This school year, I made a decision to try to take off from work when the kids have off from school.  Technically, AJ isn’t in school but if Kiki is home I like to keep him home from daycare.  Realistically, I can’t escape from work every time the school is closed. It’s just not plausible.  Let’s face it, I would eat through my vacation hours rather quickly.  But the random day here and there is certainly manageable.

Where is all this coming from?

Recently it dawned on me that my babies aren’t really babies anymore.  In the blink of an eye, they’re 8 and almost 4.  This slap in the face from Father Time seemed to have happened 3 weeks ago when my brother and his wife welcomed their first born into the world.  Seeing the pictures of how tiny she is made me realize just how fast my kids are growing up.

Kiki has off the next 2 days for parent teacher conferences.  So my husband and I took off these two days as well.  Today we have our conference with her teacher and then I think we will go see Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs.

Tomorrow we are off to the aquarium for their Halloween special “Creep in the Deep.”  I am really looking forward to this family day trip.  We have never been there and I think the kids are going to have a great time.  Plus there is some sort of Spongebob 4D attraction that we are going to try out.  The height requirement for that is 36″ and when I measured my little man the other day he seems to be scraping by at 38″.  Keep your fingers crossed that the aquarium measures the same way I did!

Having said all that, I know these next two days are not going to be all rainbows and butterflies.  There is going to be fighting and tattling and whining and me thinking, “Why did I take off from work?!”    But in the end, hopefully there will be some fun memories made for the kids…and a nice bottle of wine for the husband and I when we get home!

Today was Kiki’s start of her 3rd grade year.  Her alarm went off at 7 and she was dressed by 7:04. I only know the time because she announced it in excitement. I love the first day of school because she gets ready in record time.  We end up with at least a half an hour to spare before the bus comes.  Suffice it to say, today was the first and last day that will happen.

Her backpack was stuffed to the brim with most of her back to school supplies making it pretty darn heavy.  Add to that the “All About Me” poster that she had to bring in today as well as her lunch bag and she was pretty much weighted down. I’m glad we live so close to the school and her bus ride is not a long one.  Not to mention the bus seemed crazy packed.  It looked to me to be at capacity so I’m pretty sure we are the last stop.

She waved good-bye to us from her seat and just like that, she was gone.  Off to embark on another academic year, become accustomed to a new teacher, meet some new classmates and catch up with her friends from last year.

It also means that I will now only see Kiki for at most 2 hours a day because of my work schedule.  So as excited as I am for her to start another year, I am pretty sad to know that my time with her is reduced so dramatically. Until I can find a daytime job, this is just the way it has to be.

I’m very much looking forward to seeing her tonight and hearing all about her day. Now filling out the forms she will have brought home is another story entirely!

Earlier this summer, my husband and I  took pity on our kids and purchased an inflatable water slide.  This has been a debate the past few summers because we just weren’t sure we wanted to put out the money.  But I guess this year the kids must have asked us at a moment when we were both temporarily insane because before we knew it, we were at the store purchasing one.

We rushed home and set it up and everyone just had a grand ol time!

Since that first time we have set it up about 3 more times.  Today I had the afternoon off and I thought I would be a nice mom and put it up for them.  Now this is not an easy task.  I have to lug the heavy thing to the back, get it out of it’s bag, unroll it, and blow it up.  Then it’s time to fill the bottom with water and then connect the tubing.

I finally finished and got the kids all ready for their fun in the sun.  Their fun in the sun that lasted 10 minutes!!! No lie! To say I’m a little annoyed would be a bit of an understatement at this point.

I realize that kids’ interests are constantly changing, but the summer is not even over yet and they are bored with it already!? I’m not sure if I’m more irritated at them or at us for breaking down and purchasing the thing!

I’m praying that today was maybe just an off day for them.  Maybe the next time we set it up, they will really enjoy it like they did before.  But right now I’m not in any rush to put it up again any time soon!

My childhood memories of summer are fond ones.  Until I was in 7th grade, my mom stayed home with us.  Summers were carefree for my brother, my sister and myself.  Our days consisted of sleeping in, playing with neighborhood friends, and no strict bedtime to adhere too.

I want the same thing for my children.  Unfortunately, I have to work so they are in daycare/summer camp for the summer.  On the plus side, I’m part-time evenings so most days I do not need to get them there until noon.  While I do wrestle with some mommy guilt about the issue, I know they are keeping busy while there.  Kiki’s summer camp goes to a local pool every afternoon and two or three morning field trips a week.  Occasionally, I have to get her there earlier in the mornings so she doesn’t miss the bus.  I should enjoy that time to myself, but usually that’s when the mommy guilt is the worst.

In turn, I have been letting them stay up past their school year bedtime of 9:00.  Initially, I thought that they would be exhausted from the day’s activities and not last much later than that.  I was wrong. They will stay up until we force them to go to bed.  Depending on what time that is, my husband and I end up not being able to spend much time together catching up on our shows that we have DVR’d.  As lame-o as that may sound, that is how we prefer to spend our evenings.  What else do you do when you have kids?

Last night, we sent the kids upstairs around 10.  At 11:00 we retreated to bed only to see a glow from AJ’s room.  I looked in to see him in his bed playing his DS! I told him it was way past time to turn it off and he obliged.  About 10 minutes later he came in our room to ask for his motorcycle book.

Does this kid sleep!?

Only after my husband found it for him did he finally go to bed.

Fast forward to this morning.  I’m sitting in the office shortly after 7 when I see his little face standing in the office doorway.  Again, does this kid sleep!?  Kiki wasn’t far behind him either.

Although I want them to have the lazy, carefree days of summer that I had, I’m going to have to put my foot down a little bit.  I’m thinking of imposing a new rule: In bed at 9:30; Lights out at 10. I think it’s a reasonable request.  We’ll see how my kids that never sleep like it.  Not that they have a choice in the matter, but it’s all about making them think that they do!

Monday mornings.  Everyone hates them.  Except for Kiki apparently.

Her alarm went off at 7:00 this morning and she hopped out of bed and changed.  She even started to change AJ.  She changed his shirt but asked me to get his shorts.  Can’t blame the kid there.  I don’t even want to change the Pull-Up that he has slept in!

Downstairs she ate her breakfast, drank her milk, and ran back upstairs to brush her teeth.  I found this odd as she usually puts the hygiene part off until the last minute.  She should be out the door at about 8:00 which means she normally heads upstairs to brush her hair and teeth around 7:55.

As I was patiently waiting for AJ to pick out a movie to go in the DVD player, she yelled from the top of the stairs, “Mom, what time is it?” 7:30. “Do I have time to…” I’m going to pause here because I was anticipating that this sentence was going to end with play on the computer.  Imagine my surprise when she finished it with…“work out before school?” SAY WHAT!!!?

First of all, where did that come from? Sadly, it’s not from my husband or myself.  He plays hockey and I just started yoga this past weekend, but that’s about the extent of our physical fitness.  So it’s not from watching us.   Second of all, she’s seven. She spends her whole day riding her bike and running around the neighborhood so she gets plenty of exercise.  But I guess it’s never too early to start regimented exercise.  I’m sure my sister, who is a health/phys ed teacher, is nodding her head in agreement.

Curiosity got the better of me and I headed upstairs (with camera in hand) to see just how this daughter of mine was working out.

A little stretching in the morning is a great way to start the day! Way to go, Kiki!  Now if she is anything like her dad and I, this “exercise in the morning” craze will be short lived.  Very short lived!

The end of the school year is fast approaching which means Kiki starts bringing home a boat load of papers. Fun! The other night as I’m sifting through them, I came across one that had the “Zeswitz” logo on it.  I remember that brand name of instruments from my school days.  I, myself, did not sign up for an instrument. But I certainly remember my classmates lugging around the big instrument cases to and from school.  No. Thank. You.

As I am about to discard this paper, Kiki chimes in with a, “Oooh, Mom! I really wanna do it. Can I play an instrument next year?” Umm…well.  At this point, I actually read the paper and it turns out it’s not for band, but for orchestra. Her three instrument choices are the violin, viola, and cello.  Ok.  I’m trying to picture little third graders carrying around a cello. I’m not seeing it.  What happened to the clarinet, flute, or other such smaller instruments?

With trepidation in my voice, I ask her which instrument she would be interested in playing.  Violin.  Good! At least it’s the smallest out of the three.  Not to mention the cheapest to rent!

Don’t get me wrong. I want Kiki to try new things. But I’m picturing the noise that accompanies a young violinist that isn’t so much of a violinist, if ya know what I mean! Screeching sounds that will have us all running for cover.  AAAHHH!

I sit Kiki down and say in my best motherly voice (which I don’t really have) that having an instrument is a lot of responsibility.  It requires practice (hours and hours of ear bleeding practice!), and she will have to carry it back and forth to school.  It’s also something that she will have to take care of and not allow it to become damaged or even worse…Lost!

Her response: “Mom, are you trying to talk me out of joining orchestra?”

Well, isn’t’ she a little whippersnapper? A SMART whippersnapper!  I backpedaled telling her no that wasn’t my intention yes it was.  Certainly, her father and I will support her if she really wants to be in this so-called orchestra. I was simply trying to make her aware of what she is signing on for.

So Wednesday night, we will be at a meeting with the Zeswitz peeps getting all the info for the orchestra.  In the comments section of this post, I would like all of you (all 2 of you) to leave your address so that I have some place to stay next year during practice sessions.  Thanks so much!

Today I had a parent/teacher conference with AJ’s daycare teacher.  Even though we see his teachers everyday it was still nice to sit one-on-one with her (sans kids) to hear her feedback on my precious 3 year old.  Honestly,  I always get a little nervous when it comes to AJ because he can be a bit of a wild man at times.  As I’m sure all 3 year old boys can be!

First thing was first: Potty training.  The boy is not showing any interest whatsoever.  Nothing is working.  We have a bag full of Matchbox cars with a Matchbox racetrack as the “Grand Prize”.  He is aware of the bag of goodies, he understands what he needs to do to get the bag of goodies, he just doesn’t want to do it.  June 15th starts water play at the daycare.  The plan is to have him in just his swimsuit (minus the Lil Swimmers) to see if it makes any connection for him.  I have put him in just undies and he pees in them and continues to play like he doesn’t have a care in the world.  Hopefully things “click” for him shortly because I’m getting ready to pull out my hair!

Other than that she said he is very social, he loves to tell stories and pretend he is Spiderman, and sometimes he plays a little too rough with the other children.  No shocker there!!

But she also told me a story which I have been laughing at all day!  AJ’s class is a mixture of 3,4,and 5 year olds.  On their way outside the one afternoon, the 5 year olds were in the front of the line.  Apparently, they were misbehaving, so she had them all move to the back of the line.  She then told AJ that he could be the line leader.  He started jumping up and down, then he hugged all his friends while yelling, “I get to be the line leader! I get to be the line leader!.” Finally, she said to him, “AJ, it’s not like you won a scholarship to Princeton. Just get to the front of the line!”

Just picturing him so excited brings a smile to my face.  Sometimes it’s the little things!

On a final note, she told me she thinks he would make a good politician because he tries to “pull the wool over her eyes” alot.  She’ll ask him if he is fibbing to which he always replies that he is not.  Then she pulls out the big guns and says she is going to ask Kiki when she gets to the daycare after school.  Then he quickly says, “No, don’t ask her!”   If he does run for office and wins, maybe he will jump up and down, hugging his friends, yelling “I get to be an elected official! I get to be an elected official!”

I can only hope it’s televised so we can all get a good laugh!

My poor Kiki. She has been suffering from allergies for the past two weeks.  Last summer, we had her allergy tested and the results showed that she reacted to pollen and certain weeds that are the worst in Spring and Fall.  Her eyes have been red and puffy and she sneezes constantly.  In fact, that is how I know she is awake in the mornings; she starts sneezing the second her feet hit the ground.

Unfortunately, nothing seems to be working to help alleviate the symptoms.  At first we were giving her a generic form of Children’s Benadryl.  That didn’t seem to do the trick  so we switched it up to Children’s Zyrtec.  It seems like pretty potent stuff since the directions call for one tablet in a 24 hour period.  That still has yet to make a dent.

Kiki is getting to the end of her rope I’m afraid.  The past two mornings she seems almost angry that she is still suffering.  I certainly can’t blame her.  I’ve been telling her that I think if she takes the medicine, as the day goes on she will feel better.  After repeating that same line to her again today, her response was:

“How do you know? You’re not me.  You don’t know what it’s like to be me.”

As she said this, her voice was hoarse from all the coughing and sneezing and her little chin was quivering.  It broke my heart.  She is absolutely right; I don’t know what it’s like to be her.  I haven’t been in agony for the past 2 weeks; she has.  But how does a 7 year old even formulate that thought? I will admit it does seem a touch dramatic.  But as I watched her slowly walk to the bus today, her comment was repeating itself constantly in my mind.  Now I realize, even at age 7, she is her own person.  I may have carried her for 9 months but she really is not mine. She is without a doubt, her own individual: with her own thoughts, her own realizations, her own sense of fashion, and even as a 2nd grader her own battles. Whether it is battles with friends, school work, or allergy suffering, she has to feel it on her own while I stand on the outside only able to guide her.  And the shocker for me is that based upon her comment from today, she already realizes this.  How did she learn that lesson before me?

Wow! If anyone needs me today, I will be in my bed, curled in the fetal position, crying like a baby!

Kiki is just about done with her second grade year, and throughout her short academic career, we have managed to escape “projects.” Until now.

I have been dreading this time since before I even had kids.  Hearing other parents talk about projects their kids do throughout the school year makes me cringe.  Not to mention, I still have nightmares from when I was a student and needed to “design” a project.  I lack the ability to draw nice looking stick figures, so you can imagine what any of my projects may have looked like.

Kiki’s project was to create a poster about the moon.  It was to include pictures as well as three moon facts she found interesting.  The written portion of the project was being completed in school.  That was a relief! I loved how the instructions on the paper urged parents to “guide” their child through the project, but to keep in mind that the work should be that of the child.  Well, that was not a problem for me!

Between Kiki and my husband (who is extremely creative), they came up with a great idea to make a paper-mache moon.  The whole process took a couple of days but it looks great.  Kiki typed up her facts, found some pictures to make it look pretty, and that was about it.

First project down, too many more ahead.  I’m so proud of Kiki! She did such a great job with the poster and she was excited to do it which made the situation so much better.  As an extra bonus, I took her to school this morning so that I could rest assure her project arrived safely. She was so happy to miss a ride to school on the bus, I think it made her whole day!

And I’m not talking about late December back in ‘63.  I’m talking about last night and into the early hours of today.  The night started out decent.  After the kids were tucked in bed, my husband left for his 10:30 hockey game (this irks me that they have games so late, but who am I?), and I settled down on the couch to finish book 4 of the Twilight series.  Once I finished it, I went upstairs to retire for the evening.

I felt like I had only been snoozing for a few minutes, when my husband was by my side saying, “Shan, wake up.”  “What?” I managed to whisper.  “Remember when you told me not to get hurt?” STOP.  Allow me to backpedal for a second.  Before he left, I told him not to get hurt because he is constantly coming home bruised and battered from these hockey games.  And I was told (by more than one of his teammates) that he throws himself around the rink unnecessarily!

Back to the conversation at hand. I turned over to see him standing there with his left eye all but swollen shut.  He was looking at me through a little slit.  His eye and cheek were red, swollen, and already bruised.  The man took a slapshot to the face! What part of “Don’t hurt yourself” was cryptic to him??  Of course I try not to linger on the fact that he could have lost an eye! I said I try not to linger on that, but the thought creeps up every so often!

I drifted back off to sleep only to be awoken by AJ crying not too soon after the eye incident.  I went in to check on him and he was covered in vomit.  UGH! I briefly remembered being told when I came home from work that he had had some diarrhea earlier in the night.  Oh no, not a stomach bug!

We cleaned up the mess and got him back to sleep, only to have to go through the whole thing again about 20 minutes later.  Except this time I was right there with a trash can.  Finally, after 2 o’clock, I fell back to sleep.  This morning around 6:30, the whole house was woken up by AJ, who was still lying in his bed, singing the Happy Birthday song over and over, each time with a different name.  It was cute and I was glad that he must have been feeling better.  He did wake Kiki up about a half hour too early with his singing, but she didn’t seem to mind.

AJ has been fine today.  He did go on a field trip yesterday to a horse farm and so I’m wondering if that didn’t play a factor.  Or maybe his food didn’t agree with him.  I’m not sure, but I hope it was an isolated incident and not a stomach bug that is looking to spread to the rest of the family!

As for my husband, I don’t even know what to say other than I’m so thankful that he wasn’t seriously hurt.  This may take some time to heal, but at least he is still intact.  I’m sure it will still be visible next week when we travel to Vegas.  That’s the kind of stuff memories are made of - vacation pictures where someone is wearing a nice shiner!!

And I have a feeling that it will be “Lights Out” fairly early this evening here at the Muzbee Crazy house!  Although I do want to TRY and stay up for my new favorite show, Harper’s Island! Oh well, that’s what DVR is for, right?