teachers' pet

I was always the teachers' pet growing up. I showed up early to school so I  could help grade papers. I stayed late so I could clean up. I always raised my hand in class and even sat on the twelve member 'jury' in 9th grade (the gifted kids - well we thought we were- who always had an answer to everything).

And so it is no wonder that Kiley has followed in my footsteps.

Err...it might be a little different. You see, her 'teacher' is her big brother. But she's definately a fast learner.

As I type this, they are up in their room, supposed to be going to bed, but Jaxon is teaching her the phoenetics of Gangnam Style. "Kiley, say 'Gang', okay say 'nam'. Now say 'sty', and 'l'. I just sat there laughing as she obediently repeated each symbol back to him. And now I have two little Psy's up there singing Gangnam Style.

Woa Woa Woa.

I suppose she has learned some good things form Jaxon too. How to count and sing her ABC's. How to eat fruit rollups and gushers. How to check out books at the library and carry them in her backpack. How to cut with scissors and put stickers on everything. How to sing and dance and work a microphone.

She's learned to always get the 'last whatever' because it doesn't matter what it is, as long as you got the last one before the other one.

She's also learned to share and hug and love each other. Just tonight, I was quite impressed as they were sharing their ice cream, giving each other bites. For some reason Kiley doesn't like to share with me though- she has the idea that I'm going to eat it all!

She has also seemed to grow a strong sense of independence overnight. I'm quite certain she has learned some of this from Jaxon, though it's probably her developmental stage right now too (like I have any idea- are you kidding? who has time to read parenting books these days!).

Tonight when we were at Lookout Ridge, Kiley just took off climbing after Jaxon and going down the slides. I felt this much closer to those parents who sit at the tables and let their kids run wild while they sip their lattes and read their iPads. I don't want to be them yet. But I felt like they were calling me, saying, 'Relax. Just sit and enjoy yourself. Your kids are fine.' I digress though as that is a whole other blog post...

At any rate, I am astonished at the rapid rate at which Kiley is learning. Scott and I have commented in the past couple weeks several times that she's like a little person. She has so many opinions. SO MANY. And she forms complete sentences that have complicated thought processes (I think) for a two year old. She's manipulative and smart. Funny - oh so funny. And she is a caretaker. She's just really sweet and when she looks at you, sometimes your heart just melts.

And for these reasons and so many more, I am sure she will have no problem settling in to become a teachers' pet...

little monsters

Gosh, looking back on my last post, I make it sound like my kids are animals! Well, they are.

But they're pretty cute little animals... even though they drive me crazy at times I wouldn't take away the chaos and time we have together for one minute.

And I'm feeling like I should clarify, that when I say I sometimes lose my cool in the privacy of my own home, I am simply referrring to the fact that I may raise my voice a bit louder (okay, a lot) and go into wild explanations to a 2 and 5 year old about why it isn't okay to hit, throw, punch or kick. It's not like I'm using any sort of corporal punishment or anything, so don't start calling the state investigators.

Whew. Got that out.

There were some funny moments this weekend that amid all the running around and slight exhaustion, we all found a little bit of hysteria and laughter.

At one point Kiley started saying 'Donut' over and over again. Soon her and Jaxon were in fits of saying 'Donut Mommy' and laughing hysterically. It wasn't until yesterday that I realized she is really saying 'Darnit!'. Something she clearly learned from her big brother.

And I've come to realize that Kiley has way more to say when Jaxon isn't around. Yesterday when we dropped him off at his friends' birthday party (that's like a whole separate blog post!), she began talking and didn't stop until we picked him up... she comments on everything we see outside- from snow, to birds, to things that aren't even there, like purple dinosaurs, the moon, and marshmellows on her fingers. When we got to the grocery store, she started making a list for me of everything we needed to buy in a really matter-of-fact voice- 'gotta get more pears mommy. and some nanas. and Gushers!'.

She's started requesting Lady Gaga on the radio, though I'm not sure she knows who Gaga is. Funny though because that was Jaxon's first real interest in music. I wonder if Lady Gaga knows how many 'Little Monsters' she really has?

And she now says 'No problem.' when she drops something or if I say thank you to her. No problem mom.

Sometimes Kiley says something totally rediculous that doesn't make any sense at all- okay, this happens a lot- and Jaxon will just look at me and we both crack up laughing. It's pretty awesome.

When we went to go pick Jaxon up though, Kiley saw him and ran over to give him a big hug. She missed him after just a couple hours. It was so cute. Though in true big brother-around my friends- style, he kept walking right by, not bothering with her. I think he secretly missed her too though as I caught him sharing his candy with her later...

So, I guess it wasn't all screaming kids and worn out chaos. There were some good, and definate favorite parts, to this weekend (like when they both went to bed at 7:30 last night, worn out from way too much fun and I got to finally sit down and relax!).

ice fishing widow

I'm never a fan of Martin Luther King Jr. Weekend in January. Not because I don't think Martin Luther King Jr was a good and noble man.

But because it means Scott will be 'gone fishing' from Thursday through late Sunday night or God forbid, Monday.

I have to mentally prepare myself for weeks ahead of time.

Lucky for me I just returned from a weekend getaway in Lovely Las Vegas. Lots of quality time with Scott, some quality 'me time' (aka shopping, walking, and relaxing with a massage), and of course the occasional drink or two (wink wink). I can't say too much because we all know that what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. Don't worry, it was nothing like the Katy Perry song. 

And yet, I could have used a couple more days. Or some yoga or meditation or something to prepare me for this.

Being an ice fishing widow isn't easy. Last year, for example, I was stuck with two sick kids, one who was hospitalized shortly after said ice fishing weekend. Thankfully, knock on a big wood door, we are all in good health this weekend.

But what I didn't anticipate was the total defiance, lack of listening, running off in the middle of the store, and screaming in public places. And that was just Kiley by noon today.

Our trip to Target this morning was comical to say the least. Though I wasn't thinking that the people staring at me and judging me thought it was very comical at the time. I could actually see it in their eyes:

"Poor thing, I bet her husband is ice fishing this weekend."

"Such cute kids, it's a shame they don't behave better for that poor ice fishing widow."

"Did you see that girl just whack her mom in the face? Bet that one hurt."

"I guess that boy should have been sitting on the cart seat so he didn't fall down, huh."

"Why would you take kids like that to Target?"

And I'm sure most of them were thinking:
"Thank God that isn't me!!"

Oh yes, I got some looks. Especially as Kiley was going in for the second punch and I reach my hand up to protect myself, only to scratch her in the mouth, drawing just the tiniest little bit of blood...and then when I was trying to move the cart- you know, one of those really big oversized two seaters that they just have to make so friggen hard to move, it's like driving a semi-trailer in Target- Jaxon of course was goofing off so he fell right into the base of it, meanwhile Kiley is screaming and crying that I hit her... it was lovely.

I can usually handle the stuff in public with a good amount of grace, humor and tact. But in the privacy of my own home... that is where I sometimes lose it.

Now I would never publicly write about this if I didn't know that it happens every day in all those perfect kids' homes too. No family is perfect and no parent has all the answers.

Sometimes you have to use idle threats. Like today when I pretended to call Jenny and had a whole conversation with her about how we were not going to be able to go to Elmo Live tonight because my kids were being BEASTS and wouldn't take a nap.

At one point I went upstairs and almost got caught in the crossfires of Brown Bear Brown Bear and Mr. Seahorse being flung across beds. Time to get to separate rooms. Ugh!

But since I had a few outbursts and felt really bad about them already this weekend, I knew I had to keep my cool. I thought, how in the hell do I get a five year old to listen to me?

Make it the other kids' fault.

So when Jaxon came down for the umpteenth time to tell me something, I said, hey look Jaxon. I know it's all Kiley's fault- the book catapulting, the story telling, saying 'butt' as loud as you can, and jumping on your bed. I know she is the main reason you can't go to sleep. What do you say we try to ignore her and that will make her mad so she'll just go to bed.

Well, I'm not perfect, but at least this bought me some quiet time and so far seems to be working...

Now to mentally prepare myself for the rest of the weekend...