Leaving the House

Trying to go anywhere with 4 children can be a challenge, the biggest hurdle of that challenge, is actually getting out of the house.  Typically it goes something like this...
I yell- "Everyone get your shoes on!!!"  I listen carefully for the pitter patter of 8 feet running to the closet to get their shoes on...I hear nothing.  I call again "Everyone get your shoes on!"  This is typically followed by the sound of at least 2 of the kids arguing about putting whatever is they're doing away, because mommy has asked them to put their shoes on.  One child has disappeared, and one is looking for their shoes. 
It is at this point I think...maybe they should go to the bathroom.  So I seperate the 2 that are fighting (usually Lauren and Julie) and send them each to a bathroom.  When the kid in the upstairs bathroom comes out, I send them to get their shoes on, and send Carter to the bathroom, all while I change Maya so she is fresh for the car ride.  By this point, both Lauren and Julie usually have shoes on.  I ask them to help Maya get her shoes on, while I make sure Carter washes his hands.  While I am standing at the sink with Carter, I realize I still need to brush my teeth, so I reach for my toothbrush as I send Carter to get his shoes on.  It is at this point that Carter announces that he doesn't want to go with us, so he is not going to put his shoes on. 
Maya, who can now open doors, is so excited about going in the car that she is trying to escape out the front door, the girls are trying to keep her inside, and I am standing in Carter's room with a toothbrush in one hand and his shoes in the other demanding that he get them on, because he is going with us.  He takes his shoes, and reluctantly starts to put them on.  I go out to the entrance to check on the girls, and find that Lauren has chosen to wear rubber boots that are a size too small on the hottest day of the year, with the sun shining bright, "because that's all she could find".  Julie on the other hand is wearing flip flops that barely stay on her feet.  I get on my hands and knees and start digging through the hall closet for something appropriate for each of them, only to find 3 left shoes, and 4 right, none matching.  Carter is still staring at his shoes, saying he isn't going.  I finally find the appropriate shoes, just in time to catch Maya as she heads out the front door to play in the street.  The girls are ready to go.  I take them out to the van and strap them in their seats.  I come back to the house to get Carter, he is still refusing to put his shoes on...after 5 minutes of pleading he finally agrees.  I run out to check on the kids, Carter comes behind me, shoes on the wrong feet (but atleast they are on).  I get everyone strapped in the van.  I run back in the house for the one thing I have ineveitably forgotten.  Come back to the van, climb in, start it up, begin to back down the driveway...that's when the smell hits me!  Maya has conveniently pooped since I strapped her in...

Now, the whole process takes generaly 15 minutes on the best of days.  On these days my house is left in whatever state it finds itself in from the daily living of a family of 6.  Our house is currently on the market.  I can get a call at anytime that someone wants to see our house.  This means we have to leave, and the house has to be CLEAN when I do.  I hope it sells quickly!

Kids! They make you laugh! They make you cry! And they scare the crap out of you!

The other day my son took off his shirt and said "feast your eyes, ladies" to myself and his sisters. 
No self esteem issues there!


Lauren tried on a beautiful multi coloured and multi patterned dress the other day...came out of the changeroom, pasted herself to the nearest wall and said "look mom, I'm modern art".  Smart kid!


Maya has taken to climbing up on the toy kitchen and jumping down on to the couch shouting 'canda ball' (canon ball) as she drops! 


After Lauren had some gas while driving the other day...Julie announced that we should strap her to the roof 'cause then mommy wouldn't have to pay for gas'...

10 Things NOT to say to people with more than the average number of children!

So I was inspired to write this little piece based on an article I saw today titled: 10 Things Not to Say to Your Friends Without Kids.  It was actually a nice little article, and I can respect her point of view...it made me think, however, of all the things people have said to us about having 4 kids, that can be unbelievably annoying.

10.  "You do know how this happens, right?"  - No!  Please share with me?  Was it the Rock and Roll music?  I think I missed every year of reproduction in health class from grades 6-12...  Yes, I know how this happens!  I am a functioning member of society and fairly intelligent, but thanks for checking.  You could have saved me from myself (or my husband, LOL)!

9.  "Are you Catholic?" - No, I am not.  I didn't know they had a Monopoly on the large family thing...maybe I should check that out.

8.  "You're not going to have any more are you?"  OR  "This is it right?"- I am personally done having kids, but what if I wasn't, what if I was pregnant right now...who are these people that think they know how many is the right number for our family unit...besides, let's be honest our kids are pretty darn cute, the world wouldn't be hurting if there was a couple more from this gene pool floating around (kidding, kidding)

7.  "I'd shoot myself in the head!"- This is one of my favourites and I am not lying when I say I have heard it more than once...here, give me the gun, I'll help you out with that.

6.  "We wanted to invite you, but there are just so many of you." - Do I even need to explain why this is insulting?  Why did you feel the need to share that with me?

5.  "Do you drive a bus?"- Yes, yes, I do, and man is that thing a pain to park.  (Insert eye roll here).

4.  "The fourth one will just raise herself." - That's right we parent a little less with each one.  We're working our way up to free range parenting.

3.  "Was the last one an accident?" - Define accident?  Do you mean unplanned?  Because I am not sure anyone does the act that causes babies "by accident".  And for the record...no, the last one was not an accident.  She was most definitely planned.

2.  "That's crazy"  or "That's insane"- Well lucky for all of us, that the father, of these accidental children to an insane, Catholic mother who knows nothing about reproduction, is a psychologist!

1.  "You must be Super Mom!" - Yes!  Like my cape???    No, I am not.  I am just a regular mom, that does what she needs to do to keep her kids, safe, healthy and happy, I just happen to do it times 4. 


Now, I will admit, I play along when these things are said, and joke with my friends about them, but sometimes, it is really hurtful to hear these things from people who are clearly making a judgement on your family.  David and I chose to have a big family, we Love it and wouldn't change it for anything in the world!                

Emotional Mommy!

In the past 6 weeks our baby Maya (22 months) has stopped breast feeding, gone from crib to toddler bed, high chair to booster chair, sippy cup to regular cup, pooped in the potty twice...and today she dressed herself in her pyjamas by herself, (granted one arm was through the neck hole and her pants were up in the front, but not over her diaper in the back, but pretty good for her first time).

This little growth spurt was ineveitable, but it is hitting mommy pretty hard.  I get teary eyed thinking about it. 

We have 4 little people, that is enough for this family...but ohhh...I didn't know leaving the baby stage would be so emotional for me...

...especially since I know what is coming and I love that too...and I am so looking forward to the new stages we are headed too with our older children...

Does every mom go through this???

Holy Week

So last Sunday was Palm Sunday.  We arrived at church and were handed a Palm leaf to celebrate Jesus' arrival into Jerusalem...Carter immediately turned his Palm Leaf into a machine gun and pretended to shoot everything in sight.  Trying to curb this behaviour I bent close to his ear and said "Carter, this is NOT a gun!  He responeded with "I know mommy, but I am pretending IT is" quite emphatically. 

On to Maundy Thursday and Good Friday...I shared in a Prayer Vigil with the youth in our Presbytery.  It was a fantastic night of prayer and reflection, with some fun thrown in there too.  When I arrived home Lauren and Julie asked if I had stayed up all night.  I said 'no' that I hadn't managed and had fallen asleep for a couple of hours during the night.  They told me "that's ok mommy, the disciples didn't manage either"... This is funny because part of our covenant with the youth had been to stay up all night (but if you did pass out Jesus would be ok with it, because it wouldn't be the first time) ...but yay to my kids for remembering the Sunday School lesson!

Finally, Easter Sunday.  We had the usual Easter Egg hunt then get ready for church.  Easter Sunday service was beautiful, and we had a fantastic day with the kids...they were tired from all the early morning searching, but had a fantastic day!!!

  

High Praise

We very rarely drink anything but apple or grape juice in our house.  Yesterday, however, we tried berry juice.  At breakfast yesterday morning, I poured Carter some of this juice.  As he watched the red liquid flow into his glass he said  "ugh!  what is THAT mommy?"  I told him it was berry juice, and to try it.  He took a big swig and said "hmmm, that is not gross mommy!"  I said "wow!  That is high praise, Carter".  He said "high praise?  What is high praise?  I think I am allergic to high praise!"

A perceived allergy to high praise...what does that say about my parenting???

Volunteering...my quest to say no for Lent...

I gave up volunteering for Lent.  So far it has been pretty good...I have had a slip up here and there, had to revision and refocus, but all in all it is going well.

I do keep getting asked, however, "will you do this for me, after Lent then?"  I think they have missed the point...

and I hope I have received the message of this endeavour loud and clear...but I am sure it will be a process, with lots of revisioning and refocusing along the way.

What did you give up, or bring into your life this Lenten season?  I would love to hear from others about their journeys through Lent.  Are you struggling like me?

Where Procratination Can Get You...

Yesterday morning while I was in the bathroom downstairs, Maya was in the bathroom upstairs unrolling a brand new roll of toilet paper into the toilet.  I came upstairs to find this and promptly closed the bathroom door.  The kids needed breakfast and to get dressed, this could wait...I thought.  So, I went about the morning routine of our household, forgetting about the problem in the bathroom.  Forgetting until I heard Carter call from the bathroom..."uhhh"  (as if he has never made a mess in his life exasperated sigh) "what a mess Maya made, I'll help clean it up" as he flushes the toilet 5 times.  I run to the bathroom...the water is rising, the toilet is running...its not stopping...water is creeping across the bathroom floor, coming fast toward the hallway...I wade across the quickly rising mess lift the back off the toilet...the floater has caught the flap for the opening making the water run continuously...I lift the floater, close the little flap thing (yes those are technical plumbing terms) and begin the process of cleaning up my bathroom floor.  I finish up and take the mass of wet towels down to the laundry room to find that half the water had leaked through the floor onto my baskets of clean clothes...more mess, and more laundry. 
The whole time Carter is following me repeatedly commenting about the mess Maya made but "I helped".  You helped alright buddy!  You taught mommy a valuable lesson about procratination!

Best Feeling Ever!

Maya called me Mommy today! 

First time she said mommy...not mama, or mommm...so I am sure she was actually talking to me, not just stringing sounds together.  I know that she has called me mama for awhile...but it still feels good to hear that first mommy!

Best feeling ever!  Love!

Million Hour Drive

Has anybody ever taken a road trip with their kids???  Happenstance has it that we live 6 hours away from my parents and 5 from David's parents.  This means we take a road trip about once every 6 weeks.  Sometimes we travel all together, but sometimes it is either David or I with some or all of the kids.  Today I am about to leave my parents for the journey home with the 2 youngest, this sparked me to share what a road trip is like with our family.  Now our kids are all individually great travellers, but when you put them together as a collective unit in close quarters for 6 hours there is definitely the potential for trouble.  We usually start out well, but then Lauren touches Julie, which makes Julie shove her; Carter steals Maya's blanket and thus Maya starts to squeal; Julie says she doesn't want to watch The Incredibles, which makes Carter yell that he does.  Then we stop for lunch.  One of the kids inevitably spills something, David and I forgot to leave a couple diapers out so we have to unpack the back of the van so we can change the baby; someone's lunch tastes funny so they won't eat it, and we have to stop an hour later so they can all pee out what they drank during lunch.  We always end up arriving at our destination later than we planned and quickly find something to occupy the kids or put them to bed, so we can unpack the van, and get to bed ourselves at a reasonable time.  It is an adventure!  I have to say we get much better at it every time that we do it, but sometimes it feels like the million hour driving marathon.
This is what happens on an average trip to our parents.  I have to admit, the thought of an actual vacation scares me, just a little. 

How do you explain that to your 8 year old?

Lauren asked us today what Modernistic Expressionism is.

Seriously???

New Friends!

So, I have made a new friend.  She is the kind of friend that asks very good questions that make you reflect on yourself.  Today she asked if I felt that everything I do was a lot, or whether it just sounded like a lot to other people. 
This was a great question and it made me reflect on what I really wanted from life right now, and if maybe, just maybe all my activities were not helping me reach my goals.  I am not sure this reflection was the intended effect she expected her question to have, but it was none the less, how I experienced it.
After the question was posed David looked at me from across the room for my response...I think he wanted to know the answer, and was wondering why he could not have asked the same question so brilliantly.  I answered truthfully, that some days it was too much.
This brought me full circle to a conversation from yesterday, when our minister (another friend who asks great questions) challenged our congregation to have meaningful conversation during the lunch after church.  One suggested topic was what we might give up for Lent.  Over lunch David did ask me this question, and I jokingly responded that I was going to give up volunteering for Lent.  
After my freinds question today, I don't think I am joking any more, volunteering might be the perfect thing for me to give up for Lent.

I am so thankful for those people in my life that can ask these questions.  They truly are a blessing!

Today's Parenting Lesson

The word, easy or beginner on a craft may be misleading.  If the craft looks exceedingly difficult from the outside, go with your gut...it most likely is.


Today a pulled out a 'make your own doll' kit Lauren received for her birthday 3 or 4 years ago (I don't remember who gave it to her, but they clearly have no idea about the capabilities of a 4 year old).  I thought she and Julie might finally be able to do this one.  I was wrong!  It was more like craft time for mommy as I read the complicated instructions and helped piece them all together.  It was even difficult for me to do. 

The box said easy... easy for a doll maker, maybe. 

Being Kind to Our Friends!

I have posted this story on Facebook, but felt I wanted to blog it as well...keep another record because it was just too funny!

David picked Carter up from Montessori a couple of weeks ago.  In the car on the way home, Carter announces that "we need to be nice to our friends". 
David responded by asking "and how can we be nice?"  
Carter's response: "By Being kind."
David: "And how can we be kind to our friends?"
Carter: "By not spraying them with fire."
David: "Yes that is a good way to be kind to our friends...but else can we do to be kind to our friends?"
Carter: "I don't know Daddy, that's all I got."

Well...I guess we better work on our definition of being kind!

Talking

Maya is talking more and more everyday...I am disappointed one of her first 50 words is ketchup though...oh well...take what you can get!