Raising Z and Lil' C: March 2012

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Mom of a Jedi

Over the last few months, I have been living in a galaxy far, far away and have been mom to a Jedi Knight. My house is filled with books about Star Wars, Star Wars LEGO ships and the talk from Z is 90% Star Wars. I have learned a great deal about what it takes to be the mom of a great Jedi and my son has even led me through classes so that I too can perfect my abilities using the force. It is now my time to share with all of you the important things to remember when raising a young Jedi.

1. Patience and Knowledge--When your young Jedi wants to talk nothing but Star Wars, it can be rather exhausting. I am also being bombarded with questions and riddles so it is important to be up to speed on the different characters and what they are up to (and throw in some Yoda Meditation when you can).

2. Great Engineering Skills--Lego Ships that have been in battle are often in need of repair. It is important to be quick on your feet while fixing these ships because you will often have to distract the two year old at your feet (if you have one) and work in a productive manner that will allow you to complete the rest of your Jedi Mom duties (aka housework).

3. Creative Teaching--Because my young Jedi wants to talk nothing but Star Wars, I try to throw in creative learning experiences. When he wanted to create a Lego Star Wars Store, I had him create a Store Sign, price tags and taught him how to add up totals on his cash register. We have written two books about Star Wars, he created the cast out of paper, we have read many books about Star Wars from the library (and he can read quite a few words in them), we conducted a float or sink experiment using Star Wars LEGOs, he has learned about the instruments in the orchestra and who plays what during the Imperial March and he has written two pieces of Star Wars music for his glockenspiel. Anytime I can throw in a teachable moment, I do.

4. Balance--It is important to stress balance in a young Jedi's life. Trips on the Magic Tree House with Jack and Annie, playing baseball, bird watching, building fairy houses, looking for planets and playing with cars and dinosaurs are important to helping a Jedi lead a balanced life. We have stressed that you can't be thinking about the force all day, everyday and that it is important to lead a full life :)

May the Force Be With All of You!

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Chronicles of a Two Year Old Who Won't Take a Bath

Day One:
My sweet little girl runs to the tub and sings her bath time song, "Bath Time, Bath Time". She gets to the edge of the tub, smiles big at me and as soon as I turn the water on she tears up and runs away. I think she is playing a game with me so I follow her to my room, strip her down and try to get her in the tub with Z. At this point she starts screaming and crying, Z is now crying and her slippery little body is clawing at me to get her out of the tub. Afraid that one of us will be seriously hurt, I pull her out and try to calm her down. She then cowers in the corner of the bathroom, pees all over the floor and then slips in her pee and is covered in urine. I now HAVE to bathe her....I remove the crying Z from the tub and wrestle with my two year old as I try to bathe her as quickly as I can (singing softly the whole time). I take her trembling body out of the tub and look down at myself....I was soaked from head to toe and my back ached.

Day Two:
Scott confesses that he had turned on the shower for fun the last time they were in the tub and perhaps that is why she was afraid. I research bath phobias on the internet and most advise to not force the issue but rather come up with creative solutions.

Day Four:
I create a bath time carnival complete with bubbles, all the bath toys and her baby doll which she has never brought into the tub. More tears, screaming and Scott and I end up washing her hair in the sink and sponge bathing the rest of her.

Day Five:
I buy a new bath visor from Amazon and pray that it will be the solution to our bath time problems.

Day Six:
I invite Lil'C to bathe her doll while I bathe Z. She comes in for a bit and then runs away

Day Seven:
Brainstorm possible bath time solutions with my friend Claire...kitchen sink? big blue bucket in the kitchen? me bathe with her??

Day Eight:
After seeing how awesome the new bath visor worked on Z, she still refused to bathe. She then refused to bathe with mommy so we resorted to another sponge bath and hair wash in the sink :( Next time we will try for the blue bucket.

Anyone have any suggestions??? Z was afraid of the bath about about 10 months and a new toy did the trick. Not so sure that will work in this case. Z was also not as afraid as Lil'C is. Any advice would be most welcome!!

Monday, March 26, 2012

Maple Sugar Weekend

This past weekend was Maple Sugar Weekend in our fair state. A weekend to celebrate all things maple and the people who work hard to make sure that we have delicious maple syrup all year long. We started our celebration with a maple bundt cake that I made for the big family dinner we hosted on Saturday night. Not many people chose this option (they went for my sister's chocolate chip cookies) which was fine with me because there was more for us! We had it for breakfast on Sunday and I have to say that it was DELICIOUS :) It was vegan and free of refined sugars (maple syrup was the only sugar) and so super tasty.

Our celebration of Maple Weekend continued with a trip to the local sugar house. We got up close and personal with the taps, the big boiler, the kids tasted some fine maple syrup treats and mommy bought a big bottle for the family (should last a week ;)). Lil' C went for a maple syrup sundae and Z picked out his own mini bottle of syrup which he had a few spoonfuls of at the sugar house and then came home and enjoyed a lunch of pancakes with syrup from his own little bottle (he also had pancakes for breakfast ;)). The weather may have been cold and dreary but we enjoyed a weekend filled with family, good food and all things MAPLE :)

Happy 1/2 Birthday to my big boy Z!!! I can't believe he is 5 1/2.....we will celebrate later :)

Friday, March 23, 2012

Project Simplify Week Three--Hall Closet

This week was all about a closet or space of clutter. I chose my hall closet and my kitchen workspace (catch all). Unfortunately I do not have a picture of the second but I hope you can imagine LOTS of clutter and disorganization :) The hall closet was packed with winter garb, shoes, workout stuff, coats that no longer fit and handbags filled with CRAP. I am happy to say that the closet is now clean, organized and all handbags have been emptied!

Here is the before closet:

And after:

Here is the after Kitchen Workspace:

Making Memories....

A Week of summer weather, daddy going in late to work one day and the start of our Adventure a Week season....so much fun!

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Summer Fun during our Last Weekend of Winter?!?!?!

The weather in New England (and I guess the whole country) is so unusual at the moment. Most folks are loving the early summer weather and are smiling from ear to ear (Scott says the atmosphere is also super charged because of the recent solar flare which is also making people perky). As for me, it is freaking me out! I am enjoying the sunshine, playing with my kids and getting much needed yardwork done but as my friend Sey says, the rhythm of the year feels off. Three weeks ago we were playing in snow and now my kids are playing with the water table?? I miss the four seasons, I worry about what we are doing to our planet and I wonder what our summer will be like if it is already 80 degrees in March.

Anyway, here are some photos from our very summer like weekend, which was technically our last weekend of Winter!