A Storm, A Storm!

Okay, it's not just a storm, it's a hurricane.   It's done damage south of us and is heading towards our general area.  General meaning that it's a storm and it can change its mind on if it wants to go a bit more to the left or the right.   Regardless though, some weather will be coming our way. 

I do love a good storm, but there's a point where it's too much of a storm.  We live in a sturdy home so I am not overly worried we'll have any dramatic damage.   You never know though; we have solar panels that could be pulled off with the shingles, windows could be broken or worse. 

Typically, for the last half-century or so that I've been alive (okay, that just made me feel very old) we live far enough inland and to the north that most hurricanes have lost significant power by the time they get to us.   But you never know.

School's Out Hooray: My daughter's last day of school before track out was tomorrow, only they canceled school due to the incoming weather.  My son's school was also canceled as well.   They have a three-day weekend.   Well, my daughter has three days plus three weeks off from school.  Good times!

That Sounds Good

My son doesn't like transitions.   Or at least he doesn't like transitions when he's focused on something.  It doesn't matter what the thing is, he could be looking at his collection of very weapony looking sticks in the corner of his room, thinking about my request to please let the dog have a few because she's all out of sticks. 

If my son isn't ready to end that activity and you say it's time to go get the newest video game, meet his YouTube content creator favorite people and get a milkshake on the way, but if he's not ready, you're going to get pushback.  

He knows he's like this, though.   Today his father told him about a symphony event we'll be going to later in the year that features music from movies he loves.   He said these exact words to his father: "Oh, that sounds good. I’m totally fine with it right now, but I’m sure will be cranky about it on the day."  

His father said, "that’s very self-aware of you."

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  My daughter had her father running all over the house to get his birthday presents.   She loves doing the treasure hunt and takes great pleasure in making you go back and forth from room to room, getting as much exercise as possible to earn the "treasure" at the end.

An Apology To The Blog

Dear blog, 

I'm sorry I haven't been giving you the same attention as I used to.   Some days I get to writing my post for the day before it gets late.  When that happens I usually do a fair job of the words here for the day.   That 3D printing thing (I'm sure you've heard about it more than you'd care to by now) takes large swaths of time and when I look up, it's 12:36 AM and I think, "dear me, I'd better write something quickly so I can get to bed."

And that means you don't get the attention you deserve.   I'm always sorry when that happens, but I'm also tired.   You're always so understanding.  Now, about those children...

The Big Boy Update:  Tomorrow is my husband's birthday.  I thought he would have forgotten, but he remembered and had even made him a card in advance.  Good job!

The Tiny Girl Chronicles: My daughter came downstairs and said she had plans for her father's birthday.  Only she wasn't sure what he wanted as a present.  She and I snuck out and got him some things.   She'll do a birthday surprise for him that I'm sure he'll love.   After school, though, I told her.  Mornings are way too hectic and this is a present that takes time to "discover".

When Words Fail

It is really frustrating when there is a word you want to say but it fails you.   It's on the tip of your, well, it's somewhere, but you can't bring it forth.  I don't even think the word was on the tip of my tongue tongith.  I was thinking of a thing I could picture, I could see it vividly.  I could imagine people interacting with the thing.   I could see variations of all manner of this particular thing.   

Only I didn't know what the thing was called. 

I sent a message to someone about the thing I was unable to label properly, dodging the word entirely and using a different way to indicate what I was talking about.   

After I sent the message, I started to walk away and then suddenly I turned around and went to the keyboard to add: ORNAMENTS!

The Big Boy Tiny Girl Mimi Conversations:  My children each took some time to talk to my mother over the past two days.  I was afraid my daughter was going to wear Mimi out.   She was in the tub and decided to lounge in the water, and tell Mimi about simply everything.  My son talked to both Mimi and Gramps today.  It's really nice that they get to talk to their grandparents some.  We all miss seeing them.  

Not My Commitments

My husband is so good at never being upset at anything.  He's supportive, he doesn't complain, he's just an all-around amazingly nice person. Which is why I don't know what to do about this.  We have commitments to a company we're working with.  We need to get work to them through the month.   It's getting later and later every month, and it's not within my control because it's the parts of what we do that my husband does. 

There was a point where I thought he was putting some work off, which was true, but it was because he didn't know what to do.  We figured that out, and things moved quickly.   Currently, we have work that isn't creatively challenging—it's technically challenging.

It's the pieces of the photographic editing that he does, coupled with the very particular photographing that he likes to do.  We're getting down to the wire, and it's late, and I'm not even going to worry about posting social media for Filament Stories until we have some things delivered.  

It's not my personal commitment to the work that needs to get finished, it's my husband's side of things, but we together are delivering the content so I'm going to do what I can to help him get things done.   He has a lot of filming and editing to do with small models on a rotating table. 

Everyday time runs out.  I can't complain about being bored, that's for sure. 

The Big Boy Update:  We let him have screens today.  We only saw him twice when he came to get food.  

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  My daughter is singing a song from Encanto, the movie in choir.  She decided she wanted to see the movie tonight so she watched it and her father got interested and sat down to watch it too.   It's a great movie.  Lots of words that are come fast in some of the songs, but that's Lin-Manuel Miranda for you.   The music was great.  

All in All

All in all, I think my daughter had a good time at Space Camp.  When I asked her if she wanted to go back next year, she said yes.   I also asked if she'd like for her friends locally to attend too, and she said that would be nice.   Their parents were aware of the option but hadn't pursued it like my husband had, watching day after day until registration was open to make sure he got her a spot. 

She made friends and learned a lot of things.  She told me about some of the other attendees who had additional disabilities.  There was one boy she liked a lot that was in a wheelchair.  He could walk, she said, but not very fast and it would take him a long time to catch up with the group, so he used a wheelchair.  He also, "talked funny".  It sounded to me like he had muscular dystrophy from the way she described his talking.   She said he was funny and really nice. 

The one thing that surprised me a little is that she didn't come home excited to be an astronaut or excited about space travel or anything related.  Perhaps she is, and she just hasn't shared those thoughts with us.   She did have a good time.  I'm so glad she had the opportunity.   I liked that I got to spend the time with her going down before and spending the night together before dropping her off. 

The Shoes and The Dog:  My daughter realized she left her crocs at camp.   This was a terribly upsetting thing to her and she was wailing pitifully about it.  Her brother told her to, "grow up" which upset her even more.   I told him to get his shoes on, he was going to walk the dog with me (the neighbor asked if we could walk their dog.)  We got over there after some moaning from my son, who got told to, "grow up" by me which clued him in to why he was being required to do so.   When we arrived we couldn't find Roxy.  My daughter had gone over ahead of use while my son dawdled with his shoes.  Then the two dogs, two quarreling children and I went around the block.  By the time we got home, they had gotten over their anger with each other.   The dogs loved it.   

My Spacer Returns

I am going to write a very fast post right now because I just got word that my daughter and husband have landed and I'm heading out to the airport to pick them up.   

I am very excited to see my daughter.  I missed her more than I expected to.   I can't wait to hear about her week.   I'll have to write an update tomorrow on how her week went. 

The Big Boy Update:  My son did not want to go to his class picnic tonight after school.  He complained very much so, all the way there to the point that I said anything else coming out of his mouth and we'd stay for longer.   We got there, he pouted in the side area, making an art sculpture in the gravel and then kept poking me and giving me looks from time to time when he'd come over, as if to say, "hurry up mom, stop talking to these other parents and teachers so we can go."  I told him I was very disappointed in him when we got in the car.   I really was.   It was an embarrassment. 

Game Time?

My son is currently at a Magic the Gathering after school group at Code Ninjas.   I used to play MTG a lot.  I loved it. It was like Dungeons and Dragons but with cards. You could get all sorts of cards and make your own deck up with a range of cards. You could make your deck smaller or larger and then you played against your friend to see who had the more powerful deck.

 

You could have a large deck that is very powerful, but you get the high cost cards too early when you can’t afford to play them or any other number of things that might make a large deck sound like a good idea when it might be a hindrance.  

A small deck can also be a negative if you don’t have enough of the cards you need to build a large enough opposition to defend against or attack your opponent.   Or, you might have the perfect deck, well balanced in every way, but your opponent has a deck that is built specifically to take advantage of a spell or feature and your deck isn't well equipped to defend against it.

My son is playing using the online version of the game, which is easier, but it lacks some of the direct interaction that you get with the cards.   I ordered a large pack of common cards so he and I could possibly make decks and play together.   I hope he'll want to play with me.   Sometimes doing things with parents is boring or uncool, you know.

The Big Boy Update:  my son got in the car to go to  Code Ninjas and wanted to listen to classic movie music songs in silence.  He loves orchestra music.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles: no more phone calls from my daughter.  Her father leaves to fly down in a few hours.  He gets her in the morning.  I miss her.

A Phone Call

The Camper Returns:  My son got home from his three-day camping trip with his class and other classes at his school, and actually, for the first time in I think ever, he wanted to tell me all about the trip.  Everything they did as a group, the food they ate, the things he liked, and the things his team did.  

I tried to be an active listener and ask questions indicating I was listening and after the second question, he asked if I could just let him tell everything first?   His father came upstairs and listened in as well.   He had thinking questions to do tomorrow on his rest day at home, but he wanted to write the paragraphs tonight instead of tomorrow.   

Tomorrow though, he's going to rest (and play video games.  He has a earned some down time I think,)

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  My daughter called from camp tonight.   She sounded fine, but she also said she wanted to come home.  She had people around her as she was in "the phone room."   I think she was a little homesick.   She didn't cry or sound like she was even close to crying, but we both talked to her until she had to go.  Tomorrow is the last day, and she "graduates" at the party/celebration tomorrow night.  Then we said dad would be getting her the next morning.  One more day.  Just knowing her father was flying in "tomorrow" and would be right near her helped a lot I think.  I hope so.  She said she had to go.  I wasn't ready for her to hang up, but she said goodbye.   Maybe I'm childawaysick.

Absolutely Zero To Report

My husband and I had three long meetings today, one online, one at the house and one on site.  We got home, filmed a video and now I'm going to bed early because my shoulder is very annoyed at me.   

I have absolutely nothing to report about how the children are doing at their respective camps.   They must be having a good time.   That's all you can ask for as a parent who's sent their child off on a trip without you.  

I do miss them, though.  

A Week's Worth of Work

Yesterday at Space Camp, I walked all around the museum grounds, in and out of large indoor and outdoor exhibits.  It's a large space overall.   I noticed at first some bright yellow tape and a bit of foam pool noodle taped on a corner of a display.   And then I saw more of it.   

I looked around and everywhere, all over the campus,
bright tape and pool noodles were protecting blind children from running into things they couldn't see that would hurt.    One person would have had to work for a week solid to get it all put up and I don't know if even that would have been enough time.  

The effort and resources they put into keeping the children safe in just this one way at Space Camp was impressive.  Look at all the locations they've added tape and foam in just these few pictures.

No Tear

My daughter is off to Space Camp!  We fortunately met a counselor as we were waiting to check in who was a mother of one of the attendees.  This was her fourteenth year as a counselor and had answers to everything we needed to know. 

We got my daughter checked in, had her medication and eye drops dropped off at the medical bay and then we all went over to Habitat 2 to put my daughter's things into her “accommodations”.  Everything about the spaces felt like the SciFi implementation of living in space (plus gravity, sun, and grass). 

My daughter was excited, especially about being on the top bunk.  Apparently you have to have a special note to get a bottom bunk because some children can’t climb the ladders to reach the top bunks.  Storage is minimal, and I do mean minimal.  There is a single locker for each child.  Fortunately, my daughter and I found one locker that was double wide and we could lay her suitcase down in it and have it opened for her to get to things.

She went down and got a jumpsuit and then she was off to activities and I was alone, free to check out the space museum and all the interesting things around the area.  I spent several hours looking all around.  I could have stayed for another day.  On my way out, I saw my daughter's group.  I came up quietly and waited for them to stop and asked the counselor if I could say goodbye. 

I tapped my daughter on the shoulder and said I wanted a hug.  She hugged me very tightly for a minute, and asked me not to go, but then she wanted to introduce me to her friends.  She hugged me one more time and then we said our, I love you’s and then I left.  She was talking with her friends as I walked off.  

She seemed like she was having a good time.  I hope she loves the whole week.  

Ever So Shy

My daughter and I flew to Huntsville, Alabama today for her week at Space Camp.  She is not nervous, she is not hesitant, and she is definitely not shy.  She boldly introduced herself to drivers of Uber, people sitting next to us, random people she heard talking, the lady checking us into the hotel, and the lady who helped her find the ice machine and delivered her back to our room. 

She seems excited, so much so that she's disappointed I won’t go explore the hotel with her right now as I write this post.  I think she's going to just fine at Space Camp.

The Big Boy Update:  my daughter wanted to call and tell her father about our trip so far.  I asked to speak to my son.  I got a distracted because he's playing video games, “hi mom”.  It's different when he's away and misses us.  

The Messy Girl Chronicles:  I don’t know how she finds things.  She drops things anywhere like socks and belongings.  Soon enough, like tomorrow, there won’t be anyone to tell her where her things are.  I wonder if she'll come home a little tidier?

Off to Camp

My daughter is ready to go to camp tomorrow.  She had a stomach ache tonight, and after talking to her about it for a bit we all agreed it might be nerves.   

She told me in the car heading to school this morning she wasn't nervous about anything, but it is a big trip, and the first time she'll be without parents or grandparents for this long.  

I'm excited for her. 

The Big Boy Update:  My son heads off to a three-day school camping/learning trip.   This should have been something he's done for several years, but with COVID-19, now in 2022, he missed out.   They're going to try and make up for all the fun they missed on this trip.   He's looking forward to it. 

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  "I'll do it later" is my daughter's favorite phrase, I think.   Especially when there is no later to do the thing and the final hour is nigh.   

Printers Down!

Our friends are in town visiting and are staying in the guest room, which is where the timelapse printer and the large format printer.   So I've got a night off.  

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  My daughter hung upside down on the playground equipment today, and her eye hurt for some strange reason.   It scared her, and we ended up bringing her home early.  After some investigations and questions and an email to her doctor, it likely was a mote of dirt in her eye which is something she hadn't experienced before.  Or so that is the thought.  Hopefully, it's nothing because in less than two days she goes to Space Camp.

The Big Boy Update:  My son was very happy to have Richard and Alice visiting.  He did his best to impress them.  

Crash Bom

I had moved the step stool away from the printer rack in preparation for our friends coming to town tomorrow and had to pull down the cover.  I stepped up on the first shelf, which is strong enough to support me, but my hand slipped, and I fell backward.

I twisted my ankle, but I know how that goes, so I collapsed before putting my full weight on my ankle.  That caused two things to happen at once: I landed on my right wrist, and my low back slammed into the corner bit of the bed frame.  

I just lay on the floor for a few minutes, making sure I was okay.   I go up, and everything was fine, but my back started seizing up over the next fifteen minutes because I'd likely knocked my pelvis or lower back out of alignment pretty badly with the fall. 

I went to the chiropractor, and he put things back in their normally moving positions and things calmed down fairly quickly, but I'm sore still.   I should have gone around to the other room and brought the step stool back in, but it was one little cloth, and I thought I could grab it.   I didn't bank on my clumsiness.

The Monopoly Game Continues:  We continued our Monopoly game tonight with some additional rules.   There was a very large pot that grew from the "guess the number between 1-20 and win the pot" at Free Parking.  We paused when my husband won the big pot.  I don't know how we're going to catch up to him now.  Maybe there will be some additional new rules when we reconvene from our Banker and Game Manager role that my son is playing as.   He loves the power.

Family Monopoly

My children got together tonight to make their very own version of Monopoly up for family game night.   We were told to meet in The Game and Lounge Room upstairs in ten minutes for the game to commence. 

The Game and Lounge Room sounds very grand but it is a small space off my son's room that was going to be one of those rooms in a house that has a square tiny door that you have to have for code when the space inside is larger than a certain number of square feet.  In this case, there was enough height to make it into a little room with a real door. 

Years later, the children renamed it.  Games do take place there but I don't think a lot of lounging does.   Tonight I lounged in the chair that was in our living room until we got new furniture.  My daughter and husband were on either side of me and the banker, who was not playing the game because his role was pivotal, was bouncing around the rest of the room. 

The game was similar to most Monopoly games but they'd added some interesting twists.  When you landed on a railroad you couldn't buy it, but you could elect to warp to the railroad directly across the board.   It did not count towards passing go, but it was a faster way to move around the board.   At the beginning of the game you could take the normal starting money of fifteen hundred dollars or you could take only half, and then your passing Go money would increase to three hundred dollars.  

There were Free Parking rules too.  Every time you passed or landed on it you would guess a number the banker was thinking of from one to twenty.  You called out your number and if you were correct you got the pot, if you didn't get the number another hundred dollars was added from the bank and play continued.  The more numbers guessed, the less numbers there were so your chances increased. 

The banker could create challenges at any time.   They could have a mystery result.  For instance, my son told his father who had successfully landed on Water Works that if he chose to buy it all rent on any owned properties was twenty dollars higher.  However you could lose ownership of the property.  The next person who landed on Water Works could choose to buy it, but it cost fifty dollars more than the last owner paid.   

Another challenge turned out to have a house as the reward. You could put it on any owned property, even if you didn't have all of the group and you could collect rent for one house.  The banker had more challenges, but at this point it was late and we had to all go to bed. 

The game was very orderly and well thought out.   I'm looking forward to what happens next.   It's made the game of Monopoly more exiting. 

Empanelment

Of all the words I wish spellcheck would catch and correct, there are many that go uncorrected with me trying again and again, variation upon variation until I give up and type the word into Google and the answer immediately comes up without a second try. 

What surprised me was the word 'empanelment' was offered up with only five letters today.   Empanelment, a word I have never had the occasion to use as well as a word I only guessed at the meaning of when my friend told me he had been released, because they didn't have a need for empanelment of him today. 

I was able to guess the meaning because he told me he had been called to Jury Service and was heading to the office downtown.   Jury Service is a nicer way to say Jury Duty, that being the way it is referred to in the United States.  My friend was in Australia.  

A new word learned (that spellcheck seemed to be well aware of) and a lesson about to be explained on the ride to school...

The Jury Duty Discussion:  I talked to my children about empanelment on the ride to school and what Jury Duty was and that one day they, too, might be called upon to serve.  I spoke of my experience as a juror and how it was interesting to see the legal process in action and not just what was portrayed in television and movies. 

The Halloween Costume Selection

A Halloween costume catalog came in the mail yesterday.   This company makes quality costumes, and my daughter was excited to pick out one for this year.  

This involves a lot of describing costumes and doing so in a way that will help if I think my daughter might like the sound of a costume but will ultimately be disappointed by it when it arrives.  This year there is the added challenge that the costume must travel well, be comfortable for walking around for hours, and can't have a mask or wings. 

This is because she is going with her father to Disney over her track out while I stay here with our son, who is still in school.  My son is going on a ski trip later in the year that my daughter isn't going to, and they both understand their trips are separate special times for each of them.  

One of the days they will be at Disney, they're going to dress up for some of the time.  The requirement is that there be no masks or wings.  That ruled out a lot of the costumes, although some of the ones with wings would look just as nice without them.  

I described, and described, and then when she had narrowed things down, we went to the website, and all but one was sold out currently.  They might be back in stock before her trip, but she wanted to be sure.  She eventually picked a Raven costume which is all black, although there is a lot of adornment.  I hope she will be excited about it.  It is lovely, but it's all about perception. 

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  My daughter is very interested in color.  Even though she can't see it, the colors of a Halloween costume did make or break her interest in some of them.   I was surprised she picked the all-black Raven costume, given how much she was interested in their colors. 

The Big Boy Tires:  My son had to clean up some things today, and he was SO VERY TIRED, he told me. He just couldn't manage to take a thing or two here or there and start his laundry.   What he seemed to have boundless energy for though was playing video games.  

More Glasses

I just got in a collection of glasses for my daughter.   I had her open them all up and try them on.   They're all pretty much the same super flexible,  soft glasses that look good on her which means they feel about the same all around to her. 

But there are lots of colors.  The colors are for us, the sighted.   For some reason she still likes colors, even though she can't see them at all.   She is a marvel to me. 

The Fighting Children:  This morning there was a row.  My son was calling my daughter, "a blind brat" which wasn't very nice.  This was because she threw a book at his head—and hitting him—to try and wake him up.   This enraged him and a fight ensued.   I took away things they cared about and said to work it out civilly and I would consider reinstating the things I took away.   In ten minutes they were the best of friends again.   Is it too much to ask for kindness?

Six O'clock is Too Early For Bed

I lay down at about six o'clock yesterday and didn't wake up until morning.   Which is crazy.   This is yesterday's blog post.  Pretend I wrote it yesterday and no one will know.  Thanks!

She Made It

My daughter wanted the top prize for her school fundraising drive.   There are prizes, which means a non-trivial portion of the money raised goes back to the children.  My son was rather upset by this.  And I agree that in an ideal situation the money would be raised and it all would go to the school. 

She called some people but ran out of energy calling and didn't quite get to everyone on her list.  But she wanted to make it to the top tier, so she decided to donate her own money to make it.   She does want to help her school, but if there were no prizes, she wouldn't have raised nearly the same amount because it wouldn't have been something she cared much about. 

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  Glasses.   She has lots.  I've bought her many, but she seems to always be missing them.   Fortunately, they aren't prescription glasses; some of them are even from the dollar store, which makes it not a terrible thing that she leaves them everywhere. 

The Big Boy Update:  My son told me tonight while I was tucking him in all about a special move in a video game from a game system I was playing when I was in my 20s.  I asked if he wanted to bring our Game Cube down and play the game for real.   He said we didn't have the particular game.  I suggested we could get it on eBay possibly.   The game must be a collectible because it's around sixty dollars now.  My son said he didn't actually want to play, he just liked the special moves. 

Villainous

We just got done playing the most complicated, convoluted game with my son call Villainous.   It has superheroes and villains (of course), and your goal is to complete your missions before anyone else. 

My hope had been that I could work as a team with my daughter.   Each team has entirely different goals, actions, moves, you name it.  Each person plays their own game pretty much.   The rules are the same for any particular action, like playing a hero or attacking or vanquishing, but beyond that, there are vastly different ways each character is played. 

My daughter tried to follow along for the first five minutes and then gave up.   I gave her the Halloween pajamas I impulse bought at Walmart today when I went to buy bins.  

The Big Boy Instructions:  My son wants to tell you how to play the game, but he gets caught up in one small segment, and we don't understand the overview, so he confuses us more.  But he tries to explain, and he really wants to help us understand.  I felt bad that we had to explain in a different way, and his sister was not interested in anything he had to say about rules. 

The TIny Girl Teammate:  I wish the game could have been something my daughter could have participated in.  As it was, I was barely holding on figuring out what to do myself.   We need to play something she's good at next time, like Mexican Train.  She's great at that.  

Magazine Photos

Today, my mother-in-law was photographed with my son and daughter for a magazine she's going to be featured in.   The magazine had a professional photographer come to our house after the children were home from school so she could take pictures of the three of them.   It was all very exciting. 

Exciting, that is, to the adults.  My children weren't overly excited about getting dressed up in nicer clothing and standing around to have their picture taken.   But they did their best, I hope, I stayed out of the way as I wasn't one of the subjects because the article was featuring my mother-in-law for the stories she wrote for the children during COVID-19 lockdown. 

Stories, I might add, that she continues writing.  Her writing has grown with her and the children as they've aged.   The stories are more mature and have more involved plots now that the children have more specific interests. 

Her stories are fun to hear at any age.   We're looking forward to having a world-famous Nana soon!

The Big Boy Tiny Girl Dress Up:  My son put on his favorite golf-style shirt and some slacks and even wanted to get his hair looking nice (something that never happens for us!)  My daughter wanted to put on her ball gown from the Braille Challenge.  We told her that might be overdoing it by just a bit.   I got a nice dress that was something she and I could share that had big pearls on it (not real, my daughter was sad to hear).   I cringed as I came into the kitchen to see her eating Spathettios with an expensive dress on and quickly tucked a cloth under her neck.   They both looked very nice for the photos.   

Proper Tucking

My son has been wanting to be "tucked" at night.   This must be a tradition he and his father started because he will come to the basement at night and say, "dad, will you come tuck me?"  Tonight it was my turn.  

My son was supposed to have brushed his teeth.   They're still in the convincing stage that they need to brush their teeth every day, twice a day.   I told my son some dental work stories because he didn't understand what happened to teeth that got cavities and how it all happened that well. 

Then, he said, "you're excused now, mom."   I said I hadn't tucked him yet and then proceeded to tuck the covers all around him.  He said, "your tucking is different than dad's; I like it."  I asked how it was different.  Apparently, I tuck the covers around him, and dad likes to make them more like a made bed would be. 

It's Not What You Think:  My daughter came down tonight and said her brother said she had better have me read her the puberty book because what she was wanting to do wasn't okay.   What was she wanting to do?  Ride my on my son's back like he was a dog or a horse.   I told her her brother didn't quite know what he was talking about and that what she was wanting to do was fine.   Still, we needed to read that puberty book, I told her.   "Not now!" she said and ran out of the room as fast as she could muster. 

Doughnuts For Breakfast

This morning I was dead asleep when my daughter came in and pounced on her father.   I remember trying to say, "doughnuts...do you want to go get doughnuts?"   Later, when I asked my husband and daughter about this, they said they never heard me say anything. 

I remember thinking I needed to get up to let the dog out and feed her.  I knew my husband was playing golf today with his parents and had likely left at this point but the next thing I knew, I heard my husband and daughter coming in from the garage. 

They had gotten dressed in their motorcycle gear and had gone for a ride.  At the end of the ride they stopped to get doughnuts.   My daughter absolutely loves riding on the motorcycle with her father.  She has a helmet fitted for her and a motorcycle jacket that both she and her brother can wear; although my daughter is the one who wants to go for the rides; my son doesn't make a specific request, although he likes it as well.  

I had a very lazy Sunday morning with doughnuts being delivered to me and the dog already watered and fed.  I almost wanted to go back to bed. 

The Big Boy Update:  My son has been allowed screens today.  Behavior dependant, he will have more screen time tomorrow, and then there is zero screens during the week. 

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  My daughter made chocolate chip cookies again.   She knows I love the cookie dough and brought me a little cup full.   She is just the sweetest.

Friends or Not?

My daughter wanted to go to the pool after school today.  She had heard Madison, next door, was going and she wanted to play with her.   Her father took her over and she had a good time with Madison and another child who used to live a few houses away.   

Everyone went back to their houses and my daughter was hoping she would get to play with them some more, but she wasn't sure if they would want to play with her.   I suppose this is the kind of worry every child has.   

In this case, they did want to play with her and came over to our house.  They wanted to make slime and my daughter was excited because we had materials to make slime.   She couldn't see and was completely dependent on the other two girls reading instructions, selecting materials they needed and coordinating the process.   She is so independent, it bothers me some that friends come over to our house and they can find materials in the craft room, read the instructions in the book and run the whole slime making process.  

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  Today my daughter had a very good time.   But I still wish she could see. 

The Big Boy Update:  My son was in the bonus room playing video games while the girls were running around.  They didn't bother him and he ignored them.   I said hello to him but I was given the shhhh quiet response.   

Two Minutes Until I'm Late Again

Things are feeling like I'm beginning to get a bit caught up.   I decided I had to let some things go.   I just wasn't going to get to them and I had to be okay with that.   And that made a huge difference in how I felt about where I am with things. 

Deciding not to do something is as important as doing things sometimes. 

The Massaging Question:  We have a massage therapist come twice a month for the children.  It was initially for my daughter because she responds well to touch.  She does like the massage, but it also interrupts her mental plan for the day *even when she has been prepared in advance*—twice.   My son isn't that interested in it but he likes a bit sometimes.   Shelia suggested we drop down to once a month to see if the children prefer that or want her to come more often.   Shelia is losing business by suggesting this, but she believes firmly that a child should not be subjected to something bodily if they don't want to have it done.