growing in your sleep

We often talk about how kids need rest so that their bodies can grow. Usually, it's an incentive we employ to encourage the kids to hurry up and get to their beds. It's an interesting fact that we like to use, and seriously, sometimes I think the kids look bigger after they've napped! We can always tell when Simon is going through a growth spurt because he'll ask to go to bed or decide to crawl under the covers during "rest time" after lunch instead of playing in his room. And when he sleeps, he sleeps for HOURS! Anyway...I digress.

So tonight, we got to bed a little later than normal. I'm in the middle of a serious baby proofing of Ella's room in order to move Josie's crib out of our room to begin a more serious approach at weaning. It's been tons of work to sort and organize all the little choking hazards that six year olds play with! I worked a big chunk of yesterday and today on the room and got most of it done, but it put us a little behind on our bedtime routine. I could tell Simon was very tired because he was slow to obey and out for some negative attention. As I wrapped things up in Ella's room, I could hear him downstairs with Bryan and Josie. Bryan warned him a couple of times that he was being too rough with his little sister. All of a sudden, I heard her cry out and begin wailing painfully. And I knew something had gone terribly wrong...I rushed down to comfort her and saw she had a bite mark on her big toe. He had really BIT HER! It was a deep indention, but fortunately he hadn't broken the skin. Ugh...

After receiving some serious discipline and a stern talking to, it was most definitely time for bed. (However, we made time for a puzzle and a quick book so that there was some POSITIVE attention in there as well!) As I laid next to Simon in his bunk, he was chattier than I expected. I thought for sure he would pass out as soon as he hit the pillow. And so I brought up my little sleep incentive...

Me: "Simon, if you don't get some sleep, your body can't grow!"
Simo: "I don't want to grow anymore."
Me: "Really? You want to stay this little forever?"
Simo: "Maybe God would make me stop growing so I could stay little."
Me: "Don't you want to get big and have your own kids and your own house someday and be big and grown up like Daddy?"
Simo: "Yeah."
Me: "And do you want to get married?"
Simo: "Yes. To Ella."

He really adores Ella. And I took the opportunity to remind him that Josie adores him that way. She looks up to him and laughs at everything he does. I encouraged him to be her protector and be kind to her and never hurt her on purpose. He looked so remorseful, I thought he might cry. He seemed to get it. And then he showered me with kisses and I showered him with kisses and then he rolled over and feel asleep.

My guess is he'll wake up an inch taller. :)

hang up and play

This is a small rant, just to warn you.

While we were in Kansas City on spring break, we visited a local park with a small playground. It was a beautiful day, the sun was bright and warm, and there were a few other kids enjoying the time outside as well. Specifically, there were two other boys there with their dads.

Pretty cool when dad's take their kids to the park, yes? I love that!

But what I noticed was not so impressive. Both dads were on their smart phones surfing the web or texting or whatever, THE ENTIRE TIME. I'm not exaggerating in the least...I mean, the ENTIRE time their kids played. Fortunately for the two boys, they found each other and began playing dinosaurs. At one point, boy #2 wanted to swing and called out for his dad to come push him. The dad's eyes didn't budge from his phone as he answered, "No son. You know how to do that by yourself. You go on ahead." He totally blew him off. A while later, the dad decided it was time to leave and called his son to go to the car. The son protested and said he wanted to stay at which point the dad got really irritated and told him to stop whining.

Now I hesitate to judge other people's parenting as there are many times I feel as if I have failed at the end of the day. But this is an issue that really, really bothers me. Sometimes I just HATE the hold that technology has over our lives. What a missed opportunity that dad had to connect with his son. He probably thought he was doing the little guy a big favor by letting him go to the park. But what I saw was total rejection.

I've mentioned how I'm trying to be better about not spending so much time on the computer, especially when the kids are up and around. There are already so many demands for our time as parents...can't we try a little harder to stop willingly giving our precious time and attention to our gadgets and gizmos? (I know it's hard to take me seriously when I use the word "gizmo.")

In all seriousness though, I challenge you to power down whenever possible. And I'll keep trying to do the same. Hopefully, we'll all end up actually talking to each other or enjoying some other ancient passtime.

checking in

I've become embarrassingly bad about keeping this blog updated. Truth is, I've been doing my best (well, not my best, but "better") to not spend any "free" time on my computer while the kids are awake. I find it sucks me in and I end up an hour (or more) shorter of time to connect with them. Also, I've been doing a bit more freelance than normal so my time on the computer has been spoken for. 

Right now, we're on spring break. We are using the time to get away from the house and all it's demands and are staying in a hotel in Kansas City. We've been relaxing a lot, watching cartoons and March Madness basketball, swimming a TON, snuggling, tickling, doing color wonder, eating snack food instead of meals, and taking lots of baths (due to the overload of chlorine.) We visited a park yesterday and relished in the spring sunshine, played with Ella's new jump rope and Simon's new tee ball set and ball glove. Ella has gotten to be pretty proficient at jumping rope and swimming! Simon is still rather cautious about swimming, but he at least will swim with a floatation device which beats last year when he wouldn't even get in the water until he'd watched everyone else for two hours. I'm not even kidding.

Some brief updates of late:

1. I've been mulling over and praying about doing home school next year. It's something I never thought I'd consider, but after observing my kids more closely over this last year and learning more about their strengths and weaknesses, I think it could be a real help to them. It is something we're in prayer about and a decision I don't take lightly.
2. Simon is becoming increasingly proficient at writing his letters, drawing and coloring. I've heard him sight read and sound out a few words here and there too. At a recent Parent/Teacher conference, his teacher described him as "cautious" in general, but excelling. He is quiet in his temperament and she said sometimes he seems like it's not worth the effort to get in the middle of boyish squabbles over trains and things. But he has made friends and enjoys school a lot.
3. Ella got the birds and the bees talk on the playground. Wow. Wasn't exactly prepared for that yet! Fortunately, she is quick to share with me anything that doesn't sit right with her, so it was an opportunity for some clear and helpful direction and clarification from me.
4. Josie seems to love music a great deal and requests "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" all day long. The other morning, after she woke up early and was still cuddled in bed with me, she spent a good ten minute humming and making her own music. It was so sweet! She has said a few words which Ella is keeping track of in her journal. Just this morning, we were cuddled in the hotel bed and Simon's head was resting on my lap. She patted him on the hair and said, "Nye Nye." (Night night). She's growing quickly and is so charming!

That's all I have for now. Josie is up and our friends from Joplin (the Clevenger family) have just arrived to finish out our vacation together! There is more fun to be had!!