word to every song and sing it all the bloody time obsessed.

Next thing I know they will like Radio Head. (I can't stand them either. However, I am really working at not saying bad things about these bands because Pete loves them so dearly, and takes my dislike so personally).

I also hate Gwen Stephani and Madonna.

What happened to Sesame Street songs and annoying Barney songs?! Now that was music I could hang with! I could sing countless hours of crazy Veggie Tales songs, and now my kids roll their eyes and shout when I try to sing a lullabye or "Rubber Ducky."

I don't know who to blame for my misery, so I will just shake my fist up at the Universe and mumble softly to myself, "I used to rule the world..."

Books!

There are lots of advantages to having sons I hadn't thought of 12 years ago. Outside of trucks, bugs and dinosaurs, I've recently had the pleasure of reading lots of teen lit for boys that I might not have read if I hadn't any boys. 

I started with the Eragon series. And, I have to say I loved it. I still have to get and read book 4, but the first 3 were pretty great. G-Man is still poking his way through book 2, and I think he is loving it too.

Next up for me will the Hunger Games. G-Man is begging to read it, so I have conceded to reading it myself to see if he/I can stomach it. Karen says it is amazing...so, I'll give it a shot.

G-Man also finally got the long awaited, History of the World in 100 Weapons. Amanda recommended it to us, and since it arrived in the mail yesterday I have not actually seen G-Man's nose, as it has been poked in that book.

Wild Child is engrossed in How to Twist Your Dragon's Tail on his own, while Little Madam is enjoying the Bella Sara series.

Little Madam and I are reading Rebecca of Stonybrook Farm. She and I LOVE it. The boys would like to slit their wrists. We are almost through and then I hope to start The Little Princess.

Wild Child, Little Madam and I are reading Old Mother West Wind's Children out loud. I hope to finish that in a week or so and then we will be on to Old Mother West Wind's Neighbors. I hope to round out the summer with Dr. Doolittle as well. 

G-Man and I are STILL reading Swiss Family Robinson out loud. We are 2 chapters from the end and I CANNOT wait to be done. God help me, Wild Child and I will have to read it far too soon. Oddly, I loved it as a kid, but these days I find the perpetual slaughter of animals and sanctimonious tone sickening. 

He and I are also reading and LOVING Tom Sawyer. Ironically, G-Man likes the story, but hates Tom. He thinks he is a bad kid and gets really, really mad when Tom misbehaves. Cracks me up! We are reading the unabridged and unedited version. Can the English Lit junkie in me just say how much I LOVE reading amazing literature with my children and discussing style, character, plot and the author's intent?! Sigh. This. THIS is why I homeschool!! We have had amazing discussions about racism, racially charged language and the history of our country. Not to mention the hours and HOURS I have spent trying to explain to G-Man that Twain was both smart and educated. Just because he wrote in the vernacular does not mean that he spoke that way, or thought one ought to speak this way. Agh!

The boys, Pete and I are all reading The Hobbit. At last. (Yes, Alicia! Our time has come!! Mostly because I have to beat the movie which comes out this Fall).  Little Madam usually falls asleep about 3 words in, for which I am grateful as I don't think she's quite ready for it just yet.

We will head to the library on Friday to get started with the summer reading program and to check out even more books - of course! Then I'll have to post about those books, so get ready!

Ahhh. I love summer reading!

Warning

I'm having a hot-pink-nail-polish-spilled-and-dried-on-my-hardwood-floors kind of day. Tamper with me at your own risk.

The Team

Is it weird to be obsessed with Mt. Everest?

And Antarctica?

And to be constantly reassembling my Everest/Antarctica team??

Currently, I have myself, Pete, Karen, Bryan (Shawn's husband because he can run 50 miles. Surely he can walk to the f-ing South Pole!), my sister, Lance Armstrong (Should we need performance enhancing drugs - he's our guy! Plus he has battled cancer, so we know he is tough as nails - even without drugs) and Jon Krakauer (to document the disaster). This list changes from time to time. Occasionally, I cut Jon from the team. I think that should I survive and keep an account of our adventures - I could be a famous writer too!

I've also decided Mt. Everest needs its own blog for my stalking convenience. This is simply not cutting it.

O SHIT. I just realized! I should APPLY FOR THAT JOB! This is exactly what I do!! Write blogs for places I've never been!!!!

This blog post is way too exciting for me to even handle right now.

I need to go calm down and do some math or something.

Princesses, Roses, Mermaids and Fairies

It's been all girls around here for the last 24 hours, and we have almost one whole day more to go. As a result, it has been princesses, roses, mermaids, and fairies all day.

Little Madam was assisted in her 'total girl weekend' by her dearest friend Little Madam #2 (Same name) and S., another friend of Little Madam, and L.M.2's lil' sis. This has resulted in the best day of her life so far (I'm guessing).

We are having S. and L.M.2 for dinner and dessert, more fun to come.

It has been a practically perfect playdate with all of the children playing happily, eating popcorn and dashing in and out of the house. I'm so, so glad! Little Madam has been counting down the days to today for weeks, as L.M.2's mom, Tracy, is way better at scheduling playdates than I am. We all know that my marriage to my schedule hampers our social life incredibly.

Thank goodness summer is almost here, and I can bury my calendar for a whole month! Hopefully while it's underground, fairies, mermaids and princess will be a common fixture around here.