April Showers

I started locking my bathroom door this week in what turned out to be a failed attempt at modesty. True, I'm accustomed to the applause of my children ("Good job, Mommy. You washed your hair!"). But the girls are getting older now, and after four years of showering with an audience, I thought it was time to shut the theater doors. Ella, ever her independant and opinionated self, disagreed. When the phone rang that first private morning, she picked the lock on the bathroom door, and marched in, telephone in hand.

"Mommy, are you washing your hair?"

"Ella, how did you get in here?!?!"

"Daddy's on the phone. Are you washing your hair?"

"YES! Now give Mommy the phone and go back outside!"

"Why?"

"Because I'm trying to be modest."

"Why?"

"Because showers are supposed to be private."

"Why?"

"JUST GIVE ME THE PHONE AND GO BACK OUTSIDE!"

She passed me the phone, and strolled slowly out the door just as Ty toddled in. Great. I gave the hubby a quick, "I'm-in-the-shower-I'll-call-you-back!" and tossed the phone on the floor. Meanwhile, Ty entertained himself with his second-favorite bathroom game: turning the bathtub knobs. He loves to turn them back and forth because he gets a kick out of learning how things work - and I get a kick out of surviving the intermittent flow of scalding hot and freezing cold water. He quit after a couple of minutes (but left the hot water running full blast, ensuring a VERY cold shower) and crawled over to play his first-favorite bathroom game: open the box and chew on a tampon.

Yep. You read that right. My kid is going to be in therapy for years. And not because he once chewed on a tampon like it was a cigar, but because I LET him chew on it... every morning.

Luckily, Evie walked in just as I was finishing up and took the offending feminine product away from my baby boy. Emily, right behind her, handed me a towel as I stepped out of the shower.

"You all done in the shower, Mommy? You all clean? Good job, Mommy!"

Well, I always did enjoy an audience.

My Very First Not-Me! Monday

I know, I know. I am SO behind the times. I mean, everybody in blog land knows about Not Me! Monday, and yet here I am posting only my first Not-Me! Monday confession. I'd like to say that it's because I've had nothing to confess prior to today, but let's face it - I don't want to be struck down by lightening. So instead I'll just say "better late than never," and "here goes." (And by the way, in case you've been living under a blog rock and you have no clue what I'm talking about, just read on. You'll get the gist!)

Here it is - my very first Not-Me! Monday confession:


I did not scratch my eyeball at the doctor's office today while playing Peek-a-Boo with my 16 month old son. I am thirty-three years old, for crying out loud! No thirty-three year old woman is so athletically challenged as to poke her own eye while shouting "peek-a-boo" in the middle of a crowded waiting room. No, that definitely wasn't me sitting in a chair with tears streaming down my face while my son turned away in embarrassment.



I did not collect all of the DVD's in my children's movie collection, and throw them into a big, plastic garbage bag while the kids looked on in horror. I would never threaten to throw away their beloved videos, even if they were throwing the fit of the century over which Baby Einstein video to watch this afternoon. That would just be traumatic... and result in years of expensive therapy.

I did not allow my children to put on their galoshes and go splash in the back-yard puddles after a rainstorm because they were driving me slap crazy. And I did not laugh when Evie did a "Slip 'n Slide" move down a particularly slippery patch of lawn. And I would certainly never run and get my camera in order to snap off a picture of my daughter, who was clearly devastated by her fall. That would just be mean.

I did not give my son a handful of Teddy Grahams that I found on the floor of my car today. Who knows how old those things are? That would be so disgusting. Good thing I just let him cry it out.

I do not have FOUR unfinished blog posts sitting in my in-box, just waiting to be completed. I do not have writer's block, despite the daily inspiration I get from my children. I am choosing, instead, to use my valuable time for other things - like mopping my kitchen floor. And that being said, I did not drop an entire tray of food all over that clean kitchen floor mere hours after scrubbing it. That would just be maddening. It might even take a person to the brink of insanity. Good thing that didn't happen to me!

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All kidding aside, though, I wanted to post this blog as a tribute to MckMamma and Stellan, the original Not Me! Monday blogger and her sweet baby boy whose picture you'll find on the right side of my blog. Little Stellan will be having heart surgery at a Boston hospital tomorrow (Tuesday)at 8:30 in the morning. Please join me in praying for this child, his parents, and his extended family, as well as for the doctors who will be working on little Stellan's heart.

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

Housekeeping

I HATE housekeeping. Even as I'm writing the words, I feel compelled to confess that it is 4:00 in the afternoon, my hubby will be home soon, two of the four children are screaming in the play room, and our breakfast dishes are still on the table. That being said, this is a "housekeeping blog": I'm cleaning up the mess I've made, and I'm adding a few new elements!

First of all, for those you keeping track I did not make my goal of posting blogs twice a week until my birthday. I'm afraid that day has come and gone, and I've only managed the occasional weekly posting. Oh well, what can I say? I can't even get the breakfast dishes off my table, so I probably shouldn't have set my expectations so high. (More about that later...) But my plain white "Minima" template was depressing, so as a compromise I downloaded a free Cutest Blog on the Block background. Hope you like it! The jury is still out for me, but I figure it's a start in the right direction.

Second, you probably noticed the Praying for Stellan button I added on the right side of this page. I'm sure that most of you are already familiar with this sweet child's story, but for those of you who aren't, I want you take a moment to meet 5 month old Stellan. I have been reading his mother's blog for months at mycharmingkids.net (which you'll notice I just added to my reading list on the right). She is also a mother of four young children, so I feel a special bond with this mom, whose youngest child Stellan was recently hospitalized for a very serious heart condition. If you feel so led, please check out her site and say a prayer for this little guy. I know his mom would appreciate it.

Third, in answer to the high demand following my last post, here are a couple of before and after pics from last weekend's hair massacre:

This is a picture of Emily just prior to her professional cut. You can't really tell how bad it is from the picture, but essentially the whole left, front side of her hair is gone. Miss Kim couldn't do much with that side. Even with her new haircut, it will take a few months for both sides to be even. But hey, the asymmetrical thing is back, right?

And here's a picture of the twins at today's pre-school Easter party. Short hair wasn't a part of my summer plans, but I think it turned out really cute! (See what I mean about Emily's hair being shorter on the left, though?) A friend advised me to stick a big bow on each of their heads and go for it - and I think I will!

Finally, I have to tell you that I've spent the last month gathering PLENTY of blog material. (Translation: Wow, my kids have been bad lately.) I'm dying to get it all down in writing: 1) because I really need the practice, and 2) because I want to have something to show for all those bad days! However, I'm doing calligraphy on 140 wedding invitations, and I owe a friend the four drapery panels I've been promising her for months. I hoping to be around, but if I'm not, I just wanted you all to know that I still love writing and will continue to plug along as time (hahahahahahahahaha) permits.

In the meantime, if you need a good laugh, this is how Emily looked when we went shopping for shoes yesterday:

Thanks for reading!!!