Mama Mama Quite Contrary

I thought I would be a lady of leisure with Vivi in school full-time but I guess Jude and Ellie did not get the memo. So for the past month, we have been pretty busy.  Vivi lost her second tooth on the second day of kindergarten.  She ran home from the bus stop, locked herself in the bathroom, and came out a few minutes later looking like this: A few days after Vivi started school, I had a birthday and celebrated my official "advanced maternal age" milestone.  I welcomed my free-falling fertility with open arms.  I also welcomed the cake.  It turns out Ellie is a bit of a rogue candle extinguisher so Vivi is doing her best to protect my opportunity to make a birthday wish.  (See note above about free falling fertility.) Perhaps because I love cake, my husband got me twelve sessions with the personal trainer at the gym for my birthday.  After the first session, the words "you only look like you are in terrible shape" kept running through my hea...

Despite the look on our little kindergartener's face: and her refusal to let me take a decent picture: and her anxious thumb-sucking: Vivi declares kindergarten to be pretty good.  When I asked her the best part of her day, she told me it was recess because playing on the "spinning wheel [merry-go-round] was awesome."  When I asked what was the worst part of her day was she told me, "Nothing, mama.  Everything is the best.  Well, except in the morning when they were going over the rules.  That was boring." Personally, I declare kindergarten to be a little overwhelming.  I cried as I was leaving her at school and then again when I got to the YMCA and then again while the Turtles were napping and the house was quiet.    I almost cried for a fourth time when I went to pick her up and saw that she wasn't in line with her classmates.  (She was put on the bus to go home instead of in the pick-up line but a teacher went and found her before...

I have been all aflutter with preparation for kindergarten. I've purchased an ungodly amount of supplies and snacks, filled out a pile of papers, attended an orientation and a kindergarten playdate, and sewn a super-duper fancy pencil case.  I thought I was doing all this to prepare my first-born for kindergarten.  What I realized this morning is that I did all that to prepare myself. Kindergarten is the place where Vivi will really begin to understand that she has autonomy.  Family will fade into the background of her school life and time with her friends will become her priority.  There will be rules and expectations from other people besides her parents.  School isn't about play anymore. As much as she is ready, Vivi is doing this on her own. Mommy and Daddy won't be in the classroom.  She will choose her friends and they won't necessarily be the children of Mommy's friends.  She is beginning the process of letting us go. The question is can I do...

I had to laugh when I saw this crying baby photo link up party .  When Vivi was a baby, I don't think we got any pictures of her crying.  As our only child, her tears were a rare occurrence and I never thought to document the crying when it happened.  I was more concerned with putting an end to the tears. As if that would ever happen with twins!  Photos with one or more crying babies were an inevitability.  So here you have it, my contribution to the link up: Eliya giving those lungs a workout.  Jude trying to tune her out.  Week #1 Jude screaming and the poor big sister not sure what to make of it.  My personal favorite since this pretty much sums up Jude's first year of life. Unidentified screaming child in the background.  It's probably Jude. When the babies got going, so did Vivi.  Oh, and mommy.  Mommy always cried too. I'm also linking up to Simply Modern Mom's Glimpse into Motherhood .

I really enjoyed doing my Me Challenge Giveaway last month.  It was nice to be able to offer a surprise to a reader who took the time to validate my existence with a comment. Plus, I got the added bonus of reading about all the interesting places you have traveled.  (Who knew there was actually a World's Largest Frying Pan ?! ) Since that was a lot of fun, I thought it was time for another giveaway!  Most of you know that Vivi is heading to her local public kindergarten at the end of the month.  Given my recent gripes about the supply list , it is clear that our schools need a lot of help.  That's why I have decided to give away: Two $25 gift certificates to Donor's Choose . Here are the rules: To enter, please leave a comment telling me your favorite children's book and why you love it. Because Donor's Choose is for US based schools, this giveaway is only open to residents of the United States. The winners will be chosen at random on Monday, August...

My husband and I took a twenty-four hour vacation.  This was a real vacation-- not like the ones I always take in my head.  We packed up the car and drove a little over an hour to a seaside community in Connecticut.  We hung out by the pool. We read books and magazines without interruption. We went out to lunch and to dinner and to breakfast.  I didn't even make the bed.  It was glorious. We did all this WITHOUT our children.  Really.  Did I mention it was glorious? My sister who lives in North Carolina very kindly and without any obvious reservation  volunteered to stay with the young contrarians.  There was no arm-twisting, no desperate pleas, and no cries on either end.  The kiddos had a blast and my husband and I got ten solid hours of sleep. Ten!   And get this:  My sister even  volunteered  to stay with them again!  It appears that she loves my rascal spawn and thankfully doesn't see them enough to get ...

We recently received an invitation for Vivi to attend a Kindergarten orientation and play date at her new school.  She will get to tour the classrooms, meet her teachers, and say hello to the principal.  I think this is a great thing and we are all looking forward to it. But....   I am a bit perplexed by the supply list for kindergarten which was on the back of the invitation.  I am supposed to send my child to school with the following: 1 large bottle of hand sanitizer 2 boxes of crayons- one with 8 large primary colors and one with 16 colors 2 rolls of paper towels 1 pair of small child-size scissors 1 eraser 1 box of markers 1 box of colored pencils 2 packages of #2 pencils, sharpened 1 package EXPO dry-erase markers 4 folders with double pockets on the bottom (2 with 3 fasteners on the inside and 2 without) 4 large glue sticks 2 boxes of tissues 1 art sketch book with blank pages 1 package small drinking cups 1 container of disinfectant wipes Geesh.  I re...