You know how they say with each kid, laundry multiplies exponentially? Well, it turns out my weekly lessons do too. No way I can stick to five these days. (But I do reserve the right to on those weeks when my juices—and by juices I mean wine—aren’t flowing.)
Lesson #1: Apparently Big has moved on from the gem jar concept already. The other day he announced he has a new idea. A money jar. Each time he does something good, I can put money in it. And when it’s full, he can put it in his piggy bank. Little does he know, if they’d been more generous about giving me gems too, I might have even considered it.
Lesson #2: I should be spending more time crafting with Little. The other day when he found the glue sticks, he thought they were sunscreen and showed me how responsible he is by applying one all over his face. (Which happened to compliment the stamps he had all over his body…again.)
Lesson #3: While there are a lot of synonyms for “mom”, Little’s latest, “underwear”, is new to me. If he didn’t say it with such affection, I’d probably be insulted.
Lesson #4: Just when you think you’ve got your kids figured out, they throw you for a loop. Instead of calling his teachers inappropriate names (in class), Little’s been crying in their arms. Preschool is hard (on both of us!).
Lesson #5: If about 1/3 of your kids’ toys suddenly “disappear”, they probably won’t even notice (except for that one thing you leave on top of the trash can because you’re too delirious to think…oops). But they may notice some of their long-lost stuff is really fun when they can actually find it.
Lesson #6: When the kid’s video camera is one of the rediscovered favorites, be sure to lock the bathroom while taking a shower.
Lesson #7: Come kid #3, you realize there are a ton of baby accessories you really don’t need. Like hand sanitizer. The full four-month old container in our living room suggests that Pink is going to be the test case for whether over-sanitizing the boys’ environment is what led to all their allergies.
Lesson #8: It turns out there is such a thing as the minivan mosey. And you just can’t help but do it when you’re in the driver’s seat of that beauty. Even Lenny, who usually drives like a bat out of h-e-double-hockey-sticks, has caught himself driving the speed limit more than once recently. (I know!)
Lesson #9: Besides his insane skillful driving, one thing I count on Lenny for is celebrity gossip. So when I asked him the latest on the Marc Anthony/Jada Pinkett situation and he didn’t know, we were both horrified. But don’t worry, he (quite seriously) assured me he was going to “buckle down” and catch up on his Us Weekly pile.
Lesson #10: When your neighbor a few doors down invites you to a parenting event call Calm the Chaos, it’s time to shut the windows.
May you embrace the tears, discoveries and chaos that come your way this week. (And feel free to share them in the comments, of course.)
#2 and #10 had me laughing the most. And that’s laughing WITH you, right?
Absolutely. If I didn’t laugh at myself, I’d be in baaaad shape! Thanks, Kim.
#2 (re: #2) had me ROTFL! He is so darn cute…they all are…glad you’re embracing these moments!
Well, this moment kinda stuck with me (hardy, har, har!).
#6….classic! the thing about you, amy, that i find so endearing and so wonderful, is that you keep your sense of humor through it all. it’s hard enough for me to manage my own life (with just a dog and no kids mind you!), yet you seem to get through each day with 3 kids and, although there are some tears shed, everyone is happy at the end of the day. i love your “seeing the glass 1/2 full” attitude. and, it gives you something great to write about every day! 😉
Thanks, Gay. It’s definitely easier to laugh looking back sometimes. But I certainly try!
I am loving the term “underwear” as a substitute for Mom. I wish I had thought of it. I guess as a mom you cover all the important stuff so in some ways it’s really insightful.
Jane, you’re so right. I knew I had a genius on my hands. I was just waiting for that ah-ha moment. Thank you!
Numbers 6 and 10 made me laugh out loud!!! Your kids are all adorable and the bunnies love the visitors.
And my kids love the bunnies. And your daughters (perhaps too much). Thanks for the fun (and support) the other night and for sharing some virtual laughs today!