Mommathon

Don't start negotiating move-in dates and have us get a bid from a contractor so he can do some painting if you have not even been approved for a loan that is large enough to purchase our house! We waited for a phone call all weekend saying there was a contract to sign when it turns out that the loan they had been approved for was $30,000 less than the asking price of our house. GRRRRR!

This is a quick read and a fun look back at growing up in the 80's only with a twist. The twist is that the writer grew up in the 80's and lived through Madonna, Cyndi Lauper and Martha Quinn, but she was a Vietnamese refugee who had been plunked down in Michigan with her father, her sister, her grandmother and not long after, her Mexican-American mother and step-sister.

I love that school starts at 8:35. That gives us plenty of time in the morning to get out the door. I hate feeling rushed, especially in the morning. It is just not a good way to start the day. The kids have time to eat breakfast, get dressed, etc. without me harping on them every five minutes to hurry up. Liam even has time to do his chores in the morning. It will be even better after we move because we will live even closer and won't have to drive as far to get to school.

You have to make a lot of decisions as a parent. I think we made a great one this week. Colm is SO excited about going to school now that he is going to be in Ms. Jan's class. He absolutely did not want to go to school a week ago. Now he is mad that he has to wait until September for school to start. Ms. Jan let us come take a sneak peek at her class today in an attempt to get Colm excited about school...it worked! What three year old doesn't love Ms. Jan? I think she puts a spell on them. While eating his lunch today Colm told me he loved her. Already? Whatever, as long as you want to go to school. I think this has also had a positive effect on his potty issues. He wore his big boy pants all afternoon and evening and is sleeping in them right now. He did not have an accident the entire time! He knew he had to be potty trained for Montessori. So, he solved that problem by not doing it. If I don't use the potty then I can't go to Montessori. Now that that problem is solved, he can use the potty. It may be a coincidence, but I don't think so. Smartypants!

All of the sudden Liam gives a hoot about what he is wearing. When did this happen? He is especially picky about his shoes. He has completely grown out of his tennies that we bought last spring. I took him shopping and we found a pair that he likes. No problem. I decided he might need another pair. The kid only has a pair of sandals and a pair of tennies. One more wouldn't hurt. Okay, maybe it could. He doesn't like any pair of shoes anywhere on the planet Earth. He just turns up his nose...until tonight. God bless Zappos.com. We found a pair that is passable and, not that we need it, they have free overnight delivery and free returns. How cool is that?

There is a new source of stress in our house...getting the kids to bed on time, actually Liam. He has always gone to bed at a reasonable time, but now I feel like he has to be in bed by 8, at the lastest 8:15. He has got to get his rest for school the next day. If we have absolutely nowhere to go after school, we don't get home until after 4. If we have violin or something else to do, then it really cuts our night short. We have to eat dinner in there somewhere. There's also baths to take, violin to practice and stories to be read. There is no time to do anything else. We wanted to go look at the house tonight after dinner because they painted the inside today. It was this big decision. Do we have time? Will we be back in time to get everyone to bed on time?

On a related note... Colm is now sleeping with his light on. It all started a couple of nights ago when we had a big thunder/windstorm. Colm DOES NOT like thunder. He doesn't cry, but it does scare him. That was the first night the lights went on. He doesn't fret if you turn them off, either. He will just get out of bed and turn them back on after you leave. I turned them off last night before I went to bed at about 11. When I woke up this morning they were on. Sometime in the middle of the night he got up and turned them back on. Stinker.

Well, he's not potty trained, even remotely, and after a lengthy discussion with his teacher, he will not be attending Montessori...and you know what, I am so happy about it. He will get to go to Liam's old preschool now and have the teacher Liam had when he was three. She is the best teacher EVER! We can also go to Kindermusik, playgroup and storytime at the library now and do other fun things together that we would not have been able to do otherwise. I realize now how close I was to shipping him off to school too early. He would have been gone every day. I am so happy. Every time I look at his little dimpled smile it makes me smile even more now. I find myself hugging and squeezing him more, too. He's my baby and I get to hold onto him a little bit longer now.