Do the Cookie Dance

I am starting to learn that I should always come home prior to picking up the boys from daycare to make dinner and get the house cleaned up. Because the boys want to eat the second they walk through the door, I find it's easier to have dinner already ready for them. Now that I've learned this, however, I now won't need to put it into practice until August as tomorrow is officially "my" last day of work! I'll probably forget this valuable lesson by the time August rears its ugly head.

Tonight after the boys inhaled their chicken fried rice (I made it), I gave each a cookie. Pure delight. I wonder when we all stop doing the cookie dance when someone gives us a sweet treat. My boys, especially Mason, literally shakes his little bootie when I give him a treat. I'm fairly certain that while I might do the cookie dance in my head when someone gives me a treat, I try to maintain my composure. I wonder how I got from there to here. I remember being a little kid and skipping around the room when my mom would let me have a cookie or even when I'd snatch a cookie without her knowing.

I wonder when we learned not to cry when the treat was "all gone." Tonight when I informed Mason that the cookies were "all gone," he burst into tears. Yes, now when I have a cookie, I might cry inside because it's all over, but again, I have learned, somewhere between my toddler years and my 32nd year, not to cry when the treats are gone.

I'm not complaining. On the contrary. I find something quite precious about this little cookie dance of theirs and how the world is so simple for them that the cookies being gone is their greatest tragedy. I don't want their problems to get bigger and I want them to keep shaking their little tushies when they get are treated to something sweet.

A Fresh Coat of Paint

Our painters finally arrived to paint the house white. After weeks of beige and white (not pretty in our case, I tell ya), it is so nice to look at my house again and not cringe. Now we have to pay for it. Hmmmm.......

Carrier Monkeys

There is a scene in a movie titled "One Fine Day," starring Michelle Pfeifer (playing Melanie) and George Clooney where Melanie's boss looks at her little boy and asks, "Do you know what I think of when I look at him?" Melanie smiles, ready for a compliment that identifies her son as an angel or God's gift to all creation, or something like that. The boss's answers, instead, "Carrier monkey."

I thought of this scene today as I walked into the Urgent Care at Quello Clinic knowing in my heart of hearts that I had pink eye, contracted from none other than my oldest son Hunter, whose pediatrician confirmed his pink eye yesterday! "Why?" I was asking myself. Should I not be exempt from illnesses and ailments like this? Do I not have enough to deal with in a day? I can't say my visit was all bad, though. I got in to see the Urgent Care doctor immediately, which really could be labeled a miracle. Literally. The receptionist was friendly. There was a TV in the waiting room which was tuned to NBC's (I think) show "Doctors" on which the doctors were ironically discussing pink eye with a caller. The doctor on the show was telling the caller, as I filled out my health form, that mothers are more likely to contract pink eye from their children than anyone else! Awesome news for me I guess! The doctor I spoke to also encouraged me to get this sore throat of mine checked out. I guess it's not a good thing when a symptom persists for over a month with no good (or obvious) reason. Another awesome for me!

As I look into the near future, namely my evening with the boys, I know that I will need to battle Hunter to put his eye drops in. I will need to battle Hunter so he'll take his medicine for his zillionth ear infection. I will need to deal with dinnertime, bathtime, storytime, bedtime, and this damn messy house, which just never stays picked up and clean. The one easy part of the evening will be when I put my own eyedrops in, knowing it's the best thing for me. I'm the mom, I should know!

I shall write on a more upbeat topic in the near future.

What I Love about Hunter and Mason

What I Love About Hunter:
1. At his preschool graduation, he yelled across the room to one of his friends, "Hey, look at my mom! Do you see my mom? That's my mom! Do you like my mom?"
2. Hunter's laugh is infectious and his smile is so big and wide it seems like his face might freeze that way! His laughter touches my soul!
3. Hunter gets so excited about birthday parties that he cannot sleep the night before. He knows that his dad's birthday is next (33 is right around the corner), then Mason, and then him again!

What I Love About Mason:
1. Mason says hi to everyone! Mason says bye to everyone! Mason looks everyone in the face.
2. Mason is genuinely thrilled when he sees a plane in the sky. I wish I still carried the same amazement and awe of the workings of the world.
3. Mason can deliver the meanest (and sweetest, all at the same time) glare. He is mastering the temper tantrum. I have to remember in those moments that his emotions are complete and genuine. There is no gray area with little kids.