We Miss Mama:
This week Lindsey went to New York with her mom and all of her sisters. While the girls get to shop all day, Daddy gets to stay home and play Mr. Mom.
A few lessons learned so far:
-
Scout CAN get to school early every day (Of course he can when you are in charge for only one week.)
-
Before school, all of the kids can eat, get dressed, brush their hair and their teeth, and walk outof the house with a smile (Yep — You are right. I taught them that.)
-
It’s possible to make every meal, for every kid, with food that’s already in the house ?? withoutusing the microwave (Micah took on the challenge to not buy one speck of food while we were gone. He only used things in our pantry and fridge/freezer. He said it was easy, and I congratulate him on a job well done. And to his credit, the kids loved pancakes, crepes, bacon, cereal, mac and cheese, more bacon etc. When I asked Scout how it was, he said all of the food was really good. But then he said, “Mom, but do you think you could buy me some fruit at the market tomorrow?”)
-
The box of diapers lasts way longer if you only use one a day (Amen.)
-
Dash and Navy both need naps; Scout has a great imagination during quiet time (Agreed. Even if it is only for a little personal sanity. And yes, Scout’s imagination has always been to die for.)
-
None of my kids ever cares to watch TV (Sometimes bad, but mostly good.)
-
The house CAN stay clean for an entire week (Great — you just got yourself the job!)
-
The car CAN stay clean for an entire week (Another job!)
-
The highchair CAN stay clean for an entire week (And another.)
-
If your kids get lost, just stay put and they will eventually find you (Awesome. What happened?)
-
The clothes dryer works great if you clean the lint filter (No Duh. I clean the filter before I dry.)
-
If you don’t lock the front door, there aren’t burglars hiding in the bushes ready to sneak inwhen you leave (Not willing to test this.)
-
If you don’t lock the front door, there ARE neighbors who will come in and play with your toyswhen you leave (Obviously Vince.)
-
Even three?year?olds can separate the recycling (I’ll save the world after kids.)
-
If you only fill the baby’s bottle up 2/3, you don’t always have 1/3 of the bottle left over (Note taken.)
-
During the week of May 20?25 none of my kids has allergies, eczema or ADHD (Wasn’t allergy season, Dash’s eczema is under control due to the tub of Cetaphil you were putting on him, I’ve never mentioned ADHD in my life. You must be getting mixed up with OCD — the acronym you suffer from.)
-
If you load the dishwasher properly, everything gets clean and dry (Agreed.)
-
If you’re not cooking or cleaning, you probably should be (Agreed.)
-
My kids have way too many clothes and they are all too small (Good thing I am NYC on a shopping trip! I’ll use the AMEX.)
So basically being a mom is pretty easy. All you have to do is spend every minute you’re awake doing something for your kids.
The calm before the storm. All of the kids are sleeping. I’ve just returned from my run and finished cooking oatmeal for breakfast. My plan is to take a shower while they eat.
But instead of eating breakfast, Scout decided he was going to make my bed.
And when I go upstairs I find him making Icka’s bed.
And then off to Nonnie’s. Navy gave some moral support. Scout was so proud and told me he was “going to be the best boy for me all week.? How much can you love your son?
After we got home from picking up Scout, the kids disappeared upstairs while I fed Dash and made lunch. A few minutes later they came down with a wrapped present. Navy had supposedly made it for Scout. They definitely worked on it together, but I’m still not sure how they did such a good wrap job.
Scout acted genuinely surprised to receive a bottle of “massage lotion? and told Icka that he was “sooo excited to have his feet and his back massaged.? Then they disappeared again while I finished making their lunch.
I caught Dash feeding himself and he was really surprised. But not as surprised as I was. First Scout makes the beds and then Dash feeds himself. I was starting to wonder if I even needed to be there.
He’s not as messy as you might think. And once I secured the bowl he was good to go. This gave me plenty of time to put away the clean dishes while Navy put away the silverware. Scout asked to go swing on the rope in the front yard and I told him it was OK as long as he stayed on the grass.
But the little tricker was actually putting away the garbage cans. When I took this picture he didn’t even know I was there and man was he hustling.
When I snuck up on him, he was really bummed because there was still one left at the curb and he wanted it to be a big surprise. I think when I leave to work Lindsey just hangs out while the kids do everything. That must be why she doesn’t like for me to work from home.
And this just confirms it. When we got up to the garden, Navy turned on the hose and started watering the plants. She even turned off the water between the beds so the ground didn’t get wet.
Scout grabbed a shovel and started digging up the bee’s nest so we could install our bee trap. At this point, Navy was wondering if I was planning to do any work or just take pictures all day. I mean seriously, it was almost dinner time and I hadn’t lifted a finger.
After all of the day’s work was finished, I took the kids over to the park so they could let off some steam. They loved going up and down the slide together. Dash likes to jump off when he gets to the bottom. He also likes to nibble on the wood chips.
We went to the park a few times. This time, the two kids put on matching yellow shirts so I could find them easier. Navy can cruise all the way across the monkey bars like it’s nothing.
They both made it to the top of the rock wall. Navy tried a few fake cries for help and then darted up to the top when I strolled over to check her out.
Scout loves being the King of the Mountain.
The kids definitely earned their bedtime cookies. Mama told them they could have a rainbow if they were good and a heart if they were sweet. Scout saved his for later since they had already brushed their teeth.
A few minutes later and they were fast asleep.
Just a side note—Skylar is messier than any of our kids.-
Today we picked up Scout from school and headed straight to the garden. When we got back in the car, Scout took off his shoes because they were dirty. We like to keep our car clean.
When we got home, I tried to ask Scout to take in his shoes and backpack but he had already darted inside to make some toast. I grabbed Dash and headed in. By this time, Scout could hear me and came running back out of the kitchen. He stopped and looked at me and then turned back around to make his toast. I heard him mumble something about Icka and when I turned around I saw Navy waddling into the house holding his backpack and shoes (and her blanket and Elephante). She had a huge smile on her face.
A minute later Scout came out with two pieces of buttered toast. One for him and one for Icka.
-
Tonight I told the kids they could say something to you in your letter and Navy said, “I love you.? Scout said, “I miss you so much and I want to see you tomorrow.? I got it on video.
-
We’re doing great. The kids are amazing. Everything has been really smooth so far. I hope you are having a great time and enjoying your freedom. I love you. You are an awesome mom.
—-
I’ll admit that Micah did an amazing job while I was gone. The kids were in heaven, he loved getting to spend one-on-one with them, and he put me at peace while I talked with him from NYC. When I came home, I came home to a perfectly spotless house with laundry completed and organized cupboards. Talk about impressive! But the very best part of all was the next day when he disappeared for four hours taking a nap. I’ve never complained that being a mother was hard. But I’m glad that he can understand that it is a never-ending job that at times gets a bit exhausting. But in his words, he “had the best week!” And aren’t I lucky that i get to have “best weeks” every week. Thanks babe for working so hard to allow me to stay home with the three best kids on earth.
(As a sidenote: I always wonder if what I am teaching my kids is getting through. Without me there, are they hard workers? Are they nice? Are they good? I loved seeing these pictures of Scout. The very best part of my trip was when I got these pictures and saw my kids — specifically Scout — act exactly how I would want them to. I was extremely proud of him.)
| DESIGN BY