Party!

Last week I was out of town. Went to "school" (aka a national conference on planned giving - wheee!).

Grandma L came to town to help wrangle, and - lucky! - got to go to a party at Monkey's school.

Here's Monkey sitting with Junebug, listening to Junebug's daddy J read. Monkey is a big fan of J - maybe because he's usually the dad rolling around on the floor being silly!


Here is Monkey with her buddy C, always one of the best dressed girls in class.......hmmmm, I think her mommy must still pick out her clothing! ha

Bodies in motion

Monkey went to a birthday party (in a Sukkah - how fun was that!) the other night.

I tried SO HARD to get a non-blurry photo of the dancing and joyful madness when they played musical chairs. I kept deleting the ones I didn't like.....

And then I realized that the blurry ones were actually better!

Here they are dancing (like pogo sticks):


And here they are playing musical chairs:


I know, I got dizzy too!

That's my little brother, all right!

My (little) brother N and his (gorgeous) wife G live in Boulder, CO with their two impossibly adorable girls.

And, like all modern families, we stay in touch however we can. The best is when texts fly back and forth - often they are the spur of the moment snippets that make you laugh.

True to form, I got to laugh out loud when I got this text from G this past weekend:

*******************
We pulled into the Goodtimes drive-thru today and HP asked where we were. N replied "At the drive-thru." And HP said "At the beer store?" Apparently N has taken H to the drive-thru liquor store more than I was aware.

Nice.
*******************

Now, the part that made me laugh wasn't the fact that Daddy N got busted by HP - no, I laughed because my first thought was - they have drive-through liquor stores? Cool!

Um, yeah. Can you tell who I'm related to?

Solidarity

I have a new mommy friend. She is a lovely, talented woman. And, like many of us, sometimes she struggles with the work-life balance.

We emailed back and forth the other day, and I made her laugh by asking her to leave a bread-crumb trail to wherever she locates "work-life" balance, as my map didn't have that location clearly marked.

Now I have high standards. Yes, you all nod. Fine, I have VERY high standards. I like to joke that I'm not anal, I just have standards (implying that others don't...). Because really, is it too much to expect that I can walk barefoot in my own home without food sticking to the bottom of my feet? I didn't think so.

But sometimes I realize that I am too tough on myself. I know my friends are, too. (tough on themselves, not me, that is!)

Gentle readers, do you think that the mythical creature known as "work-life balance" can be found? Is it really just an elaborate juggling act, keeping the balls in the air long enough to touch - ever so briefly - just one thing at a time? Because from what I've learned lately, multi-tasking slows you down.

Maybe the solution is just being "in the moment" - I know, that's so freaking zen I think I just threw up in my mouth a little bit. Ptooey.

But really, all jokes aside, maybe we should just try to be good at whatever the hell we're doing at that particular moment, and ignore the rest. Ignore the mommy guilt that is egging you on.

SO WHAT if the bed is unmade. No one but your prying neighbors need know. Hell, just buy better blinds so no one can see!

SO WHAT if the kids eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches every day, instead of lovingly prepared gourmet bento-boxes of organically raised whatever. Buy organic bread and soynut butter if you can, and be happy that they'll deign to eat anything at all! (picky toddlers are normal, from what I can tell. who knew! thought mine was just being - well, difficult!)

SO WHAT if the other kids on the bus have cute outfits on. Your kid's private bits are covered in clean clothing? Good enough. Besides, letting them pick out their own clothing encourages independence, leadership, and creativity.

All the mommies (and daddies, this isn't gender specific, although I DO think there is a thumb on the guilt scale for women) together now - raise your fist in the air! United in giving up the guilt? United in enjoying the moment instead of thinking about the kindegarten application-hell you'll be in if your kid doesn't get accepted to pre-k? (that last one's not just me, right?) United in enjoying this process, even if it's messy as hell and these damn kids didn't come with owner manuals? ALL RIGHT THEN!

ALl right then. Solidarity. We're all in this together.

Now, can anyone find that bread crumb trail?

Talent, redux

Each child is as different as a snowflake.

The second time around it is different.

Everything old is new again.

Dear g*d, this again? Seriously?

So, when Jellybean arrived, everyone told me it would be different. That I would be able to rely upon the things I had learned, so yes, it would be easier, but that I shouldn't expect #2 to be the same as #1. That I would need to be patient, and see where Jellybean's talents lie....to not expect her to take after her sister.

Which is why I really had to laugh when, at the library this morning, my friend T watched Jellybean move around and try to climb EVERYTHING in sight and blurted out "oh dear g*d, you got another one?"

Yes, dear reader - I do. I have another monkey.

Jellybean learned how to crawl a mere 6 weeks ago. Three days ago she dragged a chair across the floor at school, stood up on the chair, and then tried to hoist herself into the sink. That same day, she climbed up on top of a table at school, and then - sans support - stood up. (Needless to say she's freaking her teachers out and they are watching her like a hawk)

Yesterday, she was balancing on the stablization bar underneath her highchair. And today? Today she screamed like a banshee (rage and disbelief) when I wouldn't let her balance on her toes on top of a Radio Flyer "bike."

I have packed bandaids and Neosporin in my purse. Again.