Robin: Did you know food gives you energy? See? That's why I'm not tired anymore. (Robin reasoning why he should not take a nap.)
Linus: I haven't shaved in 9 and half years. I've got a lot of hair on my face.
Robin: You snapdoodle! (meant as an insult)
Linus: I'm a loser.
Robin: No you're not. You're with me. You're a winner.
Eileen: We love you more than sausage.
Me: Thanks. Glad I rank above meat.
The kids and I had a four day weekend. Thank you to the brave men and women who gave their lives in service of our country. We had an additional day off for meeting our school fundraising goal. In anticipation of the long weekend, I made exactly zero plans.
Friday
I slept in past 7 am. We had screen time. Kids played. Robin could not be convinced to put on clothes. Linus even started to teach Eileen how to play chess.
Later in the day the kids and I ran errands and visited our baby friend, Arielle. Linus has been longing to hold Arielle. She hasn't been the strongest baby, but now she is almost two months old and doing awesome. We went ahead and let Linus hold her. He was in heaven.
Linus played baby/brain development games with her like Itsy Bitsy Spider, rubbing "peanut butter and jelly" on her feet, and playing "shoe a little horse." We brought over some of our old board books for Arielle. Linus read her the book, "Little Pea." Robin decided he needed to read to her as well and grabbed "Owl Babies." Robin was so sweet, trying to show Arielle the pictures at the same time. Eileen preferred to look at Arielle from a distance. Arielle loved it when Linus sang her "Golden Slumbers" by the Beatles. It was such a sweet moment.
We finished out Friday buying birthday presents for all the upcoming birthdays and soccer practice. Linus tried out for Seattle United the other week and didn't make the cut. I was really impressed with how he handled the disappointment, especially when his friend made it. Instead, Linus resolved to get better at soccer and try out again next year. In the meantime, Linus joined a different soccer club, Shoreline Sports Club. It's no Seattle United, but Linus is already significantly improved.
Before practice in front of giant fallen tree roots.
Saturday
We went to a birthday party at Elevated Sportz. Then I spent the rest of the day doing school work.
Sunday
Linus and Dave were gifted free tickets to the new Han Solo movie (thanks Sally). Robin, Eileen, and I had a playdate with baby Arielle and her uncle, Sid. Sid is in between Robin and Eileen age-wise. We discovered the other week that the three of them play very well together. The kids cheered when I told them we were going to visit Sid.
It was a banner day for Buy Nothing, I scored an awesome trundle daybed for Eileen. In the span of two hours, we had been gifted the bed, picked it up, given away Eileen's old loft bed on buy nothing, and had it picked up. I hated Eileen's loft bed. It was impossible to make and she hid stuff in every crevice. When we pulled the bed away from the well, tissue paper rained down upon the floor. We also found some homework she had hidden....
Monday
I had removed all of Eileen's toys/belongings from her room. She and I then spent part of the morning reorganizing all of her stuff. I convinced her to get rid of some garbage and I snuck some additional garbage away. While she didn't get rid of anything (grrr), it's all organized now which is an improvement.
I spent a lot of time with Eileen this morning. She got to first do the homework she had hidden behind her bed. Then she and I worked on her Social Studies project on Argentina.
After a morning of bleh, I needed to leave the house. It took some cajoling, but I got everyone to leave with me. We went to Meadowdale Beach Park. We'd never been. I had heard about the mile hike down to the beach and had been too intimidated to do it with small children. The only thing intimidating this time was the prospect of whining. We mitigated the whining by promising Dairy Queen to those who did the trip without whining. It actually worked really well. Even Linus, who had been the most resistant to going, admitted it had been a good idea to go there.
It was nice to have four days where I didn't have to set the alarm. I slept better than I have in weeks. I watched movies, read, and knocked things off the to-do list. I love how Eileen's room looks (even if she still has too much stuff). It's just what I needed before heading into the mad dash that is the end of the school year.
I look forward to Mother's Day all year long. Unlike other holidays, I am not in charge of making the magic happen. Normally, I embrace the idea of "nothing" for Mother's Day. That is to say I want to do nothing, be responsible for nothing -- no getting kids dressed, no food prep, no talking to children unless I choose to do so, no responsibility.
In keeping with living my own personal truth, of keeping motherhood real. I share my mixed bag mother's day experience.
First, the Mother's Day Pre-Func. In order to be able to properly enjoy my "day off," I spent Saturday doing the following:
washing bedding for all 5 people plus one additional load of laundry
fold 3+ loads of laundry
make 5 beds with all the newly clean bedding
meal plan and grocery shop for the week
visit with the teen I'm a companion to
Visit my parents, bring them their mail and my mom a birthday/mother's day card. My dad had a heart attack this week (he's okay, got another stent) and my mom is still recovering from knee surgery so my siblings and I are keeping an eye on them. At my parents I vacuum and help them wash their bedding.
make kids clean their rooms
grade two sets of math tests
rsvp for two kid birthday parties and other family calendaring stuff
Today, Mother's Day
6:15 am A small child (Robin) climbs into bed, excited for the day.
6:30 am Another child (Eileen) comes into the room, trying to explain and get me to open a mother's day present. I proclaim to be asleep. She and Robin begin playing and squealing in the room. Dave gets up and takes them downstairs.
8:00 am Breakfast in bed -- croissant, coffee, bacon, and fiber pills. I open presents. Personalized magnets (pretty cool) and a newspaper about me from Eileen. She declares that I am good at my job and she likes it when I take her to the Family Fun Center. Robin gave me a potted plant. I'm surprised it's still alive since it's been wrapped in tissue paper for 3 days.
Linus wins this round. He created a treasure hunt. He even used good handwriting!
Apparently, I'm very bad at clues. I tried Google photos, my Youtube, his Youtube. I was completely wrong. I needed the big ipad (we have a smaller ipad as well). He made me a great video. Take note of his eyes and where he is looking when he says to look for the yellow "scube."
Linus' Mother's Day Treasure Hunt
Inside a yellow box where we keep DVDs. I found my present, a cute little book made out of paper bags. I liked the feature that allowed it to hold slips of paper in addition to the glued-on pages. Linus seems to have the 1980s confused with the 1880s....
I finished out my morning with another cup of coffee, reading the most recent issue of Mathematics in the Middle School, and watching last night's SNL with Amy Schumer.
Normally, at this point I would be headed out to a 90 minute massage. I decided this year I would actually spend my special day with my kids. With the weather predicted to be sunny and in the 80s I thought a trip to Northwest Trek would be perfect -- picnic, outdoors, entertaining.
What was I thinking!?!?!
Linus was not in the mood to cooperate in any form. If you have ever spent time with a moody, stubborn child, then you know what this might look like. After a "fun" 20 minutes, we were all in the car. Eileen whined the entire car ride. Robin did his part by using potty language.
Arriving at Northwest Trek did not help things. The Zipline Obstacle Course was not open for the season yet. This was inexcusable. Linus demanded we go home and refused to stay with the group, including having his picture taken.
Fed up, I took Eileen and Robin off to explore Northwest Trek, leaving Linus to pout. We had a lovely time. Linus eventually changed his mind. He and Dave managed to make it on the tram behind us. After the tram ride, no one wanted to do what I wanted. Eileen and Robin just wanted to play in the the stream at the playground (it IS a really cool playground and stream), however I came for the outdoors and animals. I may have been more than a little annoyed.
We drove home. I napped in the car which definitely improved my mood. We dined at Diamond Knot Brewery. I recently discovered Moscow Mules. Paired with an Thai Peanut Asian Salad, I was feeling very international and much less grumpy. The kids were in better moods too.
Back home I let know Dave know he was in charge of getting the kids bathed and to bed. I reminded him the garbage needed to be taken to the street. Then I retired to my room for the evening.
I know my family loves me. The hardest thing about being a mom sometimes is that you can feel so under-appreciated. You give everything of yourself to make your family healthy and happy. I think the key is to recognize the good things when they happen, even if they don't happen when you want them to. I adore Robin's snuggles and egg hatching. It's hard to remember how much I love the snuggles when they happen at 6 am (or earlier). Linus obviously put a lot of thought into my Mother's Day present. I'm lucky to have creative, capable children. Kids can't be expected to be perfect. It's my job to help them learn how to use a non-whiny voice and regulate their moods. That's part of being a parent.
Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there. I see you. I appreciate you. I know how hard you "mom" all day long. I will never pretend that this is an easy vocation. Just don't judge me next year when I skip the family bonding and head straight to the spa.
