—1—
My little kids are loving having their older siblings back from the trip they took with their aunts. I am just not that fun to hang out with 24/7, I guess.
According to my 4-year-old, the week the two oldest were gone was "boring and no fun and there was nothing to do." Which all sound to me like the same thing, but she thought it was important to point out all three.
—2—
The older kids then went back to school soon afterward (which means everything is "boring and no fun with nothing to do" again.)
And it has been a HARD week. Not for the kids — they love school and are doing fine — but for me. I like to have a system and a groove, and we've got neither right now. It's going to take a few weeks, at least.
My oldest alone has a combined total of 7 afternoon sports practices after school and guess who is her taxi driver? And you know how much I just love driving my kids all over town.
This has been a service of the emergency broadcast system. |
Without him, we would have missed it several times already.
—3—
I'm learning that taking just one child grocery shopping can actually be kind of fun. It's when you're trying to select a brand of pickles from the entire wall of pickles and do crowd control at the same time when grocery shopping with kids gets a little crazy.
On Labor Day I left everyone (even the baby!) at home and took the 4-year-old with me. She held up a great running commentary all throughout the store. We saw the When Pigs Fly brand of bread, which has a cartoon pig on the label, and she mused aloud "Bread comes from pigs??"
In the produce section I asked, "What melon should we get for dinner: cantaloupe, honeydew, or wa-"
"Watermelon!" she cried, before I could even finish the question. "The answer is ALWAYS watermelon." I mean, I knew she liked watermelon but I had no idea she felt that strongly about it.
The things you learn when you shop one-on-one.
—4—
My daughter's first cross-country meet was this week. The other kids enjoyed cheering her on (silently, in their hearts, as they totally ignored the race and played on the playground equipment nearby.)
She did great, but actually what I was most excited about was that one of the boys was running in knee-length hot pink socks. If you read my rant on the color pink (Take #5) last week, you'll know why this is important. Also why I maybe wasted $19.99 on new cleats for my son.
I thought about taking a photo, but I didn't want to be the creepo in the park taking pictures of teenage boys who aren't mine, so you'll have to just trust me on this one.
—5—
Phillip likes to give each of the kids a blessing each year before they go off to school. He holds the priesthood in our church, which might make him sound super-important but one of the things that make Mormons so unusual is that it's common for lots of men in a congregation to have the priesthood.
Anyway, one of the things they can do with their priesthood is give blessings to people who need extra spiritual guidance or power, and we figure if the kids are going to be away from home for 7 hours a day for the next 9 months a little extra spiritual guidance couldn't hurt.
The night before school started, each sibling took a turn sitting in a chair and having Phillip put his hands on their head and use his priesthood authority to say a special prayer for them.
We weren't planning on giving one to the 2-year-old, but after seeing all his siblings take a turn he really wanted the same. So Phillip gave him a short blessing and he was so happy. After the blessing he just beamed at everyone and kept clasping his hands together, yelling "Ah sit in da chair!!!" It was obviously the highlight of his week.
—6—
In this take, try not to be jealous of my glamorous life.
I won't give you all the details, but I was vacuuming the living room and for some unknown reason that was certainly not me neglecting to change the bag for a really long time, I discovered that everything was getting blown all over the inside of the vacuum and making a royal mess.
So I got to vacuum out the vacuum with another vacuum.
Behind the vacuums is the trash can which also is sorely in need of a cleaning. |
There's just something about having to clean cleaning appliances that always makes me a little mad. But I also appreciate the irony in it.
Like that time a bottle of Windex leaked onto the washing machine and dried, so I broke out the all-purpose cleaner to clean the cleaner off of our cleaning machine.
—7—
Meanwhile, in the entryway of CVS...
Behind me was the school supply aisle and an endcap display of sunscreen. |
I posted about how silly it was on Facebook, and a few people responded saying how they're already started with their Christmas shopping. What?!
It's the second week of September and I feel like I've already failed at Christmas. But on the bright side, it means I can start stress eating Christmas cookies early this year.
15 comments:
It's definitely not you that's failed! It's our materialistic society! I have worked retail in the past and I remember stores getting their wares out early -- around October. Of course, the Christmas season is their money-making season. However, it seems they are getting them out earlier and earlier every year. We need to teach our children (which I am sure you do) that our society has a warped view of Christmas. It's not about getting material things. It's about preparing for the coming of Jesus and giving our hearts to Him and to one another.
I'm looking forward to the day when I can go grocery shopping alone. It'll be several years of waiting, but someday.
I used to try to avoid taking my oldest to the grocery store alone, and though it is mostly because he is the kid he is and the others are not like he is, I now don't like going alone as much as like going with just one child.
That's such a cute story about your 2 year old wanting to sit in the chair and receive a blessing :) And that's neat that you got to go on a shopping trip with just one kid-I'm sure she loved the one-on-one time with you!
I love the priestly blessing!! That is special for your kids!
Every father/mother should do that for their kids!!
There is something pretty funny about cleaning out a vacuum with a vacuum. Like a vacuum-ception.
Ugh, you've hit upon a pet peeve of mine as well. I never realized how annoying all of the color=gender stuff could be until it hit me that we were going to have a boy, and that I'd have to deal with that first hand. Growing up mostly a tomboy in terms of what I wore on a day to day basis, it makes me so mad that it isn't genuinely socially acceptable for guys to wear a simple COLOR that is associated with girls, lest they be made fun of for being "sissy" or "girly" or "feminine" (and why on earth are those all synonymous with being weak?!) From what I've heard, pink was considered a manly color until the 19'th century, and was associated with masculinity and virility. And if you think about it, red and purple are considered virile and royal colors. Which leaves me baffled why anyone's argument over why boys shouldn't wear a certain color would be "Well it's just not done."
Ok, I'm done now, and heartily apologize for the rant.
Blessings are our tradition too. I'm so glad you mentioned them. And I'm with you on the whole Christmas thing. I always say I'm not going to buy toys this year but then renege and feel overwhelmed with all the new junk. Oh well. Want to share your cookies? :)
So many stores have decorations out now. It's just crazy to me!
I like your emergency broadcast system for the bus!My 3 year old has to get a back to school blessing too, even though she doesn't go to school either. No ones wants to be left out :)
It is definitely earlier and earlier every year. Christmas? When I'm still shopping for back-to-school? My goodness.
You've got some crazy stories about your oldest. I'm looking forward to a book coming out about that someday.
That's the great thing about kids. It was a fun little date.
I think it's really special, and one of the ways they can know that God cares about them and is aware of what they're doing.
Rant away, sister. I could go on and on. The thing is, I think (hope?) it's getting better. My 4-year-old randomly checked out a picture book from the library called "Boys Aren't Pink." It was about a bunny going to a "pink party" with her mom, but her mom got sick so she took her dad instead and learned that boys can indeed, be pink. Maybe it wasn't the most sophisticated attempt at reversing that ridiculous idea that boys can't wear pink, but it was something!
Ha! There comes a time every season when I'm forced to hit the frosting out of sheer overwhelm! You're welcome to join me.
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