Changing Their Tune

When I arrived home Friday evening, there was no doubt in my mind that the boys missed me. Wesley had a gift bag for me full of books he had made. Ryan showered me with kisses. Both boys said they missed me "so very very very much" and asked to sleep in the big blue bed with me.  We cuddled on the couch and read books and played games on the iPhone.

I knew it wouldn't last, for I am "mean Mommy" - my words, not theirs. Believe it or not, I don't let my kids get away with too much and after four nights and five days of hanging out with their grandparents, I figured my return would be a bit of a rude awakening.

That awakening came this morning when we had to get back into our regular routine. Neither child wanted to get out of bed at 7:00, but that was no surprise. They did alright getting to Grandma's but for some reason Wesley had a total attitude disintegration when we got there. He was snippy and snarky and made faces. He lost his turn to play on the phone on the way home and ended up on the steps before I even left at 8:15.

He was "hrumping" and sighing and pouting as I passed the steps on my way to the front door. "Bye Sweetie," I said as was leaving. "I hope your day gets better."

Wesley gave me a nasty look and said, "It will - after you go to work!"

I don't know if he was right about his day, but mine sure improved after I left him at Grandma's.

By the way, remember that sweet picture of me and boys at the beginning of this post? These are the faces I get now that I've been home for a few days.



Talk about faces only a mother could love!





Playing Favorites

Ryan's favorite show is Tom and Jerry. He watches it every day (thank you DVR) and even likes to pretend he is Jerry. This morning the boys were watching an episode and Ryan laughed, "Tom is the funniest and Jerry is the best."

"Jerry is not the best," Wesley retorted. "He's the smartest."

But good luck convincing Ryan of that, "Not the smartest - the bestest!" he answered. So there.

Being Boys

Drinking Grandpa's coffee

"Helping" Daddy

Guess Daddy needed more "help"

Sitting on the neighbors moped. Wesley sat on it, looked at me and said, "What's jumpin', Chick?"

Pretending to ride the swagger wagon

Home Sweet Home

I am home from NYC!!!!! Even though Book Expo America is by far my favorite conference, I am so very happy to be home. New York is not my favorite city and I missed my family terribly. And then there was the whole experience of getting home. It was such an experience, that I absolutely have to recount it for you here. If you are a Facebook friend, you know the story and you can just skip this post and check back tomorrow for something cute about the boys.

Our flight out of JFK was scheduled to leave at 8:45 pm. No problem. We had all day to sight see and left for the airport at about 4:45. Our first clue that the trip home was not going to be an easy one came shortly thereafter - when it took us almost 2 hours just to get to the airport!! Still, we figured there was no problem. We had plenty of time to check in, go through security and grab a bite to eat.

It sounded like a great plan, but as we entered the security line, we were informed that our flight had been delayed by an hour because of strong storms in Ohio. That was a little disheartening to hear because we were anxious to get home and the new time meant we wouldn't be arriving home until almost midnight, but hey, an hour delay wouldn't be too bad. Oh, if only we had known what was in store for us.

Our next clue that things were seriously about to go down the toilet was when there wasn't a single place near our gate to sit down. Why the congestion? Because of the number of cancelled flights. Um..not good. We tried to remain optimistic as the fight time was bumped to 10:00, then 10:15.

At about 10:15 they finally let us board the plane! YAY!!! But the joy was short lived. We sat on the plane for over two and a half hours. The pilot and crew were optimistic about us being able to take off, but the runway was really backed up with delays and one runway had been temporarily shut down.

Here's where a couple of laws I unaware of came into play. Rule #1: An airline cannot keep passengers on a plane for more than three hours without taking off. Rule #2: Pilots can only be on the clock for so long (log a certain number of hours) before they are not allowed to fly anymore that day. Rule#1 + Rule #2 + weather delay = our flight being cancelled just before 1:00 Friday morning. We got off the plane and lined up with over a hundred folks from other cancelled flights for "rebooking."

Rebooking is such an optimistic and unrealistic term for what followed. Here's what happened. We stood in line for THREE HOURS until 4:00 in the morning (I only broke down in tears once) only to be told that all four of us could not get back to Columbus on Friday. Two of us could get back by 10:30 Friday night, but we'd have to go to Minneapolis first.  All four of us could go to a different airport and try to get on a flight Columbus, but we'd have to go standby and the chances of us all getting on the flight (on a holiday weekend) was not good. We could wait and get on a direct flight on Saturday, but they could not give us a hotel voucher because all the hotels were full (again, holiday weekend.) Our last option was a flight leaving at 5:10 on Friday evening and landing in Cincinnati at 7:10, then we'd have to get someone to come get us.

We chose the last option because it would at least get us home the same day.and Duane said he'd come get us. The airline gave us crappy, too short, too thin blankets, disposible pillows and warm canned juice, along with breakfast and lunch vouchers to use for our day in the airport. We were told we could get our baggage in the baggage claim office when it reopened at 5:00, so we decided to try and get some sleep. After all, we had been up for nearly 22 hours at this point.

Sleep did not happen for any of us. We all felt disgusting. The airport was COLD and filthy. The blankets were not long enough to cover your feet and your shoulders at once. The floor was gross. Sleeping in a chair was next to impossible. Basically we just tried not to grump to each other too much and dreamed of getting our luggage so we could dig out our toothbrushes and a change of clothes.

When 5:00 rolled around a couple of us got coffee, I snagged a t-shirt to put on from the gift shop and we headed down to baggage claim to get our luggage. But guess what? Our luggage was already on the way home and due to arrive at the Columbus airport at noon. WHAT!? We were going to have to hang around the airport all day, take a flight to a city we don't even want to go to, drive home and then drive to the airport to pick up our luggage!?

That was too much for us to take. We decided to see if we could get at least a partial refund on our tickets and rent a car to drive home - a ten hour drive on basically no sleep. It wasn't easy, and we had to get kind of....well....not nice to get any kind of refund at all, but we did it. We drove in shifts and kind of dozed on the way (I think I might gotten two hours total) but we made it to Columbus by the time our flight to Cincinnati would have started boarding. By some miracle, our luggage was actually waiting for us. It was just sitting out in the open where anyone could have taken it, but it was there.

It wasn't the way I planned to get home, but the women I was with were great. We were tired and hungry and felt disgusting, but managed to stay upbeat and not get on each others nerves. I'm just so happy to be home! And now I have a travel nightmare story to share.

Quick Post from the Big Apple

I'm still in New York but figured I'd give you a quick update of what I've been doing. Yesterday I got to hear Daniel Handler (Lemony Snicket), Katherine Patterson, Malinda Lo, Cindy Pon, Matt de la Pena, and Rita Garcia Williams. I had dinner at the Yale Club and a drink at the Algonquin Hotel.

Today I had breakfast with Julianne Moore, Kevin Henkes, Brian Selznick and Sarah Dessen. OK, they were the speakers and not exactly at my table, but still. I got to chat with Laini Taylor and I'm getting ready to have dinner at a nice restaurant in Times Square. Not a bad couple of days - and I've got two more to go!

We Interrupt This Blog

I just wanted to let everyone out there in cyberspace know that I probably won't be posting for several days. I am headed out of town for a book conference, leaving the hubby to fend for himself and the kids to have a "super duper double overnight" with their grandparents.  Talk to you when I get back!

Family Date Night

Saturday night used to be date night. OK, that's a lie. Duane and I were both gaming geeks in our former lives, so Saturday night was usually spent playing D&D, but for most adults without children it's date night. Tonight we got in the Saturday night spirit by having a family date night.

We had dinner at Hometown Buffet because Wesley LOVES buffets and kids are not required to stay in their seats. I really dislike most buffets and this one was very busy and there were a lot of  empty pans, ran out of dishes for people to use, etc.  I'll admit I was fairly crabby and probably pretty lucky Duane didn't leave me there to fend for myself. The good news is that the evening improved by leaps and bounds after we left.

My friend Sarah posted on her blog about an indoor glow in the dark putt putt place not too far from us, so we went there. It was so cool! Uncle Kirk, Aunt Susan, Aunt Melissa, Kierstin and Mark all met us there and we had a blast. The boys have never played putt putt before, so there was quite a learning curve.

Daddy gives Ryan some tips.

Wesley's own unique form

Daddy shows Wesley how it's done

Looking good Ry-baby!

Um...not quite the way Daddy showed him

 Duane and I each got a hole in one on the final hole and got a coupon for a free Rita's Italian Ice. Now, I have heard marvelous things about Rita's but we've never been. WOW! We were missing out! It was delicious!!!! Of course, the boys preferred the frozen custard. They each had a cone - meaning Ryan had his first ice cream cone tonight. He did a great job with it too.

It might have been a different kind of date night, but it sure was fun!

How to Tell You Are a Parent

In case those kids running around your house calling you "mommy" or "daddy" wasn't enough of a tip off, here are some more ways you can tell you are a parent.

• No one in your house has to go to "the bathroom," everyone goes "potty"
• You have a pediatrician's number programed in your cell phone
• The inside of your vehicle is covered with chocolate milk stains, random stale food bits, and fast food toys
• Your CD collection in your car includes Phineas and Ferb, Laurie Berkner and more
• You can name every kids show playing on Nick Jr. or Disney Jr.
• You have a hard recalling the last movie you went to that was not animated and geared towards kids.
• You are used finding toys in your work bag, your purse, on top of the toilet and in the bathtub.
• You always have hot dogs, chicken nuggets, mac and cheese and mini pizzas in the freezer.
• You buy chocolate milk or juice boxes when you are at Starbucks
• All of the band aids in your medicine cabinet have cartoon characters on them
• You are REALLY happy that your house has burgandy carpet because nothing stains it

Short and Sweet

Ryan has been so adorable the last few days. He just melts my heart! Here are a few of his highlights from this week.

• As I mentioned, I had strep throat for the first part of the week. The first night I was in bed (and still contagious) we were trying very hard to keep the kids away from me. Wesley understood that he couldn't come in the room, so he'd just stand in the doorway to talk to me. Ryan didn't have that understanding. He kept rushing into the room and trying to climb into the bed to talk to me. When I told him that I didn't want him in the bedroom because I didn't want him to get sick he responded, "Wesley not sick. Daddy not sick." He had seen them come into the room (or doorway) and figured that since they did not immediately get sick, it must be safe. Later that same night, Duane put the baby gate up in the hallway so Ryan would quit coming in the room. That didn't stop my baby from coming to see his mommy though. He just knocked the thing down!

• Last night Ryan insisted that I come upstairs while Duane put the boys to bed. I did, and sat next to Ryan's bed (toddler bed) while Duane read stories. When Duane turned the light off and went to tuck Wesley in, Ryan reached out and grabbed my hand and asked,  "Mommy, you stay here and watch me sleep in my little bed?"

• This morning Ryan crawled on my lap, and snuggled into me. "I love you, Ryan" I said. "I love Mommy and Daddy too," he replied.

How can such a sweet little boy be such a ornery little cuss sometimes?

Little Hearts Are Breaking

When I woke Wesley up this morning I reminded him that it was game day in his class AND it was the last day of pre-k.

"After today you won't go to school until you go to Kindergarten!" I told him excitedly.

Wesley seemed to take the news in stride and went about the morning routine. However, I couldn't find him when it was time to put jackets on. After a minute I discovered him curled in corner of the dining room with such a sad look on his face that it almost broke my heart.

"What's the matter, sweetie?" I asked.

"I'm so sad because after today I'm never going to see C. again. Ever."

I pulled him into my lap and assured him that he would see C. again. "In fact, Grandma and C.'s mommy are planning a playdate for when I'm on my trip next week. And we can play with her some other times this summer too."

That seemed to cheer him up enough to finish getting ready to go. Before we left, Wesley informed me that "C. is my best and even when I go to a new school and get new girlfriends I'll think about her every day."

That's some pretty strong devotion from a 5 year old.

My Little Graduate

Today was Wesley's Pre-K graduation ceremony (even though the last day of school is tomorrow.) Now for some reason after nearly 20 years of not getting strep throat, I have come down with it not once, but TWICE this year. And it's only May! However, strep was not going to keep me from Wesley's graduation. Since my contagious period technically ended last night and the polka dots on my tonsils were lessening, I got out of bed long enough to attend the ceremony today.

Mrs. H, Wesley and Mrs. A.  By the way, Mrs. H. was also MY preschool teacher!

Wesley and C. or as I call the, the pre-K power couple

Graduation day cutie!

After the ceremony, Ryan and Wesley got to have a special trip to COSI with Grandma and Grandpa P. while Daddy went back to work and Mommy went back to the couch for a nap.

Not Me Monday

I have not become a total and complete Angry Birds addict. And even if I have, there's no way I'm more addicted than my children.

I did not force my youngest son to wear sandals one day because his feet sweat so much and get so stinky!

I did not have a minor freak out when Duane said he picked up birthday gifts for our nephews even though I know that he is more than capable of picking out something awesome!

I was not convinced that my kid was hands down the best in the preschool talent show.

I did not let both boys sleep in the "big blue bed" with me when Duane was gone overnight even though I knew it meant I would get almost no sleep.

I did not continue to stand by, drinking a cocktail with my friend as Wesley ran through the kitchen with a pair of scissors. And even if I did, I know I didn't look at my friend, shrug, and say, "At least they are safety scissors and he's holding them the right way (point down)" And even if both those things happened, I know my friend and I didn't giggle and take another sip of drink.

Abracadabra

Today we went to the art show at Wesley's preschool - art, snacks, and entertainment. Part of the entertainment was a magician. Wesley and a friend stood watching him, while Daddy sat nearby. At one point Wesley asked the magician if he could make things disappear.

"Some things," replied the magician.

"How about my brother?" Wesley asked without missing a beat.

The magician didn't seem at all surprised by Wesley's request. He just said, "Oh, I don't think your mommy would like that."

"Depends on the day!" Duane chimed in, smiling.

Birthday Boys

Last night we celebrated Sho and Kei's birthdays. We ate some fantastic food at a restaurant owned by the parent's of one of Cathy's Chinese school students. It was SOOOO good. We even got Wesley to try some of it! OK, we ordered some spicy salt chicken with no sauce and told Wesley it was chicken nuggets. Hey, he ate four big pieces of it, so it must have worked.

After dinner we went over to Chuck E. Cheese so the kids could play games. For some reason Ryan was completely taken with the shooting games. He has never shown interest in them before, but last night they were the coolest things ever.

Then there was the moment we looked up from where we were sitting and saw Ryan standing on a high chair pretending to shoot the machine guns on one game. Apparently he wanted to play it badly enough that he found a way to reach it and it didn't matter that the game wasn't even on (no tokens!)

Oh Ryan.......

Preschoolers Have Talent

Yesterday was Wesley's class talent show. I know I told you that I wasn't really looking forward to it, but it was just about the sweetest thing I've ever seen. The kids were encouraged to do whatever they were good at, so the talent displayed was quite varied. There was a boy whose talent was counting to 100, but he got stage fright and only made it to ten. Another boy demonstrated his fencing talent (swinging a plastic sword around) and another did karate (a kick while wearing a Power Ranger costume).  A very sweet little girl made up a story with her bear to tell us and there was lots of dancing and tumbling.

Wesley was the only one to tell jokes and he took to the stage like a born entertainer. Even when he messed up a little bit, he smiled and went on. Got some big laughs too!




Afterwards, several parents told me that he stole the show and commented on how much personality he had.  His teachers (who were somehow convinced at the beginning of the year that he was shy) commented on the huge strides he made. All I know is that I was super proud of my little guy!

Pet Show Pride

Wesley's class had a stuffed animal pet show the other day. Wesley had a hard time deciding which stuffed animal to take. For a while he was going to take his stuffed dog "Harry", but the night before the pet show he decided to take his stuffed elephant instead.

When I asked him what prompted the change he told me that the winner was going to get a blue ribbon and since an elephant was the biggest pet you could have, he was SURE he'd win with that.

Thankfully Wesley's preschool teachers have been doing this for a while and made sure that each pet won for something. Wesley's elephant won a ribbon for being the elephant with the longest nose.

Of course, if you ask Wesley about the pet show he'll tell you he "won" the whole thing!

We Are Family

Ryan loves the "family ring" that Duane got me for Mother's Day.  He's completely taken with the fact that each stone in the ring represents a member of our family. The other morning he slipped the ring off my finger, held it in his hand and gently touched each stone saying, "Daddy, Ryan, Wesley, Mommy." He did that over and over and even took it over to Wesley to show him. 

Ryan repeated the scene in the car on the way home the other night too. I think it made Daddy a little nervous though - he sprung for the real stones after all.

It just touches my heart that Ryan seems to "get it." That he seems to understand that the ring is something special for me and what it represents. What a sweetie.

Words of Wisdom

Ryan is one of those kids that always wants to do something correctly the first time he tries. If it doesn't work out, he starts to whine, "I can't do it!" We always tell him that he can do it with some more practice and that practice makes perfect. 

My words came back to haunt me the other night. I was on my way home from work with the boys in the van and traffic was terrible. No matter what route I took traffic was backed up and we were just creeping along.

"UGH!" I cried. "We're never going to get home."

Ryan's little voice piped up from the backseat, "Don't worry Mommy. Practice makes perfect."

I hate it when my toddler is right.

The Best

I think I've gotten a little bit spoiled. No comments from the peanut gallery, okay. I'm saying that because Wesley regularly tells me how much he loves me and that he thinks I'm the best mommy. However, yesterday I seemed to have lost my place at the top of the pack.

Wesley: Grandma is the best! She has the best toys and she always makes me two or four things for lunch - even a grilled cheese sandwich AND a hot dog! I wish I lived at her house and she was my mom."

Mommy (pretending to pout): But you said you loved me best!

Wesley: Well, I do, but if she was my mom, you could be my grandma and Grandpa could be my dad and Daddy could be my grandpa. See?

Umm....what I see from that is a family tree with no branches and the song "I Am My Own Grandpa" playing in the background.

The Power of "No"

I believe that women - moms in particular - have a hard time saying "no." Or more accurately, we have a hard time saying "no" and not feeling guilty about it.

I'm not talking about saying "no" to my children. I say "no" to them all the time. They probably think that's the only word I can speak sometimes. Well, that and "Don't touch your brother."

I'm talking about saying "no" when people ask you to do something, or worse, when you feel obligated to do something even though you don't want to. I am guilty of agreeing to do something I don't want to do because I feel like I should and then stressing out about it or resenting the time it takes. Not exactly a spirit of giving, huh?

Wesley is in his last two weeks of preschool and every day has something special going on. There are cards to make and items to share and talent shows to attend. This Sunday is the big art show/open house at the school. It's not just the kids showing off their art work - there are games and entertainment and a silent auction and refreshments. All of which need parent involvement.

 Last year Duane and I signed up to take three dozen cookies. We made the cutest cut out cookies that looked like basketballs and baseballs and there wasn't a single one of our cookies left! This year, I have said "no."  I am doing nothing except attending and do you know what? I don't feel bad about it. We are not going to be home tonight or Friday night. Duane leaves Saturday morning to go camping with Sho and Kei and will not return until just before the art show on Sunday. I just don't feel like I have the time make anything to take and after a hectic week and first part of the weekend, I don't feel like I have the engery to staff any of the activities. 

And I don't feel bad about it. It's taken me years and years but maybe I am starting to recognize my limits. Maybe I'm starting to realize that I'm not Super Mom. Maybe I know deep down that what matters is that I am there for my kids and they know that. I will attend the art show with a smile on my face. I will bid on some silent auction items. I will watch my boys play and I will coo over Wesley's art project. I will enjoy myself and feel happy that I said "no."

Tap..Tap... Is This Thing On?

This Friday morning is the pre-K talent show at Wesley's preschool. Does it make me a bad mom if I say that I am NOT looking forward to it? I'm looking forward to it even less since getting a note from the school yesterday stating that we need to let the teachers know the next day (today) what our child's talent will be.  UGH!

I asked Wesley what he wanted to do for the talent show and he has decided he wants to tell jokes or do his "Garfield moves" (dance around like a maniac).  So it looks like he's going to tell jokes for his talent. Oh, I hope the audience is kind.

Sonic the Toddler

Wesley and Ryan have a Leapster game with Sonic the Hedgehog in it. They have no idea who Sonic is outside of that game, but they know that he runs really fast. And to be honest, that's all Ryan really needs to know. Ryan is now convinced that he is Sonic. He makes his Sonic face and says, "I Sonic" before taking off at top toddler speed. So now I have a preschooler that pretends he is a cat (or a dog depending on the day) and a toddler that thinks he's a video game character. At least it's never dull around here!

By the way, when I posted the above picture, Ryan said, "That looks like me! I Sonic!"  I don't know....do you see the resemblance?

Not Me Monday

I did not use a computer game to bribe my child into trying something new for dinner. Nope. Didn't happen.

I did not coax my two year old into putting underpants on by telling him that they would help him run faster. That just wouldn't have been right!

I know I didn't crawl into bed to read at 8:30. And doing that certainly didn't cause a certain toddler to come into my room and ask if he could sleep in the big blue bed with me. And there is no way I gave in because this toddler so rarely wants cuddle time with his mommy. And all of these factors did not equal me falling asleep before 9:00. That would have been pathetic.

A Wonderful Mother's Day

I have had the most wonderful, fantastic Mother's Day! Mother's Day can be a little rough since it generally falls right after our anniversary, but today was just perfect!

It started out with a huge surprise from Duane - a gorgeous "family" ring with each of our birthstones.

I have wanted one of these for so very long, but did not expect to get one today. I absolutely love it!

And Wesley gave me a super cute card he made at school. Here's the inside of it.

The bottom of it says, "Sometimes I cook with her, and sometimes she lets me sleep in her bed."

We went to church and after that Duane and the boys headed to Sunbury to see Grandma W. I got to spend the entire afternoon with my mom. Correction: I got to spend the entire afternoon with my mom without my children.  It was wonderful! We went to lunch at an Indian restaurant that we've been wanting to try, then came back to my house and watched a movie that we've both wanted to see for ages.

The day wound down with bbq from my favorite restaurant, a beer and a visit with Kirk and Sus. Absolute perfection for the day!

Nightmare or Teen Dream?

Wesley woke up this morning and came into our room saying that he had a nightmare and he couldn't stop thinking about it. When I asked him what it was about he told me, "Me and Nicholas and Clara and Amelia left school in a car without any grownups. Nicholas was driving all by himself and we went to Grandma H.'s but she wasn't there and none of us knew how to get back home. It was so scary."

I'm sure it was pretty scary for a fiver year old, but all I could think was that in 11 or 12 years, that will seem like paradise to him - a car trip with girls and no grownups.

Why Else Would You Eat Cake?

Tomorrow is my wedding anniversary. It marks the day I married the love of my life, the man I truly believe is my soul mate. This morning I pulled out our wedding album and was looking through all the pictures. Wesley climbed up onto the couch next to me and was asking tons of questions about everything.

We got to the pictures of our wedding cake. I loved our cake. Duane designed it and the baker did a fabulous job with it. The bottom tier was chocolate with chocolate filling, the middle tier was white cake with lemon filling and the top tier was Italian cream. Yum! 

I pointed out the monogram of our initials on the cake to Wesley. "See, the D is for Duane and the H is for Heather. What do you think the big W is for?" 

"Wesley!" he announced proudly! 

Not until more than a year later, buddy!

Toddler Rappelling

It's the latest craze for daredevil toddlers everywhere! Okay, not really, but it is the new way that Ryan likes to get out of the minivan.

It's simple, just grab onto the driver's seatbelt...

...and jump!!!

No helmet required and it doesn't give Mommy a reason to worry. Gotta like that.

The Wheels on the Bus

Most mornings we see a couple of school buses on the way to Grandma and Grandpa's house. Yesterday as we were waiting for one of the buses to load, Wesley said, "I can't wait until I go to kindergarten and get to ride a school bus." 

"Um....Wesley? You aren't going to ride a school bus next year. Mommy will take you to school and Grandma or Grandpa will pick you up." 

"I don't get to ride the bus!? But I WANT to!" he cried.

"Well, the school you are going to go to doesn't have a school bus that stops in our neighborhood," I explained.

Wesley thought about this for a moment before responding, "Maybe I should go to a different school - like one where I can ride a school bus!"

One of Those Times I LOVE Being a Mom

Ryan just walked up to me and said, "Mommy. You want to chase me?"

"No Buddy. I don't really feel like chasing right now."

Not liking that answer, Ryan decided to try some manners, "Mommy. You want to chase me please?"

But still he got the answer of, "Sweetie, I'm tired. I really don't want to play chase."

Ryan lifted his shirt a bit so I could see his belly and asked, "Don't you want to tickle me?"

OH YEAH! The chase is on!

Who's The Boss?

Yesterday started off as most days do in our house - with a minor battle of the wills? Or is that a battle of the minor's wills?

Anyhow, I was in Ryan's room getting him dressed when Wesley wandered into the room. Ryan tried to order Wesley out, but Wesley didn't want to leave.

"You aren't the boss of me, Ryan!" Wesley shouted. "Don't you tell me what to do!"

"You're right, Wesley. Ryan isn't the boss of you," I told him. "But you aren't his boss either."

"I know, Mom. When Daddy's not home you're the boss. And when you aren't home, Daddy is the boss. And if you and Daddy aren't home, then Grandma or Grandpa is the boss."

I thought that explained things pretty well, so I didn't ask what happens when Daddy and I are both home. The rest of "getting ready" time went pretty smoothly until it was time to get jackets on and Wesley started bossing Ryan around.

"Wesley, do you remember what we said about who is the boss?"  I asked.

"Oh yes! I'm 5 which a bigger number than 2, but not as big as....whatever number you are, so that means you are the boss!"

I didn't want to talk about how big my number is, so we ended that discussion pretty quickly! As long as he knows who the boss is.

Not Me Monday

I did not have to leave the room while the boys were playing with Playdough because they were mixing colors together and it was stressing me out a bit. And no, I do not have a Type A personality.

I certainly didn't allow Ryan to eat his fill of goldfish crackers even though he neglected to eat his dinner. And even if I did, it wasn't because I just wasn't in the mood to hear him whine.

I did not break down and eat some of the leftover food on my kids plates. And if I did, I certainly didn't do it because the leftover food was cupcake from my favorite cupcake bakery. And even if both those things were true, I know I hadn't already eaten my dessert first!

You Keep Using That Word.....

 

A little Wesley monologue to start your day:

     "I'm not going to play my Leapster ever again. It's so boring. I mean, it's not boring, but there are so many games to choose from and I never know what to chose and I have to really think about it so that part is boring. And I don't like boring. So I guess I'll never play my Leapster. I'll just watch Ryan play his."

   Yeah, because watching someone else play a game isn't boring.