Punks.

Today while picking up Elisabeth from school, a group of junior high boys were walking in front of us. They were typical junior high boys in that they were dressed in clothes too big, their hair was too long, they talked too loudly, and they resembled a pack of puppies. I was about ready to warn them that I was soon going to overpass them (teenage children never seem to be in a hurry, have you noticed?) and to watch out for my grumpy baby in a stroller, when I noticed something. All the other adults waiting for the elementary kids were skeptically glancing at the boys as they walked by. Some of the people were even moving out of the way of the pack, as if the kids might yell or bite at them for not moving.

As I got closer to the doors that Elisabeth is dismissed from, I saw that the group of boys had met with another group of boys and were all laughing and pushing each other. I kind of smiled to myself because they reminded me of my old students and I still miss teaching those kids. I passed them the same time another parent did. She looked over her shoulder at them and then said, "That's not good."

"What's not good?"

"It's never good when a bunch of teenage boys are in a group like that. You never know what they're talking about."

I stared at this woman for a second. First off, I did know what they were talking about because I'd overheard them when I'd walked by. For goodness sakes, they were practically screaming over each other for attention of a couple of girls grouped near by. They'd been talking about their shoes. Telling each other to not step on their shoes because they'd just cleaned them. It's all my students used to talk about too. I used to reward my students with clorox wipes for good behavior so they could meticulously shine their shoes. Secondly, what were they doing that seemed to give off any impression that they were menacing?

The lady seemed to get the fact that I didn't agree and quickly added, "I don't mean to sound stereotypical or anything. But, they shouldn't hang out in groups like that."

Hm.

Most of you know that, in DeKalb, I worked at a therapeutic day school for students who, for one reason or another, were not successful at their home schools. The districts would send them to us where the class sizes were smaller, there were social workers available to the kids all day, and where the teachers and staff were trained to deal with emotions and outbursts that often occurred.

I taught junior high and high school English. I had never taught students that old before, and I was nervous. Nervous that I wouldn't be able to handle teaching the curriculum and, of course, worried that I wouldn't know how to deal with the kids.

Now, I know that the population of students I worked with mostly came from terrible backgrounds. Lots of our students didn't have good home lives, some had traumatic events that no child or adult should ever have to experience, and some just suffered from mental and emotional issues they were born with and had no control over. A typical day included me being called a "bitch" every class period, having chairs thrown at me, and having students leave the classroom resulting in either myself or my classroom assistant to have to convince the student to come back to class. It was stressful and overwhelming, but I loved working with those kids. I still miss it.

Obviously, this lady didn't know this about me. I just smiled and told her they'd been talking about keeping their shoes clean and walked away. But, that whole exchange has been bothering me. I should have said this:

Those kids are just that--kids. They are 12-14. They are waiting for smaller siblings to get out of school so they can walk them home or to the car waiting for them. Most of those "delinquents" are someone's baby. They used to be an infant, a toddler, a preschooler and in elementary school. Someone still sees them that way. Those kids that seem so menacing still get excited over a new video game, still hug their mom and dad goodnight, still cry when their feelings are hurt, still watch cartoons. Those boys are growing faster than they knew they could and are constantly hungry, causing their parents to think about taking out a second mortgage so they can keep food in the refrigerator. Some of those boys are still scared of the dark. Some of those boys still have their old stuffed animals shoved in their closets or under their beds. Most of them still enjoy putting legos together. Almost all of them would be offended to know you thought they were scary.

When I was pregnant, some of the worst behaved students in my classes became gentlemen overnight. When I couldn't see the marker I'd dropped because my massive belly was blocking it, they'd all laugh and then help me pick it up. They reminded me to eat and yelled at me for drinking Diet Coke. They told me I was getting as big as a whale, but yelled at each other to get out of my plush seat if I looked tired. Some of the kids who were actually involved in very real delinquent activities outside of school all clapped and cheered when I told them I was going to have a girl. Every single one of them demanded I bring the baby to school when I had her. And on days when Elisabeth had to come to school with me for an hour or so, those kids were not only respectful and cleaned up their language when she was there, most of them offered to color with her or play stuffed animals with her.

As the girls and I were walking home, I saw that lady again, holding hands with her little boy. Seeing that, I realized she'd get it some day. When those pack of boys were all hanging out at her house or eating her refrigerator bare or complaining about their parents to her. She'd know they weren't scary. They were just boys. Gawky, awkward, loud, obnoxious little boys.

My stupid Irish mistake

In 2007, I did something really, really stupid.

I decided to have a leprechaun visit our house on St. Patrick's Day.

Elisabeth was 4 and excited about St. Patrick's Day. Her day care teacher was having a leprechaun visit their classroom and I thought that having one visit our house would be fun too.

Please please please, learn from my mistakes. DO NOT BRING A LEPRECHAUN VISIT YOUR HOUSE.

Okay, here's what I did. I told Elisabeth that a leprechaun had visited our house and we had to find him. I had it so the leprechaun had moved some things around to trick us (pictures in the wrong places on walls, the globe in the kitchen instead of the living room, nothing stolen, nothing broken, mind you). She immediately went into full fledge leprechaun hunt mode.

I knew she would. Eventually, she found a pile of gold he'd left and was extremely excited. She talked about making a trap for him next year and yadda yadda yadda.
We ate some deliciously dyed green foods and called it a day.



I didn't think a thing about it. She'd had fun and I patted myself for being a good, creative parent. We went about our business.

Then 2008 rolled around. Right after the new year, Elisabeth started worrying. She kept talking about St. Patrick's Day and the leprechaun that visited. At first, I thought she was excited about building the trap for him. But, I soon realized that the trap was to protect her. She was scared of the leprechaun.

Turns out, as she dwelled on the mischief the leprechaun had caused last year, instead of seeing it as funny and playful, she thought of it as scary. So, now, not only was she expecting a leprechaun to show up, she was freaking the eff out about it.

Evan and I tried to tell her that a leprechaun doesn't come to your house every year and that not all of them play tricks.

"He's coming. I know it. I have to be ready."

Awesome.

So, that year, I planned on having a nice leprechaun visit who, instead of moving things and being ornery, would take her on a treasure hunt.
He left green clues all over telling us things to do like: make green pancakes, which led to us finding note on the flour saying, play a game which led to a note on the game board saying to brush our hair, etc. etc.

She was leary at first and kept checking her toys to make sure they were all accounted for, but eventually got into it.

She ended up finding a small stuffed dog where the last clue told us to go. She loved it and was most excited.


I felt better thinking she felt better. We went about our business.

And then, in 2009, after the new year, she started worrying again. She needed to make a trap because we were living in Pekin with Evan's parents now and you never knew what the leprechauns in Pekin were like. Jana and Keith both tried to tell her that only nice leprechauns visited their house, but she was having none of it.

So, she built this.

She was convinced it would catch him and that the only way he'd get out was if he had a drill. She put a piece of chocolate in there to lure him in. I took a picture of it and sent it to Evan in Alabama where he was training and he laughed and laughed.
Needless to say, the leprechaun magically worked his way out, leaving lots of "gold" in the trap for her. No mean tricks were done and she was satisfied with his letter and loot he'd left.

She seemed reassured that St. Patrick's Day was not scary. I felt better. She felt better. We went about our business.

This year, right after the new year, Elisabeth started making serious leprechaun catching plans. You see, we live in a new state now. You don't know how the leprechauns here work. She feels like she should use a tin can this year. She's feeling good.

Evan blames me entirely.

Oh my lord. If I could turn back time, I would have never ever ever even thought about introducing a damn leprechaun to Elisabeth...

Fine Arts Center

Our family loves dorky things. Reading. News. Libraries. Museums. King Tut. History. Star Wars. Classical Music. Etc. Etc.

We've taken both girls to museums since they were a babies. We both love history, so how else will we train them to love it as well? Elisabeth gets super excited when we go on vacations or visit new cities because she can't wait to see what museums we go to. And zoos. We love zoos.

I recently planned an activity for the mom's group I'm involved in, and I wanted to go somewhere different, fun and free. (Can't beat a free field trip). I also wanted to try somewhere that was educational too. I need to spread my dorkiness to others, you see. Since Colorado Springs is gigantic, I started browsing the online newspaper for upcoming events.

I stumbled upon Co. Springs' Fine Arts Center and found out that they had free admission every third Tuesday of the month. I called to make sure they wouldn't mind a few toddlers roaming their hallways and was assured it was a family (and stroller) friendly place.

About 6 moms and their rugrats showed up, and I have to tell you, I was so impressed. It's not an overly big building, so we were able to see much more than I thought we would in the time allotted by our children's attentions. They had a fabulous display dedicated to NASA, with artwork not only of space and astronauts, but some of it actually done by those in the space field.

Julia was fantastic the entire time. I brought the stroller in case I needed to strap her in (you know, if she decided to touch all the art and break anything), but she didn't even get in! She raced up and down the long corridors, really liked some of the video art of space, and chased the other little kiddos around.

The other moms liked it too. They were all impressed, not only with how nice the workers were with our little ones squealing and running around, but also how well the kids responded. I heart sharing culture things with people who think their kids can't handle it. They usually end up surprised at how well their kids do.


Julia loved this dog.


Julia climbs stairs by herself now. I carry hand sanitizer always now.



This was one of my favorite exhibits.

I also enjoyed these clay figurines.


This was one of Julia's favorite paintings. She really wanted a snack after seeing it.




Chillaxin' with her little friend.


The other moms asked to go again, so I've scheduled another one in April. Hopefully I'll be able to take Elisabeth sometime soon, because she was very jealous that we got to go while she was in school.

It's Cell Phone Picture Time!

Please remember, I am with Julia all day. She is more than happy to smile at the camera (phone) for me. That is why this is more of a Julia post than an Elisabeth post.

Also, some of these might be from before Christmas. :)

Thank you.


Julia and her babies.

Julia playing the happy housewife.

Always on the phone.

Love it.

A master of downstairs walking.

My special Star Wars fan.

Wasup?

Her play area of choice.

So big!

Preparing her for life.

This is my eldest. She is sporting some new pajamas I bought her in January that are almost identical to her Aunt Kyle's pajamas. She hearts her Aunt Kyle.

Elisabeth is a fabulous little lady. Big heart. Fun and energetic. Good friend and super smart. Funny and creative.

Here's the thing though: the girl is a slob. And super forgetful. And, dare I say, ditzy.

Now, before you start getting all huffy and puffy that I'm saying these things about my own beautiful daughter, let me say one thing...

It's all true. Ask Evan.

Oh, and she may get some of that from me.

If you were to walk into my house right now, there would be toys strewn about the floor. There are dishes piled in the sink waiting for the dishwasher to finish washing it's current load so they can have their turn being washed. There are papers piled in various corners because I just love a good pile of things. So, I know that I am not a neat freak. I know that I let things slide because I hate constantly picking up and it makes me hate my house and my current position as the maker of the home if I am expected to keep my home spotless with two children, two cats, a spider and a kitchen that I am always cooking in for goodness sake! But, it's not unsafe. You can walk around. And it's easily picked up in 10 minutes.

But, Elisabeth? Dude, her room is a DISASTER AREA! Yesterday, while trying to put her laundry away, I almost crashed headlong into her dresser because I had tripped on the giant mound of blankets she's pushed off her bed when she woke up and never bothered to pick up. Then, when I went to put clothes in her closet, her hangers were all over the floor from when she puts clothes on and doesn't hang up the empty hanger. Not to mention that I can not even think about letting Julia wander around in there because god knows what kinds of little toys and pieces of things are all over the carpet.

So, I counted to 1,000, said a prayer for my sanity, and came up with a game plan. I informed Elisabeth that I was going to come up with a set list of chores that she will be responsible for on a daily basis. They weren't going to be things new or hard, but things that we are CONSTANTLY asking her to do day in and day out that she in incapable of remembering to do on her own.

And I didn't even yell. Not even when she started whining and complaining. But, that might be because I walked back into her room and recounted to 1,000 to not yell.

Anyway, here's her list:

It is posted on our refrigerator. She is expected to look at it daily and make sure that she's done everything on it. Thankfully she can read now, so she can do it on her own. Evan and I will remind her as needed, but hopefully it'll become a routine for her to check her checklist. (oh, and we bathe every other night since the girls have terribly dry skin like me and bathing every night leads to eczema break outs...we don't let them go night upon night without bathing...just so you know...)

I did this instead of a chore chart because 1.We don't have a working printer for me to make endless copies every week. and 2.I think she's too big for a sticker reward system. The things I have posted are her responsibilities as a member of our family. And, quite frankly, I'm not asking much. But, for Elisabeth, these are things that are hard for her to remember. I feel like that with Elisabeth's personality, she's going to be someone who needs to make lists and reminders for herself when she's older. She just doesn't seem to have built in organizational skills or a fabulous memory for the everyday routine. So, by starting this list, I'm hoping to start a great habit for her that she'll need as she ages. I mean, I can't follow her around in junior high and high school and college and career making sure she has all her books, has completed her projects, has remembered to make those important phone calls. She's going to have to have some coping skills at her disposal to keep herself organized.

This morning was the first day of our expecting her to check the list. She announced from her bedroom that she'd already made her bed. She came down, looked at the list, and then hustled back upstairs to turn off her light and radio. She was beaming as she ate her breakfast when I complimented her on already being done with most of her morning list.

She's a good girl.

Story Time.

I don't know if you know this about me, but I really like to read.

And because I like reading so much, I enjoy frequenting the library. I always have. Dude, they have a lot of books.

I especially like the library district here in Colorado Springs. They have libraries all over this gigantic city and I believe the girls and I have been to almost all of them at some point or another. They have a fantastic staff and so many different activities that they offer for everyone in the family.

For example, right now I am participating in the 2010 Adult Reading Program, where you have from January 1st--March 1st to read 8 books and receive prizes for doing so. Um, yeah...I'm totally on my last book. And I started the last week of January.

They also have a FANTASTIC website where I can just type in the book I want, put it on hold, and then they email me when it's ready to be picked up. Love it!

Lately, the moms' group I am in has been going to one of the branches for toddler storytime. There's a fabulous woman who leads the story time with songs and finger rhymes and stories. There is dancing and clapping and scarves. It's only 20 minutes and it is set up so there's no down time. The woman is seriously wonderful with all of the kids and does a few staple songs every week so the kids are familiar with them.

Two weeks ago, I took Julia to the story time for our first time. I'd heard how much the other moms had liked this particular branches story time lady, so I thought we'd give it a shot. You see, Julia is not much of a "song and dance" kind of girl. Not like Elisabeth. So, I took her, knowing that it was either going to be a huge success or a total failure.

We sat next to the other kids from the moms' group that Julia's familiar with. As soon as the lady started singing, Julia put on her "silently judging you" face. She refused to sing. Refused to dance. Refused to clap. She asked me multiple times to get up. She did not want a scarf. She was not partaking in this whatsoever. When story time was done, she lit up like a Christmas tree and headed straight to the kid area that she'd been coveting the entire time. There is this giant wooden cube toy with a chalk board on one side, slidy things on the other side, a car wheel and mirrors, and some other thing. Well, being Evan's child, she booked it for the car wheel and started making car noises. I was talking to another mom, when I glanced over to see what she was doing. She was still at the car thing, but had sat upon a smaller little girl. The girl, who had become Julia's own personal beanbag chair, was trying to push Julia off and get away. I, of course, became instantly embarrassed and went to save the girl from my mammoth toddler, when the little girl's dad came to help too. I was so flustered that my child had SAT ON SOMEONE ELSE that I just kept apologizing. He said he was sure that Julia hadn't done it to be mean. I smiled like I agreed. We left shortly after.

So, of course, I took her again this week. I figure she should get used to this kind of thing since eventually she'll be in preschool and I don't want her to be that one girl who doesn't know any of her nursery rhyme songs.

We took our seats and the story time lady began doing her thing. Julia made her "silently judging you" face again. I tried to get her to participate in the first few songs, but when it wasn't working, I gave my attention to a lap baby that was at my feet making super cute baby faces at me. Then, the story time lady started singing "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes". You'd have thunk that Julia'd been offered food or something. She started participating! I was so excited. She clapped after every song and started trying to do the hand motions for other songs. She even took a scarf for the scarf dance. And then went and took 6 more, including one from a 3 year old boy who whimpered until Julia shot him a "are you crying?" look and then he just walked away. Overall, it was quite a success.

I believe we'll be going again.

But, please know, Julia still prefers the books and computer to play with when at the library.

Lent.

I don't always give something up for Lent. I'm not Catholic, so I wasn't raised to fast during the Lent season. However, when I started dating Evan, his church (although not Catholic either) did emphasize the Lent season and giving something up.

Although I do understand all the religious reasons behind Lent, I personally find fasting as a way to better yourself. Cause, the whole point is to give something up that you feel you "need" (aka:Diet Coke). Seeing how you don't actually "need" this thing you've given up makes you appreciate it all the more when you can have it again (aka: Diet Coke) or makes you realize that you actually don't "need" it (aka: NOT Diet Coke).

So, while pondering what I should do this year, I decided to switch it up. I don't know if this is exactly church legal, but I decided to do something that I don't normally do to better myself.

This year, for 37 days, I will drink water from my large Marigold Festival mugs before I can have a Diet Coke. No water=No Diet Coke. I also have to work out for an hour at least 5 days a week.

These two are things I should be doing anyway. And, I figured out that by adding these to my daily routine, I am giving up laziness/poor drinking habits. Things I adore.

Right now, I am a bit grumpy because it is almost 3:00PM and I haven't had my ding-dong Diet Coke yet for the day. That would be because I was ignoring my water because I'd rather have a Diet Coke.

See, it's already working.