This Isn’t a Museum Showpiece

You know what it’s like when you get something new and are excited about the newness, the perfectness, the cleanness and unblemished state that new thing is in?    You don’t want anything to happen to it to make it “not new” for instance like getting a scratch on your new watch.  I go through this with every new cell phone I’ve ever had.    I’ve also dealt with it with cars.  And we just got a new car…

…a new car we got that’s our family (read children) vehicle.   Children are notorious for making new things not new in no time.    The last family vehicle we purchased was before my son could walk.   Now we have a four-year-old and a five-year-old who are exceptionally mobile and disastrously messy.   So what do we do?    Well, we’ve mitigated it some by saying we’re not eating in the new car.   This was a decision we should have made some time ago (at least for short trips) because children only get about eighty-percent of their food in their mouths.   What doesn’t fall in the seats, on the floors and into cracks you can’t easily clean stick on their hands which then they smear everywhere while they’re busily being children.

So my mantra I try to keep in mind when the little tykes get into the car is, “this isn’t a museum showpiece” because our new car won’t be new forever.  In fact, with two young children in the family, it’s already fast tracked to being “well-used” in short order.

The Big Boy Update:  My son and daughter were having racing games around the house this evening before bed.   After my daughter had gone off to get her pajamas on my son kept the race going, one time dashing by me and saying to no one visible, “hello, Pahmer, you lose.”   Pahmer hasn’t been around for a while, I’m glad he’s still with us though.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  My daughter yelled and screamed at me in the car today.   She’s been doing this a lot lately, using a louder and louder voice when she wants something or doesn’t get what she wants.   I ignored her and her yelling in the car today (I gave her fair warning I didn’t respond to yelling and demands) until she calmed down.    I don’t think it will be the last time I’ll have to do this.

Fitness Update:  I had a second swimming lesson today.  My coach gave me some additional pointers on my freestyle stroke which is going to be helpful.   He also gave me some good advice about using breast stroke as a way to navigate while swimming in open water as it’s hard to look up and around while doing freestyle.  If I can get some level of proficiency swimming with the suggestions he’s given me I think I just might do okay in the swimming portion of the triathlon I’m signed up for in May.