Running Away Music

While we were eating lunch yesterday, Mitchell asked me if I would please turn on the "running away music." Now, because he has made this request before, I knew what he was talking about, but perhaps you need a little help with it. "Running away music" is classical music. The boys love it when I turn the radio on to the classical station, especially when there is a faster, louder song in a minor key. What I always thought of as "danger music," make them imagine running away from something dangerous, so that is what they call it!

Mitchell comes up with his own titles for the compositions. Yesterday, he listened for a minute, chewing on his sandwich, then said, "This sounds like someone got left at the park and their mom is never coming back." After listening for a moment, I had to agree with him. It was quite a sad and scary sounding song.

The next song he described as "like flowers in the backyard and we're playing there!"

I love the images classical music makes him picture in his head. His descriptions are so childish, but so fitting to the music!

Other times descriptions/titles that have stuck in my memory are, "Promise to Come Back," and "The Basement Song." Anyone who has seen my basement can guess what that song sounds like!

My boys have such vivid imaginations, and thankfully are eager and happy to describe things for their somewhat imagination-challanged mom. I'm glad I don't have the imagination of a young child (I might be committed to a loony bin if I really did; can you imagine seeing the world that way as an adult?), but experiencing it second hand through them makes life a bit more interesting.

I Just Need A Red Shirt!

Mitchell's new thing is being opinionated about what shirt he is wearing. Up until now, I have been able to get away with dressing my boys in whatever I choose, with no resistance whatsoever from any of my kids. They just haven't cared as long as it fits and is comfortable.

Lately though, Mitchell has begun to not only notice what I am putting on him, but having an opinion about it too! How dare he! I try to let him help me pick out a shirt in the morning, but he is usually such a slug getting up and ready, that I just don' t have time for such nonsense on a typical morning.

So he has to wear what I pick out for him - at least, for the first part of the day, that is. All I have to do is leave him alone up in his room for a little bit and he will be up to some sort of clothing-involved mischief: t shirts pulled out of his drawer in search for the "right one," clothes taken off, new shirt on backwards, searching through dirty laundry for the "right one..." that sort of thing.

Today, he came down the stairs in just his underwear complaining, "Mom, I just need a red shirt and I can't find one! Where are all my red shirts!"

What Else Are We Supposed To Do?

I am sure I have mentioned our giant bean bag before. It's awesomeness more than makes up for the large amount of valuable space it takes up.

It has been a life-saver (well, at least a day-saver) so many times since we moved here. Never, in any other place we have lived, have we been forced to play inside so many days out of the year as we are here. We have invented many ways to keep busy and use up boundless energy (theirs, not mine), but I think I'd put bean bag involved activities at the top of the list in both fun and effectiveness.

All Tuckered Out

What a fun couple weeks we have had! I have been too busy and having way too much fun to take time to blog, but now that we are home and settling in for school to start up again tomorrow, I thought I'd post a picture that just about sums up how we all feel after all the traveling, waiting around in airports, visiting family, swimming, playing at the beach, and just fully enjoying our vacation to the max!

Poor Mitchell just couldn't stay awake another second and would have fallen face first into his food had I not moved it aside.

I know exactly how he feels. It is always nice to get away and we had a blast, but we are all falling asleep mid... everything! Bring on school; vacation is too exhausting!

Jail Break

Now that I have had a day or two to recover, I can see a bit of humor in a recent unfunny situation: Jack escaped and made a run for it.

Apparently, he does not get enough time to play at the park. Perhaps he wanted to make some more friends. Maybe he just wanted to scare us out of our pants. Whatever the case, Jack made the trip from backyard, across the street, and into the park all on his own little 1-year-old know how - I said he crossed the street!!!

I promise I was watching him (except for those two minutes I had to use the facilities) but he is smarter and more aware than I give him credit for! He discovered an unlocked gate, opened it, and knew exactly where he was and how to get to where he wanted to go.

Little stinker. I really was in a panic, dashing all over the yard, garage, house, and finally, with a feeling of pure dread, out front in the "danger zone," which is anywhere outside my front door for little Jack, until I saw him happily playing across the street at the park.

Rest assured, my doors and gates are all locked securely now and double checked constantly just in case he discovers (which I'm sure he soon will) how to actually unlock them. No mother-of-the-year awards for me this year!

Under Cautious?

I am not a worrier. In regards to my kids, this is not because I am lazy or just don't care, but I do truly believe that my boys need me to allow some risk-taking. I do not have a natural tendency to over-react, and I am very easy going. I find some general rules that most moms adhere to a bit unnecesary and too restricting and MUCH to difficult to follow through with. I am specifically speaking of physical safety rules here, not rules concerning other facets of life. In other areas, my rules are much stricter and more rigid.

"Don't climb up a slide!" Why?

"Don't play with sticks!" A better rule here would be not to run with them or hit other kids with them.

"Don't play in the dirt!" How does that hurt them?

"Stay out of that puddle, it's dirty!" Perhaps drinking it would be a danger, but not walking in it.

"Climbing that tree is dangerous!" climb away, my big boys. If you fall, you will bruise yourself. You can break an arm even if you never touch a tree. I broke mine running laps in PE as a kid.

"You MUST have a helmet on if you want to ride that scooter!" Mitchell would literally wear a helmet all day long if I enforced this one. He rides it inside and out, carrying it up and down the stairs to bring with him wherever we go.

"Excuse me, your child is not strapped into that stroller!" I think I will see if he decides to throw himself from the moving stroller, thank you...

Do not think of me as uninvolved or not paying attention. Even I have activities that make me drop everything and run to stop them. The wobbly bridge with no sides at the park that Jack LOVES has got me constantly up on the toys with all the kids. Picking up garbage or gum off the ground is another one (gross...) No bikes, scooters, or roller skates are allowed anywhere but the ground. Riding them down stairs or slides only sounds like fun, I'm sure... And speaking of stairs, they are for getting from one level to another, not for any sort of playing. But I truly believe that bumps and bruises are a part of life and I want to encourage my boys to be adventurous and without unnecessary fear, knowing that the rules they do have make sense and are in place to keep more serious injury away.

I can't help but feel other mothers' eyes on me as I live my life, though. When Jack wanders a few feet from me, they look at me like "Aren't you going to stop him?" When Mitchell whizzes by on his scooter, they do a double take, wondering what terrible mother let him on that dangerous piece of equipment without a helmet! I hear dozens of times a day, mothers shouting at their kids to stop climbing up the slide, even when there are no other kids using it! Running too fast is always tempered with "Slow down so you don't fall!" I can't tell you how many people have reacted in shock when they see or hear of my toddler managing the stairs with ease. All of my kids learned this skill at a very early age, but I doubt have taken more tumbles than most other kids. Dirt is one of our favorite toys! We try to keep it out of our mouths, but just "getting dirty" is not a thing I can avoid even if I try.

Perhaps I need to change my views a bit. I do have my kids' safety in mind. I do want what is best for them and I promise you I am not just too lazy to care or think my kids immune to danger. A recent episode concerning a certain toddler and a jail break has left me a bit shaken and I find myself re-evaluating what my safety rules should be.

I will never be over-catious, that much I am certain of. I will still not use baby gates, child-proof my toilets, or forbid climbing up a slide, but perhaps trusting my boys all alone in the backyard while I use the lady's room for two minutes is asking too much of a curious toddler and an (unknown to me) unlocked side gate. Mitchell has crashed his scooter too many times to count, and not once would a helmet have protected him in any way, but for that one time a car might hit him while he is on it, a helmet could save his life. Although perhaps he needs to wear one while walking too, because he is just as likely to get hit by a car while on foot...

What do you think, am I under-catious? Am I inviting accidents or am I allowing my boys to be boys?

What A Character

Mitchell's character tonight is "The Man Who Helps Out" and this is what he looks like:

He had a broom as well, which he used all over the house, truly living up to his new self-given nickname.