Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Sure Signs That Your Kids Are Growing Up

Other than the obvious kids-wearing-pants-that-now-look-like-capris, I've noticed a few things lately:
  • I no longer chuck 3 stain remover sticks in my grocery cart each week.   (yes, you read that right, I used to buy 3 each and every week).  In fact, I don't remember the last time I had to buy a stain stick.  We still use them and I still keep one in each bathroom and in the laundry room but they are lasting a LOT longer.
  • Related to stain stick quantities, I'm not sweeping up as much food from under the chairs.  So if it's not on their clothes and it's not on the floor, it must be going in their bodies!  Wooohooo!  Which must be why their pants are all suddenly too short.  (Sorry boys, you'll have to look like geeks just a bit longer until it's shorts weather).
  • Another household cleaning product I no longer buy in massive quantities is Magic Eraser.  No one draws on the walls anymore, thank goodness.
  • I often find them reading books together rather than bringing one to a grownup.  While this is sweet and has me running for the camera, I hope that we're not totally outsourced as book buddies yet.
  • I can say "get in the car" and they actually go in the garage and do it.  And one of them can buckle his seat belt.  Wow.  The other one might also be able to do it with a bit of practice, but if I show him how to buckle it, that means he would also know how to UNbuckle it and I'm just not willing to go there right now.
  • Ditto when I say "get dressed" or "get undressed." 80% of the time it actually happens and the dirty clothes end up in the hamper.   Except for socks, but hey, every home needs a few socks strewn about to make it look lived in.
  • I almost never have to clean pee off the floor or the wall anymore (aiming takes practice and parental patience).  I only have to wipe the seat half the time.
  • Everybody knows which recycling bin is which.
  • I have help setting the table, putting the groceries away and dusting (Ok, that's not totally honest.  I never dust.  But when we're having company and I notice it needs to be done, I get volunteers).
  • They notice what's on the car radio and now I have to give them equal time.
  • They order for themselves when we go to a restaurant (I only have to translate a bit for P.)
  • We can sit through an entire movie at the theatre.
  • Homework!

Monday, April 13, 2009

Easter Recap

Easter has always been a relatively low-key holiday for us.  We color some eggs, have a egg hunt or two, overdose on marshmallow Peeps (oh wait, that's just me) and look for some signs of spring.  This year was no exception.  We hung out in our pajamas for awhile, took some walks around the neighborhood, engaged in a cut-throat game of hide & seek and generally enjoyed being with each other.  

M. has been anticipating what the Easter Bunny would leave for weeks.  So much so that I had
to remind him that it wasn't like Christmas.  There would be a few candies, a toy or two, some colored eggs and that was it.  He said he knew that, but I was still a bit concerned that he'd be underwhelmed or disappointed.  I resisted the urge to buy more stuff.  (Eek, did I type that out loud?  Cover the eyes of any minor children who might be in the room while you're reading this!)  What I meant to say was we left a nice salad the night before which the Easter Bunny enjoyed tremendously before leaving the parent-approved amount of loot.  And everyone was happy.  


P. pretty much lives in the moment (as far as I can tell anyway) and was more than happy enjoying the Easter videos and books that we got out of storage a few weeks ago.  It's always a happy day when I get to reread The Country Bunny and the Little Gold 
Shoes by Dubose Heyward.  This is the first year that the boys enjoyed it too, rather than just suffering through my enthusiasm. They do like my other favorite, The Golden Egg Book by Margaret Wise Brown.  There's something about that mischevious little bunny pushing the egg with his foot that just speaks to the souls of little boys, you know?  And of course we had to watch It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown.  It's just not a holiday without Charlie Brown.  We're watching it again right now.

We colored eggs twice, once with regular food coloring and once with the usual
Paas egg dyes.  Much to my dismay, both times everything stayed really neat and clean and only one egg cracked (D. did it). Part of me misses the dyed hands, having to repeatedly say don't drink it!, multiple spills and eggs that end up brown inside and out because they have a billion cracks from being literally thrown in every single color.  The first year we dyed eggs the boys were both technicolor marvels and I worried it would never come off.  I'm surprised that I feel nostalgic for chaos.  But the fact that Superman X-Ray Vision Glasses were necessary for egg dying made me feel much better.  Call me crazy.  

We all hid plastic eggs in the house on Saturday and hunted for them Sunday morning.  We're still finding them, which explains why we don't use real eggs.