Thriving Amidst The Chaos

This week was the first week of school for my big boys.  They have been so excited for the last few weeks, counting down the days till that first momentous day finally arrived.

Ben has done all this before, but Mitchell was a first-timer.  How fortunate for him that he gets to attend the same school as his big brother!  In fact, their classrooms are right next to each other!  Knowing Ben would be so close erased almost all fear from Mitchell and, for their part, it was a fun first day.

I wish I could say the same thing for myself though.  I did not have fun amidst the total chaos that surrounded the drop off and pick up.  It was as if two giant mobs descended on the place, pushing and shoving each other, competing for the ONE door that all the kids had to get through.  After asking plenty of clueless parents, I finally found out that my kids had to be dropped of in different areas, regardless of the fact that their rooms were right next to each other!  Thank goodness Matt chose to come with us, so we divided and conquered!  After circling the school, dragging Ben with me, I did eventually find the correct place to bring him.  Matt had a similar experience getting Mitchell to the correct place, but in the end, they both joined their classes successfully.

This chaos was repeated at the end of the day at pick up.  They really thought it might work to dismiss each kid in the lower grades and preschool one at a time through one door.  Now since this was the first day of school, there were two parents for each kid (and sometimes a nanny and a stroller) you can imagine what this must have looked like!  I know what it looked like as a parent on the outside, but now imagine what the poor 

little kids were seeing from the other side!  More than one poor soul burst into tears at the door when faced with this terrifying mob of parents yelling and reaching for their child.

How long has this school been in operation anyways!?  117 years, my friends!  One would think they'd have the kinks worked out by now.

On the positive side, I must say that it was really just that first day that was so chaotic.  The staff regrouped and came up with an alternate plan, and that added to the fact that I actually knew where to be and when made subsequent drop off and pick up much smoother and more efficient.  

Actually, so far, those two instances of disorder are the only things I have to complain about with school this year.  Both boys love their classes and teachers and are bringing home glowing reports of their days.  Ben is really making a great transition from "playtime" preschool, to real school with lessons and desks and pencils and gym class, while Mitchell is quickly learning how to play in a group of kids and follow directions and figure things out without his mom helping him.  

One positive thing that has come from school starting that I wasn't expecting is how excited they are to see each other when Ben finally gets home!  I pick up Mitchell a few hours before Ben is finished, and while we have a good time together, he really just is not himself until his big brother gets home.  They immediately pick up right where they left off, only with more enthusiasm and camaraderie because they haven't been together the whole first half of the day!  It is so cute to sit back and hear them tell each other over a snack what they did at school that day - things they claimed not to remember when I ask them.

I think the very first day of preschool calls for a trip to Dairy Queen, don't you?  I let him pick what he wanted, and he, as always, picked a vanilla dipped in chocolate ice cream cone.  Well chosen,  my big big preschooler!

The Dentist Strikes Again!

I think that the "killer" phase is over.  At least, I haven't heard any more about it since a couple weeks ago, when he made the decision that he would like to be a "killer" and kill bad guys (and sometimes Ben) when he grows up.

My little dentist is back.  He no longer just works on teeth and the mouth in general though.  This is a special dentist who can do...well, just about anything really.  It depends on what kind of tool he has recently discovered.  Sometimes, he is sawing off my legs and re-attaching them with water from his water bottle.  Sometimes he needs to draw on my belly to show where he is going to cut me open and fix my stomach.  Sometimes the tools get a bit creative: a few days ago, he made me lay still while he put puzzle pieces down the back of my shirt.  I forget exactly how that was fixing me...

He finds tools for his "dentistry" everywhere he goes, but just yesterday, he finally discovered my drawer in the bathroom full of odd hair styling equipment.  When he found these tools, his eyes got wide and he said, "I didn't know you had dentist tools in here!  I need these!"  He ran to get his goggles (they are one of his constant tools when he's working) and got to work with his new equipment!  What a discovery this was!  To be honest, I rarely use this stuff anyways, so I am glad someone is getting some use out of it!  

The next day, he returned to his treasure drawer, digging deaper to find a small bag of nail polish.  Oh man, what can we use these for?  In the end, he ended up setting them all up in a neat little row, got a cup out of the bathtub, and proceeded to make mixed drinks with them (not opening them, of course, just pretending.)  He'd shake one in the cup, then another, stir it up, and name it something gruesome like "bloody goo" and "sticky tub water."  I had to pretend to drink them, but I didn't pretend to like it!  One of the grossest mini-bar selections I've ever seen!

There Goes My Ego or Road Rash

Matt has been out of town for a few days, so now that he is back, I was really looking forward to a real run tonight.  By "real" I mean making good time by myself without pushing two kids way over the weight limit of my double stroller with a very chatty 5-year-old riding bike in front of me, beside me, behind me, on my toes...you get the picture.  It feels more like punishment than exercise.

I was loving my run tonight though.  It was just me and my feet and my thoughts.  I had made it about a third of the way through my run and was running around Depaul University.  I turned a corner and suddenly, I had the wind at my back and I found myself running faster without any more effort!  I found this quite exciting for some reason and thought to myself, "I should go even faster!  It will feel like flying!"  Well, faster I went, flying I did not, unless you count the dive I took about 10 giant steps into my "flying."  Remember, I am running right around a university so there are college kids all over the place.  When my toe hit the two-inch raised section of sidewalk and I ate it, I almost dove right into two young college boys and nearly scared them to death!  I think they jumped almost as high as I did!  They had the decency not to laugh at me outright and immediately rushed to my aid as I played dead there on the sidewalk.  Out of all the empty sections of dark sidewalk tonight, I had to pick the section with two young guys on it!  

I'm fine.  I have scrapes all up my right arm and shoulder, plus holes in my new running pants and stinging knees, but my I think I left more ego there on the sidewalk than skin.  I have to say  though, I did make good time, despite the crash.  I think I ran faster than ever once I got up to get as much distance between myself and the very gentlemanly witnesses I left behind.  

Oh!  As if one episode of maniac running wasn't enough for one night, I scared the you-know-what out of a biker tonight too!  I was almost home and was coming up on a patch of wet cement on the sidewalk that was roped off.  In order to get around it, I had to run in the street for a bit, so I hopped out between two parked cars and into the bike lane and right in front of a biker going the opposite (and correct) direction!  He skidded and ran his bike into the curb while I apologized profusely.  He didn't seem too upset for some reason and there was no damage to his bike, thank goodness.  I was a menace on the streets tonight!  Watch out for me if you are ever in my neighborhood past dark!

A Bad Case of Morning Breath

The first thing Mitchell said to me this morning, after groggily slumping his sleepy self downstairs and plopping down next to me on the couch (he ALWAYS gets himself up too early!) was "Pew mommy!  You smell stinky!"  I hadn't even talked to him yet, let alone made any smells of my own, so I had no idea what he was talking about.  I told him not to be rude and then he insisted that I smelled badly, so I sent him to sit somewhere else away from me.  When he sat down in his next choice of seat, he said the same thing, "It's stinky here too!"  He curled up on the floor next, buried under his blankie only to re-surface and complain of the smell in there too!

I smelled the places his complained of and since there was no smell whatsoever, I concluded that it was mearly his own morning breath grossing him out.  Putting a blankie close to your face or covering your head completely with it first thing in the morning is not recommended if you have a sensitive nose like Mitchell.

It's So Cute, You're Not In Trouble...This Time!!

Have I mentioned how much my older boys LOVE their baby brother?  I had high expectations before he was born because both boys were already showing plenty of excitement over the coming addition, but I never expected this kind of reaction!  When picturing how the boys would all interact together, I never imagined I would have to encourage a little less attention from the boys to Jack.  

Gone is the little slug who lays there relishing every kiss, every snuggle, every smothering with a blankie, every time his face is strangely contorted into a funny shape, every steam-roller, every poke and tickle and squeeze.  Developing along with his ever-increasing mobility is a little personal bubble.  He takes after his mom and his brother Mitchell - he just needs some space.  Too much cuddling, snuggling, and smothering makes a fussy baby (or mommy or older brother.)  I am finding that instead of needing to encourage the big boys to play with him or not to forget about him, I have the opposite problem - I have to remind them to give him space or to squeeze him then let go or not to lay on top of him and most of all - let him have some alone time in his room when he wakes up from a nap!  Going in there when we first hear a noise is way too soon for him!  He needs some time to wake up on his own and "prepare himself" for the barrage of boys about to hit him.  Takes some psyching up, I think.

So one of our house rules is that no one is allowed to go into Jack's room without permission.  The boys fight over who gets to go in first.  I can't believe they do that.  I can't believe how special it is to them!

A few days ago, Mitchell, Jack, and I all took an afternoon nap while Ben had quiet time alone in his room.  Shortly after falling asleep, I heard noises on the monitor and not the usual noises.  Ben was definitely in there!  I rushed downstairs, but paused before entering Jack's room.  They were both just cracking up!  I peaked in and saw Ben in the chair, performing for Jack, who was laughing and and standing and bouncing up and down in his crib.  They were having so much fun I left them in there for 10 more minutes or so until the magic was gone and Jack was bored of it.  After reminding Ben that this is normally not allowed and he assured me that Jack was already awake when he went in there, he got off easy this time.  He sure does love that little baby boy...

Dad, Watch!

My boys are no fools.  They know when you are paying attention and when you are only pretending.  It is difficult to give them the real kind every time, especially when I hear "look, mom!" and "hey mom, watch!" and "watch me!" at least once a minute, but I think we hit a pretty good ratio of the real kind to distracted kind.  It works for us.  

Mitchell especially, maybe because he has more recently made the discovery that there are two different levels of paying attention from his parents, is more insistent on the real kind.  I often hear something like this from him, "Hey mom, watch me!  Mom, really watch me!  Mom, turn your face to me!"

The whole "watch me" really gets amped up a notch when Matt returns from a trip.  The boys climb all over him, both talk at the same time, getting louder and louder to drown the other one out, and insist on his "real" attention.  Matt is usually pretty excited to see them as well, so while figuring out how to pay attention to both who are going in separate directions is somewhat difficult, he at least has no problem with being distracted by something else.  Sometimes though, he just wants to talk to me or has paid attention for a while and now has moved onto the other kind - the distracted, pretend kind.  

This last time he returned, Ben and Mitchell were very excited about a new movie we had rented and were just positive Daddy would feel just the same way when he got home.  They made him sit in "their" seat (the one closest to the TV which they both sit on top of each other for) and watch it with them.  Matt is not so into the kids' movies so he lasted about 3 minutes of really watching, then attempted to sit with them, but not actually watch it.  Mitchell noticed this pretty quickly and took care of it.  Ben quickly joined the fight for daddy's attention and he was trapped.  "Watch this, Daddy!  Watch!"

Every time he'd try to turn his head, Mitchell would physically turn his head back in the direction of the TV and scold him for not watching.  Ben joined in the battle for attention by sitting on his head so he couldn't turn it.  You're not getting out of it easily this time, daddy! 

My Special Date

Did I mention Ben and I are HUGE Shrek fans?  Well, we are, and on our way home from the gym the other day, we saw a sign on a taxi for Shrek the musical.  Ben spotted that and said, "Mom, did you see that Shrek taxi?  It had a real Shrek on it!  What's up with that?"  When I told him it was sign for a real, live Shrek musical, he was a bit incredulous.  For the next few days, he could not get it out of his head, and he kept me informed of this: "Mom, I really just can't get that Shrek musical out of my head!  It's really stuck there!"  

Well, I knew this would be something he would really love and enjoy, so I got us tickets last weekend and we had a special date - just the two of us.  He was so incredibly excited on the way in, LOVED the entire show (he was literally on the edge of his seat most of the show, laughing and whispering and clapping/chearing when appropriate), and made it back to the train ride home before his excitement and constant chatter gave out to sleepiness and he crashed on my lap.  What a great night.  I will let the pictures fill in the gaps for what I have left out.