Chaos

I like my life simply scheduled, fairly underwhelming, and calm. I am not the type who enjoys being busy or always out and about (I really dislike driving). I like having - at an absolute minimum - one day per week where I don't have to go anywhere. This school term is shaking all of that up and rocking me to my core.

Everything is in chaos. I'm gone a lot. I don't have a handle on anything. And for those of you who were over at my house last Saturday and saw upstairs, you got a pretty good visual as to how insane things are at the moment. So embarrassing. The one year I decide to not stress myself out about cleaning upstairs for a birthday party is the one year Aiden decides everyone needs a tour. Thank you, child.

Anywho, this term is absolutely bat-poo crazy, but there is an aspect of it that I am super grateful about. This term includes my very first practicum (internship). I managed to get in at the library just down the street from us and I am loving every single moment of it. It's the 5th busiest library in Oregon and I'm getting a good handle on what that means. They are being so wonderful with training me like I'm an actual employee and providing me with this fantastic opportunity to have this experience under my belt for future employment. Everyone is helpful and fun, and I feel so comfortable there. The time is really going too fast and I know I'll miss it once it's over. I do plan on staying on as a volunteer once per week after this term is over. I just can't imagine walking away from it all once the practicum time is done. I'm there four times a week, so I'm fairly immersed into the place. Most of those days, I still walk back to my car trying to wrap my head around the fact that I'm doing actual library work. It feels so right and I can't wait until I can do this somewhere permanently.

The practicum is definitely the most enjoyable part of this term. I'm not having as much fun with driving to North Portland every Monday at rush hour to go to a four hour class on how to design bulletin boards (I'm not joking. I wish I was joking.). That's after doing my Monday stint at the library, grabbing the boys from school, and immediately taking them to the babysitter. Then there's the online course that requires more library service time, but it has to be at a different library (because I have time for that!). Nathan is taking piano lessons, Aiden is in Lego Robotics, and starting in two weeks, they'll both be in bowling. And I'm in dance class again, which definitely adds to my schedule but is good for my soul.

So that's how things stand. Not my favorite way to live, but I'm keeping in mind that it will slow down come the second week of December. I'm not even going to think about the fact that next term will probably look almost identical.

Happy 8th Birthday!

Our dear little (?) Aiden turned eight years old today. The mind boggles at how this happened, but he is indeed an eight year old. An eight year old with the reading level of a kid twice his age, the curiosity of a true scientist, the audacity of his father, and the sense of humor of his mother (uh oh on the last two). When "they" say it goes fast, they're not kidding. I'm pretty sure he was four just a few days ago. 

Or this size. Oh, those chubby cheeks. He did like to eat.

He's always been one for adventure. He's a complete thrill seeker and loves new experiences. He tried a "big kid" ride at Oaks Park a few weeks ago (those cages that flip you upside down) and LOVED it.

He's also always loved animals. My grandfather used to have a wolf (it has since passed away) and during a visit to their house, Aiden walked right up to this huge canine and started petting him softly. No fear. Of course the wolf was a big ol' softy and was very careful around tiny Aiden, but it was amazing to watch.

Aiden loves to laugh. He's discovered comic books like Calvin and Hobbes, the Far Side, and Foxtrot. It's so funny to hear him laughing hysterically after he's been sent to bed. He's had a fantastic, squeal-y belly laugh since the moment he discovered how to laugh and it brightens my day every time I hear it.

He could also live in the water. When he was an infant, he would hold his tongue out to catch water droplets whenever we were outside in the rain. It was the cutest thing I've ever seen.

He takes many things very seriously. He's a worrier and he likes to be prepared (I wonder where he got that.... Sorry, kid). Lately he's been obsessing over earthquake safety and has kept himself awake at night concerned that an earthquake is going to hit while he's sleeping. We've had to make a lot of promises regarding our family's personal disaster plans.

But he can also be a complete goof: "I've been run through with the pirate sword!"

As we wrap up his 8th birthday, here are some things we'd like to remember about Aiden:

• Favorite color: Blue
• Favorite food: Calamari
• Favorite drink: Root Beer
• Best friend: Kevan
• Favorite book: The Polar Express
• Favorite movie: Despicable Me
• Favorite sport: Soccer
• Favorite place: Disneyland

When Parenting Sticks

Yep, it sticks. Not to the kids (well, hopefully it will - at least eventually), but to the adults' midsections. Let's brainstorm some reasons why.

Stress: There's a lot of stress involved with parenting and it's piled all on top of simply attempting to be an adult. The stress is there from the moment their sweet little heads leave the pillow in the morning to the moment they finally pass out at night. You notice I didn't say "when they go to bed". No no. Because there's usually someone who needs to pee, or is thirsty, or needs a snack (especially when they're on their third growth spurt in as many months), or has lost a teddy bear (I'm looking at you, Nathan), or is just trying to sneak out of their room because it sounded like a funny idea at the time.
At varying points during the day, there's little bursts of extra stress. Like discovering a poo smear on the bathroom floor and not having anyone take responsibility for it. Or like hearing your five year old from the bathroom, "No one's ever peed in the tub before!". This was after hearing the same five year old from a different bathroom saying, "My pee didn't go where I was expecting it to go....". Those are times where I may blank out momentarily to go to my happy place, but the stress arrived and it made its mark.

Bad food choices: You may be a parent who tries really hard to provide healthy, reasonable food options for your family. Or you may just buy whatever sounds good. Either way, you end up making bad food choices for yourself when you're a parent. I think this all has to do with feeling low on time. And when you feel low on time, you don't make yourself a well rounded, healthy meal and sit down to eat it like a normal human being. No, you grab the leftover peanut butter sandwich from your kid's plate, steal a bag of fruit snacks, cram it all in your face, and then move on to the next thing on the to-do list. Oh, and let's not forget the six cups of coffee to get you through the day.

Lack of sleep: Is there a parent on the face of the earth who gets enough sleep? I doubt it. And I'm not counting the celebrity parents who hire someone to get up with their kids in the night. I typically collapse in bed sometime around 1am. I'm up again at 7am, having been woken up at least once during the night by a child climbing into my bed. Do I wish I went to bed earlier? Every.Single.Morning. But in order to do my own homework, plus the end of the day housework, making lunches, taking a shower (which I have to do in order to get to sleep) and making some feeble attempt to relax and spend a little time with my husband, the evenings go by real fast.

Ok, so there is a point to all of this. John and I want to get in shape. Any "expert" will tell you that the people who are successful in that effort are ones who don't keep it a secret from everyone. Something about accountability and all that. For John, he wants to lose around 50 pounds. In my case, I've developed what most people would call a spare tire. I don't need to lost weight necessarily, but I need to take care of the belly fat. I'm "skinny fat" (you can read a Huffington Post article about it here). I took a picture of my midsection, but I'm too chicken to post it (yet), so you'll just have to trust me. Due to some hormonal changes over the past six months or so, I've gained about 15 pounds and it's pretty much all gone to my stomach. I'm uncomfortable, my clothes don't fit well anymore, and I've ripped open a pair of jeans while trying to put them on. It doesn't help the ego when that happens and my kids say, "Well mommy, you're beginning to get stout!".

So that's where we stand. We're making food changes and putting in an actual effort to exercise regularly -which is so much easier said than done. But hopefully once we start to see it paying off we'll get the motivation to keep going. And I think it helps that John and I are in this together. Because hey, if we can parent together, we can sure as heck get rid of the lingering parenting effects together.

Kindergarten

So Nathan is a kindergartener..... My baby. My little Nathan. I didn't cry - amazingly. I nearly did a couple of times, but John said I just turned red all over instead. Whatever it takes to keep from losing it in front of everyone, right?

But oh, Nathan was SO excited to go to school.

Nathan was placed in the afternoon session, which is great as it gives us a few relaxing hours together after Aiden has gone to school and before Nathan goes to class. It does mean he has to eat lunch at an oddly early time, but maybe that will prepare him for the early lunchtime in 1st grade.

We got to class and found Nathan's desk. He was thrilled! It was so cute. 

After a few minutes, he said, "Don't leave". (I almost lost it then) I said, "But I thought you were excited?" He said, "I am, but I'm also nervous and don't want you to leave". But we did high fives, kisses, and hugs, and I reminded him that his best friend Lucius is in the class with him. As I checked in with Nathan's teacher (who was supposed to be Aiden's teacher and is the TAG rep), she said, "I was so excited to have Aiden in my 2nd grade class! He was going to be my TAG case study! But I'm super excited to be connected to your family through Nathan and I'll still be involved in Aiden's TAG progress!". Um, I love this teacher.

At pick up time, I stuck to my normal routine of getting Aiden from his classroom and checking in with the teacher before I got Nathan from the kinder group waiting at the front of the building. It felt strange not having Nathan with me, but I suppose I'll get used to it. As I walked out to get Nathan, he looked so small and in awe of everything happening around him. But I could tell by his face as he saw me that he had a wonderful day and loved every minute of it. Much smoother than Aiden's start to kindergarten....(remember this?). As I made sure that Nathan's teacher knew I was getting him, she said, "I seriously love Nathan. Your kids are awesome and adorable!" Yep, she's going to be a good fit for Nathan this year.

Oh, and I was also able to check in with Aiden's teacher and she said that Aiden is settling in very well and already seems less frustrated. Great news!