A Famouse Bridge, Prison and Chocolate

We woke up to an air of excitement. It could have been because our hotel would be hosting a huge nationwide mayoral convention and security was crazy…..or it could have been because my children were really excited about eating crepes for breakfast. We walked up a small mountain to a cute little place called “Honey Honey”, and the rest of my family feasted on nutella and strawberry crepes while I enjoyed the two egg breakfast complete with two slices of sourdough bread. I believe that when visiting a special place that also happens to have distinct to the area foods, eating those specialties is a must. So while in San Francisco I was determined to have Ghirardelli Chocolate, sour dough bread and Rice-a-Roni. It also turns out that anyone born after 1985 doesn’t really find the Rice-a-Roni/ San Francisco reference to be the least bit humorous.

After our breakfast and a quick side trip to H & M because Reese decided that life in the Bay Area was intolerable without a pair of pants, we headed out for a day of sight-seeing. Our first stop, the Golden Gate Bridge. My kids were pretty excited about this until they actually saw the famed bridge. The fact that it is an orangey color but referred to as “golden” didn’t set very well with my extremely rigid children. They were also thoroughly fascinated with something else hanging out in the bay……forget a famous landmark, a national treasure – they were far more interested in Alcatraz

And this old car full of Giants Fan Teddy Bears:

We posed for a few pictures:

My favorite being this one of Brandon and his mother trying to figure out how to take the best shot with all of us, the least amount of other tourists and where you could actually see the bridge:

Mattie had probably the happiest 2 minutes of her life looking through one of those coin operated binocular machines. I don’t know that she was actually looking at anything in particular, but just loved her close up view. Note to self, binoculars for Mattie’s next birthday.

The famous bridge is right behind you Mattie Belle

And Reese just seemed happy to represent his beloved Grizzlies behind enemy lines.

We then headed to Lombard Street to walk down the its crookedness.

And our last stop of the day, Fisherman’s Wharf where we had big plans of checking out all the little chachkie shops. We didn’t end up buying anything, but did spend a good 15 minutes admiring a street artist who made these incredible spray painted space scapes on cardboard with intense hip hop playing in the background. I am no art aficionado, but I think that man has a pretty promising career. The ability to scrape out a very detailed silhouette of the Bay Bridge using only a pocket knife, the edge of a magazine and several layers of spray paint……I sure can’t do that! My kids now realize that should college or their career goal of working at Sonic don’t work out, they still have another option.

We checked out this submarine, but made the unanimous decision that going on board and being trapped in such close quarters, especially with a now slightly agitated threesome of children would not be in our best interest. We took a picture or two and then headed to Ghirardelli Square.

Mattie was a little disappointed that the stories she had heard about being able to sample any of the chocolate didn’t turn out to be true, at least not at this particular factory. But Nana bought her the little plastic box, which is an all you can stuff kind of deal (and wow did she stuff! That little plastic take out box looked like a Tetrus game!) so life wasn’t so bad after all. On a side note, Ghirardelli Chocolate makes a pretty incredible sundae. I would definitely eat it again….and again…and then again.

By this time, we were about 30 minutes away from Brandon’s first actual meeting – totally forgot we were actually here in the city for work – and Nana and the kids were going to head back to her house for some quality grandparent time. I was both thrilled and terrified at the thought of my kids being away from me for a few days! What if I missed them really bad? Mattie still had the remnants of her eye injury from a week ago, what if another such injury occurred? What if Reese had another meltdown? What if my kids just went completely rogue and turned on Nana and Grandad? You think I’m exaggerating, but I sometimes fear that they will realize that they outnumber me and revolt. Thankfully, that would take cooperation and agreement and they are not at that point in their lives.

Nana and the kids before they left

That evening Brandon and I ate dinner with an old Memphis neuro friend who was also at the conference. The boys sat and talked shop for about 15 minutes before one of them mentioned that this was ridiculous and they could talk testing and concussions and all things Alzheimer’s later when I wasn’t with them. Truth be told (and I did tell them), I was just enjoying sitting there, getting to eat my own meal…..completely tuning them out. Sometimes its nice to just hear your own thoughts. I adore my children and all the fun, adventure and preciousness that comes with being their mama – but it’s also nice to eat without someone touching your food with their hands every once in a while.

If You’re Going to San Francisco

So I mentioned before that I was upstairs looking for a suitcase, implying that vacation season was upon us.  And last week or last ten days, I don’t even know anymore, some Tuesday in June a while back – we headed off for our first stop on The Kaylee and Kids Summer tour of 2015 (with Special guest, The Dad).  This trip had just sort of fallen into place in a magical way, it just so happened that this years American Academy of Clinical Neuropsychology meeting of fun and festivities would be held in San Francisco, which just so happens to be relatively near Nana and Grandad.  It also just so happened that for reasons I’m still not 100% clear on, The University of Tennessee would be sending Brandon to conference and picking up his tab.  We usually try to get out in the summer to visit Nana and Grandad anyway, but this seemed like the perfect opportunity for Brandon to get the continuing education credits he always needs, for us to have a little getaway for a few days, for the kids to have some alone time with Nana and Grandad, and for me to see my good friend Angela.

As soon as Reese found out that a trip to San Francisco would be in his future, he was adamant that he go and pay homage to his 49ers.  Though he tried to play it cool, I think Brandon was really thrilled to be able to visit the new Levi’s Stadium with his boy.  I get to have my NASCAR bucket list moments, and I think this one was his.  The plan was set, we would fly into San Jose  and be met by Nana at the airport with just enough time for a quick lunch and then the boys would have their tour.  We ladies would be going to IKEA to pick up a clothes hamper for Aunt Nadia.  (That little detail really doesn’t matter, but I felt like I needed to give at least a tiny explanation as to the reason behind our little trip.) I tried not to look to closely at anything and just remind myself that we had flown there and nothing could come back with me.  I chose instead to focus on the cinnamon rolls.  Did you know those things are only $4 for a tray of half a dozen?! I am so looking forward to our IKEA’s arrival!!!

The boys had an incredible time on the tour of the stadium.

Their tour guide was new and must have been caught up in the moment of a little boy and his dad seeing the home of their beloved team for the first time because he let them go all over the place.  Places I’m pretty sure they weren’t supposed to be, but because it was just the two of them and who’s going to pass up getting to impress a little boy, they were allowed to trespass.

Places like the private art gallery:

Frank Gore has been his favorite – hence the Frank Gore jersey

The Suites:

This was right before the suites, but that picture isn’t very good

And the Field itself, no one ever gets to go on the actual field!

He may have even been offered the chance to pretend that he was #7 Colin Kaepernick himself complete with practice jersey and pads.

And he took this opportunity and ran with it…..literally.

He was also allowed to tour the locker room of the cheerleaders, which made him feel extremely uncomfortable and for that I am very proud.  For various reasons, it would have been a little unsettling should my 6-year-old son’s favorite part of the tour been the Gold Rush locker room.

So incredibly uncomfortable in this room!

And the last part of the tour, the gift shop…..a boy after my own heart.  I think everything had been going almost like a perfect dream for Brandon and Reese, living out the long sought after experience.  Bonding and memory making in that completely silent way my particular men do…but then the dream turned into a nightmare.

Looking back, we should have known better.  Reese has shown himself to be a highly sensitive personality….surprise, surprise, he gets this trait from me.  I like to view it as a gift, but until you learn how to harness it, this gift can be a little crazy.  A highly sensitive person usually experiences very high highs and very low lows.  The end of a tour of ones favorite sports team’s stadium, something you have been looking forward to for months (which is years in kid time) can be a bit of a low.  It’s over now….I’ve been fantasizing about this since Christmas and now it’s over! High sensitive people also seem to get overwhelmed easily……like when you are in a store featuring only 49ers paraphernalia and you want EVERYTHING!  Dad has told you that you can get one souvenir and there is no way you can even process all of the red and gold regalia, much less pick one thing!  Instead of excitement, he (and I) feel anxious, panicked even and this can sometimes lead to strange fits of hysteria.  I usually have these moments in places like carpet stores and most recently the Tile, Floor and More Store……..sheer terror at the vastness of their ceramic tile selection.

He finally decided that out of everything he would like a new jersey because the jersey he currently owns features the number of a player who will not be with the Niners this season.  But jerseys are about $50 and we draw the line a little below there for souvenirs.  His dad reasoned with him, ” You have a birthday coming up buddy, maybe one will show up then!” There was very sensible rationalizing, “We’ve only been on this trip for a few hours, surely you don’t want to get the first souvenir you see?” (Who are we kidding here, of course he did!) And then there was flat-out bargaining, “I know you have $35 in your wallet Reese, do you want to pay for part of it?” Absolutely not he didn’t! Then the cool may have been lost a little and a whole lecture about money not growing on trees and how this trip was souvenir enough and do you know how much this tour cost, by the way your sisters didn’t get a special tour ( which he rebutted that they could have come if they wanted to but they opted out – touche Reese).

And then just as we were making our way out of the store, and he realized that his opportunity to get ANYTHING at all from this Costco-sized San Francisco 49ers store was slipping away……a switch was flipped……this may have also been the moment when his body finally realized it had already been awake for over 12 hours and was completely delirious, but it’s hard to say……….and the boy went ape crazy.

There may have been foam pooling around his mouth.

Sadly, this sight is not unfamiliar to me, though it’s definitely been awhile, but as I mentioned earlier the storm had been brewing and we really should have at least had umbrellas or ponchos ready for it.  I considered taking a picture of this special moment, but instead took one of the girls and the only thing about Levi’s Stadium that interested them in the least:

Loved this huge helmet and would have loved even more to bring it home.

Eventually the boy calmed down, a shower and some Thai food helped quite a bit.  However, settling into his high-rise corner suite with his bowl of yellow curry took a very somber tone when we watched what turned out to be the final game of the NBA Play-Offs.  Not only did a team that my boy has grown to have very strong feelings against end up winning, but we were currently right in the heart of the city from which that team is from.  Well, across the bridge, but still…..close enough to see the streets getting rushed with exuberant fans celebrating and setting of what we hoped were just fireworks.  There was no celebratory emotion going on in that suite on that night.

Fact is, he all but cried, in his curry

Highly Sensitive Personality attack

We have chosen (as a family) not to talk about that night and we have quickly absorbed ourselves into the sport of NASCAR, which we love and have kinda put on the back burner lately.

So super, awesome first day in San Francisco…… though it just about killed us.

My Name is Kaylee and I Have a Problem

It’s that time of year again.  Sometimes it starts in a flurry as soon as school is out and sometimes it’s nicely paced through the whole length of the summer.  This year, after a rather leisure first 3 weeks or so, we will only be having lay-overs here at home up until school starts.  In preparation for our summer ventures, I made a trip up to the attic to see about a suitcase.  We keep one up there that we never use.  It’s a weird shape and doesn’t really travel well in a car.  The airplanes don’t seem to have any problems with it (actually they love it because it always ends up weighing more than it should), but it never fits well into the trunk of a car.  I didn’t plan to use it, but when I moved it to get to a better suitcase, it felt not just heavy, but full.  Seeing as I didn’t have anything else I needed to be doing (with Brandon waiting at the bottom of the attic stairs to catch the needed suitcase), I decided to have a look in this forgotten piece of luggage that takes up prime real estate in our storage recesses.

What I found in that suitcase made me want to laugh and cry a little all at the same time.

Brandon has been saying for a while now that I have a bit of a problem, something that boarders on hoarding.  I really like childrens clothing.  Boys, girls, babies, pants, dresses, shoes, winter, summer – it doesn’t matter.  I have no problem with buying things that don’t fit quite yet and tucking them away for future use.  I also have no problem with buying for children that either aren’t even mine, or aren’t yet born.  I might not even like you, but you’ll still get a baby gift from me because I LOVE baby clothes! In my defense, I am a very smart shopper.  My mama taught me from a very early age what a sale was and that anything worth having was worth waiting for…….until it was 50% off.  She also taught me not to turn up my nose at preloved clothing (or anything really).  Once I’ve worn anything, it’s been used.  As long as it isn’t ripped, stained, or gross – there’s no reason why someone else’s outgrown children’s clothing can’t get a second life with my own.  We are the happy recipients of some of the cutest hand-me-downs you’ve ever seen! I am very thankful that I have two great girl friends who have little ladies just a tad bigger than mine.  I am also a fan of the consignment sale.  Memphis as a whole seems to be a BIG fan of the children’s consignment sale.  It seems as though I am not the only mama here in town who enjoys playing dress up with her babies.  Twice a year, there are probably at least a dozen FANTASTIC consignment sales in my area!  And most everything that my kids wear ends up getting resold anyway so I like to tell myself that I come out even in the long run.

I have always denied these accusations that I have any sort of a problem.  So what if I have a plastic storage the size of a small casket filled with last years winter clothes waiting to go out for fall/winter consignment? So what if I have a whole shelf in a closet dedicated to my “Baby Gift” clothing?  So what if my children were just on a week-long trip and I didn’t do laundry the week before and there isn’t even a dent in their closets?

Sale and Resell – it’s all in constant motion Brandon, what’s coming in will eventually be going out.  It’s under control.  I know exactly every piece of my inventory and have tabs on everything.

Had

Turns out my husband might actually be right.

What I found tucked, or should I say shoved, in that super big suitcase in my attic……..had it not been sooo funny, I probably would have just shoved it right back in and pretended like I never saw it.  And then crawled back up there and removed it when he wasn’t at home to see it.  But because I have no problem having a good laugh at my own expense I went ahead and shared.  When we were moving into this house almost 3 years ago, we were pretty organized with our packing.  It was also really nice that we were just moving across town and could do things like move all of the kitchen at a time and then use the same boxes to pack up something else.  I think there was one day where I just moved photo albums and books…..that’s neither here nor there, though. But then towards the end, things got a little less organized.

Maybe even downright sloppy

Maybe even the laundry that had been hanging in the utility room to dry – still on hangers – got thrown into a giant, bulky suitcase.  A suitcase that then got pushed off to the side and then loaded up into the attic with all the other suitcases and bins that are either holding christmas decorations or empty.  Inside that suitcase was a time capsule from our life pretty much 3 years to the day.  Lila’s little nightgowns and tiny, 0-3 month sleepers, a little gingham dress shirt that I know Reese must have worn to church just the week before and two pairs of Batman jammies – 2012 was the heighth of his love for all things Batman.  Two sun dresses that I lived in, how I didn’t notice they were gone I REALLY don’t know.  I loved those dresses! And maybe even more than the tiny baby things of Lila’s and Reese’s not quite a baby anymore but hardly big boy clothes – were Mattie’s sundresses.  My how she has grown! I get so used to her being my tiny girl.  So petite for her age and even though I am fully aware that she is hitting the 10 and a half mark, her body still remains a few years behind.  I can easily lie to myself and those around me and shave a few years off of her age.  That attitude is a whole other story – but as far as looks go, if I just sit and watch her from a distance, she is still dancing in a little bubble of agelessness.

Those little dresses popped my perfect little bubble

She has grown so much in 3 years!

I laughed and laughed up there in the attic and then insisted on bringing the suitcase down so Brandon could see my treasures.

He didn’t say I told you so, he didn’t have to.  How a person forgets about an entire load of laundry, I really don’t know.  I’m chalking it up to the fact that I had three little kids and was moving….it was a stressful time in my life.  But it also lead me to do a sweep through their closets.  Lesson learned husband.

On the subject of children’s clothes though, should you want to start your own hoarding bin or your child actually does need a few new things (or you, too!) All of the already marked down items at Gap, GapKids, and BabyGap are an extra 50%.

In An Attempt To Watch Less Television, We Have Resorted to Violence

We’ve (I’ve) been trying something new this week.  The kids had quickly figured out that if they woke up before I did in the morning and quietly began their day in front of the t.v., I would become distracted by their quietness.  I would start some sort of project like preparing my morning coffee, drinking it in peace, and then move on to something else – taking advantage of their being occupied – and pretty soon the whole morning would be away from us.  And my children would have watched an entire movie, an hour of ESPN and four episodes of Strawberry Shortcake.  And though I will say, I have been incredibly impressed by the lessons taught by that Strawberry Shortcake – really, they deal with some very relatable subject matter and every time I am highly impressed by how Strawberry is so thoughtful towards her peers.  Well done, well done! I am not proud of the amount of couch time my children have logged this summer.

So Monday at breakfast, I quietly turned off Sport Center while Reese was distracted with his cereal.  I read our worship story and then I made my proposition to them.  I would not be taking t.v. or iPads or whatever away from them, however, from this point on they would have to earn their screen time.  Together we created a list of things that they would have to do first before they could even consider asking to play a game or watch something.  I expected some grumbles, definitely prepared for a little shade to be thrown by Mattie and even braced for some whining followed by a storming off.  I may have even been chanting “Defense” in my mind when I started my conversation.

I was absolutely shocked when they seemed to love the idea.  It was almost like I had freed them from the bondage that they were suffering – releasing them from the power of Netflix and On-Demand Television.  They threw all sorts of ideas at me, great ideas, and we put together a list.  It goes something like this:

*Make our beds (I do not follow this one by the way – I am claiming it as one of my Rights of the Mother)

*Tidy my room (Again, I do not necessarily have to abide by this one either, however, mine doesn’t usually get as messy as theirs and when it does, it’s usually because their paraphernalia has moved in)

*EAT

*Read for 30 minutes or at least 2 books – Reese is a new reader so 30 minutes can feel a little daunting

* Do a Math Fun Sheet – we have little workbooks that aren’t really complicated and pretty self-explanatory.

* Puzzle time (40 minutes) They are working on a nice big puzzle with lots of pieces and hope to finish at least 3 of them this summer.

*Outside time (40 minutes)

* Craft time (30 minutes)

* Any chore that is on my usual list that mom needs me to do or any bonus chore that she could use my help with.

Again, this list was made up of their ideas and their time allotments.  We spent about $100 at the craft store getting “tools” for them to create this summer, everything from a huge box of popsicle sticks to pipe cleaners – we were out of a bunch of the necessities.  And the girls spent a good hour (outside time) going through our big box of markers, colored pencils and crayons – throwing out the dried up ones, sharpening those that were dull and throwing out the crayons that were too broken to be of much use.  We feel very prepared for crafting now.  They don’t have to do everything on this list in a particular order and don’t even have to do it all every day – the point is just to keep them from watching all day, to remind them that there are plenty of other things that they can do and be having fun.  And other than the wanting to watch the Finals Thursday night, there haven’t been any requests for screen time.

I am fully aware that this probably won’t last, but for this week, I feel like I have outsmarted them.

This list did come back to bite me once this week……on Wednesday night.

We had just returned from Target, where the boy had purchased two foam glow sticks for his sisters with hopes that they could go outside and play with them before bedtime…..because they have rediscovered that we have a backyard.  I was making dinner – waffles – and had just plated two of them.  I was also on the phone with our Chelsea when I heard the scream.  At this point in my time with these particular children, i ignore most screams.  My children are screamers, all of them, even the boy.  They scream when they are happy, when they are sad, when they are scared, when they are alone and want to remind the world that they are still here.  Sometimes they even scream just because they can.  A scream from my kids doesn’t even phase me.

But this one was different.

I can’t tell you what exactly was different about it, but it made my blood run cold for a split second and I don’t even remember running through my house to see what was the matter.  I found Reese standing by the door, crying, Lila huddled next to Mattie on the stairs….also crying…..and Mattie on the stairs, wailing with her hand covering her left eye.  She couldn’t seem to get the words out so Reese tried his best to explain how they had been playing with the foam-covered glow sticks and his had ejected its inner glowing stick unexpectedly, and struck Mattie right in the eye.  I brought her into the kitchen so I could see better.  This is the part of my story where I need to explain that I am a terrible liar.  Being a mother of 3, with their teenage years coming upon us, I should really work on my poker face.  I had Mattie in front of me in the kitchen and moved her little hand to see what all the fuss was about, completely expecting to see a very watery, possibly red and erupted eye.  Instead, I saw what looked like a marble protruding out of my child’s eyelid.  I tried not to say anything, carefully catching my words in my throughout, but I do think that an “Oh My!” may have escaped.

And then I quickly put her hand back over her eye.

That was enough.  She completely lost it.  Girl went hysterical.

I took her by her little shoulders, looked her straight in the functioning eye and told her she had to get it together.  She could be scared, that was fine, this was scary for sure, but she had to get it together because I wasn’t sure what crying might do to that eye of hers.  That and if she was hyperventilating and needed to hold a paper bag up to her mouth, she wouldn’t be able to cover her eye and then the other two were going to start freaking out.  I called Brandon to let him know we were heading to the emergency room, we would pick him up on the way (they share a parking lot)……but I needed to get the kids dressed first.  They were all in various states of fresh out of the bath.  And let me tell you, it is not easy to dress a hysterical girl who only has one functioning arm because the other is covering her eye.

We rode to the hospital in a mix between terror and eery silence, with only the sound of Mattie calling on all that is Holy to protect and heal her.  We are definitely a family that believes in the power of prayer but Mattie was straight up evangelical, calling out to Jesus, God and all the angels, whoever was nearby to put their hands on her and heal her eye.  It was hard not to crack a smile as she pleaded that she not go blind, that she not have to go to the hospital, that there not be any needles and please, please, anyone who could help her there in heaven, please be touching her eye with their invisible hands. Brandon met us in the parking lot and took a look at our patient.

By this point, her eye had swollen completely shut and looked exactly how I imagine an eye would look if you replaced the actual eye with a plum. And just because once you enter the doors of the e.r. you are leaving the rest of the world behind and possibly starting a medical adventure that could last all night, Brandon decided that before we made that kind of commitment with our starving, exhausted children – maybe he could call up one of his other dr friends and see if he could help a little.  This friend happened to be the Chief of Pediatric Neuro and though he isn’t an opthalmologist, the brain and the eye are in same vicinity so he seemed like a pretty good resource.  Chief had Brandon take lots of pictures and then he had the fun job of prying open Mattie Belle’s eye to see just what was going on in there.  No blood, not floating corneas or retinas.  She seemed able to track his finger without any problems and could even read.  Our parking lot consultation with the chief confirmed what we had expected, she was going to have a really fantastic black eye, but was probably going to be just fine.  The Children’s Hospital didn’t have a pediatric opthalmologist and all they would probably do was a scan to make sure nothing was broken.  But even then, if something was broken, they wouldn’t be ab;e to do anything about it until the swelling went down anyway.  So we went home.

I finished our waffles while the other two kids played nurse.

Reese made Mattie a nest on the couch and brought her a collection of frozen vegetables for her face.  Lila perched on a chair beside her sister and sang.  Song after undistinguishable song, she sang and each time she finished one, she would gently pick up the edge of the frozen pea bag to see if Mattie’s morphed eye had changed any.

Twelve hours after the “attack”

That first night, sleeping with her frozen veggies

Our record is still unscathed, we are 10 years 4 months into parenthood and other than a quick little trip to the emergency room at Shawnee Mission for a really high fever when Mattie wasn’t quite 2, we have yet to have a real catastrophic child health event.  At night when I say my prayers, not our family worship prayers, but my earnest, from-the-depths-of-my-heart, desperate Mom prayers – I pray that those E.R worthy accidents occur when the kids are at school.  That if they break something, that then hangs at an unnatural angle or sticks out of their skin, it will happen when they are under someone else’s watch.  The kids medical papers that I fill out every year for school have strict instructions that their father is to be called should such an incident occur.  And if he’s not available, their Uncle Chris and Aunt Shannie are the next in line to be notified.  This could get complicated with them moving to Nashville and all………but I have faith in this little system I’ve put into place.

Even with her prize-fighter shiner, this little lady is beautiful to me.

Looking so much better!

Side view, almost 2 days after the accident

Side view

This Was Written Last Thursday

So we are heading into day 4 of swim lessons.  After 10 years of parenting, my children in particular, I have learned one thing and that would be not to get in my head just how something is going to go…..because I will always be wrong.  Any expectations, good or bad, will go right through the window.  Rather than planning for all the what-ifs, I just make sure that I have a clear escape route.  The classes have gone pretty good though, other than Lila loudly expressing her gender bias on day 2.  While standing in the little Guppy Level one holding area – it’s a platform thing that sits in the water so they don’t get cold waiting their turn – the young man lifeguard who was helping her regular (lady) teacher approached Lila and reached out to take her on a little bubble run.  Lila is tiny, a good head and shoulders shorter than her peers and her not quite two-year old friends are overtaking her, but she is loud.  At least once a day, if we go somewhere out in public, someone will make the comment of “Wow, for someone so small she sure lets you know whats on her mind.” And that she did, in her very loud, very emphatic voice she explained for the whole pool area to here, “I do not like the man!  The man is bad! He is bad! No swim me Man!”

What do you say to that?

I told her that the man was not bad, and if she didn’t let him help her swim, she wasn’t going to learn.  She would never be able to swim in the water like a mermaid and she would spend her swim class sitting on the edge of the pool being cold.  Threatening cold and no future as a mermaid seem to be my only motivational tools these days.  She eventually warmed up to the guy and didn’t make any other sexist remarks….at least not out loud. Reese loves his teacher.  He’s a young man with tiny cornrows named Sherman.  I’ve never met anyone in real life named Sherman and I have to be honest, I was a little afraid that due to Reese’s deep dislike for Richard Sherman of the Seattle Seahawks, this might not be a good fit.

I was wrong

I’m just waiting for Reese to ask me if I can braid his hair…….to be like Sherman.

I haven’t taken any pictures of the kids at their lessons.  I thought about it, but got to thinking how this really isn’t a life changing event.  I don’t think either of them is going to later look through all my millions of photos from their childhood and ask me why I didn’t take any from the first day of level II swim lessons? “Why are there not any pictures of the backs of our heads with our bodies submerged under water while we are being held by a stranger that we no longer remember the name of? Except Sherman, I think I’ll always remember Sherman.  My childhood swim lessons are a vivid enough picture in my head, I really don’t need a hardcopy photo to pair with them.  And it’s not like this is going to be the class, the week, even the day that Lila or Reese just suddenly starts swimming like a champ.  These things usually take time to evolve.  It starts with getting over a fear of not being able to touch, letting go of the all more even though you know you can propel yourself safely to your next destination.  Each summer, I’ve watched my kids get a little more comfortable in a little bit deeper water.  I’ve watched their arms stretch out a little bit further, a little bit straighter and go from little close to the body “paddling” to full on strokes.  It’s not something that 14 days of swim lessons will suddenly change, but they definitely help.

Which got me thinking

How many of you other parents have ever had a hard time filling out those questions in your kids baby books.  Those questions that seem harmless and easy enough, they just want a date and maybe an age – “Walked for the first time, crawled, even slept through the night for the first time?” I think all 3 of my kids have those spots still blank.  They are either blank or have about 4 dates and ages because walking and sleeping and crawling aren’t something that you just go from not doing to doing.  The crawling usually starts with a sort of scooting, do you count that? Then it sometimes moves to an army crawl or slither, is that what the book is looking for? Then there is the time they seem to do an actual crawl but it almost seemed accidental, does that count?  By the time they are actually crawling on all fours, getting around like a little speedracer, it seems really silly to print in their baby book record of firsts that they are just now crawling because they’ve been doing something for quite some time now.  And with sleeping, technically, night ends at 12 A.M. – so I could easily say that all of my children slept through the night on their first day of their lives…..and is it sleeping through the night if I still woke up? I think they should reword the entry in the book as “First time you slept like you forgot you had a baby” that would be a much more accurate date.

I hope my children understand my reasoning when they look through their baby books and want to know why there are so many blanks on these key milestones.  But where I have blurry, questionable responses, there are other things that they will know for a fact, things like “First time eating ice cream, first ride in a shopping cart, first time in the swing on the playground, first time I touched the ocean.”

So sorry kiddos, I have taken no swim lesson pictures and I will not count these next few days as “when you learned to swim”, even though Reese seems to think that having official certification is what he needs in order to enter the deep end of the pool. You will be learning to swim for the rest of your lives.  Sometimes you will take nice, measured strokes in a perfect rhythym. And then you’ll find yourself barely treading water, gagging and looking desperately for a lifeguard or even a nice cement wall to cling to for a minute.

And at 10, almost 7, and 3 – none of you make it through the night without at least one parental visit from the time we kiss you goodnight until the alarm goes off in the morning.  And if we were going with my previously stated entry of ,”Parent sleeps like they have forgotten that they have children”, well I don’t even know that mine can write 35 in there yet.

On a slightly different note, a picture of something that is a huge milestone and can be measured.  Something that is definitely deserving of a picture and can be written as “The very first”. Mattie Belle got her library card yesterday.  It is her very own and should she neglect to return her books, it will be her piggy bank that is responsible. She took it all very seriously, carefully tucking it into her little wallet and later asking me if she needed to be concerned with identity theft and people checking out books in her name.  I told her I hadn’t heard about that being a problem, but she wedged the new library card between an old Subway giftcard and a coupon for our dry cleaners in her wallet just to be safe. Her first “rental” was a book about Harriet Tubman, of course it was, why wouldn’t it be?

What Are You Doing Today?

When I was a little girl, I don’t remember there ever being any great summer plans that awaited me as soon as school was out.  Don’t get me wrong, my parents usually had a vacation planned in there and I could usually count on a birthday party or two and the 4th of July was pretty fun – but as far as big-time plans…..there usually weren’t any for the normal day-to-day life.  My days at home started with a notebook on the kitchen table where my mom would leave a friendly little note about what chores she needed (expected) us to have finished by the time she got home, maybe a reminder of something we might be doing when she got home and a lunch idea.  We obeyed the notebook.

My brother dated a girl who nannied for some little girls who had connections with a pool.  I remember one summer, he made several weekly visits to see her while she was at “work”.  If he took me, then it looked more like a play-date even though I was about 6 years older than the other little girls. I didn’t take to the idea of playdates with what I considered babies very well, but his girlfriend painted my toenails bright pink and I could play by the pool all afternoon.  It was way better than anything else I had going on.

Another summer, I was enrolled in a summer art program for kids.  I had a good time and really enjoyed getting to spend 2-3 mornings a week with my friend Ellen, who was also taking the art classes – but that was the year that we all confirmed that I am no artist.  Crafty yes, but by no means artsy.

All of this is being told to you so that you understand that I don’t really come from a background of really exciting, possibly even bordering on boring, summer vacations.  Yet I was still excited to the point of vibrating on that last day of school when I left for home with my grocery bag full of school supply remnants.  It was summer time and I would be living it up…..at home, with my chore notebook………

Flash forward in time and now I have my own children who are enjoying this slice of time from May to August.  They have high hopes, expectations, but neither of us really know what those hopes and expectations are.  Mattie has watched too many “Our Gang” episodes and seems to think that she is going to just roam the city of Memphis with her good friends Spanky and Buckwheat.  Yesterday she actually said, “If I just had a dog named Petey!”  Well, that’s not all you need Mattie, but don’t give up on that dream.  What I’m trying to say is that I don’t really know how to do summer vacation.  We have vacations planned, several actually, but it’s this daily stuff I just don’t have a clue about.  I feel like I should be taking advantage of having them all home and our days should probably start with a big, hearty breakfast.  I should lead them in a craft or lesson of some sort, possibly a field trip to one of Memphis’ fine historical places or museums.  We should definitely have our own garden in the backyard where I am growing an abundance of organic vegetables, which we will be eating for lunch and dinner.  Our house should be spotless because I am home and don’t need to rely on a chore notebook, but rather my own voice.  Plus, I have 3 extra sets of hands and they will be nothing but willing to do whatever little job their mother asks of them.

But none of that is happening

It’s almost 10 and none of us have had anything to eat.  Mainly because no one has mentioned it and I figure if I just hold out another hour, we can call it lunch.  Reese and Lila are playing “Storm Chaser” with a card board box that has been living under his bed for several months now.  There is also a blanket fort strewn about my entire house.  The boy and older girl are still wearing their pajamas…..that they put on Saturday night. The only thing written on our weekly calendar is the 3-4 bills that need paid this week. I kinda feel like I am failing a bit at this Summer Break thing.

Last weeks big chore was to clean out the car – sadly, it wasn’t my car but rather Reese’s truck that has been living under our swing set for the better part of the last year.  He really doesn’t play with it much anymore, probably because the battery is dead, and when batteries die around here toys just become invisible to us.  A deal was mad with the father that if the F-150 was cleaned up and out, the battery would be charged and we would see if the truck would actually be played with again.  If not, it’s going to a new home.

Stay tuned for updates on that one.  I know, a real nailbitter, huh!

The younger kids are starting a two-week round of swim lessons today.  I personally loathed swim lessons, but my middle child seems to think that I am daily endangering his life when we go to the pool because he has never had a formal swimming lesson.  I am very curious as to how he is going to feel about these lessons and I have told him that if he wants to quit, he has to pay me back.  Oddly enough, my 6-year-old has enough cash to cover his own swimming lessons.  Sometimes I borrow from the bank of Reese when I don’t have cash lying around.

And on a completely different note, a new taco spot has recently been discovered by the Baughmans.  Sadly, it isn’t anywhere near our house, but rather in Conway, AR, however we pass through there rather frequently so it probably works out just fine.  Brandon made this discovery on his way to Oklahoma with the big kids and then we hit it up again on our way home last week.  It’s called Tacos 4 Life and not only are their tacos worth driving all the way to Conway for, but they are a business with a heart.  For every meal that you purchase, a meal is purchased for a child in need, here’s their home statement:

HUNGER IS THE WORLD’S GREATEST SOLVABLEPROBLEM

Tacos 4 Life and our customers have the exciting opportunity to help end childhood hunger around the world. The strategy is simple – Tacos4Life will donate the funds necessary to Feed My Starving Children to purchase one meal for every meal sold in the restaurant. Childhood starvation and malnutrition is a devastating problem, claiming more than 6200 children’s lives a day around the world. This has to be stopped and we believe we can help save lives through the meal4meal program. For every taco, quesadilla, burrito, salad or rice bowl sold, 0.22 is donated to FMSC. They have produced a scientifically developed rice pack designed to meet the needs of severely malnourished children in over 60 countries. They have consistently received the highest grades awarded for accountability and transparency. 92 percent of donations are spent on feeding programs. After much prayer, we have asked FMSC to send our meals to Swaziland, Africa to an organization called Children’s Cup. Many of the children there face economic and health challenges. The food is used as a foundation to provide medical care, education, and skills training. We have seen the life changing impact the food has made first hand and the hope each meal provides. Together we can continue to provide sustainable change to children around the world through food!

They have super fun t-shirts, a cheery staff and a photo booth – which makes them a wonderful midway stop for my peeps and I.  After taking a vote, the kids enjoyed their time at Tacos4Life way more than the huge children’s consignment store that usually acts as our mid-journey stop.

Should you be passing through Conway, Arkansas via I-40 we would highly recommend you stop and enjoy this spot.  Speaking as experts on the dining establishments the decorate I-40, this one is by far a must.

Now, you’ll have to excuse me, it’s time to fix brunch and wade through the forts to find my children and coax them into real clothes.  Have a great Monday and good luck keeping your own children entertained.