Bibbity Bobbity Boo

Every night before bedtime we here at the Jones' home go through the painful and irritating event called "cleanup time". I have this strange obsessive need to see my carpet before retiring for the evening. For this reason (and I'm sure many others) my children think they have the meanest mom on the planet, so each and every night I am forced to endure much weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth. Last night Lindy stood transfixed in the middle of the carnage and desperately exclaimed, "Boy, I wish I had a magic wand!"

I hadn't really thought about it in that way, but this has been a recurring wish for me over the last few months as well. It might simply be that my rather profound belly makes tub-cleaning, laundry sorting, vacuuming, and sweeping, seem overly-daunting OR it could just be that I'm getting lazy in my old age. Whatever the reason, I cannot seem to bring myself to do the household chores that would make my home stack up to my expectations. So, what else could I say to my wallowing 5-year old? "Me too, Lindy, me too,"

Sweet Girl

Lindy is my favorite person to blog about. She seems to say or do so many blog-worthy things. I usually end up portraying the sassy or ornery side of my little girl. Today, however, she surprised me by saying something SO sweet! I was talking with my mom on the phone and made a comment about how sometimes I feel like an awful mother. Lindy looks up from her coloring (and gives me the look she usually gives me when I say something she thinks is ludicrous) and says, "But you're the perfect mom!"

I decided to document this moment so I can remind her of this 5-10 years from now. I love you, Lindy!

Finally!

That's right! My several-month-long project is finally completed. I learned SO MUCH with this quilt and, unfortunately for my husband, I think I've caught the quilting/sewing bug. Luckily Ian has been SUPER supportive of my new habit (thanks, hon!) and I'm looking forward to a few other fun projects in the near future. Big thanks go out to Holly, Autumn, and Emily. It was fun working with you ladies on this!

Girls vs. Boys

Today was "pink" day at preschool. Lindy wanted to display as much pink as she could to ensure that she was as girly-girl as possible for her fellow classmates and teacher. On the way to school the wheels in her head started to turn and, with a perplexed look on her face, she posed the following question: "Mom, how are the boys going to do pink day...because they are boys!" I tried to assure her that in spite of preconceived ideas about the color pink, some boys actually do wear that color from time to time. She was not about to buy it. I was then treated to a rather emphatic diatribe about what is and is NOT appropriate for boys. According to Lindy, boys do NOT have long hair. They DO go to work or run in races. They do NOT stay home and take care of babies. They DO shovel snow off of driveways. They do NOT clean houses. Last, but not least they certainly do NOT wear the color pink.

Not only has she joined the 5-year old Fashion Police Force, but is apparently planning on launching her own Committee for Appropriate Male Behavior. Where does she get this?

Maybe I'm Not a Horrible Mom

I think that motherhood brings with it the tendency to worry constantly that you are somehow going to damage your children. There seems to be a gnawing fear at the back of my mind that in 20 years, Lindy in particular, will be discussing my parenting flaws with a trained professional. One of the things I feel slightly embarrassed about is the amount of time I allow my kids to spend watching the television. I often rationalize by telling myself "Hey, at least it's PBS and not Maury Povich!" but it doesn't always eliminate the doubt...especially when you hear child psychologists blaming a large portion of youth angst on the fact that their parents left them to be raised by the television. Aaaaahhh!

But today I feel I had a small triumph. I was braiding Lindy's hair, getting her ready for the day, when we randomly had the following conversation:

Lindy: "Dinosaurs lived on the earth a very long time ago."

Me: "That's right...please hold still."

Lindy: "Then they all went away because the paleontologists killed them."

Me (to myself): "Did she just say 'paleontologist'?"

Me (out loud): "Is that so?"

Lindy: "Well, the paleontologists didn't actually kill the dinosaurs, they are just the people that find their fossils and glue their bones together to stand up in museums and stuff. It's pretty amazing."

Me: "Where did you learn about paleontologists?"

Lindy: "Sesame Street."

Me: "NICE!"

When It Hurts Mom Too

If there's one thing that will stop me from being an irritable mom it's a real-life injury, no matter how small. Ellie fell today and bit into her upper lip with her tooth. I literally had to pull her lip off of her tooth. I can't stand blood, especially when it's someone else's, and especially when it's coming out of one of my girls. She was so sad and kept asking me to get a band-aid for her lip. How do you explain to a 2-year old that you can't put a bandage on the inside of a lip? Her sad little face was a small arrow to my heart! Right now I don't even mind that she sometimes picks her nose and eats it! For the rest of the day I'll just have to hold her tight and be grateful that her little fall wasn't worse. (Heaven help me with a boy!)

It's Yummy, Mommy

To my profound horror, Ellie has decided that she thinks it's funny to pick her nose and eat it. I have no idea where this came from! I'm beginning to think that she accidently did it the first time but was so amused by my reaction that she figured it would be fun to continue to freak out her poor mother. I only say this because she seems to take great care in making sure I am available as a witness each and every time it happens. Then she laughs. I'm beginning to think this child is not the sweet and innocent girl we think she is. 

"What's In Your Bag" Tag

Autumn tagged me with the "What's In Your Bag" tag today...and I'm afraid my response is going to be horrifically boring. So, for those who aren't seeking a sedating/mind-numbing reading experience I encourage you to look elsewhere for anything noteworthy. Sorry, I'm just not an interesting purse person...starting with the fact that I have a horribly boring purse today.

- Cell phone: I don't leave home without it
- Chapstick: I'm so boring I even have the old-fogey type lip balm
- Lotion: forever seeking skin nourishment
- Pocket Knife (with tiny scissors): I promise, it comes in handy
- $15 cash + misc. change: an unprecedented event
- Children's Place coupon (which I forgot to use today...Grrr)
- Receipt for Children's Place for 15% more than it should have been
- Costco reward "check" for $17ish
- Pen
- RedBox DVD: "Mr. Bean's Holiday" (I was obviously desperate for some family entertainment that didn't include me having to do anything)
- Costco card, B&N Membership card, Gap card
- Scrunchie: my hair is getting too long
- Palm: one of 3 electronic items that I couldn't live without

So, that's it. Revel in the fact that your lives are all more fun than mine. :) Just to prove it, I'm tagging Heather, Lindsey, Melissa, and Tiffanie. Ha!

Money, Money, Money

I always try to keep my ears open for various parenting techniques that will help us deal with our willful first born. Some time ago I had someone tell me that the trick is "finding her currency". In other words, I need to find out what she values most and use that in my disciplining style. For years now I've tested theory after theory to discover Lindy's "currency" with no success. We've tried toys, privileges, treats, etc. and if taken away we usually get a response similar to this: "I didn't really want to have that toy anyway." or "I wanted to have quiet time in my room anyway." Needless to say it hasn't really worked. She tends to make punishment of any kind fit into her well-calculated plans for the day.

Finally, at age 5, we may have stumbled across the answer. It seems her currency might actually be currency! Money! Can you believe it? She has recently expressed a rather desperate desire for a specific Fisher-Price camera that costs a whopping $70! She asked Ian & I if we had $70 and, to her profound dismay, we both responded with an emphatic "no"...after which we were treated to about a half hour of quiet weeping and sniffling. Ian and I discussed the situation and presented a plan: If she was extra helpful, listened well, and did odd-jobs around the house she might be able to "earn" enough money/allowance before our Disneyland trip in November to be able to buy the camera herself. Well...who knew the onslaught of helpfulness that would ensue? Yesterday morning as I was getting ready for the day she ran in to tell me that she had made her bed and Ellie's bed all by herself because she didn't want me to have to do it. The rest of the day was filled with similar "surprises" including a shoulder rub for mom. It seems we might actually have to follow through with this plan because she's taking it very seriously. We'll just have to see.  

Taking a Break

There are some great moments in the life of a mother. I was in the middle of cleaning the bathroom (not my favorite task by any means) and my girls decide they want to get dressed in their ballerina paraphernalia and dance along with Bella Ballerina. Lindy helped Ellie into her own pair of tights and leotard/tutu for the occasion. Ellie was taking the dancing very seriously and I just couldn't resist ignoring the awaiting toilet bowl to spend some time with my little ballerinas. It was worth the break.