| Poop Is The Answer | | Date Created: Apr 11, 2007, 03:03 PM |
Spring Break is OVER!!! Today was the boys' first day back at school and they did great! No fussing when I left and when I picked them up John asked me if he could take a nap when we got home. Jackpot! Once we got home, there were a few complications, but nothing too bad. John ran up to me and said, "Potty! Potty!" which is usually code word for "I already pooped in my pants," but I got him to the potty before anything "happened." But once I got him on the potty he screamed as loud as only Johnny can scream, "I don't want to poop on the potty! I don't want to poop on the potty!" I wasn't sure what to do. He was the one who asked to get on there! I made him stay for a little while and then let him get up. After lunch, he tried again with only a half-baked argument and pooped in the potty! Yea! He hasn't had an accident in three days! That was the day he said, "My pants are wet." And I said, "You had an accident? You T-T'd in your pants?" And he nonchalantly said. "Yes." And then in a very dramatic voice rife with curious surprise and arched eyebrows for extra emphasis, he said, "And what else is in there?" And we all guessed right what else was in his pants.
Overall, Spring Break was really wonderful. I was dreading it, but it ended up being a lot of fun. Easter was the best Easter ever. We had tons of family in town for the day and it was simply perfect!
With all of the Easter preparations, there was lots of talk about eggs. Will cracked a few to make his famous homemade waffles and James asked, "Are you hatching eggs into the measuring cup, Daddy?" Then George was playing with a yellow plastic egg and said, "This is a zebra egg, Momoe." In my normal know-it-all/must-make-sure-child-is-genius mode, I went on to explain that no, zebras are mammals. Like people, monkeys, pigs, dogs. Mammal babies don't come in eggs, they come in their mother's tummy. Birds, snakes, fish, alligators--their babies all come in eggs. He looked at me with knowing eyes and I was 100 percent sure he knew exactly what I was saying. And then he held up the plastic egg and said, "But only a small zebra could fit in here?" And in breaking egg news, George just this moment came up to me with a real egg that we'd dyed and that he'd found during one of the hunts. I THOUGHT I'd found all those and thrown them away. George just showed this one to me, its yellow shell crackled around the hard-boiled middle. "It's hatching, Momoe!" he said.
Even James has been good lately. He has memorized all of the right things to say and the appropriate time to say them. When Kristin came over to babysit last night James promptly asked, "Did you have a good Easter, Kristin?" At lunch today he was talking about his first day back at school and he said, "I asked Corbett if he had a good Easter and he did." Corbett is cute younger boy in the guys' class, but I'm not sure he can talk much yet. I can just imagine James going right up in his face and saying in one breath, "Did you have a good Easter, Corbett, yes you did?" The other day I was doing an exercise DVD. While George and John were a little miffed at my taking up so much room and monopolizing the TV, James was completely on board and at first I was genuinely flattered by his interest. "I will be your coach while you exercise, Momoe!" "Thanks, James!" Only moments later though I was a bit put out by his coaching style. "Lift your arms higher, Momoe! Legs a little bit higher! Faster, Momoe!" he said from the comfort of the sofa. George's only comment concerned the shorts I promise I wouldn't have worn outside the house: "I see your hiney, Momoe!"
George was sweeter the next day. I was getting him dressed and he leaned his head against my face and said in a quiet voice, "I wish the dinosaurs would come back, Momoe."
Music has been key to our survival since the beginning, but lately it's been comic. I have a mixed CD of random songs in my car and the guys have really gotten attached to a couple of the songs. One of their favorites is Tom Petty's "Yer So Bad". It's fun to say Yer So Bad to your brothers without Momoe fussing at you. They also love Hootie and the Blowfish's "Only Wanna Be With You." But their very very favorite is "Free Ride." As in, "Come on and take a free ride. Yeah yeah yeah yeah." Last night my sister and Kristin took the guys to Chick-fil-A in my car and James requested they play "Free Ride by Hootie and the Blowfish!" James likes to bop his head and strum his air guitar along with the music. I wonder if he may really have a knack for music. He loves to play his toy guitar and make up songs. The other night I requested he play some song I can't remember which one and he said, "My guitar doesn't have that song."
To keep ourselves busy over Spring Break, we have done the complete playground circuit. It's been fun visiting all of the playgrounds around town and figuring out our favorite. John's favorite is the one that's behind the tennis courts because he and I can play tennis while the other guys play on the playground. This actually works, because not many people know about this playground and the tennis courts are not well maintained so it's generally empty and so very easy to keep an eye on everyone. James' favorite is the Isle of Palms playground because they have this really elaborate web made out of red rope that you climb on and James can pretend to be Spider-Man. We stayed at this park yesterday for almost an hour and a half! And they have potties which is a plus. It's the first time we've been to a playground in a while that James didn't complain about something. He even tried things that were "hard" and actually ended up being able to do them. We were talking about it later and he said yes, he was "very bave." I don't know which playground is George's favorite. The world is his playground. He can climb on anything, run around anything, hide under anything. Specific toys such as jungle gyms and slides are for the more literal types like James and John. While I was pushing George in the swing yesterday he said, "Let's play another game. This is too easy."
So overall, things are going really well. I have been incredibly busy, but now that the boys are back in school I should have more time to write. We'll see. I do the best I can, and I wish my best were better, but oh well. I'm hoping John is over the bulk (no pun intended for the big man) of his poopy accidents and I can start to potty train George. I think he may be ready. As it is until John is a sure thing I can't start anything more. Three accidents at one time is simply more than this Momoe can handle. A week or so ago the boys were still in the midst of some really bad behavior and in my notes for my blog I have things jotted down such as, "what am i doing wrong to make boys who are so bad"; "good intentions, poor execution"; "poop rolls on floor"; and "'An animal did it, Momoe--a bad animal.'" So maybe it was good that I never had time to write those notes into a blog. I'm glad I waited for that period to pass and now I can present myself in good faith as the happy (if not organized, clean, or mentally stable) mother that I am at the moment. Have a great rest of the week. I hope all of your daily "notes" are happy and not too poopy. |
 |
|
|
