Cutting Ben's hair and Playing catch

I love cutting Ben's hair. He is very quiet and thoughtful and sweet. He has long hair. I hate the way other people cut it, so I often trim him up myself. He stays so still, and he looks at me and asks, "how does it look?" and "Are you done yet?" And when I say for the zillionth time that I just have to do one more cut, he patiently lets me cut while he stays very still. And when he is facing me, he rolls his eyes up to see the hair that is still in his eyes a little bit, and he says, "I think you need to cut this piece right here, it is getting in my eye." And his little voice is just so.....little, in that moment. And he looks right at me with his big round eyes and grins so sweetly. Ahhhhhhhh. Charlie just came to me wearing a garden glove, holding a golf ball. He also brought me a garden glove and insisted that I put it on. Then he wanted to play catch that way. When I realized he thought that we were playing baseball, I became quite ashamed that this is what he was trying to do. Even though I am having book club tonight and should be cleaning my house like a maniac and making dinner....I am heading outside with actual baseball gloves and baseballs, because for GOODNESS sakes, I can't have my son thinking that "catch" is played with garden gloves and a golfball!

On our hike

When are we gonna stop? (Elaina, within the 1st 2 minutes) Its like a death trap or something. (Ben referring to a steep hill) Look at the view from here. (Jack checking out the view from atop the cliff) Dad, be careful, don't fall, don't be scared dad. (Elaina as we look over the cliff) Did I mention I'm slightly scared of heights? (Scotty) I made it! (Ben when we got to the top) I stuck! (Charlie as he was carried in a sling on Daddy's hip) I wanna find some deer. (Elaina) Be quiet you guys are scaring the deer! (Elaina) I have a rock in my shoe. (Elaina) I'm marking my trail. (Jack) Let's race! (Ben) Let's pretend were walking on crystals! (Elaina to Ben) I think I found a fossil! (Ben, about a rock) It might be a dinosaur. (Ben about a "fossil") I think its part of its stomach. (Ben about a "dinosaur fossil") I found the foot of a dinosaur! (Ben about a "fossil") I'm a wizard. (Jack? I think?) This one was a Duck bill dinosaur. (Ben about a "fossil") Its hard to take notes and hike at the same time. I think I need a little recorder to catch all this stuff....

Coupla funny things:

Upon receiving a cute picture of my friend's 11 yr old daughter as a cheerleader via email, I showed both of my older boys, Scotty (11) and Jack (9). Scotty looks and gives a nice little grin, Jack looks and says, "Scott, you gotta love hot cheerleaders!" And Scotty started pummelling him. And so it begins.......... Mom: Jack, be careful and watch out for people while riding your scooter through this park. Jack: Oh, don't worry mom, I have the eye of a panther. Also I don't want to forget: -Charlie is in a very funny place right now, always talking to himself, playing with little characters, and keeping himself entertained. Reminding me a lot of Scotty when he was little. -Ben has also become a Scotty follower, playing video games at any given chance, "reading" books and just entertaining himself easily.

Look what I can do!

Ben: "Hey mom, I can do THIS now!" Me: "What, do what?" Ben: "This." Me: And I look toward the back of the car where he is very proudly demonstrating underarm farts. "Wow honey, that's lovely." Later: We are feeding ducks at a pond. This same child, Ben (4) looks over the edge and says, "I named them. That one there is Bill." I say, "Why Bill?" And he says, "Mom, it is Bill, you know because he has the biggest beak. Duck Bill." The same child doing the arm farts can also impress me with his vocabulary. So, I guess they cancel each other out. I took Ben and Charlie to Sams, Trader Joes, Omaha Steaks and also Schnucks today. Schnucks was the last stop and by the time we got there, I let them walk instead of riding in the cart. They had been really good at all the stops. I let them each get a 10 inch bouncy ball (42cents each - they are like $4 at target) and so they were bouncing them while I checked out. The gal checking me out actually said to ben, "Careful there, you might hit my ceiling.You better hang onto your ball." She was not being cute and joking with him. She seriously wanted him to stop. Have you seen the ceilings at Schnucks? They are very high???! I nearly cracked up out loud. It was pretty funny. But because she wanted him to stop, I had to make him stop. I always feel bad when I end up reprimanding my child for something they are doing that I am afraid may be upsetting someone else, when it really doesn't bother me, or seem worth reprimanding. I like to watch little boys having fun when it isn't hurting anyone. The boys had a lot of fun laughing and bonking each other in the carts today. Singing sort of loudly, goosing each other, putting all the groceries up on the counter for the checker very quickly. Maybe it bothered other grocery store patrons, but hopefully some of them were able to enjoy the kids' contagious fun-loving attitudes. I hope when I am out of the toddler stage that I show more than tolerance for toddlers, but admiration for them. They are cool.

Homeless

A homeless man just walked into the Starbucks I'm in. At least I think he is homeless. He smells bad. He has on old clothing that he is wiping down with a napkin, because he is wet from the rain. He has some sort of crocheted wrap on his leg. He has a backpack and an apple juice with him. He just went and sat outside. He is talking to someone...I think himself because I don't see anyone else. He is someone's son. Being a mom, that's the first thing that goes into my mind. I'm pretty sure before I had kids I didn't think about that so much. But now I can't get that thought out of my head. Someone about 65 years ago gave birth to him. They were probably thinking about what they would do with him. Play, teach... Or maybe they were upset and worried about their child. Maybe they gave him away to a family that could care for him. Maybe they kept him and didn't know how to care for him well. No matter what, I am sure that at one point someone thought about him. And now he is looking at me weird and kind of scaring me. But, my point... Our perspective on EVERYTHING changes as we become parents. So we get in the car and I say to my son, jack, "did you notice that man in there? I'm pretty sure he is homeless." Jack says, "How do you know?" I say, "well, that's his bike with all those bags on it." He says, "you know, if he wasn't so big and smelly and scary looking, I would just invite him right into our car." Sweet boy, but being his mother, I went into a very serious talk about how he could be a bad man, and so instead of helping him directly we could give money to charities that help people like him, St Vincent de Paul Society, shelters, food pantries, etc. I hate ruining my kids' innocence and sweet nature by teaching them a truth that really sucks. But, as I said, the perspective changes when you are a mom.

Can you babysit?

Elaina arrives at my shower curtain as I am showering. She is holding a stuffed dog: "Um, do you think you could babysit my puppy?" Me: "Sure, why don't you go put it down on my bed for a nap so I can finish showering." (May as well play along,because to her this is all VERY real.) Elaina: "Well, she really needs you to hold her and take of her. She is sick and needs medicine." Me: "Really? What is wrong with her?" Elaina: "Well, she is having a problem with going to the bathroom." Me: "Really, what is the problem." (I HAVE to know) Elaina: "Well, she can't poop." Me: "Oh, well did she eat something weird? Elaina: "Ya, grass and other stuff from outside.She needs some medicine Just keep her in her kennel, and take her outside on a leash if she needs to go out, then bring her back in." Me: "Really?" This puppy sitting is getting a little serious. This evening Elaina shushed the whole family at the dinner table, because we were going to wake her three sleeping (stuffed) puppies. I must help her get her vet degree or I will feel like such a failure! Also I don't want to forget: -Charlie and Ben are becoming such good buddies, and were so enjoyable today with me. They were angels as we had brunch with my friend at an outdoor cafe. They laughed most of the day together at the park running around and later at home wrestling eachother. It is like raising Scotty and Jack again - only this time I am a bit more laid back. This is a real perk of having a big family. You get to sort of do it twice, or maybe 3 times or more, and each time you raise a toddler, hopefully you learned something from the time you did it before. Of course there are always the little drawbacks, like Ben and Charlie not having as much reading time with mom, or learning letters early with mom, or building blocks on the floor as much with busy mom. But I'm feeling it is an even exchange ; )

Rise and Shine

Wow. On the way to school this morning I realized these things: -Jack hadn't done his hair -Or brushed his teeth -Or made his bed -Nor did he have on a belt. -Scotty had not done his hair -Nor had he made his bed -And he was wearing the same shirt he had on for school yesterday-he had slept in it. -Elaina had cream cheese all over her face -Had not brushed her teeth -And finally found her shoes as we were walking out the door. -Ben is wearing the clothing he slept in, which incidentally is also what he wore yesterday. (Fortunately he doesn't have school today) -Charlie...well he is pretty well kept actually. I guess we need to get up MUCH earlier.