The Unexpected Visitor on a Scorching Hot Day

It's been hot here. Scorching hot. The type of hot that gives you few options for keeping your kids entertained. Indoors is always an option, but not always fun. You can only remind my kids not to put Barbie doll shoes in the toilet, not to eat play-doh, or to keep paint on the paper and not in each others hair so many times before you sound like a broken record. I save that stuff for rainy days. I'm more of an outdoors person. My kids are too. Unfortunately, it's been too hot for walks, playgrounds and picnics in the field. The typical stay at home mom strolls around the air conditioned mall get old too. Especially when they always include a visit to the second floor play place. Those visits, more often than not, result in tantrums when it's time to leave. The thought of wrestling my kids into their car seats in the 95+ degree weather . . . forget it . . . I don't even want to think about that. It's just too hot. We've been using the blow up pool and water table, all day, everyday, for I don't know how many days in a row. This does not get old. This $7 pool from Job Lots has been my savior. What can I say . . . we're living large. I set up my back deck every morning at 7:30 am with all their water toys for the day, and we are golden. They love it, and I do too.

This morning was different. I went out bright and early to set up shop, and much to my surprise, I was not alone. I heard some rustling in the leaves over by our woodpile about 15 feet away. I stopped what I was doing to get a closer look. Suddenly, a face peeked out of the bottom of the pile. It appeared to be a monstrous woodchuck, or a groundhog, or maybe a beaver of some sort. (Please excuse my inability to specify the exact species that hissed at me as I stood there, frightened, with my hose. I grew up in more of a city atmosphere. This stuff didn't exist in my backyard growing up.) As this plump, porcupine type creature is continuing to hiss at me, I'm thinking "Oh no, you are not going to ruin our pool day." I took a step forward with my hose in hand causing it to charge towards me. It was at that point that I thought I heard more of them. My first thought was this damn thing gave birth to a litter of baby porcuwoodchuckians in my woodpile. I ran inside. I had to keep my composure in front of my kids and calmly explain that there was a change of plans. We were not going to have a pool day, instead we were just going to stay cool inside with the AC and some fun arts and crafts or whatever.

My kids spent the day engaging in various forms of dramatic play. They pretty much kept each other entertained, while I spent a good amount of time staring out the window at the woodpile waiting for this beast to show its face again. 

As the kids played, one of the conversations I overheard was as follows:
Lanie - "Let's play a game called you be Daddy and I'll be Mommy. This means you have to be the griller, cause you're Daddy. I have to be Mommy. This means I eat all the steak. This is just pretend though. I could never eat as much steak as Mommy. She's all steak, and some bones too."
Charlotte - "Okay. Yeah, steak and bones."

I can only imagine the rep I'm going to get when this kid starts preschool. Although, maybe it won't be so bad. I did witness that unidentified creature run off. I even went over to the woodpile and banged on it with one of my kid's toys. The coast was clear . . . the pool was open for the afternoon! Mom saves the day! If approaching a creature free woodpile with a plastic golf club counts . . .

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Vacationing with Kids

Vacation

n. A period of time devoted to pleasure, rest, or relaxation, especially one with pay granted to an employee.

Stay at Home Mom's Definition of Vacation:

Disregard all of the above . . . except for the pleasure part. Spending ten full days away with your family can surely have some pleasurable moments. It can also have some far less than pleasurable moments as well.

We spent the last week and a half vacationing in Bridgton, Maine. My in-laws own a cozy cottage on a quiet pond there. (I'm sure it was quiet before we arrived.) They were kind enough to open their doors to our entire extended family. Aunts, uncles, cousins, friends and a big black lab. We decided to change our initial plan of making the car ride up on the 4th, and instead left on the night of the 3rd when my husband arrived home from work. The kids will sleep in the car, right? Wrong. The kids were wired on excitement, and fell asleep in the last 15 minutes of the three hour drive, at 10:45 pm. We can just move them to their beds when we get there. No big deal, right? Wrong. My now overtired children, who both at times can have difficulties with transitions, were woken up despite our ever so gentle attempts at removing them from their car seats. So now you mix overtired, with a new atmosphere, and BOOM . . . Just like that chaos kicks in.

While my oldest is like a rock star who can seem to function on very little sleep, she was in her glory and ready to party. A crowd, a dog, bring it. My youngest, however, went into an immediate state of panic. A crowd, a "cow" I mean dog . . . *ear piercing screams*. She really just needed her crib, and unfortunately that was at home. And no, I did not bring her pack and play/portable crib. She jumps out of it. A queen sized bed is a much safer option for her. Our tremendous efforts at trying to get her to sleep, and not scream, in an unfamiliar place were unsuccessful. Not only the first night, but the second night too. That's where the "rest" and "relaxation" gets thrown out the window in my definition of vacation.

After two days, and a total of six hours of sleep, I started to question if there was something more than just the change of environment that was troubling her. I had noticed she had been pulling a bit at her ears. Vacation wouldn't be vacation without a trip to the ER. Her ears were fine, her throat was fine . . . diagnosis - a rash. Treatment - Benadryl. The ER doctor said, "If anything the Benadryl wont hurt her, it will knock her out. I'm not telling you this from a physicians point of view, I'm telling you this from a father of six daughters point of view. You guys look like you could use a break. Good luck." Allrighty then, next stop - the local drug store.

When we finally got back, my father in law suggested that my husband and I go out to dinner . . . take a kid free break. As tired as we were, that's just what we did. I had two full hours of freedom, a lobster roll and two White Russians. One word . . .  fan-friggen-tastic! Although part of me felt guilty for leaving, I was glad to come home to good reports. Things turned around from that point on. We enjoyed the company of our family and the great weather. My girls were like fish enjoying the beachfront. They would spend all day in the sand and water, and I loved watching them smile.

THEN

Unlike us, our extended family didn't have the following week off. We were sad to see them go. We were also sad to see the sun go. Four straight days of rain. Let me tell you, entertaining two small children indoors in a place that is not yours, for that amount of time, is NO cup of tea. This is a time that I really wish my kids would watch TV. Seriously, I thought kids begged to watch TV?! Not mine. Instead they hunt down remotes to electric fireplaces and figure out how to turn them on, or remove doors from their hinges. (Don't worry Nanny and Grandpi. We have become masters at fixing things.) We have also accepted the fact that over time having two "busy" girls like ours, will most likely result in spending a small fortune in hardware stores.

The next few days I watched the weather like a hawk. I was looking for a short, four hour, rain-free window that we could take a trip to Glenn, New Hampshire. Someone was on my side, cause we got it. We ventured off to Story Land. A tad bit pricey, kids theme park about an hour away. Let me tell you, that was the best $110 spent all week. It's no Disney World, but just like anything you pay to play. It even beat out my lobster roll and cocktails. It rained most of the trip over and immediately started down pouring just as we left, but the sun shined the entire time we were there. It was pretty gloomy the rest of our vacation. We didn't let it stop us from having fun though. We caught fish, frogs and swam in the rain. My oldest would randomly yell out "HAPPY"! My youngest who had a rough start, ended the week by taking several jumps off the dock and into the water. She's my dare devil who constantly keeps me on my toes. This is the girl who loves water, but would barely put her toes in it the beginning of the week. Baby steps I guess. All and all a great time. Vacation from vacation is good too. I'm glad to be home and not have to wrestle my kids to bed. I'm also glad to walk away with some good memories. Until next time, Maine!

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The Dog Days of Summer: Us versus Them

With summer in full swing and the temperatures rising, my husband and I have been trying our best to keep our cool. It's not always easy, but we manage. Let's just say, it's been a full four days of button pushing and testing limits.


The days leading up to my now three year old's birthday were magical. It was like a switch had flipped. The occasional dose of "terrible twos" appeared to be out of her system. We were seeing a new light. My youngest was following her big sisters

lead, and role model behavior. Quite frankly, my husband and I were in disbelief over how smoothly the days were going. It was nice . . . while it lasted. The good behavior and not so good behavior definitely seems to come in waves. We have learned to take the good with the bad and the bad with the ugly, but at the end of the day we know it's all worth it. We always end the day with a smile. (Even if it's due to the simple fact that it's bed time.)

The past few days have been tiring. My oldest no longer takes naps. Actually, she hasn't for a long time. She still needs them, otherwise from 4 PM on we enter "the witching hours". Up until recently I could usually bank on one four hour power nap a week, which seemed to do the trick. (For all of us). While she would play catch up with rest, it would usually give me a break to catch up on things around the house. Now, instead of sleeping, or resting, she sings songs. Really loud songs about butterflies, stars, or shoes. Though they are very creative and cute, they will often wake up her sister. Let me tell you . . . that's not cute.

There's a saying "never wake a sleeping baby", and even though Charlotte is not a baby anymore, she still falls into that category. NEVER wake a sleeping Charlotte, ever. EVER, ever, or you will pay. We paid twice over the past couple of days. I won't get into all of the details, but I will say this. . . While some kids display overtired behaviors with grouchiness and temper tantrums, my kids turn into a whole new level of crazy. Like wild animal crazy. By the end of the week we ended up with a broken kitchen cabinet, and two shredded throw pillows. I'm not even exactly sure how this happened. Maybe during the game of "Let's Be Pirates" when they were chasing each other around with plastic forks while yelling "Arghhh, Matey!" For the record, I don't typically let my kids play with plastic forks. They must have found and hid them during the family party we had for Lanie's birthday.  The second that I reprimanded them for this, my oldest yelled out "Aye Aye Captain", and immediately gathered the forks and put them on the counter.  I wasn't aware that I ran such a tight ship.


My youngest throws her food. ALL. THE. TIME. It's awful. Mealtimes are not fun, they're stressful. She has got the arm, and aim of a professional baseball player. She landed a piece of steak tip in my ice water the other night. I didn't even realize until much later when my husband pointed it out. Which leads me to my final vent. . . Feelings.

I talk to my kids a lot about how their actions can cause reactions. Good or bad.

Example: Charlotte, when you throw steak tips in my water, or scrambled eggs on the floor it makes me feel angry and sad.

I just had to have a talk with Lanie about people's feelings while we were at the grocery store. We had to make a trip to the restroom. She had finished up and was washing her hands. Suddenly she yelled out "Is that a turkey?" It was not a turkey. It was a woman entering the restroom wearing a big poofy, dress. It was black, with white spots and some red mixed in. She also had big dangly feather earrings. As the woman made her way into the stall I nervously said to Lanie "Oh, you want to get turkey today? Okay" I was trying to gear the conversation in a different direction, even though I clearly knew that was not what she meant. She replied, "No, I don't like turkey. Is that a turkey that just went into the potty? Hey are you a turkey?" Now, I don't blame her for making the turkey comparison. Actually, I agreed 100%. This woman did look like a turkey, although I didn't let Lanie know that. It was my first official OMG, I am so embarrassed by what my kid just said, get me out of here right now, moment. I quietly said no, and scooped her up and out of the bathroom. We spent the rest of the shopping trip talking about being careful about what you say out loud. I said that the colors of her dress did look like a turkey, but she was a person who has feelings, and calling people turkeys is not nice. I asked her if she would like it if someone called her a turkey. She replied with "Yes. No, actually I want to be a Zebra." Kids will be kids, and I'm unsure if she got my whole point. That being said, she'll learn eventually. Just like Charlotte will learn not to throw her food. They just may need a few thousand reminders along the way.

Needless to say, it's been one of those weeks where I have felt my blood pressure rising on more than one occasion. My husband sensed this and could also relate. Yesterday he sent me out for some kid-free retail therapy. I got new shoes. Shoes kind of do make tough times better. He left for work this morning after giving us all a kiss goodbye, and quietly wishing me "Good Luck." He gets it. In the end, we win. All of us.

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