It was a week of settling back into routine after spring break. Monday morning was rough for everyone.
This is a pic of the kids watching Octonauts for the first time. Steven was completely mesmerized. The kids would watch TV allllllllllll day long if we let them.
Bedtime wrestling with Jason. No one does it like Daddy!
Tuesday teased us and it was just warm enough for a trip to the playground. There’s snow on the ground right now and it snowed at least twice last week so it was short lived.
Amaya is still hung up on sleeveless dresses and tights. I think I know what she’s going to need for spring.
I was trying to do her hair and realized it was greasy. I asked her if she put lotion in her hair and she said, “No. I put it on my face and it got in my hair.” She also asked for 5 clips. I pick my battles at 7am.
How long does she look here?!?!
Oh, Wednesday morning. We have a new Wednesday routine where I’m taking the kids to work so that I can have one day/week to work late. This was our first day running the new program. I should have known that the universe wouldn’t make it easy.
I gave the kids crackers and peanut butter for breakfast because crackers for breakfast are a treat and I was feeling generous. Everyone started with 6. While Sammy was counting his out of the package, Steven started counting his own. Now I know it’s suuuuper annoying and distracting to have someone count over you. I try to do it to my mom whenever she’s counting spoonfuls of coffee at night for the morning coffee. It’s doesn’t take much to throw you off. But Sammy was totally thrown by it and got pissed. In anger, he dumped half the packet of crackers on the floor. Because of that, I finished counting out his last three crackers and that’s when all hell broke loose. “I wanted to take my own crackers!!!” He smashed them up to little pieces and was inconsolable.
I got lucky because right about when I was out of patience, Jason came down and I got to escape to get ready for work while he played good cop.
Everyone was recovered by the time we got to school, though once Jason left for work it was Steven who started dragging his feet. This is why I have my own personal start chart for the mornings. A star for mommy if I can stay calm in the face of whatever is thrown at me. (Negative 17 million stars for me last Wednesday!)
Racing to get to their classroom before I do!
Now racing back to their hiding spot!
Off the go! The hiding spot is behind that wood cabinet. They think it’s hysterical.
Costumes are coming in and next weekend is the dance recital photo shoot. One more way to milk me for money that I will gladly hand over if the photographer gets a great shot of Steven, Sammy and Amaya together in their dance recital costumes. It’s really too much to think about.
Next dress! This one is so cute! I hope I can get her to wear it again.
This is the kind of 12:30pm photo I get from Megan when one of the kids is having a rough day after school. I think Sammy wanted something he couldn’t have. As it goes…
It’s so interesting to watch Steven create. Here he was gluing two pieces of yellow paper between two pieces of brown paper to make a grilled cheese sandwich.
Now he’s making a toilet paper roll into a robot. “Bee boop bee boop.”
Finally Friday. But the morning had it’s own challenges.
Here, Sammy is melting down because I dared to close his sandwich and Steven is telling me that I don’t know anything.
I’m sure some day they’ll ask why I take pictures in moments like this but, really, what else is there to do when you can’t make sandwiches and don’t know anything?
Amaya and Steven eventually asked for their headphones so they didn’t have to listen to Sammy scream and Sammy asked for his because he didn’t want to hear anyone talk. 🙂
Megan came down with a stomach bug on Friday morning so added to the chaos was figuring out child care. Grandma Sunshine came to the rescue (yay!!) and was able to spend the afternoon with SSA but I was on board to pick them up at school and bring them back to my house.
This was Steven’s face when I showed up on the playground to get them. All joy! What a great mom moment. He came down from the play structure and ran over to the sandbox – “Sammy! Mommy is here!!” <3 <3 <3
Happy Sammy! The boys kept running in circles, they were so excited. Steven was yelling, “I don’t know why I can’t stop running!” And he made sure all of the teachers knew his mommy was there to pick them up. Where’s Amaya? Playing it coy. She needed to see how this was going to play out before she got excited.
Thank you, Grandma Sunshine!!!!
Saturday morning Steven opted for waffles instead of playroom pancakes. Before he would eat, he had to get this set up perfectly inside the tent.
Our morning activity was a school friend’s birthday at Pump It Up. Everyone was excited to celebrate Emily’s birthday. We had some work to do before the party, though, because Sammy was insistent that he wear this dress. I told him it wasn’t good to wear dresses to jump in so he showed me how nice the dress looks when you jump. He really, really wanted to wear it. I spent most of the morning struggling with what to do. I want them to be free 4 year olds. Why can Amaya wear the boys’ clothes without question but they can’t wear hers? Is it such a negative for a boy to be seen as feminine while, at the same time, we are telling our girls they can be whoever they want? I wanted to be the mom who could just say “fuck it” and send him to the party in the dress. But I’m not. Not quite. I’ve let them wear dresses to school and to travel but this felt different in a way I can’t quite explain and still struggle with. In the end, the compromise was that Amaya and Sammy both changed out of their dresses (and I had to give Amaya a little blush on her cheeks as a bribe to do it). Once the change was made Sammy seemed fine but part of me still wonders about whether or not we made the right decision.
SSA are not the kind of kids who rush into bounce houses. They’re cautious and a little reluctant. Sammy and Amaya were able to quickly find some spaces they were comfortable with, though, which made me happy to see.
Steven was not into it. Even with me inside the bounce house he really didn’t want any part of it.
He found the toddler area and was very content with this little problem solving toy on the wall.
In fact, all three kids spent a nice amount of time in here between other activities.
Air hockey was a HUGE hit!
Steven, showing Sammy and Amaya they way out. 🙂
Steven finally found his jam with this basketball game. Go Bobes!!
And Sammy wrapped up playtime going down one of the BIG slides! Go Bubba!!
It was a fun morning, which led to a fun afternoon & evening at the CIRCUS!!
First, Steven read his first word in the wild! He asked why this sign said “No”. It’s a start!!
The Shrine Circus was right around the block from us at Suburban Showplace (where we go to Motor City Comic Con) and we pass the tents every day on the way to school. On Friday, on our way home, the kids did the heavy sell and it wasn’t hard to convince us to check it out.
We’re ready!
Steven, Sammy and Amaya were mesmerized. It was so cool to watch them watch the performances.
Two guys on bicycles supporting a woman on a pole who’s sitting on a chair. Madness.
Amaya had a 103 fever last night and complained of a sore throat so Jason took her to urgent care this morning to be sure it wasn’t strep. Of course by the time she got there she had no measurable fever but better safe than sorry.
In the meantime, the boys and I were the only ones who braved the April ice storm to go to yoga so we had a private lesson! That meant we all go to try inversions. Steven and Sammy were soooooo cute.
Steven looks focused here but he spent about 3/4 of the class running around doing his own thing lol. Sammy, however, was completely focused and did every single pose. Also soooooo cute.
I wrapped up my weekend at a screening of I Am Evidence. It’s a documentary about the rape kit backlog, with much of the narrative taking place in Detroit. It was powerful, infuriating, discouraging and hopeful. I attended with the friends I made working on Detroit’s backlog crisis, which was particularly special. After the screening, Prosecutor Worthy, Mariska Hargitay, the directors and three survivors took the stage for a panel discussion. It was such a powerful night. The documentary airs on HBO starting tomorrow night (4/16) at 8pm ET.
That’s it for this week! Have a great one!