I know the saying goes “Frogs and snails and puppy dog tails.” But our modern version seems to be a little different.
Around here, little boys are made more of legos, video games and FIREWORKS!
This year even Jonah spent $10 of his own money on a big pack them.
They seem to never be too old or too young to be obsessed with fireworks.
I never expected to fall in love with sports. In my home growing up we had lots of dance, gymnastics, and oodles of music lessons. But my exposure to “ball sports” was limited to church teams. Well, that, and watching my dad yell at the TV whenever U of A basketball was on.
My first inkling that balls were going to be a big part of my life came when Caleb was about a year and a half. He could throw a ball with amazing speed and accuracy. I should know, because his target was usually my face.
Over the years we’ve done a little bit of soccer, some basketball, a season of T-ball, and most recently volleyball. Recently, though, things have changed.
Josh and Savannah have both picked the sports that they love. Josh is now a basketball player. When I asked him if he wanted to try football next season with some of his friends, he looked at me like I was crazy.
“Why would I want to waste my time playing football when I could be spending that time getting better at basketball?”
For Savannah it’s volleyball. She had just barely discovered that she liked volleyball before Jr High started. She didn’t have enough experience to make the 7th grade team, but she was not discouraged. She’s played in a league for 3 seasons in a row, and is planning on trying out for the 8th grade team.
I love going to watch their games! It is an amazing feeling to watch my kids work really hard, and succeed at something they love. They have both improved so much, and are quite the star players! Just ask their mom! :)
I get nervous for them. When the game gets intense, my stomach is in knots. I can’t stop smiling when things are going well. How will I ever be able to endure the stress if one of my kids plays on a high school team?
So I guess I love sports. At least I love what it does for my kids. And every Saturday during basketball or volleyball season, you can find me sitting on the sidelines. I’m the crazy lady nursing a baby, trying to hide the fact that I’m crying tears of joy.
Yesterday Emet, my brother in law, asked Simon the question, “What do you want to do when you grow up?”
Simon had obviously already thought about that question. He was ready with his answer.
“I want to go poop by myself, jump really high, and go swimming.”
Those are some lofty aspirations!
These are just a few of the things I’ve answered today:
Why do I have to wear clean clothes?
Is this my wallet?
Do cowboys toot?
Why is this called a pinky finger?
Can I please move out of this house (with your stupid rules) and move in with my friends? (At age 11)
How many days ‘til the cruise?
The other day we watched a documentary that showed some bighorn sheep fighting for dominance. Today that was the image that came to my mind as I tried to get the kids off to school.
There are those in my household… particularly the young of the male species… that are constantly challenging my authority.
They don’t seem to believe (and I think they are actually sincere in this belief) that I should have any more authority than they do. They don’t think I have a right to make rules and/or enforce them. They sneer at me when I try to correct something they do, and tell me that I’m not perfect myself. When I tell them to do something they don’t really feel like doing, they try to pretend they didn’t hear me, or let me know they will do it when they’re good and ready.
Sheeeesh! Maybe what I need is a good strong set of horns or antlers.
I was talking on the phone the other day with a friend of mine. We were bemoaning the fact that we spent so much of our time following kids around, trying to get them to stay focused on chores, homework, piano practice, etc. Not fun for the kids, and certainly not fun for mom!
She made the comment “I really need to think of a more fun and loving way to help them get everything done!”
Oh my gosh. I forgot that was the goal! I was so busy being annoyed that they couldn’t be as productive as mini-adults, that I completely forgot that it was my job to make learning those skills fun and rewarding. And most of all, it is my job to teach with love, not with endless nagging.
How could I have forgotten that? I used to know it. When my older kids were little we had elaborate reward systems that kept everyone happy and busy. Davis dollars! I realized that sometimes I expect my little ones to behave like the older ones. It seems like I have already been teaching those lessons for years, so I subconsciously expect the little ones to have learned them too.
Anyway, I began with Jonah. I picked him up from school one day last week. We went to lunch, got a haircut, and spent some quality time together. We also talked about the “new” Davis dollar system that we would be implementing next week. He was so excited!
I noticed an immediate change in him. He was getting up earlier, in a great mood, anxious to get started on his chores. He packed his lunch without needing to be reminded. He came home from school and immediately started on his homework. He made the observation, a couple of days later, “Mom! I guess all you have to do is take me out to lunch once a week, and I’ll be happy and motivated for days!” Such a sweet little guy! A little positive attention from mom can still solve so many of his problems!
We’ve been doing Davis dollars for a week now. I write all the “jobs” on his very own white board in the morning. I include “packing your lunch” and “brushing your teeth.” He checks off each task when it’s finished, and collects Davis dollars at the end of the day. No more nagging or reminding! It’s a miracle!
A little over 3 years ago, we moved into our house.
My mother-in-law told us that when she saw the house for the first time, she wanted to cry. And not for happiness. She couldn’t believe her son would bring his wife to live in this place!
Jeff has spent the last 3 years working vigorously to turn this house into my dream home. He has done everything himself, from adding on a dining room to raising the kitchen ceiling to building a fort in the back yard.
And slowly but surely, this house has become just perfect for me!
The most recent project was the outside facelift.
Well, back up for a bit… we have needed a new roof ever since we moved in. Every time we had a big rain, we would need buckets to catch the drips, and Jeff would be up there patching, trying to hold off until we had the money to redo the whole thing.
A couple of months ago, Jonah and Simon came running out of their room in their pajamas, super excited to tell me something.
“Mom! It’s raining!”
“Yes, I know! It’s raining hard out there, isn’t it?”
“NO! It’s raining IN OUR ROOM!”
Sure enough… the water was dripping steadily into their room. I poked at the ceiling where it was wet, and the drywall came crumbling down, along with a puddle of water.
It was time. We decided to just bite the bullet and pay somebody to do the whole roof for us. And while we were at it, we would pay somebody to do the outside trim work and paint the whole thing!
The whole transformation took only a few days! Jeff couldn’t wipe the smile off his face every time he would come home from work and see all the things that had happened while he was gone. All that work would have taken him months!
I LOVE the way it turned out! The good thing about starting out with such an awful “before” is that the “after” looks amazing!
My kids laugh at how often I say “What a cute house!” when I drive into the driveway. And I have spent hours sitting on my porch swing enjoying the lovely spring weather.
