Wetting the bed

John's so logical - a lot like his dad. Yesterday I was making his bed up after yet another night of bedwetting and I was talking to him about it. The conversation went something like this:

John, you really need to try and wake up and get yourself to the bathroom. Maybe we should try without pullups. Do you think other Kindergartners wear pullups?

Of course they do Mom.

Why's that?

Well if I wear pullups and I'm in Kindergarten then Kindergartners must wear pullups.

I just cracked up.

It's all in the name....

John's been having a hard time remembering people's names - he started Kindergarten on Monday and each night at supper resorts to telling stories about his new friends. But instead of telling us their names, he describes what they were wearing or what their hair looks like. You know, the boy who was sitting beside me and was wearing the black shirt. or The one with the spiky hair.

The same thing for some of the teachers. He couldn't remember the gym teacher's name (Mrs. Chase) so Lucy finally said, "John, it's Chase, like chase the ball." He seemed to make the connection.

But last night at supper he was talking about going to gym and the fact the teacher wasn't there, great narration but he got her name wrong. He called her "Mrs. Sweat."

How sweet.

Shoe Shopping

This is probably one of my most dreaded "back-to-school" shopping experiences. Where have the days gone when a friendly shoe salesman with a polyester tie and greased back hair would patiently measure your foot, take hold of the shoe of your dreams and then disappear into the backroom. A few minutes later he'd appear with three or four boxes, all a variety of sizes and proceed to slip the shoe on your foot and even tie it up. After instructing you to get up and walk around a bit ("How's that feel?") he'd gaze intently, making sure they fit properly. In the meantime, Mom would sit beside us and when we were satisfied with a shoe she'd gently press down on the toe, just to make sure.

Well those days are definitely gone. The airy shops filled with shoes and shoe sundries have mostly been replaced with carved out little corners in Kohl's or Target or Sears. The salesperson has been replaced with a colorful rubber mat that is worn from hundreds of kids placing their grimy little feet over the foot on the mat to see what size they are. There's isn't such a thing as an organized back room, instead there are shelves upon shelves of shoes that are scattered haphazardly. You want that New Balance shoe, well it might be underneath the display model but more likely it's three or four shoe spots down, hiding out in the back. It's an "every person for themself" type of mentality - the aisles filled with glossy-eyed parents pushing strollers and tugging along one, two or more kids.

Last night it was enough to give me a headache - even though Mom was with to help. We left Kohl's without any luck and all I wanted to do was go home and have a drink. But she perservered and said, "Imagine how this would be without help!" Good point Mom. So to Sears we went. It's never busy in their shoe department and in one little corner, there's actually two benches almost side by side. She took John and I was in charge of Sophie and Lucy. After 30 minutes of trying on shoes and the last minute "toe check" by Mom we managed - everyone was happy but I don't think anyone was as happy as me. Afterall, I shouldn't need to go through this for at least another two months. I hope.

A New Adventure - Quilting with Anna & Caprice

A few weeks ago Anna came over with a few brochures and an uncontainable excitement - her proposition was that each Tuesday the two of us travel to a small town about a half hour away and quilt all day. I was game - there's something about quilting that has always fascinated me even though I'm not much of a sewer. (Or should I say seamstress?) We talked to another friend, Caprice, and she might join us on our weekly excursions.

I've already learned a lot - for example, the pattern we'll be doing is called Flying Geese, there's something called a sash that frames each block and I think I now know what it means to cut on the diagonal. Although I haven't purchased any quilting books, there's a children's book by Gail Gibbons called The Quilting Bee (see book excerpt above) that might be right up my alley for learning more about the history of quilting.

We went fabric shopping yesterday and after looking through at least 15 reams (again, is that the right word?!?!) I went with the first fabric I'd picked out and three totally different ones. Anna, on the other hand, had her fabric picked out within 10 minutes and it looks beautiful. My fabric is on the right side of the picture, Anna's on the left.

I must say it was pretty relaxing - I left home with a headache and arrived back headache free. Maybe this is a new kind of therapy... who knew!

Treehouse Lazy

One afternoon last week I took a blanket and placed it on the treehouse floor and settled in to look at the sky and the clouds and the variety of spiderwebs adorning the walls and roof. Soon, I was joined by Sophie, then Lucy and finally John - the cuddles and murmurings lasted long into the lazy afternoon. The sun, the warm kids, the soft blanket - how wonderful.

Unique Gift Store

Check out this website - I love the pendants and bracelets made from old typewriter keys and the baby blankets inscribed with poetry.

Paper or Plastic?

In my desire to help the environment, I've decided to use canvas bags for all my shopping needs. That way there are a few less bags heading to the landfill. My trouble has been that I have an assortment of 6 bags that are in the car but whenever I go into a store I forget them. And once I'm in Leevers with three kids, I'm highly unlikely to drag the entourage back out to the car and retrieve them.

But I'm proud to say that the other night I finally remembered! Unfortunately, the check-out experience did not start out well. The conversation went like this...

Me: I've got these bags to use, where would be the easiest place to put them so we can bag the groceries?
Clerk: [sigh] You can bag them yourself, otherwise you need to wait until I ring every thing up and then I'll start bagging them.
Me: OK, I can bag, let me empty the cart first. (As I empty, I notice a box of cereal has been opened, so I tell her I don't want it. Another big sigh as she takes it from me.) Um, can someone get me another one, or should I run get it?
Clerk: Go get it, this is going to take awhile. (As I turn to leave I see another clerk has come to help her start bagging. This clerk smiles and says, "You have your own bags -what should I put in them first? The vegetables?" I nod and say that would be great and run off to the cereal aisle.)

By the time I get back the original clerk has done a complete 360 - no more attitude, no more sighs and both clerks are smiling. The second clerk says, "More and more people are bringing in their own bags, I think it's a wonderful idea." The first clerk comments that she always asks for paper instead of plastic because she reuses them for all sorts of things. We all helped finish bagging and at the end the first clerk gave me a smile and said, "Have a great night!"

So, what happened in the few minutes I ran to get the new box of cereal? Obviously something did, the change in the clerk's attitude was vastly improved when I came back. I'm not sure what was said, but it was done in a way that didn't make the clerk mad, but let her see that it was, in fact, important to be respectful of the choices people make. I applaud the woman who stepped in to bag groceries and the way she handled the situation... if only all bosses and co-workers could do the same.

Life Changes

For the past year I've been trying to focus on what really makes us happy - us as in me, Dave, Sophie, Lucy and John. For too many years we sent out Christmas letters describing all the changes in our lives and truly thought it was normal - doesn't everybody get a Ph.D., experience a devastating flood, have a baby, change jobs, buy a lake cabin, and travel around the world in a single year? Or do they?

As our family went from two to five we didn't slow down until finally, last year, Dave and I had a long talk and figured out that things had to, needed to, change. One phrase I'll never forget from that conversation was, "If you're not happy in your job, you need to make some changes that will make you happy." When he told me that, it was freeing - I was happy when I was teaching and when I advised students knowing they knew I actually cared about them and their decisions, but I wasn't happy with the politics of the institution, the grading of papers, the students who didn't take their work seriously yet always expected an "A" in the course. I wasn't happy trying to balance the needs of three children eight and under as well as my husband with the needs of boatloads of undergraduate and graduate students and, finally, my own needs. I think Dave was a little surprised with my decision to quit, but he's been fully supportive and, as he's seen our lives become less stressful, appreciative.

I know this isn't a decision that everyone can afford - either mentally or monetarily - and I, after years of feeling torn between stay-at-home moms and working moms, would never judge another on his/her decision. We all do the best we can - and that is what counts. But please do take some time today and think about what you can do in your life to ensure you're happy - because as my brother-in-law says, "If Mama ain't happy, nobody's happy."

Hockey Camp

Last summer our neighbor gave John two hockey bags full of gear his college-aged sons had outgrown; since then John has been determined to be a hockey player. It doesn't matter what the outside temperature is - whether it's 95 degrees or barely above zero - you can always find him all geared up practicing his game. He looks good - and has studied players enough to know how they should look... the socks, the shin pads, the breezers, the jersey, and the stick. In the summer he even pulls his socks down over his shoes and pretends they are his skates. He's definitely got the look down, the talent, well... not so much.

He's been going to "hockey camp" every day this week from 12-1:15 and loving it. As soon as we drop the girls off at art camp (at 9:30) he asks if it's time for hockey camp and I patiently (more often than impatiently, I'm proud to say) tell him that it'll be in a a few hours, right after lunch.

Wednesday was the first time I took him to camp and it was pretty neat to see him geared up and actually skating on the ice. He looked pretty funny though - everything he wore was way too big and after two down-and-backs his breezers slid down way past his butt. One of the coaches smiled, skated up to John, knelt on the ice and tightened them back up. Today, with some on-the-phone coaching from Dave, tried to get the breezers tighter and thought I did a pretty good job, but I was wrong. They were falling down before the skate around was over and his jersey kept falling out so it looked like he was wearing a red dress. It's a good thing Dave will be with us tomorrow - maybe John will stand a fighting chance against the battle with the breezers.

The neat thing is that John is all smiles about hockey - he's a trooper and doesn't give up, even with other fiveyear and six-year-olds skating circles around him. Each day he tells us that he's going to skate even harder than the day before... and I tell you what, he's one sweaty little boy when he gets off the ice. He's got determination and confidence, and that's all that counts.

So I think we're in this hockey thing for the long haul - Dave best be getting over to Play It Again Sports and getting John some equipment that actually fits. He can save this gear for when he's 14, maybe by then it'll fit him.