Haven't had much gardening time since the last post. Busy with everything else. Jeremiah's been doing lots of community association meetings lately, as perhaps these meetings pick up along with the weather and boating season coming (lots of waterfront communities in our district). He's also been very busy at work and with law networking stuff (which is sort of campaign related too since he has a lawyer breakfast fundraiser coming up on Monday morning).
The girls are doing awesome with their swimming and we have some very fun make-believe games that we always play in the pool now. They both tell me every week that they want to do gymnastics when they're Five. So I guess I dodged that enrollment bullet this time around. If they can wait till they're five, so can I. We're busy enough! I'm also hearing about my friends' kids' tball and soccer game schedules and breathing a sigh of relief that I'm continuing to put off organized sports. My girls catch and throw like girls (I say with irony bc I hate that saying). They are really patient with teamwork and communicate well. But they have no competitive drive or desire to kick a ball around. And we think that's bc that's how we are around them. We are more likely to draw comparative animal digestive systems in dirt with sticks with our children than we are to kick a ball around. And that is a fact! So some exposure to team sports would be good for them and I'm just waiting for our schedule to lighten up so we can include that stuff.
Best Moment Lately: Today I worked at Masonville with a full day of programming in honor of Earth Month. Barely anyone came, but Jeremiah and the kids were with me most of the day (they went home for nap time, which happened in the car). The girls love doing the science stuff at Masonville and I always do the program with them at least a little even if no one else shows up. I don't want to completely shaft them. We took Jeremiah's mom out to lunch with us at my favorite restaurant (an authentic mexican food place!) and the girls were on decent dining behavior. Later after nap time, I met Jeremiah and the kids at Panera Bread for an early dinner and the girls were all tired and loopy and not hungry. We must have pushed our luck. But it was still nice to be together for a bit. Then he went off to attend someone else's fundraiser and I took the girls back to work with me for the final program on Stars and Outer Space. They were so excited about it and then no one else came! I was zonked from the day and they were overtired so I didn't run the program but I let them do a planet sticker map and acted out the Big Bang for them. C. was not entertained and wandered off but J. was full of questions. Then we got on a tangent about gravity and I decided that that would be my take-home message of the night. Good times.
Worst Moment of the Day: Continuing right where I left off, then I had to get the two tired girls home for bed. They were unreasonable. Thoroughly unreasonable. And they have that passive resistance thing down pat bc it drives me crazy and slows me down immensely when I have to dress two limp, wiggly noodles for bed. J. went to bed pretty well after that but this week C. has figured out how to open her bedroom door. I spent the first 15 min outside her door reading and occasionally ordering her back to bed. Then I spent another 30 min quietly doing seated yoga stretches inside her bedroom door so that she dare not get out of bed. When her singing and quiet angry "NEVER" chanting stopped and her breathing evened out, I tried to slip out. Up popped her prairie dog head and then a flood of pitter pattering feet to the door. I just sat there for 30 freakin minutes! I have stuff to do! So I yelled at her, scaring her back to bed. I consoled myself that sometimes you need to put a little fear into them and was just congratulating myself when she opened her door again. So I was forced to my last resort. I said "back to bed" like always and followed her in. Then I tucked her in and whispered "Do you want your birthday party tomorrow?" I heard a muffled yes from somewhere inside her pillow. So I hissed "Then STAY IN BED. Stay in bed and you have a party. Get out of bed again and there will be NO PARTY!" This was a major no-no bc how was I to enforce that? But luckily I know her soft spot and I am still suspicious, but amazed bc to my knowledge she hasn't opened her door again since. I think I'm finally at the point where I need to purchase one of those horrid doorknob guards that is childproof but an adult still has the force to make the doorknob open. I really hate the idea of trapping her in but tonight she was so tired and STILL she won't go to bed. Nevermind the rest of my day. Bedtime is tiring me out!
Thoughts of the Day:
We want to have a third child and we decided to wait until there would be 5 years bt it and J. and 3 years bt it and C. That has come to make a lot of sense bc of the timing with Jeremiah's campaign and my New Year's Resolution. It would suck to have a newborn right now on top of everything else. This is the year of my garden and Jeremiah's campaign. Those are our newborns.
But that means that at any time now we could decide to try to have a baby and it would be born during our self-imposed "window". Half a year ago I was so eager to try again that I thought this time would take forever to get here. But here I am and I am not going to try again right now. First thing is my garden. I don't have room in my heart (re: schedule, energy, attention, health) for them both. The gardens must be in before I could consider one more thing, no matter how precious and blessed and desired it may be. The gardens are for me. Others have their marathon or their awesome blog or their continuing education that they are doing purely for themselves. For me, right now, it's my gardens.
But they'll be in by the end of May. Dare I consider getting pregnant around then? What trimester (and therefore what state of mind and body) would I be in during the height of campaign season? And how heightened is that? Is it possible to be pregnant during that stage of the game and keep sane? What trimester would I be in during the election? How would a win or a loss affect our family and my moods and the health of the unborn baby? Would Jeremiah be in session when the baby's born? As I schedule different scenarios around this next 12 months (session ends in early April), I find different reasons to put off getting pregnant until the end of the year. That still puts us within our window but further from where I thought we would be.
Another child is definitely going to happen sometime soon. Probably and hopefully a fourth child too, to keep the third child company on that side of the age difference split between the children. (oh, that's not the only reason. sheesh.) I look ahead on the family tree and see that we really want to have 3 or 4 children so if we want that goal to happen, we have to get to work. It's just that right now it seems like all of our goals are knocking on our door at the same time!
I was just writing about having a 3rd child on my blog, too! Huh, I guess we're on the same wavelength (which I already knew, but think is funny that we both decided to blog about it within 24 hours of each other).
ReplyDeleteAs far as the whole bedtime routine with C., I've so been there and feel your pain. Sending good thoughts and energy your way! xoxo
The doorknob thingies are awesome! We have one for H's room to keep him contained. If you feel bad about trapping her in her room, look at it this way: If she wakes in the middle of the night, you are keeping her safe from sleepwalking into trouble elsewhere in the house. That's partially why we do it---cause H wakes up a lot at night and goes to his door, and we didn't want him to get out and tumble down the stairs or something like that.
ReplyDeleteI hear ya about the gardens----and needing something for yourself. That is so important.
And a third child! Wow, I am impressed with your level of energy! I cannot handle one, and I definitely, absolutely could NOT handle a second, probably ever. How, oh how, do you do it?!