Kid lessons

This is how Noah got himself ready for school the other day, socks and necklace. (Yes, we're back on the school thing. So far he is really liking it. Three cheers for all the good teachers out there, but I digress.)

As you can see, he is already in the Halloween spirit. I asked him if he wanted help picking out socks, and he said no. When I commented on the fact that they were Halloween socks ( I don't know why I did this) he asked if the kids might laugh at him. My heart sank. I have never heard him ask this before. "Not unless they want to deal with me." I wanted to reply. But I didn't. I was busy regretting my question.

"Do you care if they do?" I asked, quietly praying that I would hear the answer I was hoping for.

Teasing, laughing at this boy I love just so. very. much. I'm not equipped to handle this. Really, I'm not. How does a parent handle this??

He shook his head. "No", he answered, "I don't".

I smiled. I want to be more like that.

Swing set

Check out our beautiful new swing set, built entirely by Peter (with some help from the boys)!

Lucky dog, lucky dog...

Look out, Lance

"Mama, I had the fanciest dream last night. I dreamed my bike could fly."

THE DAILY GROOVE ~ by Scott Noelle

:: Are You Your Child's Friend? ::

"You are the *parent*, not your child's friend!"
Herein lies another tragic loss wrought by the
either/or mentality of conventional parenting advice.

Why not be a parent AND a friend? After all, a friend
is anyone you KNOW, LIKE, and TRUST -- all worthy
qualities of a parent-child relationship.

Certainly, we want to be knowable and trustworthy to
our children. Being *likable* is good, too, but it's
often confused with *niceness*. When friends sacrifice
authenticity in order to be "nice," healthy boundaries
go out the window. That's the kind of "friendship" you
don't want with your children -- or anyone!

A true blue friend is one who puts trusting and
knowing above liking, so s/he's willing to be totally
authentic with you about his or her boundaries and
limits. And don't you *like* knowing that your friend
*is* who s/he appears to be?

Children who haven't learned our culture's sanctioned
INauthenticity can teach us a lot about being a
friend. They hide nothing (knowable) and always speak
their truth (trustable).

Whether they can be so transparent *and* likable is
up to you: Do you like realness more than superficial
niceness?

Enough with the rain already!!

Okay, really, enough is enough. Obviously Mother Nature didn't get the memo that we were going to be coming home last month with a newborn and needed some nice weather for our 2 and 4 year old. And their Mom and Dad. We have been doing our best to maintain sanity- riding bikes in the garage, painting, wrestling, watching 5 hours a day of TV. Okay, maybe not 5, but if feels like it. But we need to get outside. Peter has been taking the boys on rainy walks in the woods, which has been nice, but just not adequate with me tending to a newborn and attempting to build an arc. He had them out yesterday in the pouring rain, probably not our best parenting moment, but a necessary one. People in passing cars were happy to see them out walking, Peter reports. I think they were probably asking themselves why the nice man from down the street had his kids out in a rain storm. Oh, Sun, where are you??!!

AARGHH!!!!

I am fuming right now, maybe to a degree higher than the crime warrants, but fuming nevertheless.

We have a child safety gate the runs across our driveway to help keep the boys away from the road, a very busy road, and last night someone stole the pole used to hold it in place. William and I went to check the mail and found the gate on the ground without the pole. Initially I thought one of the boys may have taken it out to play with but we cannot seem to find it. And Peter thinks someone took it last night. With all the hormones raging through my body these days I found myself wishing I had previously set up surveillance cameras so I would be able to track down whoever took it. I would then go to their house and whack them upside the head yelling "It's a child safety gate, ASSHOLE!! It keeps my kids out of the road!!" Peter reminded me that ranting about hitting people in the head in front of the boys might not be the best lesson for them, but I disagree. It is a perfect lesson. Sort of like the lesson I will teach about getting arrested. If you need to be bailed out because you have been protesting the WTO, or have been participating in a human rights rally, etc., call us right away. If, however, you need bailing out because you have, um, stolen part of someones child safety gate in a drunken stupor, don't call right away. Call Grandma.

Maybe I should put a sign in front of the house that warns people "Hormonal Mama lives here, don't piss her off." "Or else."

Lovin',

lovin', lovin' this baby boy, in my new favorite Craigslist find, wearing this sweet little knit hat made by Grandma. These are the days...