Monthly Archives: June 2011

End of School Days

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School is out for the summer!!!

Having a kid in school makes me remember the incredibly wonderful feeling that the end of school brings. Accomplishment, the sense of everything easing up a bit, the thought of balmy hot days and endless ways to waste them.

All these end of school day festivities seem to signal that summer fun is about to begin! Here is Jack dunking his P.E. teacher. Pretty good aim for a 4-year old, eh?

Dunk Tank at Field Day

Finding Jack’s first school was an exercise not that dissimilar to a trying to find your way blind folded to the nearest Starbucks. There are so many pre-schools in the city to choose from. Location is key but you are willing to go a bit further if the menu or service is better at a Starbucks further away.

After this first year I’m pleased to say I feel we’ve chosen well. Jack has learned a lot. He’s also met many nice kids that he gets to hang out with every week day.

Family Picnic (in the library due to rain)

I was so proud of this crown Jack made for me I wore it all the way home. A non-english speaking construction worker with a wide toothless grin called me ‘Diana’. I regally gave him a royal wave back.

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The Master Cleanse

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I’ve been talking about this fast for some time with my sister. She swears by it. I take her advice with a grain of salt because in the past she has done a lot of different diets like mostly Vegetarian and the Aitken’s Diet which sounds… well… nasty really… and now she’s following a more Macrobiotic Diet. She’s on a major food and health journey.

However, when I saw her last year she had just come off the cleanse and she looked fabulous. And more importantly she seemed to eat a lot better, with a lot more consciousness.

So, after a particularly naughty weekend of two kids birthdays both complete with cake, one of which I took the leftover fried and cheesy bar food home from AND a visit to a cupcake shop ALL IN ONE WEEKEND, I decided it was time to clean out the system. My sister did say it would reset me and make me think about what I was eating.

The Master Cleanse suggests 10 days but I did the cleanse for only 3. On the 4th I was back to solids.

I did feel better and had more energy, one of those days I ran 30 minutes behind a stroller in 92 degree weather. No problem.

I also never felt that hungry. Anytime I started to feel hunger I just drank more lemonade.

In total I lost 7 pounds. I’m back to my WEDDING WEIGHT, baby! Of course, after two kids your wedding weight is a bit different. In a cruel twist of redistribution fate my boobs got smaller and my feet got bigger.

WEDDING WEIGHT, sort of...

I’m curious to see if I gain it all back. I guess it depends if I can keep mindful about what I put in my body or not. Stay tuned….

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Turning Points

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In the typical day of the stay at home mom, you never know what you are going to get. Sometimes it’s best to just step out of the way and let whatever happens happen. It’s days like that when you really get a chance to see your kids for who they are. Today was a rainy afternoon with nothing to do and no play dates. I was a bit nervous how an afternoon in the house would play out, but I tried it anyway. Some afternoons the boys spend the entire time fighting over the same toy, some afternoons they ignore each other, but lately I’ve noticed a change. They are starting to play with each other. Since my sister is one of my best friends, when I see stuff like this it make me happy and weepy at the same time. But instead of cry, I did what I always to – get the camera out!

Hugging in the Hallway

Growing up is a funny thing. It’s gradual at first, then, after a while it becomes second nature. If you aren’t careful you might just miss the change.

Jack Trying to Teach Ben How to Give a Kiss

There is definitely a new maturity in both kids. Jack is nicer and more empathic to Ben, and Ben actually realizes he has a older brother and by the laws of nature he must spend the next 15 or so years of his life chasing after him and looking up to him.

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Summer is here!

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Chicago is in a heat wave right now. Temperatures are in the 90s! When I picked Jack up from school yesterday, I realized they had NO AIR CONDITIONING! Perhaps it’s not a shock to people from this area but as a native born Floridian it’s shocking.

So when I saw temperatures in the 90s again today, I decided I couldn’t bear to send him there to suffer in the heat. Seeing his ruddy little cheeks at pick up yesterday made me feel terrible.

Instead we did the only thing you can do when it’s sunny and hot out – go to a park with a water element.

I jogged them over to Fellger Park, also managing a nice 30 minute run for myself.

We got a lot of dirty looks for bringing these!

It took Jack a while to get into the action but Ben ran right for the water without any fear…

Water!

Finally we ended the afternoon with the best part about a hot summers day, ice cream!

Ice Cream with Connor and Oscar

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Generation Shifts

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I find it hard to believe how much we’ve changed as parents since the last generation raised us.

Everything is different.

They didn’t breast feed. We do.

They slept us on the tummy, we sleep our kids on their backs.

They spanked, we do time outs.

Sometimes when I’ve been a particularly lax parent that day I wonder if that is the day they will remember I screwed them up for life.

It also makes me wonder what the next generation will consider bad parenting that we considered the norm.

As I buy my organic produce, dutifully unplug my cell phone charger when not in use, and drink from my BPA free reusable water bottle at the gym, I know somewhere in the back of my mind it’s doing nothing compared to the harm of all those disposable diapers. I know it’s bad but it’s just soooo much easier. And I know firsthand, I did cloth diapers the first time around. I’m just sure I’m going to get scolded in 30 years for that.

I’m also hoping the ‘cry it out’ method will start to get a bad rep. I’m absolutely hate using it! For Ben’s naps I walk him around in a stroller until he falls asleep instead of listening to the crying. There must be a better way. If only co-sleeping was acceptable in my generation, I’m sure I would have done it. Wouldn’t it be nice to transform one room in your house for a sleep room where everyone slept? Maybe the kids would never wake you up in the middle of the night? Or if they did they would roll over, see their entire family there then rest comfortably? Or maybe it would backfire? They would still wake you up AND all their siblings?

One thing I will say since I’ve become a parent is how much more I appreciate my own parents. How much more understanding I have about the things they did or didn’t do. So maybe, just maybe I have a chance.

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Are $3.75 cupcakes worth it?

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I’m not saying we are experts in the culinary dessert world of Chicago. How could we be when Chicago rated as the 22nd fattest city in the America, according to Men’s Health?

Having said that, we do love our desserts. When I was pregnant we made the rounds and since we have had kids we have passed our knowledge down liberally.

Today we took them to Molly\’s Cupcakes. Their specialty is adding even more naughty to the cupcake by stuffing the cake bit of the cupcake with filling. Ben got the Cookie Monster, Jack the Cupcake Battered Filled one and I split the Boston Creme with my husband. I think I was falsely bolstered by all the skinny people in there at the time. I’m now thinking they were either from out of town or puking in the bathroom later.

What, you've never seen a frosting mustache before?

I must admit the swings instead of stools next to the bar, the sprinkle bar and the free use of board games was a great bonus.

Any more in there?

But I’m still not sure about the $3.75 price. Having said that, I don’t think most people agree. As you can see in the background, the seating area was filled of boxes full of orders for the day.

 

 

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The Third Child

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I always tell people that my husband and I have a very traditional marriage. He works, I stay at home, he carries the heavy furniture, I cook.

But in truth I think that if a couple from the 1950s looked at our marriage, really looked at it, they would beg to differ.

There are small things, like the fact that Adam has a better sense of style than I do, or that I can put a piece of IKEA furniture together a lot more effectively than he can. Certainly the fact that we can openly admit our opposite sex tendencies is a modern thing in itself.

I think the biggest thing that differs in our ‘traditional’ marriage is how many kids we want. He is pushing for 3 and I am still trying to figure out how to juggle 2.

I am so much more inattentive now that I’m a juggler. If my kids are playing in different areas of the park, one can only be watched from a distance. I certainly can’t hear and discipline the name calling, not sharing, and teasing I am sure is happening. But I’m too busy trying to keep my youngest from eating sand, running into a swinging kid, or falling off a play structure.

I am also way less cleanly. With Jack I would dutifully sweep the floors 3 times a day. When Ben came along the floor was lucky to get swept once a day. That old goldfish that I find laying on the floor? It doesn’t get thrown out, it gets eaten. Who has time to get up and throw something out?!

I am also a model of efficiency. A work out for me is also a jog to the park for the kids, while eating their breakfast too!

Ben will be 2 in July. Will I ever feel ready for a third? And if I am, how much more neglectful will I be? Will DCFS find out and take them away?

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