I got my run in this morning. I had a window of slightly more than enough time to run my 3 miles before I knew Dan had to leave for a meeting at 8:30am, and I jumped on the opportunity. As I ran the second half of the last mile, I wondered if Dan was starting to get antsy that I wasn't home yet, which then led me to coming up with Dan's and my definitions of "leave at 8:30am." Here's what I came up with:
Dan: Feel antsy that we're not ready to leave at 8:20am. Start heading toward the door at 8:23am, with whatever and whomever is ready to go. Wait (im)patiently for everyone else to catch up and wonder why it is everyone can't just leave on time.
Me: Work on any little thing that needs to get done in the house or for the trip until 8:30am. Scramble to gather everything needed for wherever we're going, incent (which might involve some yelling) the kids to do the same and then make a mad dash for the car, 5... 10 minutes late. There might be a chance we can still get to wherever we're going on time.
Then I wondered which one of us each of our kids would be like and concluded Cal will be like Dan and Ella like me. Cal, having had his backpack on for 20 minutes already, insists he's going to be late for school if we leave for his before-school program at 7:55am (his bus leaves at 8:45am). And Ella is the grandest of a dilly-dalliers, thinking of one thing after another that she wants to bring with her to wherever we're going. She's usually behind me in getting out the door.
Somehow, we make it work. It's not stress free, but it works.
Saturday, May 9, 2015
Tuesday, May 5, 2015
I Got Blood
I wiped out on the prairie path this past Sunday afternoon. I, of course, blame the kids - they were being entirely too quiet in the Burley I was pulling behind behind me on my bike. I was curious with a hint of worry. Why were they being so quiet? Leading theories were a) that they were both reading their books, b) that one or both had fallen asleep or c) that one had quietly strangled the other with the loose harness strap that I can't use because, together, they're just too big for the Burley. So I had to check.
Hindsight told me that there was a better time to look back. We were mid-way through an incline (the up kind), and I just didn't have the speed to hold my front wheel straight and maintain my balance should it turn even slightly. I looked back, saw Ella sleeping, her head resting on an awake Cal's shoulder. Awww... so sweet. Strangulation... whatever!
And then I turned back to continue looking forward to finish my climb. My tire was turned right at the time, so I tried to correct it and turned it back too far left. At this point, a turtle may have been moving faster than I was; but I still had a chance to save myself from falling, so I turned it back right again... then left... then right... then WIPEOUT!
I first looked back to find the kids, eyes wide open, safe in the unturned Burley. I then looked back beyond them to see if the people I had passed on the bridge a couple of minutes before had seen me fall -- they were just coming around a bend, so I figured they hadn't. Whew. I then looked down at my left leg, which was the one that had taken the brunt of the fall. It was pretty scraped up. Blood trickled down from my knee to my ankle. This was a familiar "injury" to me given all of my years playing softball where one of my favorite plays was the pop-up slide into second and third.
Cal was the first to talk. "Are you okay, Mommy?"
I quickly told him I was.
Ella chimed in, "Mommy, you made me bump my head and woke me up." She was whiny.
Thanks for the sympathy, Ella.
Cal saw my bloodied knee and said, "If you bleed enough you'll die." I amazes me how flippantly these kids throw around the notion or possibility of death.
"I'm not gonna die," I told him. At least, not because of this injury.
"Mommy, you made me bump my head and woke me up," Ella said again. She had absolutely no sympathy or concern for my well being.
By now my bike was upright and ready for me to get back on it... or so I thought. So I did. And the first downward pedal zipped so fast I almost fell off again. My chain had fallen off of the sprocket.
I turned down the help offered by a fellow bike rider who had reached us on the path. Getting the chain back on its sprocket was an easy fix.
We finished our ride by stopping at the park in our neighborhood. It was empty. The kids love it, and I just wanted to sit and be. By now, my knee looked pretty excellent, bloody and dusty. I poured water from my Thomas the Train water bottle on it, and it didn't do much to clean it. The blood that had trickled down to my ankle had hardened by now and needed to be scrubbed off.
When I got them out of the Burley, I told Ella, "Look, Ellie, I've got blood." This is Ella's way of saying she or someone is bleeding... I have blood.
"Okay, as soon as someone comes to the park, we'll have to leave," I announced.
"Why?" the kids wondered.
"Because I don't want them to see my bloody knee," I told them. Something about a kids' park being exposed to my bloody knee for any amount of time didn't seem right. This set off a chain of more questions that I tried to answer without using the term "disease". I don't want them to be afraid of blood, just careful around it. I ended with, "blood has germs, so just don't touch anyone else's blood except for yours."
And then they both ran off into the play area where they proceeded to climb and run and slide and scale and laugh for the next 20 or so minutes while my bloodied knee and I rested on a nearby bench.
Cal was the first to talk. "Are you okay, Mommy?"
I quickly told him I was.
Ella chimed in, "Mommy, you made me bump my head and woke me up." She was whiny.
Thanks for the sympathy, Ella.
Cal saw my bloodied knee and said, "If you bleed enough you'll die." I amazes me how flippantly these kids throw around the notion or possibility of death.
"I'm not gonna die," I told him. At least, not because of this injury.
"Mommy, you made me bump my head and woke me up," Ella said again. She had absolutely no sympathy or concern for my well being.
By now my bike was upright and ready for me to get back on it... or so I thought. So I did. And the first downward pedal zipped so fast I almost fell off again. My chain had fallen off of the sprocket.
I turned down the help offered by a fellow bike rider who had reached us on the path. Getting the chain back on its sprocket was an easy fix.
 |
| My bloodied knee (post-rinse) |
We finished our ride by stopping at the park in our neighborhood. It was empty. The kids love it, and I just wanted to sit and be. By now, my knee looked pretty excellent, bloody and dusty. I poured water from my Thomas the Train water bottle on it, and it didn't do much to clean it. The blood that had trickled down to my ankle had hardened by now and needed to be scrubbed off.
When I got them out of the Burley, I told Ella, "Look, Ellie, I've got blood." This is Ella's way of saying she or someone is bleeding... I have blood.
"Okay, as soon as someone comes to the park, we'll have to leave," I announced.
"Why?" the kids wondered.
"Because I don't want them to see my bloody knee," I told them. Something about a kids' park being exposed to my bloody knee for any amount of time didn't seem right. This set off a chain of more questions that I tried to answer without using the term "disease". I don't want them to be afraid of blood, just careful around it. I ended with, "blood has germs, so just don't touch anyone else's blood except for yours."
And then they both ran off into the play area where they proceeded to climb and run and slide and scale and laugh for the next 20 or so minutes while my bloodied knee and I rested on a nearby bench.
Monday, April 27, 2015
A Week in the Life - Day 7 (oops, posted a little late)
Ella and I went to a baby shower for our friend, Ellen, today (Saturday... Day 7). Going in to it, she didn't really understand the concept, periodically asking me if she could write "Happy Birthday" on the card for Aunt Ellen.
She helped me wrap the presents, where the wrapping was fortunately done as gift bags and not wrapping paper. I say "fortunately" because we didn't have any tape... and we didn't have any tape because days before the kids had used it to tape the steps on the playset together, or whatever purpose the tape was to have served. I laid into her a little bit about this and what a waste it was and then moved on. We had things to do.
We had five items to put into two bags -- Ella wrapped three of them in tissue paper and put them into the smaller bag, and I wrapped two of them and put them into the bigger bag. And we both added some tissue paper to the tops of each bag, attempting to mae them look a little prettier.
She had just finished asking me if she could write "Happy Birthday" for the last time when she finally heard that it was a baby shower we'd be going to.
"Are we going to go in the baby shower?" she asked.
"No, you don't go in to a baby shower," I told her. "You go to a baby shower."
She was confused. "Do we go into the bathroom and in the baby shower," she asked again.
And I proceeded to tell her again that it wasn't that kind of shower, that Aunt Ellen was having a baby and we were going to her baby shower to celebrate that. I even told her that we'd be showering her with gifts and stopped going down that path about as quickly as I had gotten on it. To stay on that path was asking for a lot of questions and pain for no gain -- to Ella, to "shower" is to get wet and clean, nothing else.
Ella chose her black and white chevron striped tank dress with a hot pink tutu on the bottom to wear to the shower, despite my pleas that she wear this adorable, simple gray dress with a purple stripe across the bottom. I decided to have fun with this and dressed myself in similar colors -- black tank paired with a hot pink skirt. Me and Mini Me we were.
On the way to the shower, I learned that we would not have to take the kids to Bowling with us that night. Halleleijah! One of Cal's former teachers was available to babysit. Whew. That (taking the Leatherkids to Bowling) had disaster and pain written all over it.
The shower was really nice. Well done, Jennifer. Good, old friends... yummy food... and plenty of booze. It was possibly the best shower I've ever been to. And Ella and Courtney (my friend, Jen's daughter) played really well together.
While Ella and I were at the shower, Dan and Cal played some hoops at home and eventually made their way over to Cal's friend's house for a playdate, the drop-off kind. Cal's at the age where that's okay. It's wonderful, particularly for the dropper offer.
Since it wasn't my dad coming over to babysit, I felt the need to clean our filthy house. By the time we got home after the shower, I had about 1.5 hours to do so. Lucky for me, Dan had already started it, having picked up the kitchen and mopped some of the first floor.
I forget exactly how this went down, but Ella threw the tantrum of a lifetime, which landed her in her room... where she very quickly curled up in her bed and fell asleep. I'll be honest, this made for some easier cleaning -- no distractions, whether the offering-to-help-but-really-hindering kind or the needing-constant-attention kind whatsoever.
Ally arrived at our house right on time. As soon as he heard the doorbell, Cal dropped what he was doing (he was just finishing up early) and darted upstairs, claiming he had to brush his teeth. I was suspicious, but maybe. Cal doesn't get that anxious to brush his teeth EVER. 5-10 minutes later, he still hadn't made his way back downstairs, confirming my suspicions that he was just being shy. We called for him, and he slowly made his way downstairs, heading right for Dan's shadow as soon as his feet left the last stair. Ally said "hi" to him, and he hid even more. His face was red. So cute. He is his mother's child.
Meanwhile, Ella had snubbed her nose at the dinner that Dan had prepared for her, partly because she may have still be half sleeping, partly because she was still full from all of the chips and cake she ate at the shower. She had plopped herself on the couch in front of the TV.
We had an easy exit and made our way to Bowling where I proceeded to have another one of those need-to-ramp-up nights, barely breaking 100 the first game and eventually reaching my average the third. We had moments of greatness highlighted by Joe's 220-ish in game 1 and moments of not-so-greatness highlighted by Dan's trick bowling, releasing the ball between his legs or around his back, by game 3.
Since we were on the babysitting clock, the four of us made our way back to our house instead of to the next-door restaurant after we finished our match, where we found the kids sound asleep and our last-minute babysitter with a good report; and we proceeded to enjoy some double-dough pizza from a nearby pizza joint and a couple of good bottles of wine.
She helped me wrap the presents, where the wrapping was fortunately done as gift bags and not wrapping paper. I say "fortunately" because we didn't have any tape... and we didn't have any tape because days before the kids had used it to tape the steps on the playset together, or whatever purpose the tape was to have served. I laid into her a little bit about this and what a waste it was and then moved on. We had things to do.
We had five items to put into two bags -- Ella wrapped three of them in tissue paper and put them into the smaller bag, and I wrapped two of them and put them into the bigger bag. And we both added some tissue paper to the tops of each bag, attempting to mae them look a little prettier.
She had just finished asking me if she could write "Happy Birthday" for the last time when she finally heard that it was a baby shower we'd be going to.
"Are we going to go in the baby shower?" she asked.
"No, you don't go in to a baby shower," I told her. "You go to a baby shower."
She was confused. "Do we go into the bathroom and in the baby shower," she asked again.
And I proceeded to tell her again that it wasn't that kind of shower, that Aunt Ellen was having a baby and we were going to her baby shower to celebrate that. I even told her that we'd be showering her with gifts and stopped going down that path about as quickly as I had gotten on it. To stay on that path was asking for a lot of questions and pain for no gain -- to Ella, to "shower" is to get wet and clean, nothing else.
 |
| Mini Me and Me before the shower |
Ella chose her black and white chevron striped tank dress with a hot pink tutu on the bottom to wear to the shower, despite my pleas that she wear this adorable, simple gray dress with a purple stripe across the bottom. I decided to have fun with this and dressed myself in similar colors -- black tank paired with a hot pink skirt. Me and Mini Me we were.
On the way to the shower, I learned that we would not have to take the kids to Bowling with us that night. Halleleijah! One of Cal's former teachers was available to babysit. Whew. That (taking the Leatherkids to Bowling) had disaster and pain written all over it.
The shower was really nice. Well done, Jennifer. Good, old friends... yummy food... and plenty of booze. It was possibly the best shower I've ever been to. And Ella and Courtney (my friend, Jen's daughter) played really well together.
While Ella and I were at the shower, Dan and Cal played some hoops at home and eventually made their way over to Cal's friend's house for a playdate, the drop-off kind. Cal's at the age where that's okay. It's wonderful, particularly for the dropper offer.
Since it wasn't my dad coming over to babysit, I felt the need to clean our filthy house. By the time we got home after the shower, I had about 1.5 hours to do so. Lucky for me, Dan had already started it, having picked up the kitchen and mopped some of the first floor.
I forget exactly how this went down, but Ella threw the tantrum of a lifetime, which landed her in her room... where she very quickly curled up in her bed and fell asleep. I'll be honest, this made for some easier cleaning -- no distractions, whether the offering-to-help-but-really-hindering kind or the needing-constant-attention kind whatsoever.
Ally arrived at our house right on time. As soon as he heard the doorbell, Cal dropped what he was doing (he was just finishing up early) and darted upstairs, claiming he had to brush his teeth. I was suspicious, but maybe. Cal doesn't get that anxious to brush his teeth EVER. 5-10 minutes later, he still hadn't made his way back downstairs, confirming my suspicions that he was just being shy. We called for him, and he slowly made his way downstairs, heading right for Dan's shadow as soon as his feet left the last stair. Ally said "hi" to him, and he hid even more. His face was red. So cute. He is his mother's child.
Meanwhile, Ella had snubbed her nose at the dinner that Dan had prepared for her, partly because she may have still be half sleeping, partly because she was still full from all of the chips and cake she ate at the shower. She had plopped herself on the couch in front of the TV.
We had an easy exit and made our way to Bowling where I proceeded to have another one of those need-to-ramp-up nights, barely breaking 100 the first game and eventually reaching my average the third. We had moments of greatness highlighted by Joe's 220-ish in game 1 and moments of not-so-greatness highlighted by Dan's trick bowling, releasing the ball between his legs or around his back, by game 3.
Since we were on the babysitting clock, the four of us made our way back to our house instead of to the next-door restaurant after we finished our match, where we found the kids sound asleep and our last-minute babysitter with a good report; and we proceeded to enjoy some double-dough pizza from a nearby pizza joint and a couple of good bottles of wine.
Saturday, April 18, 2015
A Week in the Life - Day 6
It was Purple Day at school today. Ella wore mostly pink, though she'd tell you that her skirt was purple (it was more pink than purple) and that one of the letters of her shirt was purple (she's wearing her "Birthday Girl" shirt - cracks me up). She sported her signature "pony braid" with a yellow headband which held her now long bangs back and out of her eyes. She has a purple headband of the same style as that yellow one but declared she didn't want to wear it. She just brought it to school for show-and-tell.
All week, there were bags, one per classroom, sitting at the entrance of the school to collect notes that parents would leave for their kids to be handed out to them sometime today, Friday. There were blank, purple squares and triangles of paper in a basket amid these bags. I had grabbed two on Monday (one square and one triangle) with the intent of writing each Leatherkid a note sometime during the week. I wrote them last night and actually remembered to turn them in today. Once again, that I remembered is nothing short of a miracle. I really have no idea how I did, with all of the ridiculous clutter and problem-solving constantly running through my brain. Surely, I've forgotten something else.
As I dropped the cards in the kids' teachers' bags, I had to work around a father who was writing notes for his kids. I smiled. I find it comforting to learn that I am not the only last-minute Sally.
Dan and I did catch the "early" train shortly after we dropped off the Leatherkids... barely. It required my jogging from the car to the pay machine and then to the train. I don't know that Dan ever ran, but he did walk pretty briskly.
Dan had a couple of big to-dos at work today that kept him pretty busy. Me, I had several meetings and a couple of minor successes that just made my day. I also made it outside for lunch with my lunch buddies -- it was 75 degrees, sunny and just not inside. It was great. And unusual. It's rare to take quality time for a lunch break these days.
We picked the kids up and then went out for dinner and not to B-Dubs. To do so, we had to battle some sadness about not having an i-Pad to entertain them and not watching a movie on Family Fun Friday; but they got over it impressively quickly. It was nice. I think it helped that Dan said that we could still watch some hockey when we got home, thinking we'd catch the first period of the Hawks game before sending the kids to bed.
We got home from our day right around 7:30pm, a little over 12 hours after we had left the house to start it. The kids marched right upstairs, got jammied up and then lay on our bed alongside Dan, who had turned on a hockey playoff game. Turns out, the Hawks didn't start their game until 8:30pm. Instead, we watched some of the Capitals-Islanders game, which is almost as good as watching the Hawks in Cal's eyes -- somehow, he's become an Ovechkin fan, which is pretty okay because that guy's legit. And Ella, I don't know that she even noticed that it wasn't the Hawks -- she's just happy to be a part of the new hockey-at-bedtime routine, which might be surprising coming from the girl who only does things if she wants to and not because everyone else is doing it.
I eventually got jammied up myself and crawled next to them in the corner of the bed where I proceeded to fall asleep. I remember Dan getting up and putting the kids to bed, but that's about all I remember. He poked me to move over maybe 25 minutes ago, and it was then that I saw Coach Q was having his post-game press conference. I guess the Hawks lost 6-2. Seems that Crawford is having some troubles.
It's been a pretty busy week, one that I think is going to end with our taking the kids with us to Bowling tomorrow. We just can't find someone to watch the kids. We even tapped into some former teachers. That could make for an interesting Day 7 post but hopefully doesn't.
Dan and I did catch the "early" train shortly after we dropped off the Leatherkids... barely. It required my jogging from the car to the pay machine and then to the train. I don't know that Dan ever ran, but he did walk pretty briskly.
Dan had a couple of big to-dos at work today that kept him pretty busy. Me, I had several meetings and a couple of minor successes that just made my day. I also made it outside for lunch with my lunch buddies -- it was 75 degrees, sunny and just not inside. It was great. And unusual. It's rare to take quality time for a lunch break these days.
We picked the kids up and then went out for dinner and not to B-Dubs. To do so, we had to battle some sadness about not having an i-Pad to entertain them and not watching a movie on Family Fun Friday; but they got over it impressively quickly. It was nice. I think it helped that Dan said that we could still watch some hockey when we got home, thinking we'd catch the first period of the Hawks game before sending the kids to bed.
We got home from our day right around 7:30pm, a little over 12 hours after we had left the house to start it. The kids marched right upstairs, got jammied up and then lay on our bed alongside Dan, who had turned on a hockey playoff game. Turns out, the Hawks didn't start their game until 8:30pm. Instead, we watched some of the Capitals-Islanders game, which is almost as good as watching the Hawks in Cal's eyes -- somehow, he's become an Ovechkin fan, which is pretty okay because that guy's legit. And Ella, I don't know that she even noticed that it wasn't the Hawks -- she's just happy to be a part of the new hockey-at-bedtime routine, which might be surprising coming from the girl who only does things if she wants to and not because everyone else is doing it.
I eventually got jammied up myself and crawled next to them in the corner of the bed where I proceeded to fall asleep. I remember Dan getting up and putting the kids to bed, but that's about all I remember. He poked me to move over maybe 25 minutes ago, and it was then that I saw Coach Q was having his post-game press conference. I guess the Hawks lost 6-2. Seems that Crawford is having some troubles.
It's been a pretty busy week, one that I think is going to end with our taking the kids with us to Bowling tomorrow. We just can't find someone to watch the kids. We even tapped into some former teachers. That could make for an interesting Day 7 post but hopefully doesn't.
Thursday, April 16, 2015
A Week in the Life - Day 5
We dropped Ella off at school today with her dress on forward, meaning, not backwards. It's backwards-day at school. Shocker. I wish there were a mismatch day -- she'd kill that one without even trying.
So be it.
Before we got there, I somehow got sucked in to a conversation (if you'd even call it that) about how Duncan Keith likes heath donuts. "Do you get it Mommy?" Cal asked me. He's on a big rhyming/play-on-words bit these days.
"Dunkin Donuts... Duncan... Dunkin," he said. "Only they're not spelled the same way. Dunkin Donuts is spelled D-U-N-K-I-N. Duncan Keith is spelled D-U-N-K-E-N."
I was picturing the letters in my head and knew he hadn't spelled it correctly, but I couldn't think of the correct spelling (I'm tired); so I left it uncorrected. I had to look it up before writing this post.
"Yeah, I get it, Cal," I said.
"And Keith... Heath are spelled the same way," he told me.
"No they're not," I said, "Keith is spelled K-E-I-T-H." I assumed he knew how to spell heath.
"No, but..." we just continued to argue about it, and I don't even know why or, really, what he was really telling me. He wasn't necessarily disagreeing with my spelling; he just thought I was missing something, which I clearly was. I think it's because in between the whole rhyming-spelling thing, Cal went on and on and on about something related, and I just didn't hear what he was saying. He didn't realize or act like it, but we were in our mad scramble to get out the door.
Turns out, it was a pretty successful morning, except that I skipped my run. It wasn't that I didn't want to get up early; it's that I just didn't want to run. Before I gave myself that break, I checked the forecast -- cloudy but no rain, near 60. My plan became to run outside during lunch today. It was okay to not run in the morning.
Dan and I made it to the earlier train and didn't have to sprint to catch it. I had another crazy busy day at work that had me (and Dan) catching the latest train that would still allow us to get to the kids' school for pickup before they close at 6:30pm. I did get my run in at lunch, by the way -- I did my "nostalgia run," which ended up being a little over four miles. Go me.
Ella was a piece of work just about as soon as we were out the door at school. She was completely uncooperative, obstinate and declared that she hated us (for making her get in the car). She suffered some consequences for that and eventually apologized. "Hate" was added to the list of don't-ever-say words, a list which now includes two words "stupid" and "hate".
There was a lot of parallel tasking going on in the Leatherman house from the moment we got home to the moment the kids hit their beds. Cal and Dan shot hoops, and Ella eventually made her way out to watch while I fixed dinner. It was the day 5 meal of the week-of-meals plan I intended to follow this week but only the second meal from it that I fixed. Dan took the garbage out while I cleared the table and then took the kids upstairs for showers while I put dishes in the dishwasher. During the second half of showers, I made Cal's bed. And while Dan got dressed for bed after his shower, I helped the kids brush their teeth. Finally, while the kids and Dan lay in our bed watching an NHL hockey game (Pittsburg-NY Rangers, maybe?), I put a load of laundry in the washing machine and then eventually got jammied up myself and lay with them in our bed. Zoe soon joined us, and eventually we each took a Leatherkid to his respective bed and lay with him a little bit more before he fell asleep. It was maybe an hour and a half to two hours after we arrived home from our days that they were asleep.
So be it.
Before we got there, I somehow got sucked in to a conversation (if you'd even call it that) about how Duncan Keith likes heath donuts. "Do you get it Mommy?" Cal asked me. He's on a big rhyming/play-on-words bit these days.
"Dunkin Donuts... Duncan... Dunkin," he said. "Only they're not spelled the same way. Dunkin Donuts is spelled D-U-N-K-I-N. Duncan Keith is spelled D-U-N-K-E-N."
I was picturing the letters in my head and knew he hadn't spelled it correctly, but I couldn't think of the correct spelling (I'm tired); so I left it uncorrected. I had to look it up before writing this post.
"Yeah, I get it, Cal," I said.
"And Keith... Heath are spelled the same way," he told me.
"No they're not," I said, "Keith is spelled K-E-I-T-H." I assumed he knew how to spell heath.
"No, but..." we just continued to argue about it, and I don't even know why or, really, what he was really telling me. He wasn't necessarily disagreeing with my spelling; he just thought I was missing something, which I clearly was. I think it's because in between the whole rhyming-spelling thing, Cal went on and on and on about something related, and I just didn't hear what he was saying. He didn't realize or act like it, but we were in our mad scramble to get out the door.
Turns out, it was a pretty successful morning, except that I skipped my run. It wasn't that I didn't want to get up early; it's that I just didn't want to run. Before I gave myself that break, I checked the forecast -- cloudy but no rain, near 60. My plan became to run outside during lunch today. It was okay to not run in the morning.
Dan and I made it to the earlier train and didn't have to sprint to catch it. I had another crazy busy day at work that had me (and Dan) catching the latest train that would still allow us to get to the kids' school for pickup before they close at 6:30pm. I did get my run in at lunch, by the way -- I did my "nostalgia run," which ended up being a little over four miles. Go me.
Ella was a piece of work just about as soon as we were out the door at school. She was completely uncooperative, obstinate and declared that she hated us (for making her get in the car). She suffered some consequences for that and eventually apologized. "Hate" was added to the list of don't-ever-say words, a list which now includes two words "stupid" and "hate".
There was a lot of parallel tasking going on in the Leatherman house from the moment we got home to the moment the kids hit their beds. Cal and Dan shot hoops, and Ella eventually made her way out to watch while I fixed dinner. It was the day 5 meal of the week-of-meals plan I intended to follow this week but only the second meal from it that I fixed. Dan took the garbage out while I cleared the table and then took the kids upstairs for showers while I put dishes in the dishwasher. During the second half of showers, I made Cal's bed. And while Dan got dressed for bed after his shower, I helped the kids brush their teeth. Finally, while the kids and Dan lay in our bed watching an NHL hockey game (Pittsburg-NY Rangers, maybe?), I put a load of laundry in the washing machine and then eventually got jammied up myself and lay with them in our bed. Zoe soon joined us, and eventually we each took a Leatherkid to his respective bed and lay with him a little bit more before he fell asleep. It was maybe an hour and a half to two hours after we arrived home from our days that they were asleep.
Wednesday, April 15, 2015
A Week in the Life - Day 4
So yesterday I mentioned that we're celebrating a Week of the Young Child at the Leatherkids' school (for Cal, it's his before-and-after-school school). Every day this week has a theme. The first day's theme actually escapes me. That I can't remember could very well be that it didn't really have a theme so much as a thing to remember to bring in -- the kids were asked last week to decorate this outline of a child, and these were due on Monday. We remembered, which is nothing short of a miracle. Keeping track of this shit... I mean... stuff is a full-time job in and of itself.
Yesterday's theme was crazy-hair day. There's not much we could do with Cal's hair; and considering he'd be spending most of his day not at the school where this celebration was happening, it made sense that he not sport some crazy hair. But Ella... Ella really could have. The kid wakes up with crazy hair, oftentimes looking like she rubbed the back of her head on a balloon, leaving her hair sticking up all over and ratty. I had visions of braiding her hair and putting pencils in the braids so they'd stick out... or doing that nutty 5-braid style that she asked me to do a few months ago. Something... anything... crazy, or a little nutty. But Ella did not want to.
Fair enough. Today, though... today was wear-your-favorite-sports-team-jersey day. The Blackhawks would be playing today. The kids both got Hawks jerseys for Christmas -- Toews for Cal and Sharp for Ella. It was perfect. I even announced to them last night that they could wear their Hawks jerseys today. I said it enthusiastically to instill some buy-in and excitement. I even hung their jerseys on their bedroom doors.
When Ella told me from her bed that she didn't want to wear hers this AM, I wasn't surprised. She wanted to wear a dress instead. I told myself I wouldn't help her get a dress down from her closet rod since she wasn't complying with my one dress-code request, but I helped her anyway. Pressed for time to get out the door in time to catch my train, I quickly weighed the risks against the principles and quickly concluded that not helping her just wasn't worth the risk. In the moment, I did not want to deal with any whining or tantrum that might follow should I not get a dress for her. So I grabbed all of her dresses, threw them on her bed and stormed out of her room, making no point at all. She got herself dressed.
Meanwhile, Cal showed up in my room in his standard outfit (sweats and a t-shirt). No jersey. What? He gave me some nonsense about saving it for the wear-your-favorite-sports-team-jersey day at his elementary school.
"Wasn't that in March?" I asked him.
"No... I think it's sometime in April," he told me.
I reminded him that we're already halfway through April and that I didn't think he was right; and then that conversation just ended.
Now I was always the consummate participant in school theme days, having participated in many spirit weeks in my junior high and high school days. That's the only thing I know -- participate... participate... participate. Be a part of something bigger than me whenever I could.
I'll be honest -- that my kids are choosing not to paricipate in these types of events is disappointing. On the one hand, I'm proud of them for exercising their free will, for making their own, independent choices that may not be popular. On the other hand, I think there's something to be said for choosing to participate... for sharing in the celebration of something they have in common with a small group of people in this big world. I think that's important. I wonder if they'll be making the same choices 5 or 10 years from now.
Offhand, I don't know the theme for tomorrow. It's 9:29pm, and I'm on my way home from work. I stayed late for a happy hour and even later to get some work done but didn't get enough done. The kids are probably asleep after a long day at school which was topped off with a game night with Dan joining in the fun. I'll bet they left game night early, went home, got in their jammies, turned the Hawks game on and then lay together on mine and Dan's bed watching the game... falling asleep to the game.
Me, I can't seem to shut my mind off. It's constantly working through things to do, to analyze or to get answers to at work. So far, I feel like I'm managing it okay and not letting it mix or overlap too much with my family, but nothing is ever done. And I don't know that sacrificing hours of sleep to try to get work done but to never be done is a good idea. I think it's my only choice. I'm happy to do it. It's a cost of being a part of something big at work. But I am tired... really tired.
Tuesday, April 14, 2015
A Week in the Life - Day 3
We left the house at 7:11am today, two minutes later than my target time, a target that reflects my comfort level with catching my target train without having to drive too much like a maniac and without having to make a mad sprint from my car parked in the boonies to the platform to actually get on the train.
As we turned out of the subdivision, I declared, "Okay, we need an efficient drop-off, Leatherkids," and then added, "because Mommy's solo today." I was solo. Dan had an audit up in Wisconsin and had already left to get there, not in time, but without having to sit in too much traffic.
My use of the term "solo" threw the kids for a loop. They bombarded me with questions about it. "What did you say, Mommy?" "What does that mean, Mommy?" "Are you dropping us off by yourself, Mommy?"
"Alone," I responded, now at school and scrambling to get myself and my kids out of the car. "Solo means alone. By myself. Without Daddy's help."
It turned out to be an efficient drop-off. Cal raced in with a friend of his (Mahima), and this made for a quick reaching of his drop-off classroom. Ella took her jacket off as we walked and hung it up right when we got to her cubby in her classroom; and then she and I headed to the drop-off classroom where Cal was. I gave them each a kiss and Ella a hug; and then moved out the door where I turned toward the window to give Ella a "high five in the window."
We started this high-five-in-the-window thing at school. It's now rampant. Everyone's doing it. Unfortunately, we can't not do it -- Ella insists.
I raced to train via the route that we've found is the most reliable -- low traffic and good, responsive lights. Up the 6-lane highway and turn into the mall before hitting the construction that's been wreaking havoc on commutes for the past couple of years. It involves a shopping mall, a plaza, a townhome subdivision, some ignored speed limits and a u-turn and is topped off by a back-in-the-spot parking spot in the boonies of a massive commuter parking lot. I made it in time.
Work was no less busy today than it was yesterday. I swear, it has been the perfect storm of things to do and think about this week. At work, there's... well... a crapload of work to figure out how to get done between/during/after back-to-back meetings, topped with 8 interviews to fill positions on our associates' board and goals to construct on which my year-end review will be based. Outside of work, our school is celebrating the Week of the Young Child, where every day is a theme day that involves something to do and/or remember. Then there's this art appreciation thing that I volunteered to do for Cal's class, one that requires I do some studying of impressionism and prepare a 20- to 30-minute presentation/activity to teach the kids about it. It's not this week; but it's top of mind, and I do need to contact Cal's teacher and set up a day to do this before the month ends. I have to exercise every day, a commitment I made to myself a couple of weeks ago when I was feeling not so good about myself. I have to write a blog post every day this week only because I said I would. And could the kids possibly bring home any more paper through which to sort?!
I had the kids home in just enough time for Cal to take a few shots at the basketball hoop, change into his swimming trunks, and down a bowl of cereal (yes, cereal for dinner tonight -- I did not make any nof the meals on the week-of-meals plan) before he needed to head back out for his swimming lesson. It was Dan's turn to take him, so that meant Ella and I would have some quality Mommy-and-Ella time together.
Going into it, I expected to watch Ninjago and fall asleep with Ella in my bed. (Yes, Ninjago -- I told Cal that he has the coolest sister since she watches Ninjago.) That's not how it turned out. Instead, Ella asked me if I'd shoot hoops while she, wearing her flip-flops, watched me. We have a rule that one wear running shoes while shooting hoops, a rule born this past weekend after she tore up the skin between her toes while shooting hoops while wearing her flip-flops. It was a painful shower that night as the water ran over the blistered skin.
So we shot hoops until 7pm and headed inside where I gave her a treat before heading upstairs to get ready for bed. At this point, I knew Ninjago was out of the picture; but I didn't tell her. She took a shower -- solo -- as I made the kids' beds. Ella had pulled the sheets off of hers this AM when she saw that her Frozen sheets were clean; and Cal's... let's just say they needed to be changed... again... ugh.
As she showered, Ella sang Taylor Swift's "Shake it Off." It was great. I peeked in on her occasionally, and she was always doing something productive in the shower. First, I saw her rinsing the shampoo out of her hair. Second, I saw her lathering up the soap on the rag. If only Cal did this -- he just likes to stand in the shower and let the smoking hot water roll down his body as he flings it at the shower walls (and over, which annoys me to no end).
She took the no-Ninjago news pretty well. By now, Cal and Dan were home; so I told Ella I'd put her to bed solo to finish Mommy-and-Ella time while Dan put Cal to bed solo. Ella chose two books, one for her to "read" and one for me to read... which we did. And then I lay with her in her bed where we proceeded to fall asleep together. Thankfully, I woke up 45-ish minutes in and got up to finish this and prepare for tomorrow.
It was another good, albeit crazy busy day.
Work was no less busy today than it was yesterday. I swear, it has been the perfect storm of things to do and think about this week. At work, there's... well... a crapload of work to figure out how to get done between/during/after back-to-back meetings, topped with 8 interviews to fill positions on our associates' board and goals to construct on which my year-end review will be based. Outside of work, our school is celebrating the Week of the Young Child, where every day is a theme day that involves something to do and/or remember. Then there's this art appreciation thing that I volunteered to do for Cal's class, one that requires I do some studying of impressionism and prepare a 20- to 30-minute presentation/activity to teach the kids about it. It's not this week; but it's top of mind, and I do need to contact Cal's teacher and set up a day to do this before the month ends. I have to exercise every day, a commitment I made to myself a couple of weeks ago when I was feeling not so good about myself. I have to write a blog post every day this week only because I said I would. And could the kids possibly bring home any more paper through which to sort?!
I had the kids home in just enough time for Cal to take a few shots at the basketball hoop, change into his swimming trunks, and down a bowl of cereal (yes, cereal for dinner tonight -- I did not make any nof the meals on the week-of-meals plan) before he needed to head back out for his swimming lesson. It was Dan's turn to take him, so that meant Ella and I would have some quality Mommy-and-Ella time together.
Going into it, I expected to watch Ninjago and fall asleep with Ella in my bed. (Yes, Ninjago -- I told Cal that he has the coolest sister since she watches Ninjago.) That's not how it turned out. Instead, Ella asked me if I'd shoot hoops while she, wearing her flip-flops, watched me. We have a rule that one wear running shoes while shooting hoops, a rule born this past weekend after she tore up the skin between her toes while shooting hoops while wearing her flip-flops. It was a painful shower that night as the water ran over the blistered skin.
So we shot hoops until 7pm and headed inside where I gave her a treat before heading upstairs to get ready for bed. At this point, I knew Ninjago was out of the picture; but I didn't tell her. She took a shower -- solo -- as I made the kids' beds. Ella had pulled the sheets off of hers this AM when she saw that her Frozen sheets were clean; and Cal's... let's just say they needed to be changed... again... ugh.
As she showered, Ella sang Taylor Swift's "Shake it Off." It was great. I peeked in on her occasionally, and she was always doing something productive in the shower. First, I saw her rinsing the shampoo out of her hair. Second, I saw her lathering up the soap on the rag. If only Cal did this -- he just likes to stand in the shower and let the smoking hot water roll down his body as he flings it at the shower walls (and over, which annoys me to no end).
She took the no-Ninjago news pretty well. By now, Cal and Dan were home; so I told Ella I'd put her to bed solo to finish Mommy-and-Ella time while Dan put Cal to bed solo. Ella chose two books, one for her to "read" and one for me to read... which we did. And then I lay with her in her bed where we proceeded to fall asleep together. Thankfully, I woke up 45-ish minutes in and got up to finish this and prepare for tomorrow.
It was another good, albeit crazy busy day.
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