| A Little Balance Would Be Nice | | Date Created: Jun 18, 2007, 04:01 PM |
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Who is that pale creature in super-cool goggles? Florida Man! Last weekend we went to Florida, which James has officially adopted as his honorary home. He loves to ride on the boats, swim in the pools, and cruise its beaches. We really did have a great trip. The highlight for the boys was getting to go on a really cool yacht that belongs to my dad's friend. You may have read before about the boat and its salty captain, Capt. Jeff. This time we got to go on a very long ride. James adores Capt. Jeff. And Capt. Jeff is very very sweet to James. He even let James talk on the radio to the drawbridge operator: "Please open the bridge!" And what do you know, they opened it. The boat trip was really great. James did things such as talking on the radio, holding onto the wheel, and listening to Capt. Jeff's stories. John sought out the company of various people at various times--me, Will, my mom, my sisters--for sitting close to and holding hands. George stayed in the cabin 90 percent of the time watching a Little Bear DVD. But this suited me fine. At least that was one boy I was sure wasn't falling off the boat or T-T-ing on something or driving Capt. Jeff crazy, and when George had a record-size poop in his pull-up without a change of facial expression or one step away from the TV screen, it was easy to deal with before anyone else was the wiser. My sister had her two little precious girls on board, too, so we spent most of the time looking after the little people.
My dad and Jeff were teasing James that he should get a job being Jeff's mate, and my dad asked James how much money he'd need to be paid per week.
"Twenty dollars!" James said.
"How about thirty?" my dad asked.
"I don't need thirty dollars!" James said.
"How about a thousand?" my dad again.
James: "That's not even a number!"
So I think for free or maybe I could pay Jeff, James would happily stay a while on the boat "helping".
The best part to me of the trip was of course having all the family together--my grandmother and two of her friends came down, both of my sisters, our dear friend and honorary sister Kristin--it was just great. I especially loved watching my niece Elly with the boys. She's going to be two in September, and last time we all got together the boys really thought of her as baby. That's when George would give Elly all of his least-favorite toys so she would leave the other ones alone or when Elly did grab one of the unapproved toys he would tell her that toy wasn't for babies. But for the first time they all played together! It was so cute! They all went in the tent together and "made pizzas," and "hunted spiders." And at night they cuddled up and watched a movie together. It was a wonderful wonderful trip.
This past weekend, Will and I went to DC for a wedding. We left Saturday morning and got back Sunday morning. A very quick trip with a very serious hangover. But the airports and headache were worth it. This summer has been great so far, but so busy! And my house needs some attention! There are clothesbaskets piled in my room and whenever we need a basket for new laundry we dump out the old clean stuff on top of some other stuff and the piles get larger. But if I have time to fold and put away laundry, which I don't, is that really the first thing I'm going to go do? And it's not just the laundry. The boys have been very very happy lately, and have played really well together. You'd think I'd prefer this to misery and fighting, but now that they are a unified force, they are even more powerful against me, against listening and obeying, and against cleanliness, organization, and the always struggling to make it around here calm and quiet. Every day the house gets destroyed. And since I'm hardly cleaning it at all, destruction just get layered upon the destruction of the day before and so on so that now I am surrounded by ruins! And every time I walk through a room, I see something that needs to be taken care of or something that reminds me of something I need to do. And every little thing the guys do turns into a big mess. John wanted to look at the pictures. Fine. Next thing I know they are dumped and spread all over the dining room foor. Popcorn for a snack turns into popcorn all over the floor. "Doing yoga" turns into pulling out every mat and rolled-up rug they can find and leaving them for me to trip on. Playing pirate means pulling every article out of the dress-up box and strewing it over the room to find that one black eye patch. I simply cannot keep up. And there are flowers to be watered, birdfeeder to fill, not to mention I should have them outside running through the sprinkler or should be reading educational books to them. The very last thing I probably should be doing is writing this--I truly do not have the time. But I'm afraid if I go TOO long without writing I'll inadvertently just quit. Did she know the last time she wrote in her blog would be her last time?
Okay, back to business. What funny things have been happening around here? Hmmm. Lots of baseball. Baseball helmets, bats, balls, and fights. John and James love to play together. What a wonderful thing for the boys to actually be able to throw the ball to each other and hit it! It would be wonderful. If it were possible. But right now it would be the most wonderful if they would give up this dream for at least a year. Two almost-four-year-olds cannot be expected to throw the ball exactly to the right place and be able to hit one of these balls. But they do expect it! And so this is what happens.
John: "That's not a good throw!"
John: "That's not how a baseball player throws it!"
James keeps throwing it and admits no wrongdoing--even when he throws the ball and it goes behind him.
John: "Jay--a-ames!"
When John gets really lathered up, that's when George shows up.
"Here's the outfield!" George says, with his posse of animals with him. His latest favorite companion is a large green rubber lizard.
John: "There's no baseball animal fans around here!"
George: "But the lizard is."
John: "No! There's no green team!"
Speaking of lizards, James has a new dinosaur. It's pretty big and when you push a button it makes a really loud roar. The only problem is that it's hard to get it to stand up without falling over. I've told James you have to be real easy with it and patient to get it to balance. The other day, he was having a wee bit of trouble with it and so yelled out in anguish to no one in particular, "I need balance!" Truer words were never spoken.
George isn't sure about the new T-Rex. "He's a mean T-Rex," he said. "He doesn't say 'sorry' or anything."
Well, at least one boy is yelling from "quiet time" so I guess I have to go release them back into the house without having had a good chance to clean it at all. For those of you tsk-tsking me that I'm not better about making them clean up their own messes, please don't judge me! They did help me pick up the pictures, but it took about twenty minutes. They wanted to look at every one as they were putting them back into a pile, and then find all of the ones with them in it, and all the while I am holding my mouth in a very tight-lipped quasi-pleasant expression saying behind gritted teeth, "Please pick up the pictures. Please pick up the pictures. Please pick up the pictures." They also brought their plates back to the kitchen after lunch, dumped them into the trash, and put them into the sink. In the process dropping a honey-drenched bagel on the floor and one of them missing the trash can altogether. But at least they are trying. I just feel like the house is going down a road from which it can never return if I don't catch up! Every little thing leads to another big mess or the lowest depths of all receptacles of chaos which is our garage. If I could have one week not in some tropical locale or at a spa resort, but at my own house without the guys, what I could get done!!!
There will be a day when I will have time to hang my clothes on hangers and pull out the dead flowers (second batch this summer) from my hanging baskets, but let's face it people. This is not that day. And until then all of you judgers and begrudgers (really just my own guilty conscience:) ) be quiet! Please! And Will, my most wonderful of husbands, and in fact, my only one, please let me be a bad wife a few more years until I can teach these guys to mow the grass (well you are going to have to do that) and make their own breakfasts (wait, sorry, you again) and then we will have some domestic order around here. Right now keeping us all alive amidst this house of germs and stinky boys is the best I can do. |
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