My husband and father-in-law played golf and were out most of the day today. They had a good time and while they were gone, my mother-in-law, the children and I spent most of the day in their backyard pool. We played with just about every single pool toy, inflatable and attachment based on the amount of pool you couldn’t see after everything was in the mix.
The children weren’t able to stay out of the pool and we finally let them in at eight in the morning when the heat circulation had warmed it up enough to be comfortable. The sun wasn’t even up over the roofline for another half-hour, but we were still out having fun at noon.
After the dads came back we went to an early dinner at Sweet Tomatoes, because it’s Valentine’s Day and we weren’t about to risk a long wait or no availability at another restaurant, We went to dinner early and got home just as it was getting dark.
My daughter is having fun with Papa, my husband is working on a TV/sound system update for my in-laws and I’ve been helping my son with a Lego set he’s been working on. He kept singing, “I put my high heels on” from time to time. He asked me what song it was from and I didn’t know. He told me I knew. I couldn’t figure it out. Then he asked me what high heels were.
It was about five minutes later I realized he was talking about, “Cheap Thrills” by Sia. I played it on my phone for him and we both sang along.
The Big Boy Update: Speaking of music choices, my son and I have the same tastes in music frequently. Right now he and I both like listening to Deadmau5. He asked me to play, “Phantoms Can’t Hang” while we were finishing up his Lego.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: This morning my husband was getting ready to leave for golf. He was putting sunscreen on his face and stuck his whitened face out of the bathroom saying, “anyone want to see my Kabuki mask?” My daughter ran over to him and said, “I want a poopie mask!”
Tuesday, February 14, 2017
Monday, February 13, 2017
Travel Changes
This isn’t about changes we had in our travel plans today—those went off exactly as planned. We left home, took two flights, had no delays, got to Florida, picked up the rental car and have just finished a nice dinner with my in-laws.
What’s changed is our travel complexity over time. I’ve had a folder called, “Travel Packing Lists” since my children were infants. And before I go any farther in this story, you need to know I have a bit of an OCD, over-organized, anal-retentive streak going, because it will make this sound less crazy when I explain it.
I have a list of everything I need to remember to pack for trips out of town. This doesn’t include things like, “shoes, shits, hairbrush, underwear” because those things I wouldn’t forget. It’s all the things I need to remember to take for the children and anything specific I might need to take for that particular destination.
For instance, I want to remember my boat license when we go to New Jersey every summer. When we go to Florida we need to bring swim suits for the children. But if we’re flying to Florida, we don’t need toothbrushes and floss because my mother-in-law has them waiting for us when we arrive.
Initially we needed to bring special spoons, cups, bibs, enough diapers to fill a suitcase and all sorts of other things small children need throughout the day. As they’ve gotten older the travel packing lists get shorter and shorter and the trips are getting easier and easier to prepare for.
Just last night I was amazed I was completely packed by dinner time and didn’t have anything else to do but watch a show and go to bed after the children were asleep.
The Big Boy Update: My son wanted help with an app on his iPad while we were in the airport today. He walked over to my husband, placed the iPad on his lap and said, “daddy, since you’re bored and doing nothing, I have something for you to do.”
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: My daughter was working on her iPad earlier today with her headphones on, I wasn’t sure what was happening until I heard her say very clearly, “Siri, what are you doin’ right now?” I’m not sure what Siri responded, but it made her laugh.
What’s changed is our travel complexity over time. I’ve had a folder called, “Travel Packing Lists” since my children were infants. And before I go any farther in this story, you need to know I have a bit of an OCD, over-organized, anal-retentive streak going, because it will make this sound less crazy when I explain it.
I have a list of everything I need to remember to pack for trips out of town. This doesn’t include things like, “shoes, shits, hairbrush, underwear” because those things I wouldn’t forget. It’s all the things I need to remember to take for the children and anything specific I might need to take for that particular destination.
For instance, I want to remember my boat license when we go to New Jersey every summer. When we go to Florida we need to bring swim suits for the children. But if we’re flying to Florida, we don’t need toothbrushes and floss because my mother-in-law has them waiting for us when we arrive.
Initially we needed to bring special spoons, cups, bibs, enough diapers to fill a suitcase and all sorts of other things small children need throughout the day. As they’ve gotten older the travel packing lists get shorter and shorter and the trips are getting easier and easier to prepare for.
Just last night I was amazed I was completely packed by dinner time and didn’t have anything else to do but watch a show and go to bed after the children were asleep.
The Big Boy Update: My son wanted help with an app on his iPad while we were in the airport today. He walked over to my husband, placed the iPad on his lap and said, “daddy, since you’re bored and doing nothing, I have something for you to do.”
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: My daughter was working on her iPad earlier today with her headphones on, I wasn’t sure what was happening until I heard her say very clearly, “Siri, what are you doin’ right now?” I’m not sure what Siri responded, but it made her laugh.
Sunday, February 12, 2017
Clean Refrigerator
If you’ve been to my house you know I have a tidy, well, everything. It’s nice, but it has been said to border on the obsessive by some people. I can’t say I disagree. But I do like things up, out, organized, in their place or gone.
The refrigerator goes through a cleaning before trips. This involves eating everything left over, not making more food and not going out to eat, possibly bringing more things home to stick in the refrigerator as leftovers.
Today I ate a strange collection of foods, all in the pursuit of emptying the refrigerator. Tomorrow morning we leave. I’m not sure the children are going to be interested in what I have in store for them for breakfast though.
The Big Boy Update: My son is quite excited to be going on vacation tomorrow. Tonight at dinner he said, “it’s so close to being in Florida!”
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: My daughter wanted to show me and my husband something this afternoon. I said I was in the middle of something and couldn’t make it but could she show just dad? She didn’t even think before replying, “yeah, maybe it would be more fun without mommy.”
Walk, Don’t Run: My running partner and I walked today. Walking a harder than running when you normally run, because the muscles are used differently. We made a nine-and-a-half mile trek, having to drop into running towards the end to get home in time. I prefer running any day over walking.
The refrigerator goes through a cleaning before trips. This involves eating everything left over, not making more food and not going out to eat, possibly bringing more things home to stick in the refrigerator as leftovers.
Today I ate a strange collection of foods, all in the pursuit of emptying the refrigerator. Tomorrow morning we leave. I’m not sure the children are going to be interested in what I have in store for them for breakfast though.
The Big Boy Update: My son is quite excited to be going on vacation tomorrow. Tonight at dinner he said, “it’s so close to being in Florida!”
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: My daughter wanted to show me and my husband something this afternoon. I said I was in the middle of something and couldn’t make it but could she show just dad? She didn’t even think before replying, “yeah, maybe it would be more fun without mommy.”
Walk, Don’t Run: My running partner and I walked today. Walking a harder than running when you normally run, because the muscles are used differently. We made a nine-and-a-half mile trek, having to drop into running towards the end to get home in time. I prefer running any day over walking.
Saturday, February 11, 2017
When Family Visits
We have had the pleasure of having friends of our family visiting over the past few days. We’ve had our honorary, “Aunt Jo” with us for three nights and my lifelong friend, Richard, for a day and a night. My parents joined us for some reminiscing and new memory making at dinner last night. Given our ages, it was more reminiscing than anything else, but with a five- and six-year-old at the table, it was certain new memories would be added into the mix.
On the way to dinner I had a realization. It was one of those things you don’t think about until it suddenly strikes you as a fact. This particular fact involved noise. My husband, Richard and I were in our car with the children, grandparents leading the way in the car ahead. The three of adults, without even realizing it, were rising above, ignoring the higher and louder decibel range of the children in the third row, making the most of the few minutes of adult time we’d been afforded.
It was in that loud, shrieking, laughing, cackling time with the children that I said, “Richard, I can absolutely tell you’re a parent too, because none of this crazy noise is even bothering you.”
Dinner was fun and the evening ended with us all hoping to get together again when schedules permitted. Hopefully soon.
The Big Boy Update: It was about time to call my son for dinner tonight. He was focused on his iPad, something he gets time with on the weekends—something he can get sucked into for hours unless the time is managed. I told him his dinner was almost ready. He didn’t even look up as he said, “it saves time if you call me Batman.”
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: My daughter came into the bathroom where I was getting ready today. She was bouncing around for a bit and then stopped to tell me, “I almost threw up but I didn’t, I threw it back down.”
On the way to dinner I had a realization. It was one of those things you don’t think about until it suddenly strikes you as a fact. This particular fact involved noise. My husband, Richard and I were in our car with the children, grandparents leading the way in the car ahead. The three of adults, without even realizing it, were rising above, ignoring the higher and louder decibel range of the children in the third row, making the most of the few minutes of adult time we’d been afforded.
It was in that loud, shrieking, laughing, cackling time with the children that I said, “Richard, I can absolutely tell you’re a parent too, because none of this crazy noise is even bothering you.”
Dinner was fun and the evening ended with us all hoping to get together again when schedules permitted. Hopefully soon.
The Big Boy Update: It was about time to call my son for dinner tonight. He was focused on his iPad, something he gets time with on the weekends—something he can get sucked into for hours unless the time is managed. I told him his dinner was almost ready. He didn’t even look up as he said, “it saves time if you call me Batman.”
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: My daughter came into the bathroom where I was getting ready today. She was bouncing around for a bit and then stopped to tell me, “I almost threw up but I didn’t, I threw it back down.”
Friday, February 10, 2017
Graduation
My children are going to “graduate” from seeing their play therapist. They’ve both come a long way and Dhruti doesn’t think we need regular sessions for either child. I think they’re going to be sad to not see her any more, but she has a “graduation party” planned for the next time we see her after vacation.
It’s a comfort knowing you have an expert who understands what’s going on in your child’s head and can help you know how to best help them navigate being a child. Dhruti says she isn’t leaving us and she would like to have a session with our daughter from time to time based on eye surgeries or other changes in her vision or school situation. She also said she would be available to meet with us any time we had a list of, “how do we handle this?” questions.
Graduation should be a happy time, and it is, but we’ll miss Dhruti.
The Big Boy Update: Today my son was telling me about Nana and Papa’s house and I had no idea what he was talking about, because Nana and Papa didn’t have a house like he was described. He told me, “ugh, you don’t even have a brain.” A few questions later and I understood it was a “house” that had a lot of floors and other people lived there too. Then I realized he was talking about the time share at Hilton Head we stayed at on the fifteenth floor.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: I don’t have any idea where this is coming from but my daughter said to me, “mommy, is somebody mind controlling us to make us say what they want us to say?”
It’s a comfort knowing you have an expert who understands what’s going on in your child’s head and can help you know how to best help them navigate being a child. Dhruti says she isn’t leaving us and she would like to have a session with our daughter from time to time based on eye surgeries or other changes in her vision or school situation. She also said she would be available to meet with us any time we had a list of, “how do we handle this?” questions.
Graduation should be a happy time, and it is, but we’ll miss Dhruti.
The Big Boy Update: Today my son was telling me about Nana and Papa’s house and I had no idea what he was talking about, because Nana and Papa didn’t have a house like he was described. He told me, “ugh, you don’t even have a brain.” A few questions later and I understood it was a “house” that had a lot of floors and other people lived there too. Then I realized he was talking about the time share at Hilton Head we stayed at on the fifteenth floor.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: I don’t have any idea where this is coming from but my daughter said to me, “mommy, is somebody mind controlling us to make us say what they want us to say?”
Thursday, February 9, 2017
Vacation Preparation
Our family prepares for an upcoming vacation in a different way each. I think about all the packing that needs to be completed and anything else that needs to be done one or more days in advance. I start packing or shopping or emailing so that when it’s close to the day of departure I have everything done without last minute rushing.
If it’s a trip involving a weather change (say from cold winter to mid-spring) due to change in location, I am inclined to shop. That’s not to say I’m ever disinclined to shop, I’m just more likely to head to the mall before a week-long trip.
My husband’s trip preparations are more straightforward than mine—get a haircut. Sometimes I envy the simplicity of his pre-trip planning.
The Big Boy Vacation Planner: My son wants to count down days until we leave for vacation. He likes helping write up our refrigerator calendar and then scratching off the days as we get closer to the day we leave for vacation.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: My daughter likes to pack her backpack in advance, which is not unlike her mother, as I too like to get things ready well before a trip. This afternoon she asked me where he backpack was and was it okay if she went ahead and put things in it for the plane ride and trip to Florida. She came back later and told me everything she put in—and the things she couldn’t fit, “but that’s okay, momma.”
If it’s a trip involving a weather change (say from cold winter to mid-spring) due to change in location, I am inclined to shop. That’s not to say I’m ever disinclined to shop, I’m just more likely to head to the mall before a week-long trip.
My husband’s trip preparations are more straightforward than mine—get a haircut. Sometimes I envy the simplicity of his pre-trip planning.
The Big Boy Vacation Planner: My son wants to count down days until we leave for vacation. He likes helping write up our refrigerator calendar and then scratching off the days as we get closer to the day we leave for vacation.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: My daughter likes to pack her backpack in advance, which is not unlike her mother, as I too like to get things ready well before a trip. This afternoon she asked me where he backpack was and was it okay if she went ahead and put things in it for the plane ride and trip to Florida. She came back later and told me everything she put in—and the things she couldn’t fit, “but that’s okay, momma.”
Wednesday, February 8, 2017
Gas and Brakes
There are some things I don’t realize are different with the electric cars until every now and then when I’m reminded of them. The first and most obvious one is gas.
I don’t know how long it’s been since I’ve stopped in a gas station. I might if I needed air in the tires, but I haven’t. If there was some lottery ticket I simply had to have, maybe I would, but there hasn’t been one. If we were traveling and needed snacks and a place to use the facilities, maybe, but I’m not sure we’ve done that either. We don’t stop in local gas stations because we charge every night at home and don’t need to recharge mid-day.
I realized today I haven’t even looked to see if I was, “running low on gas” in a long time. I do a similar check seeing, “how many range-miles until empty”? That’s the way we usually find out if we forgot to plug in the car the night before because the number of miles is less than it should be at, say, ten o’clock in the morning. This also isn’t really a problem because we could go for days without charging the car given the miles we drive around town in a day.
The other thing that comes up from time to time in the electric cars is the brake rust. If it’s rained or has been humid or the car has been cleaned, the brake rotors get a thin coating of rust on them and it takes several good applications of the brakes to wear it off. The result of the rust coating is a grinding noise, which sounds like something is wrong, but is a normal sound given the conditions.
Because the cars have regenerative braking (which doesn’t use the brake pads at all) to recharge the batteries, the brakes get used less frequently and with less force. Just the other day my husband said to me, “we need to use the brakes more” after a bad rain storm.
These are good problems to have.
The Big Boy Update: Before dinner tonight I heard my son say, “I wish I was bald.” When I asked him why, he told me it was because his head was so hot and sweaty.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: My daughter wanted to go find the creek today at the back of a rental property. I told her it was a long way back so she got a long stick (about the length of the cane she uses during her orientation and mobility sessions). She named it, “baby stick” and used it to help find our way through the brush, roots and leaves. When we got to the stream she used it to check where the water was so she didn’t step into it.
I don’t know how long it’s been since I’ve stopped in a gas station. I might if I needed air in the tires, but I haven’t. If there was some lottery ticket I simply had to have, maybe I would, but there hasn’t been one. If we were traveling and needed snacks and a place to use the facilities, maybe, but I’m not sure we’ve done that either. We don’t stop in local gas stations because we charge every night at home and don’t need to recharge mid-day.
I realized today I haven’t even looked to see if I was, “running low on gas” in a long time. I do a similar check seeing, “how many range-miles until empty”? That’s the way we usually find out if we forgot to plug in the car the night before because the number of miles is less than it should be at, say, ten o’clock in the morning. This also isn’t really a problem because we could go for days without charging the car given the miles we drive around town in a day.
The other thing that comes up from time to time in the electric cars is the brake rust. If it’s rained or has been humid or the car has been cleaned, the brake rotors get a thin coating of rust on them and it takes several good applications of the brakes to wear it off. The result of the rust coating is a grinding noise, which sounds like something is wrong, but is a normal sound given the conditions.
Because the cars have regenerative braking (which doesn’t use the brake pads at all) to recharge the batteries, the brakes get used less frequently and with less force. Just the other day my husband said to me, “we need to use the brakes more” after a bad rain storm.
These are good problems to have.
The Big Boy Update: Before dinner tonight I heard my son say, “I wish I was bald.” When I asked him why, he told me it was because his head was so hot and sweaty.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: My daughter wanted to go find the creek today at the back of a rental property. I told her it was a long way back so she got a long stick (about the length of the cane she uses during her orientation and mobility sessions). She named it, “baby stick” and used it to help find our way through the brush, roots and leaves. When we got to the stream she used it to check where the water was so she didn’t step into it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)