Gotcha!

I have started my Grammar and Style class and one of my many homework assignments required me to sit and observe an individual for ten minutes then write about it. There was no question who my victim was going to be... Giggles during morning reading time. If you have ever had the opportunity to see this kid in action in the morning you will know why I chose him. Right April?

As I sat down at the table across from Giggles and began writing down his actions and words I realized the enormity of my task. I could not keep up with my son. The small snapshot you see below is a limited view of what actually took place. To say that this is a typical morning would be an untrue statement. This reflects a general pattern of behavior - an inability to focus, strange sounds, many stops and starts, lots of questions and a general irritability in the morning. (Usually the morning is much worse.)

Giggles sat down at the down at the kitchen table smacking his book report book on the table’s surface in protest. He opened the book, looked at the cover and said in an angry tone, “Really mom? Now I have food in my book.” Receiving no reply from me he tried again. “Mom, I have food in my book. Mom, you’re not listening. I have food in my book.” He scratched at the offending food.

“I am listening but your job is to read and I have my own job to do,” I replied busily writing down his actions.

“But I have food in my book,” he insisted.

“Focus on your job,” I asked.

He gave up talking to me and shook his head back and forth making a moaning sound. Giggles laughed and speaking to no one in particular said, “That’s awesome!” in a silly voice. After Brett also reminded him to focus he turned his attention to the book and began to read.

He laughed and slapped his cheek while reading the book. Then pausing for a moment asked me a question about whether he should do the seven habits assignment for his report while reading. He returned to his book and read a few moments more. This did not last long when he discovered a wet spot.

“Mom, my book’s wet.” When I did not reply he mumbled, “You don’t really care.”

To this I responded, “Giggles, I’m busy doing my job. You should be doing your job.”

Giggles sneezed. He wiggled on his chair and let out a moan. With his jaw thrust forward, he began reading again in a silly voice. He sounded out a word and said, “I have to know what every word in this book means.” Losing his spot in the book, he asked, “Where am I?” With a hand on his forehead, he began rubbing his right eye. “Mom, what is this word? I think it is relying?”

“If you are unsure of the word then just move on. I am doing my work right now.”

Giggles peered over to see what I was working on. I covered it up. “That is not very much writing,” he observed.

“You have your work to do and I have mine,” I reminded him.

He repeated the word relying several times, a word he felt unsure of, and then said, “Relying, it’s lying to me.”
Giggles found his spot again. After rubbing his eye several times he now looked like a squinting pirate. With one hand squeezing the bridge of his nose and the other hand shaking the book on the table he again began to read a few more words. But his hand rose off the book and smacked his head a few times while he exclaimed he was too tired to read. Then he laughed declaring, “I’m going to win!”

He rocked his body back and forth like a pendulum causing his chair to shift away from the table again and again. I got up from the table finally and pushed his chair back into its former position.

“See?” he said. “I got your attention.”

Big and Little Prayers

As Primary President I am often giving the opportunity to share with the children in our ward different experiences to teach them about the principles of the gospel. This month's topic is prayer. Because I have had so many experiences when it comes to prayer it was actually difficult to narrow it down to just one story.

There are times in our lives when there are big moments. Joseph Smith had a big moment in answer to a prayer. I haven't had a moment as big as that but I have still had big things happen in answer to a prayer or several prayers.

But what about the little prayers? I decided to share with the Primary children a little prayer from this past week. Because I think that it is what really tells me Heavenly Father notices and loves me - when he answers my little prayers.

At Smiley's 6 month check up we discovered that he had 2 cavities between his teeth. I scheduled him for fillings and we returned on Friday for the appointment. As he entered the room the assistant let Smiley choose between watching Horton Hears a Who and Tangled. Of course he choose Horton Hears a Who.

She put a little mask across Smiley’s nose to give him “happy” gas as part of getting him ready for the fillings. She also put a gel on his gums to numb the area. I was pretty sure I knew what was coming next but Smiley didn’t have a clue. He was happily watching the movie. Soon the dentist came in and sat down. My fears were realized when he picked up a giant needle and aimed it at Smiley’s mouth.

I don’t like needles.

Again, Smiley happily watched the movie. I tried not to pass out and gripped the counter next to me. I should have looked away but somehow could not. I felt my stomach getting tighter and tighter, feeling more and more nervous as the seconds ticked by and the needle stayed in his mouth.

The dentist left for awhile (translate as hour) to let Smiley’s mouth numb up and I had some time to settle down. But then he returned and it was drilling time. As I heard the sound of the drill I worried that maybe Smiley’s mouth was not numb enough (or rather the numbing had worn off because we had waited so long) and it would hurt. As I sat there in the dentist office I said a quick prayer and asked Heavenly Father to help Smiley and prayed that all would go well. The dentist told Smiley to raise his hand if he felt any pain. After a minute, Smiley’s hand came up at and I feared that he was in pain, but he just fixed his nose mask and continued watching the movie. He even laughed a few times at whatever he was watching. I relaxed as I realized that all was well.

The dentist finished off and for Smiley the worst part was simply the bad taste in his mouth from the gel. Not only was Smiley okay but Heavenly Father helped me to calm down.

I am grateful that my little prayer was answered.

Kid Logic

I am often left shaking my head when it comes to kid logic.

There's the classic "I don't need to make my bed because I'm only going to sleep in it tonight." (frankly I subscribe to the same theory... but it makes the room look too messy)

or "cleaning up my toys wastes my time"

But yesterday's dirty shirt incident was a new one for me.

Giggles came out of his room wearing a shirt that had a large dirty spot on it.

Me: Go get a clean shirt on please.

Giggles: This IS a clean shirt.

Me: No it isn't. There's a dirty spot on it.

Giggles: I just put this shirt on this morning.

Me: Then what is that? (touching the dirty spot)

Giggles: I didn't have a Kleenex so I blew my nose on my shirt.

As I sent him off for a clean shirt I washed and disinfected my hands ... a few times.

Good Luck!

Visiting moms with new babies is a great experience. It is great because I love seeing newborn babies with their cute little hands and tiny little feet. They are especially cute when they sleep and do the little wiggle as though they are about to wake up and then.... they settle back down into blissful sleep.

Yes...blissful sleep.

Something I have dreamed about my WHOLE life.

I am still dreaming about it even with older kids. I have decided to begin documenting my night adventures. That sounded a little dirty so let me elaborate before you get too scared or too interested as the case may be. I am referring to the fact that even with my oldest at 13 and my youngest at 8 we rarely get through the night uninterrupted. It is usually Smiley who comes out of his room multiple times a night to pee, or show us his owwies, or tell us about random things like bumps on his head that he discovered (he was born with bumps on his head) and my favorite, that he can't sleep... I don't know why he doesn't understand that I'm not interested in any of these things at 2:30 in the morning. I'm thinking that every time I can't sleep I should go into his room and wake him up to tell him that I can't sleep.

Last night he got up at 11:30 to pee and then he woke me at 2:30. I asked him what the problem was and he said, "after two hours my blanket makes me sad." What????? Not to be outdone by his brother, Giggles also woke up crying later in the night with a nightmare. Brett took that job and went in to comfort him.

I figure that by the time Smiley stops waking me at 11:30 and 2:30 will be about the time Sheriff will be old enough to be out late with friends and girls. So I will still be awake, not getting any sleep. Right?

I met with a friend in our neighborhood this week who had a baby five weeks ago. Her cute little boy sleeps through the night but her two year old doesn't. I didn't have the heart to tell her that it doesn't get any better. Good luck!

I Love You The Most

Growing up I always believed that my dad loved me the most. I don't know why I thought this. It was just always a belief I had firmly secured in my mind. Needless to say I was more than surprised when I discovered that he loved my mom the most. (He later wrote me a letter on my mission telling me he still loved me the most but not to tell anyone. Little did he know that I save all my letters. hehehe!!!)

But now that I am all grown up and married ... well, married at least, I now understand why husbands and wives love each other the most. Brett and I are constantly telling each other this.

In some ways I can't believe that 18 years have already passed. On the other hand I feel like I have been married to Brett forever because I can no longer imagine my life without him. My years with him have been my happiest and best years. Life isn't perfect but life with Brett is made easier because of who he is. He makes me laugh when laughing is the last thing on my mind. He is my permanent Primary substitute when he already has his own calling in the ward. He also makes the best cookies, makes dinner on Sundays (yes, cereal is often on the menu), takes kids out of the house on Saturday afternoons and hands me the remote if I ask for it.

Sharing our anniversary with our kids yesterday was so much fun.

Brett turned the plates into frisbees...

we reenacted a wedding day moment...

and enjoyed the view.

I know that life will have many twists and turns in the future but I'm so grateful to have Brett at my side. We are stronger, happier and better because we are together.

I love him the most.

Brotherly Love

With the end of school fast approaching the boys are cleaning out their desks and bringing home their work. I am impressed and often amused at some of the things they do.

Giggles wrote something that I think aptly describes how he feels about his brother Smiley.

If I Won One Million $$$

First: I would buy electronics & a flying water board. Next: I'll save my money for college, electronics & legos. And the only amount of money I'll give to my little brother is half of a cent!!!!!

He also wrote a poem about his brother:

My Little Brother

My little brother
ran across the street
After we get off the bus
with his very own feet.
He opens his eye
very wide when he gets caught
So if he does he will need to be taught!

Just yesterday I caught Smiley running across the road in front of a car. So Giggles is right... Smiley does need some more lessons on how to cross the road safely.

There are three more school days left and then boys will be home for the summer. They might as well be finished with school because there is no homework and the days are full of fun and activities. At home they are busy riding bikes and scooters which means I need to stock up on bandaids and Neosporin (as well as Kleenex to mop up the tears).

But a week of school with no homework has been wonderful. No projects to help with, no spelling to check, no vocabulary to print up... just daily reading minutes. And there has been less fighting, fewer temper tantrums and more "yes moms".

Is this what heaven is like?

I am not counting on it continuing through the summer but I see my husband with his brothers and how well they get along. Giggles might only be willing to give his brother half a cent now but I still think there is hope for the future. After all, with inflation that half a cent could be worth a dime in just a few years.

Driving with Death

Giggles has been ... well... I'm going to call it "happy challenged" lately. I really think I am going to have to think of a better name for Giggles because he isn't doing a lot of giggling anymore. More like volcanic eruptions. But I don't want to rename him Volcano (despite the accurate description).

With his chaotic beginning in his early years before his adoption I understand his need for order and control. But this desire to control everything comes in conflict with mom and dad when we ask him to do something and he doesn't want to do what he is told.

Result: Volcano.

So after having a temper tantrum from 3:30 to 6:00 yesterday I braced myself for today. Frankly I have to brace myself for EVERYDAY. This morning's trigger was when he realized that I had moved his socks from the middle of the living room floor back to the pile of laundry on the couch. "Now I will have to find them all over again!" he shouted.

Really? Socks? To me, this is not a big deal. To him... apparently it was a HUGE deal.

After several other incidents in the process of getting ready for school which I tried to diffuse, I was going to attempt to send him on the bus but he had his mad face and was stomping before and after the prayer and Wannabe said, "does he HAVE to come?" Wannabe waved his hand over Giggles' head and said, "he was like Death yesterday."

Seriously... he called his brother Death. DEATH! (I admit I laughed on the inside while keeping a straight face.) But how could I send Death on the bus? Could you?

I just couldn't.

So I drove Death to school.