Paying The Help

Owen is learning that money has value. I know this because I find him, periodically, digging through my purse to collect spare change. Directly out of the change pouch on my wallet. Whenever he finds a coin, whether on the ground, in my purse, or under the couch, he yells the same thing: "Today is my LUCKY DAY!" We don't have a piggy bank for him yet, so he will stuff coins in his pockets or carry them around whenever the mood strikes.

Given his current infatuation with change, I came up with a great way to use this to my advantage. Even though Owen is potty trained, we still have some issues. He hates to stop what he is doing to go. So he just bounces around even higher than his normal bounce, and he holds it. Then when I finally make him go, there is a wet spot on the undies that is usually large enough to warrant a change. Lots of laundry.

So the other day, I told Owen that I was very sorry but I was having to do SO much laundry that the next time he had a wet spot like that I would have to charge him a quarter to clean the extra undies. Sure enough, the next time he went it was wet, and I took a quarter from him, saying, "OK, well now you give me your quarter so that I can clean your extra laundry!" at which point he jumped up with a huge smile and said, "Really?? Oh, THANK YOU Mommy!" and gave me a great big hug.

Hmmm. Apparently he thinks he got a bargain. Or he never realized that I was doing his laundry in the first place. Or perhaps he is smarter than I realize and he is just calling my bluff...

The Girl With the Dolphin Tattoo

Snippets from the week:

Natalie: "Mom, do you like being a Mom? Even if you can't run fast?"

This came the evening after we had been to the track for a walk/run/bike ride. In my defense, I stopped to help Owen after he fell off his bike while stunt riding. And Natalie is fast. And I am now going to step up my training routine. And yes, I do like being a Mom, despite my obvious shortcomings.

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Natalie: "Mom, I think you need those glasses that Grandma uses." As I tried, unsuccessfully, to read the How To Knit book. Grandma, we need your help to finish the knitting project we started on your last visit. Cross-stitch, I can do. Mostly. Knitting, not so much. Honestly, I would buy a pair of those reading glasses from the pharmacy if I thought they would help.

Bubble Boy

This probably amuses me way more than it should, but it just cracks me up. There was just enough water in the tub for him to rest like this and chat, surrounded by bubbles. Like a little talking head...

Preschool First Day Photo

I realized that I never posted Owen's First Day picture. He is back at the same preschool he attended last year, but the hours are a little longer this year. So far, so good. I can tell he is maturing a lot. There were 4 friends from his class last year in his new class, and I was beyond thrilled that the parents all told me how their child was hoping to have Owen in class. Sometimes I worry, you know... But they were all happy to see each other.

Owen has also started back up in soccer, and this team seems more in line with his maturity and size. Not that he minded the bigger boys in the Spring, but I think he will enjoy this team even more. He had his first game on Saturday, and scored five goals! He is still the smallest on the team, but the boy is persistent. Every time there was a knot of boys all huddled together trying to get that ball, it seemed that Owen would pop out of the huddle with the ball. Definitely not afraid to go for the glory, that boy.

Remembering

So hard to believe it's the 10th anniversary already. I hesitate to even post about it, because I don't really have the right words to do it justice. Of course I think about it every year on 9/11, but this year is obviously bigger. 10 years. How can that be possible? It is also the first year, for us, that the kids are more aware. I think Liam gets it. Natalie had kind of tuned it out until tonight watching some of the things on tv before the football game. That led to quite a few questions at bedtime about who died, if any children died, what happened if a child had both parents die, what if that child had no family at all to take them in. I tried to just answer with basic facts, but I don't know that I did enough to reassure her.

My own memories have faded. It still makes me sad, but it doesn't always have that gut-wrenching effect that it did at first. So I was a little surprised this week, while listening to an interview on NPR in the car. There are so many stories. All sad. And yet, this interview made me gasp out loud once more and brought tears to my eyes again. He was a firefighter who was in the 2nd tower when it fell, and survived, along with his crew. They were on the 4th floor, in approximately the middle of the building, and everything fell around them. They pretty much had to be exactly where they were to survive. Amazing. But what made me gasp was to hear, in his own voice, the description of hearing and feeling the building fall. He had heard on his radio that the first tower fell, so he knew what was happening. He heard as the floors collapsed down, one on top of the other, bam, bam, bam. He heard the twisting metal. Then couldn't breathe as all the dust and debris filled his eyes, nose, throat. He was so calm describing it. But I couldn't get the sound of those floors pancaking together out of my head. He is still a firefighter, and that is amazing. What strength that must take.

So, I remember, and I am still able to be moved all over again.

Day At The Park

We are loving the cooler weather these days! We were able to go for a hike and play on the playground without collapsing into a sweaty puddle. Wonderful! Everyone did okay with hiking too, with only one cry from Natalie as we went off the paved path, "Oooh I don't want to go IN nature!" Natalie is always 50/50 when it comes to liking "nature." Sometimes she loves it, other times she falls apart at the very idea.

Notice the football in Liam's hand. That is a new development, being interested in football. Jim is loving it. It's official now that Liam knows more about football than I do.

Sir Elton...er Owen

Owen is still getting the hang of playdates with friends. Overall, he is doing better. But he tends to be a bit of a control freak. I find that a little odd, actually, because I don't notice that so much with his own siblings. Yes, he sometimes runs rough shod over them (and I mean this literally - the boy is constantly stepping, bumping into or otherwise climbing on people), but he's not usually the one telling them exactly what and how to play. Maybe it's because that is Natalie's job, and he has been just waiting for his turn to be the Boss on his own playdates.

In any case, during a recent playdate he and a friend were trying to start a band, and upon hearing lots of yelling I found Owen at the "piano" with his sunglasses on (could be a Bono look, but I'm thinking Elton John...), screaming at his little friend, "Sit!! Sit and listen to me play!!! Sit there!!!" I honestly don't think Sir Elton himself could have been more of diva. Quite demanding from a boy in green and orange glasses, sitting on a princess stool...

So we've had some talks about letting our friends do what they want to do during playdates. We'll see how it goes in preschool this year.

Apropos

One of Natalie's sticky notes...I'm not sure if I should be scared of what is hiding in that drawer or not. The sentiment does sum up how I was feeling about a month into our summer...