All growed up

Two weeks ago, Rex was in his very first Primary program.  And he was the best.  The star of the show.  Obviously.  Seriously though, he was.  He was that kid that thinks every song is a solo and just belts it out--off key nonetheless because the poor boy has a tone deaf mother who also likes to sing really loudly in the car.  But he knew most of the words to all the songs.  And he knew his whole 2 sentences he was supposed to say.  He told me, and this was later confirmed by other adults, that he wanted to talk more so during practice he added some to his part.  The Primary president would have none of that and cut him off during the actual program.  If only Rex hadn't hesitated before the last sentence he would've gotten away with it too.  He did end up having a slight melt down half way through the program.   I'm not exactly clear on what happened, but it had something to do with the name tags on the seats and his getting wrinkled and moved.  For a super type A, 4-year-old with minimal coping skills, it was a major disaster.  But he pulled it together for every song and then returned to crying after.  Luckily one of the teachers was kind enough to let Rex sit on her lap.  Still, I am oddly proud of him.  I guess it's called being a parent, because, honestly, I hate Primary programs.  It's a bunch of kids getting up and talking to loudly or too quietly or whatever else they do that makes them almost impossible to understand for over an hour, because you know the program goes over every year.  Yet, I loved this year.  Mostly Rex's part, because, like I said he was the star.

Then last Saturday, Alice got to sleep in bed with me for a few hours because she woke up at 5 and I wasn't about to and Greg was off hunting.  When she woke up the second time at 8, she informed me that she would no longer be sleeping in a crib.  I knew the day was coming and probably a bit overdue (we took Rex's crib apart on his second birthday) since I want her to be used to a big girl bed before she moves into Rex's room in a few months.  So we took it apart.  Though, now, she's going back a bit.  She told me tonight that she wants to sleep in a crib again, but not the pack-n-play, the crib.  As in, put it back together.  For such an opinionated little girl, she sure does change her mind an awful lot--like about being potty trained.

Creepy Kids

Tuesday, around 7 pm, I'm in the kitchen putting dinner away; Rex is playing in the toy room; Greg is outside getting ready for scouts; and Alice is doing her thing in her room.  Alice comes back into the kitchen.

Alice--"There's a ghost in my room."
Me--"There's a ghost in your room?"
Alice--"Ghost.  Scary in my bedroom."

For the record, I believed her.  A two-year-old came to me after sitting in her room by herself and told me she'd seen a ghost.  Where did she even learn about ghosts?  And who knows when the veil really closes?  So I checked it out.  No ghost.  But Alice and Rex spent the next 20 minutes chasing the ghost out of Alice's room and into mine.

Now every time Alice goes to her room, she says, "Oh no.  A ghost. Scary."

Kids are creepy.

Car Fast: Week 1

A few weeks ago I read The Cheapskate Next Door by Jeff Yeager and if you'd talked to me in these last few weeks, you'd know that it changed/ruined my life.  Ruined my life in that I now know how much more money I could be saving by not doing things like buying toilet paper.  Don't worry, while I still refuse to buy paper towels, cloth toilet paper is too far for me.  Though Yeager does focus a lot on different ways to spend less money, his real point, at least for me, is not about money at all.  Being a cheapskate is a way to increase our happiness by focusing more on and appreciating more what we already have rather than constantly shopping for and thinking about what we don't have.   I have decided to become a cheapskate.  I want to be happier (not that I'm unhappy to begin with).  I want to appreciate the things I have; to focus less on what I "want."  As such I am adjusting one of Yeager's suggestions and will be having a weekly car fast--that means one day a week, I will not drive my car anywhere.  Not only will I save the gas money and the money from whatever store I was just going to drop by and pick up one thing and then leave the store $50 later, but I will be forced to enjoy what I already have.  

Today was my first weekly car fast.  And it was perfect.  Seriously so much less stressful than getting the kids ready and in the car and all the yelling and nagging and rushing that that involves.

We started the day off pretty normally: breakfast followed by morning chores.  Except that today instead of me yelling and nagging Rex to get his chores done, I did mine and let him and Alice do what they wanted.  Rex voluntarily got out his writing binder and practiced writing while Alice did her favorite thing--roll around on the floor with her blanket and pacifier.  And I even did the breakfast dishes after breakfast instead of after dinner.

 Eventually, I convinced Rex to get dressed and we headed outside where I raked up a giant leaf pile for the kids.  Alice was not as interested as I thought she should be.  She kept crying to go back inside so I brought out a blanket and books for her to look at while Rex played in the leaves, which satisfied all parties involved.

 We also had a snack outside, more leaf jumping, lunch, then I read Alice some stories and she took a nap.  Then Rex wanted repeat some of his activities he did at Joy School this week, so we did that.  I didn't take any pictures of that because I didn't want to interrupt the moment.  Remember I was enjoying what I have.  Then stories with Rex, shower and nap for me while Rex watched TV.

After TV time, Derick came over and we went back to our leaf pile.

 Then we did a leaf stained art project, which again I did not take pictures of because...well I got a stressful phone call from a potential renter.  I mean, I was enjoying the moment not yelling at my kids to hush.

Next, the kids helped me make pizza before I caught they actually playing together (and overhead Rex repeating the conversation I'd had with the tenet on his broken cell phone).

Last, the kids took a bath, more renter stuff hit the fan, we read some stories, I rocked Alice to sleep then cuddled with Rex for a bit.  All in all, minus the renter stuff, I loved my first car fast.  I actually spent time playing with my children and have a blister on my thumb from all the raking to prove it.  Looking forward to next week--so join me for a weekly car fast and spend a day just enjoying what you already have and not thinking about what you're going to buy next.