Kind older lady, "Trish."
Caroline, "How old are you?"
Quickly I said, "Oh, you don't ask people their ages."
Kind older lady, very matter-of-factly, "72."
Caroline, "You look really old."
Me, horrified and in a hushed tone, "Caroline! That's rude! You don't say such things!"
Kind older lady, "Oh, that's okay. She's just being honest. [to Caroline] My mom is 104."
Caroline, pointing to a much older looking lady two carts up, "Is that your mom?"
There were still two ladies in front of our kind older lady, so she and I kept talking as if the above exchange didn't exist, but in my mind we could not get out of the store fast enough. I told Caroline that she is never to tell someone they look old. No one. Ever. She completely does not understand why. You don't have to know why, child, you just don't do it! And the thing was, the lady she said it to didn't look old at all. She was clearly the youngest of the bunch.
Our friend's invited us to their pool one morning. We were supposed to go to the Children's Museum together, but they were working on the water pumps/boat area outside which is one of the favorite attractions for some of our kids, so we postponed that trip. A pool was the next best water place to play. They had a lot of fun. Josiah still loves to dive for rings and squid toys. He does a really good job, but when he is determined to get a ring, he allows nothing to stop him. Even a lack of air. I kept telling him, "If you run out of air, just come back for more. You don't have to force yourself to the bottom of the pool and swallow water." He was a determined little chap. He also got quite cold, so he had to take breaks and warm up his little no-body-fat body. (The rest of us had no trouble maintaining our body temperatures....) Caroline and Henry had fun with their friend. It was a good first swim of the season.
A few days later, we went to a park for a picnic with our CC group. It was our end of year picnic as well as our yearbook signing time. Obviously this is the first yearbook the kids have ever seen and I don't think they understood the whole "signing" bit until a few older kids got it started. All the boys were playing and hanging out together. They even sat at their own picnic table away from the shelter where all the parents and girls were. We love how well they all get along. At one point, I was bringing Henry's drink down to him and I passed Josiah. I noted that he had 4 Oreo cookies in his hand. Fine, I thought. He must have finished his lunch (that I never saw him get because I was with Caroline). Not 5 minutes later, I walked by Josiah again and this time he had 4 Chip's Ahoy cookies in his hand. So, as we leisurely walked by each other, I commented that he was done getting cookies. They all played on the playground, the boys started a game of kickball, and the parents all got to chat. It was a great time. As glad as we are for the break from CC, it'll be sad to not have the mom-talking time again. We are so glad to be back at this CC group. It's just a great fit.
For Mother's Day weekend, (see how I threw an extra day in there), we did what I love. Cleaned the house. We cleaned almost the whole downstairs - toys put away, floors mopped, counters cleared and cleaned, we even did the dreaded dusting. It looked great. The we worked outside, Todd taking down branches and us bundling them up for the garbage men. Another second love - hard work. We were sweaty, sore, and tired by the end, but we got a lot accomplished.
The boys played in the branches before we broke them down to be bundled.
We also got to go out to eat yesterday. Today we got stuffed salmon to bake. Any weekend without cooking is a good one.
On Thumb Sucking Watch:
On the first night that I painted Caroline's nail, I could hear her making noises in the night, noises of disgust and whimperings. She even spit in her bed while sleeping. She came in our room in the morning and said she was going to throw up. She didn't, but it tasted that bad. She said she couldn't suck her thumb because it tasted bad. That's right honey bear. Then we went to the pool and it must have taken all the polish off because she was back to sucking it that evening. Then the next few nights, every time I went in to polish her nail, she was either sucking it or it was under her pillow. Another few nights, I went to bed early and didn't do it. Then last night, I polished it again. She woke up with that bad taste again and came to our bed. But then this afternoon she was sucking it again! Now the game is on. Forget about dabbing her nail. We are painting the mess out of it. We may even paint the skin, too, just for good measure. We are going to break this habit. I'm determined to get it done before her front teeth grow back in.
So that was our week. We have about three more weeks of school, so we're just trying to finish well at this point.
Caroline, "How old are you?"
Quickly I said, "Oh, you don't ask people their ages."
Kind older lady, very matter-of-factly, "72."
Caroline, "You look really old."
Me, horrified and in a hushed tone, "Caroline! That's rude! You don't say such things!"
Kind older lady, "Oh, that's okay. She's just being honest. [to Caroline] My mom is 104."
Caroline, pointing to a much older looking lady two carts up, "Is that your mom?"
There were still two ladies in front of our kind older lady, so she and I kept talking as if the above exchange didn't exist, but in my mind we could not get out of the store fast enough. I told Caroline that she is never to tell someone they look old. No one. Ever. She completely does not understand why. You don't have to know why, child, you just don't do it! And the thing was, the lady she said it to didn't look old at all. She was clearly the youngest of the bunch.
Our friend's invited us to their pool one morning. We were supposed to go to the Children's Museum together, but they were working on the water pumps/boat area outside which is one of the favorite attractions for some of our kids, so we postponed that trip. A pool was the next best water place to play. They had a lot of fun. Josiah still loves to dive for rings and squid toys. He does a really good job, but when he is determined to get a ring, he allows nothing to stop him. Even a lack of air. I kept telling him, "If you run out of air, just come back for more. You don't have to force yourself to the bottom of the pool and swallow water." He was a determined little chap. He also got quite cold, so he had to take breaks and warm up his little no-body-fat body. (The rest of us had no trouble maintaining our body temperatures....) Caroline and Henry had fun with their friend. It was a good first swim of the season.
 |
| The boys climbing the outside of the playground. |
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| The boys all on the see-saw. |
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| Josiah reading the yearbook. |
The boys played in the branches before we broke them down to be bundled.
On Thumb Sucking Watch:
On the first night that I painted Caroline's nail, I could hear her making noises in the night, noises of disgust and whimperings. She even spit in her bed while sleeping. She came in our room in the morning and said she was going to throw up. She didn't, but it tasted that bad. She said she couldn't suck her thumb because it tasted bad. That's right honey bear. Then we went to the pool and it must have taken all the polish off because she was back to sucking it that evening. Then the next few nights, every time I went in to polish her nail, she was either sucking it or it was under her pillow. Another few nights, I went to bed early and didn't do it. Then last night, I polished it again. She woke up with that bad taste again and came to our bed. But then this afternoon she was sucking it again! Now the game is on. Forget about dabbing her nail. We are painting the mess out of it. We may even paint the skin, too, just for good measure. We are going to break this habit. I'm determined to get it done before her front teeth grow back in.
So that was our week. We have about three more weeks of school, so we're just trying to finish well at this point.
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