A Breath of Fresh, Summery Air

This has been our first full week of "summer break" and it is going so beautifully that I'm tempted to pull Luke out of preschool next year. (I mean...not really...but yeah, kind of.) On the last day of school, his teacher told me that during the four-and-a-half months that he was at preschool, she never had to discipline him in any way or even ask him twice to do something...he was that compliant. And so, of course, he saved up all his non-compliance for me and I had many, many days when I wondered whether I was raising the anti-christ. (Again, not really...but yeah, kind of.)

Since he's been out of school, he has been helpful and cooperative, instead of running around wildly, throwing tantrums about every seemingly minor bump in the road. Part of it, I think, is that he was just tired during the school year. Even on non-school days, he got into the habit of waking up early, but we are awful, awful, AWFUL at maintaining an early bedtime. McMoose gets home pretty close to 7:00 pm and it just seems cruel to make the kids go to bed 30 minutes later. So this week, we've been living it up, sleeping until 8 or (gasp!) 9 in the morning and taking as much time as we need to get ready.

There's more kindness toward Weston, more kindness and cooperation toward me, and since I'm not rushing to try to get somewhere on time, there's more understanding flowing from me toward them, too. This morning, Luke asked me to read to him and I said I would as soon as I started some clothes in the washing machine and just as I was bracing myself for the shrieking of But-I-Want-To-Read-RIGHT-NOW, he said, "Ok, Mama. It'll be much easier if I help you." And he brought his hamper out and helped me put in the clothes and then put his hamper back in his closet as I stood there in wide-mouthed amazement.

Thank goodness for summer break!

Strawberry Patch

We recently went strawberry picking and when I first told Luke that we were going, his response was, "Mama, did you know there are strawberries at the store and we could just buy them?" It wasn't until I mentioned that the strawberry patch had an ice cream store that he warmed up to the idea. Of course, once we were there, he decided that strawberry picking was the most fun thing ever, so it all worked out.

They were both so excited to see the rows and rows of strawberry plants and to get their own buckets. Luke did a good job of picking the reddest berries and Weston...well, he'll learn. Notice how wet they look? The only time it rained all afternoon was during the 15 minutes when we were picking the berries. They did not care one little bit.

 

They have a barrel train that has all the barrels painted like cows. Weston was obsessed with it from the minute he first saw it, so I tracked down the driver and paid for a ride. And about 30 seconds after climbing in, Weston decided that he wanted to get right back out. Of course, it was too late for that and just as I was thinking about getting him out, the tractor started up and off they went. He spent the first couple of minutes crying and the next 15 or 20 minutes sitting sullenly. This was, hands down, the longest kiddie ride I have ever put my children on. I had no idea it would go for that long. Furthermore, there was one point when they disappeared into a grove of trees and I began to seriously wonder what I had gotten them into. Apparently, it was just a very slow day, ride-wise, and the driver was enjoying the ride.

 

Eating the aforementioned bribe...er, I mean, ice cream. This was Luke's first attempt at a cone and it was very well-received. Weston is eating a cupcake because I thought it would have less dairy in it...clearly, I didn't realize that it had a good five inches of icing sitting on top. He is eating that cupcake at warp speed because one of the farm dogs had taken a special interest in us and was sitting there, hoping very hard that we might drop our food.

 

 

These people definitely know how to pull kids (and therefore, their parents) in.

They had these enormous tubes, which were fun until someone bigger got into one and rolled over Weston. (Luke, who predicted that precise outcome, stood there nodding his head, saying, "Do you see, Mama? Those are not a good idea.") 

Odds...Ends...

Here's a little bit of what we've been doing recently...

-We went to the library book sale, where they had the most enthusiastic face painter I have ever encountered. Most face painters take a couple of minutes, draw on a shape that kind of resembles what the kid requested, and call it a day, but this guy? Oh, he was an artist. Witness:

-My mom and stepdad gave Luke an enormous cardboard train engine for his birthday. It's the kind that doubles as an art canvas and play space. Of course, they loved it. And of COURSE, they tore it up within a week. It is now lying in pieces in the playroom and I am keeping it until every last surface has been drawn on, painted on, sticker-ed on, etc.

-In the process of painting on the cardboard train, Luke decided it would be fun to paint himself, too. And ever the helpful big brother, he was happy to paint Weston as well.

Snake!

Apparently, it's been a while since I've posted pictures. Time to remedy that, yes? Let's start with this one. This is our serpentine friend, whose presence I discovered a few weeks ago by nearly stepping on...her? Him? It. Turns out it's a Mole Kingsnake, which are helpful to have around, so we're co-existing.

Perfecting My Eye Roll

Dear Obnoxious Mom at the Playground,

Yes, I know my kid is splashing in the mud puddle. His clothes can be washed and so can he. No, I don't care about whether the mud gets in my car.

Yes, I know that my other kid is playing with mulch. It's mulch. It's not hurting anyone, it's not stopping anyone else from enjoying the playground, and he will clean it up before we leave.

No, I'm not going to insist on inside voices right now. In case you hadn't noticed, we are outside.

You can stop giving me those snarky looks and making passive aggressive comments to your kid about how you're sure that those boys' mother will "talk to them about their behavior." Their "behavior" is called playing. They're supposed to do that.



P.S. - I can't seem to make it through a single outing this week without being given some kind of "helpful advice" about parenting. 

School's Out For the Summer!

Today was Luke's last day of preschool for this year, so the kids put on a performance for the parents. It was so nice to see the kids singing and dancing and twirling and being their crazy, adorable selves. Luke, being Luke, didn't exactly dance...he marched across the stage, carefully placing his feet on the marks, and turned slowly in a circle instead of doing a wild twirl. It was so funny to see how even though the moves were choreographed, their individual personalities still shone through, bright and clear.

I haven't been privy to as much of the "insider" stuff at school as I would have liked to because (a) we started in the middle of the school year, so we missed all the orientation type stuff at the beginning, and (b) I haven't been able to volunteer in the classroom because I haven't had anywhere to leave Weston. But something about this place has appealed to me from the first time I saw their website--it just exudes such a sense of joy and charm and respect for children as people instead of empty vessels waiting to be filled. We weren't even planning to put Luke in preschool this past year, but decided to do it because of how much we loved this place.

What I have seen is how kindly they greet the children in the mornings, how the "greeting teachers" always make an attempt to talk to and connect with every child and parent as they walk through the door. I witnessed how one morning, a little girl's dad left while she was distracted with something else and she was upset when she realized it--and instead of brushing it off and moving her on to the next thing, the preschool director sat with her and empathized and problem-solved and in the end, it was as simple as making a quick phone call to Dad so she could say, "Good-bye, I love you!" It gives me peace of mind to know that if Luke were upset, they'd take similar care in figuring out how to help him solve the problem.

Today, during the performance, one of the children was feeling shy and instead of forcing her out to the stage by herself or leaving her out of the show entirely, a teacher carried her out to stage and held her close and danced with her as she buried her face in her teacher's shoulder. And a minute later, she looked up...and another minute later, she asked to get down and hold the teacher's hand while dancing...and another minute later, she let go of the teacher's hand and danced on her own. No tears, no fuss.

I am so grateful that Luke's introduction to school has been here, where they spend their mornings dancing and making music and doing drama and art. It has been the perfect environment for my rather serious little one.

Making Plans

In the car this morning...

Luke: Hey, I can't put my feet up on the seat anymore!
Me: Yes, I had to scoot the seat forward so that my feet could reach the pedals.
Luke: But it was scooted back before.
Me: Because Dada was the last one to drive the car and his legs are longer than mine.
Luke: His arms are really long, too.
Me: Yep, he's a pretty big guy, huh? When you grow up, do you think you'll be as big as him or as big as me?
Luke: Hm. Well, all "he's" grow up to be as big as their Dadas. So that means I'll be as big as my Dada. Hey, Weston, you'll be as big as Dada, too!
Weston: *Babbles incoherently*
Luke: He said, "Oh, how funny!" But he said it in a rather funny, little voice, didn't he!


Luke only has one day of preschool left before summer break, so we were talking about all the things we'd like to do this summer. We ended up with a pretty long list, but among my favorites are the following: spend lots of days at home, visit with ourselves every day, plant things in the garden, and eat lots of carrots!