General Family News – Page 59 – Embracing the Insanity

Equality, Life Isn’t Fair, and Other Things My Daughter Has Not Yet Learned

Posted on September 30, 2009April 15, 2010 by Becky

If there hadn’t been a Susan B. Anthony, I’m sure someday Mara Joy would have become a household name among those demanding equal rights.

No matter why Micah gets attention, Mara wants equal attention. If we praise him for toddling across the room, she staggers across, imitating him. If we praise him for how he feeds himself, she gingerly lifts her spoon to her mouth, dribbling food down her chin. (Hey–it worked for him!) If we praise him for saying ‘Da-da-da-da,” then . . . well, you can guess what she says (equally loudly). Right now, she is banging a cookie cutter on the wall, her mouth gaping wide, staring blankly at me as she blinks while listening to the sound it makes, because Micah is banging a cookie cutter on the wall, mouth gaping wide, staring blankly at me while blinking and listening to the sound it makes.

Someone needs to learn that life isn’t fair, and we don’t all get equal treatment. . .

Nonetheless, this morning, Mara announced, “I’m going to be drouble!” (This coming after Micah had recently knocked a lamp off an end table, shattering the light bulb, and then opened a drawer, inadvertently discovering, to his delight, a whole package of new light bulbs.)

So, of course, my curiousity was piqued. “Why are you going to be trouble?”

“Because Micah bee-ed drouble!. . . I’m going to get out the light bulbs, and you’re going to say ‘Mawa, don’t be in drouble!'”

So We All Got It . . .

Posted on September 24, 2009 by Becky

We are all sick . . .

I thought I just might squeak by–the whole family sick, but not me!

Ha!

Mara got sick Monday. Micah by Tuesday night. Daniel started feeling it Wednesday, and he was home from work sick today.

Tonight there’s no escaping the reality that I’m now sick too . . .

The thing about getting sick when you’re pregnant (and the SAHM mom of two toddlers) is that life still goes on! You can’t take a sick day, while the kids are still at the day care.

The kids don’t just entertain themselves, knowing how you’re feeling. Pregnancy fatigue doesn’t give you a day off. The groceries don’t buy themselves automatically–and the family still wants to eat! And if you try to rest, the house lays in shambles until you’re well enough to put it back together. . .

After the kids went to bed, Daniel said it was TV night for us. We drank hot tea, popped popcorn, and ate ice cream.

We watched the last episode of last season’s The Office and this season’s premiere. . .

We watched another Burn Notice and the new show Community. . .

You know I’m sick when I agree to a “TV night”!!!!! and now here I am blogging. . . I should go to bed . . .

Where the Baby Is

Posted on September 22, 2009September 22, 2009 by Becky

Today Mara patted my stomach, and suddenly her eyes lit up.

“That’s where the baby is!!!!” she exclaimed with “the-light-came-on” inflection.

Yes, at 16-1/2 weeks, I am definitely showing . . . although my husband did point out that most of what’s “showing” is leftover from the last pregnancy, rather than a result of the current one . . . Don’t feel offended for me–I know it’s true–and in time it will come off!!!

But I’ve been holding off on the maternity clothes.

During the first pregnancy, they seem so cute. But by Baby #3, you start to realize that once you put those maternity clothes on, you are wearing them, not just till the end of the pregnancy, but until you slim down enough to fit back into your old clothes. . . Which takes months, almost as long as the pregnancy itself. Which makes the prospect of maternity clothes much less enticing . . .

But during our retreat this weekend, I sat much more than usual (As a SAHM with two toddlers, I’m rarely sitting at home–even during meals). All that sitting made me realize: I really don’t fit in these Gap jeans any more. I’m going to have to break out the maternity clothes!

Thankfully, I have a decent amount of winter maternity clothes from my pregnancy with Micah. So today . . . it’s back to those low-rise maternity jeans from Old Navy . . . For now I can still fit in my pre-pregnancy shirts!!

Our Weekend “Retreat”

Posted on September 21, 2009September 21, 2009 by Becky

We spent the weekend on a retreat with a group from our church. It was a gorgeous, gorgeous weekend. And when you live in the city, there is nothing like a weekend in the mountains near the border of Pennsylvania and New York! While the retreat was slightly challenging for a family with two young toddlers, the kids did have a good time.

Taking toddlers to a new environment, however, requires a great deal of patience on the part of the parents. (Not to say that either of us actually have the required patience.)

For instance, while setting up our room on Friday night, I turned around to see my two children in the bathroom hovering over the toilet. As a mom, I have learned: that is never a good thing!

Mara was whimpering. Micah’s mouth was wide with excitement, as his eyes sparkled.

“Whh,” Mara stammered. “Whhhhhy he throw my shoe in the potty?!?!” She just stared, paralyzed, perplexed.

I ran into the bathroom lunging toward Micah (who, at that point, was reaching his little hand into the toilet) and saw bubbles rising from Mara’s now-submerged leather sandal.

That sandal has seen better days, I thought. Thank goodness summer is almost over.

And it’s a good thing we also brought “fancy shoes” on the retreat! Mara wore those the entire weekend.

———————

Sunday morning after breakfast, Mara was playing in the main room downstairs with a green toy water gun. A lot of people were milling around, enjoying casual conversation before our first session when one of the other boys about Mara’s age came up and took the gun right out of her hand and ran away.

Mara has not yet learned to handle this well. So she screamed. Loudly.

And as if she didn’t already have everyone’s attention at that point, she began desperately shouting, “I want to shoot some people!”

And when I say “shouting,” I mean the sound echoed through several valleys.

She didn’t say it just once. She kept repeating. Louder. More emphatically. “I want to SHOOT some people!!!!”

You can imagine how you might react at a church retreat, if you hadn’t seen what happened, and suddenly heard this toddler screaming, “I want to shoot some people!!!!”

(We are model parents, I promise.)

So if you’ve never met my daughter Mara, just imagine Fiona from “Burn Notice”–only she has red hair and she’s 2-1/2 and we don’t let her have any real ammunition.

Discovering Acorns!

Posted on September 20, 2009September 20, 2009 by Becky

We spent the weekend in the mountains at a church retreat, and my kids discovered acorns! And I discovered more acorns in the washing machine after running a load of laundry this afternoon.

No, I didn’t let him eat it!

They had a great time enjoying the out-of-doors, and I will have several posts this week with more pictures, but for now . . .

I’d better go work on laundry.

And . . .

Micah has his 15-month-old checkup in the morning. . .