I eagerly asked after picking up my daughter from school… I am embarrassed to admit that I couldn’t wait to hear what her teacher said about Gia’s show and tell…it was K week at school and her turn to bring in something…We always try to come up with a creative idea, rather than just your everyday toy or doll.
Not sure if it’s the over thinking brain of mine or just the nature of the stay at home mom job lack of stimulating challenges that drives me to make the ordinary a bit less mundane (To my husband- this doesn’t mean I want to get a job! I accept that this job is simply ordinary at times but I adore it and couldn’t imagine not being home and away from my girlies).
In any case, I find myself sitting on the couch at night, only half paying attention to what’s going on in whatever series we are watching at the moment – this week it’s The Wire- and I’m conjuring up ideas of what to make for letter weeks at school, show n tells, and play dates.
So this week was K week, and we thought of items or candy that began with K, bought them, and then made a little face creation with our items.
Kix
Kit Kat
Ketchup packet
Kleenex
Hershey Kisses (I guess technically this is H)
Gia’s preschool teacher ended up telling her it was “the best show and tell ever!” She asked who helped her come up with the idea and Gia told her “Mommy did.” At that moment, I couldn’t be more proud- and the shameful thing is that I think I was proud of myself…I told my husband when he came home and he was like “Great Jill, your winning at preschool! ”
It’s not supposed to be about me though…but sometimes, in this care taking job of raising the girls, you just want a little award or a feeling of achievement, even if it’s Best Show n Tell ever (in the four year old class, mind you).
“Mom can we go to the JC Pennies, Labor Day Sale?”
“What?” I am laughing, as she is bopping around dancing, and begging,
“Please, please can we go to the Labor Day Sale…”
She has no idea what that even means. She saw this commercial and assumed it was a rockin party….
She is just learning about holidays and in her world, a holiday is a party, and that’s certainly true in this house…boy are we always partying around here…she just heard “Labor Day” and assumed party time!
Thankfully today we were party free. I couldn’t possibly do another day at the lake, or drink another cocktail( well…never say never) or eat any more hamburgers! My husband and I are BBQ’d out and basically, wiped out…
Good bye summer. A little sad because I had a lot of fun with my girls, and seeing so many friends, but looking forward to crisp apples, fall wine festivals, and pumpkins.
So what’s a tired couple to do on Labor Day but go to IKEA. We needed a few things for the house.
I highly recommend taking your kids there when you are bored and need something to do. You can just walk around and around and there is so much for them to touch and feel, the soft “faux” animal furry rugs, the sofas and mattresses to lay on, and all sorts of odd chachkies for them to “play with.”
Look at we can do with 99 cent plastic watering cans!
We got to take them home and play more in the comfort of our own home!
Happy Labor Day Everyone!
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I feel strange. Not myself – I have been wandering around my kitchen and living room for a while, ok, well it only has been five minutes, but in the “Moooomy- where are you?” world it seems downright long. The girls were playing together for five glorious minutes! Five minutes where the little one wasn’t clinging to my leg and Gia wasn’t asking for a snack or water. Seriously, that girl can put it away….
In a day filled with driving to activities, feeding the kids, and breaking up mini girl fights- What is up with that lately? I thought it was boys that were supposed to be rough…what happened to my dream of two little girls, bent over a book, giggling about their mommy (aka Cinderella) scrubbing the floors…
Gia truly believes I am pretty as that golden haired princess, in fact, she actually thinks I am Cinderella. This makes carrying that 8 + pounder around, delivering past my due date, and suffering through 24 hours of labor, among other technical scares all worth it…I will ride this Cinderella train as long as I can…pretty sure I will be the Wicked Witch of the West soon enough.
I may be Cinderella, but my fairy godmother isn’t helping me in the sibling rivalry department! They are constantly fighting with each other and Arianna can get awfully vicious for a two year old. Two days ago she bit Gia really hard and just today, she did some serious damage with her scratchy fingernails – and I just cut them! Do you moms feel like their fingernails always need to be cut? I pick Gia up from school, notice overgrown nails, and that along with her ratty hair (she equates hair brushing with getting shots at the doctor, you should see the fear and tears in her eyes when I bring out the brush) must raise eyebrows at the school.
So back to those five minutes- I find myself just staring at the floor, staring at piles of clothes (well, actually lumps of clothes) that need to be put away, and gazing out the window. I am like a sulky kitten when I am not needed – aimless with no direction. Upon thinking of this, I realized that the girls must feel this way when they are either finished with a snack, a show, or a project/activity.
They simply don’t know what to do with themselves and that’s when these little angels start to drive me bonkers, and I get frustrated saying, “Come on girls- go play- find something to do.” But they just can’t, well, not yet, not until they’ve reached the slamming of the door stage and not wanting to be bothered with their farty old mom. Oh my Goodness- I’m not ready for that! I better enjoy these moments. Look at these faces…
Love Bugs
I think I will take their lost kitten moments and just play.
The cleaning and dishes can wait, mommy time can be postponed, who needs to eat anyway, – wine counts as a food anyway, doesn’t it?
It’s all good now…
I have to admit that while it is easy for me to stop, drop, and play with my children, I am creatively challenged when it comes to I’m bored, what should we do? And what activity works for a 4 and 2 year old combined?
I started to write down activities and things to do- easy ideas, nothing so messy that I have to lay a tarp out, simple activities that don’t require me to buy out the entire arts and crafts section at Michaels, or spend all my allowance on!
That’s right- my husband gives me a weekly allowance based on my dinners. Gourmet equals jackpot, while soup and sandwich, which he deems as a trucker’s dinner, wins me only the change from his pockets 😦
So, when I’m not scouring the internet for a meal that makes me the big bucks, or I’m not hiding in the closet eating cookies, I hope to surf the net and steal ideas from other brilliant moms – why reinvent the wheel?
Soon, my stack o’ fun will be filled, and when the rainy day, dull moments visit our house and the girls are hovering around me like dogs begging for scraps, I will whip out the cards, let Gia pick out three activity cards (choice is important for them!) and stomp the stale minutes away.
I would love to hear ideas or suggestions! Oh and before I forget to tell you, I was joking about the allowance/dinner situation.
But, he still does consider the soup/sandwich night a trucker’s delight. I tell him I’ve never seen an unhappy trucker before- they always smile at me and honk their horn as I pass them by…well that was when I was ten…when I was lifting my arm and fake honking- remember doing that? Anyway, the point is it’s a hot meal and he should not complain because you never know what’s lurking in my soup….Anyone who has seen Orange is the New Black knows what I’m talking about!
The Girly Reports 