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Posts Tagged ‘sons’

Sons

Posted in Musings and Epiphanies, tagged , , , , , on September 11, 2012| Leave a Comment »

This evening my sons filled me up with joy which is exactly what I needed when I got home.  Younger son is having a rocking time in second grade.  He has wonderful stories each day about “all the learning” he did.  He spoke excitedly about math class today and read me a chapter from a Goosebumps book.  Then we talked about family and ended with tickling as I tucked him into bed.  He loves to be tickled and I love the way he giggles.

Older son is having a very “serious” start to the fourth grade.  He is rather focused on being a studious young chap.  He asks questions with a more mature tone now about managing friendships and navigating the social aspects of school.  It is interesting to watch him shift to a pre-teen framework.  New things are taking priority in his mind’s eye, not just girls, but schoolwork, music, and television shows.  His own social strata is forming (that I will be allowed in for now).

Younger son has also determined he is afraid of the dark.  I’m not buying it.  It’s another reason to come back out of his room in his never-ending attempt to delay falling asleep.  Then he bats his long, dark eyelashes at me, sure that will get me to cave.  It didn’t.  He’s still just as adorable as he does it, but I know that game.  Still, he’s been going to bed earlier which means he falls asleep earlier.  Some nights he’s plumb tuckered out and falls asleep as quickly as older son does.  Tonight I could fall asleep as quickly as older son.  Just waiting to hear younger son’s snores echoing down the hall.

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Happy Birthday Freddie Mercury

Posted in Musings and Epiphanies, tagged , , , , on September 5, 2012| Leave a Comment »

I really am going to participate in Freddie for a Day one year.  My boss said she’d let me do it.  I need to pick an ensemble and just do it next year.  Put a reminder to myself on my work calendar to start prepping for it in July or something so I don’t forget.  I miss him.  I wish I could hear new songs from him and wish I could hear how his voice would have matured with age.  It was so gorgeous and full of so many emotions.  So rich.  Ah, Freddie, hope you had a hell of party today.

I sharpened pencils tonight.  40 of them-which means my sons are each four pencils short since they are each supposed to bring two dozen.  They can get more later.  I have double and triple checked their new backpacks.  They are set.  Hubby and I gave them new flashcards (math, history, and science) to celebrate tomorrow’s first day of school.  Older son also got a magnetic message board for his locker (first year with a locker!) and younger son got a new backpack clip.  We then asked them what time it is…and they answered with some random responses…dinner time, bedtime, back to school time.  Hubby and I finally said “Adventure Time” and gave them season 1 on dvd.  We watched a few episodes tonight.  Both boys were exhausted this evening and willingly climbed into their beds.  Younger son didn’t come out even once, just closed his heavy lids and fell asleep.  Older son was asleep even more quickly than usual.  It felt like there was a release for them.  Summer is over.  Back to routine.

I’m not going to walk older son to his classroom tomorrow.  Time to give him space.  He’s ready.  I am going to walk younger son to his classroom just in case the boy who spread the rumor is in the same class.  I want younger son to have a good first day and he may need some parental support to walk through the door.  If he decides in the morning to go it alone, I’ll let him.  But if he needs me, I’ll be there for him.

If only I could protect them from ever having their feelings hurt again or more deeply than they have already experienced.  I can’t-I have to let them feel it, live it on their own.  I can comfort, celebrate, and share in their lives.  I hope they learn to play the game, by the rules, while still having fun.  They are two of the loves of my life (Hubby’s the other!).

 

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Where the hell did I go?

Posted in Musings and Epiphanies, tagged , , , , on September 4, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Time disappeared.  I escaped into a little time warp where technology took a backseat and life slowed down for a little bit.  The family and I spent some time together doing nothing in particular and some special stuff too.

Then somehow it was the beginning of the school year.  A fourth grader and a second grader start school on Thursday.  I start teaching tomorrow.  There was a shift this year though.  My focus has remained on my sons.  I haven’t neglected prepping for my class, and I think tomorrow will go well.  But the majority of my preparations have been for my sons.  Older son is excited to have a locker this year and feels he has made great strides in not talking as much as he used to talk.  Younger son is worried that the boy who spread a rumor about him last year will make his life miserable again this year.

Why do six year old boys spread rumors that another six year old boy poops his pants?  Do they not realize that the boy will carry that memory from first grade all the way through turning seven and moving up to second grade?  Younger son is uber focused on that instead of  school.  I’ve spent a lot of time in the past two weeks building his self-esteem and reminding him that he does not in fact poop in his pants so he has nothing to worry about.

At least he hasn’t remember when the toilet overflowed in the kindergarten restroom after he was done in there.  If he does, he may never return to school.  Here’s hoping that second grade is smoother for the little dude.

And I’ll wager older son will get busted for talking in class by the second week of school.  Just call him Verbal Kint.

Oh, how I love my sons.

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I’m a kid-I can’t keep a straight face.

Posted in Musings and Epiphanies, tagged , , on August 25, 2012| Leave a Comment »

This is what oldest son said to me this evening as I tucked him into bed.  I asked a question about something that had happened in his room today and he was telling me nothing happened.  I asked again (because he’s nine) and a smile broke out across his face.  I stared into his eyes to determine if he was telling me the truth.  That’s when he said, “I’m a kid, I can’t keep a straight face.”  Then I couldn’t keep a straight face.

Still, he falls asleep almost immediately.  He wakes up quickly and falls asleep quickly.  Unlike youngest son.  He takes a long time to wake up and to fall asleep.  In fact, he’s walking up and down the hallway as I type this t 10:50 pm.  I have decided he will have to go to bed at 7:30 so he can actually be asleep by 9:00.  I will do this tomorrow because he is driving me a little bit batty.

He keeps declaring things like “I’m not happy and you’re probably happy that I’m not happy.”  Yes, I am aware that I have my work cut out for me.  We’ve been working on the art of conversation.  We’re trying to get him to express himself using words instead of just hitting himself on the head when he’s frustrated.  He’s never been a big talker.  He will talk a lot when his brother is not around, but that doesn’t happen often.  Perhaps that’s why he keeps coming out from his bedroom each night.  He knows oldest son is fast asleep so he has me to himself.

Oh, but I am tired.  I do hope he falls asleep soon.  Why do kids always want to have the deep conversations at 10:30 at night?  Why can’t we have a philosophical conversation about happiness at 4:00 in the afternoon?

 

 

 

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Snapshots from a week

Posted in Musings and Epiphanies, tagged , , , , , on August 16, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Wonderful vacation with my family.  Fossils, food, fun, freedom from reality.

Home to an angry cat.  El Tigre was furious with us.  The other two cats, older, wiser, were fine with the house being free of loud, fast, young boys playing superheroes.

Then, to make nice, El Tigre killed a rabbit and presented it at the front door.  Bigger than the moles he usually gives to us.  Ewwwww.  I was happily at work when he presented this gift.

Root canal this morning.  I love going to the dentist.  I truly do enjoy it.  It is a time when I know no one can reach me.  I’m totally free to relax and be away from the world.  I enjoy root canals.  But today’s work was not stellar.  It involved three roots (molar) and to sum up, burning medicine ran down my throat and there was vomit involved when they tried to get an x-ray in the middle of the procedure.  That was a first for me.  But we finished it in 95 minutes.  In two weeks I go back for round two on this tooth.  Hopefully it won’t take as long and there will be no vomit.

Trying to get the boys back on the school schedule.  Slow going.  But we’ll get there.

And now it is bedtime for me.  After another pain pill.  Ow, my mouth hurts.

And I love House reruns.

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Fossils

Posted in Musings and Epiphanies, tagged , , , , , , , on August 13, 2012| Leave a Comment »

We had quite the lovely adventure searching for fossils this weekend.  Boys are watching Destination Truth as I document our findings.  They are in a very questful mood!

 

 

 

Above:  Not sure what this is a fossil of but it reminds me (and hubby) of those candy buttons that came on a strip of paper and were all different colors.

A rather nice example of a trilobite.  Oldest son found this on our second day.

In the photo above I think it may be a coral fossil.  It’s cute as a button in the center of the photo.  The photo below has a nice example of a brachiopod toward the right.  I believe below that in the stone, toward the center, may be part of a crinoid fossil.

 

 

Younger son found this partial trilobite (above, upper right of stone).  The depth of it is neat, compared to the depth of older son’s find.

I believe the fossil above (toward the upper center of the stone) and below (upper right of stone) are bryozoans.  They are fan-like and, in my opinion, very delicate looking.  Very gentle.  In the bottom photo, there also seems to be a fossil of a brchiopod.  Look to the left of the bryozoan.  It looks like a little seashell.

 

It was exciting for me as I always wished I could be a paleontologist when I was younger.  I did not force this interest in either of my sons, but when they discovered dinosaurs and fossils, I certainly supported it.  They both had fun in the dust this weekend, looking at stones from pre-history.  Both handled the spiders really well too.  Hubby did too.  One photo that will have to wait to be posted till next year since I didn’t take one with my camera is the one in my mind’s eye.  As I walked through some of the trails today, I noticed the amazing amount of quiet.  I also noticed the beautiful layer of ferns growing in this wooded area.  It transported me back.  You could feel the sense of history, the millions of years of existence, ever-changing with the times.  Another moment of my own destination truth.

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Fossil Hunting Again…

Posted in Musings and Epiphanies, tagged , , on August 11, 2012| Leave a Comment »

We drove to PA today to go fossil hunting again.  The air conditioner in the rocketsled died on Thursday so the boys got to experience the same type of trip I had when I was a little girl.  A hot, stuffy car where the windows seem to do nothing.  It was much nicer to be in the front seat.  I now understand why my folks always called out to us in the backseat, “It’s not that bad”.  Ah, being the parent.  You get the benefit of sitting in the front seat but you also have to listen to the kids arguing in the back, deal with the traffic, maps, and tolls.

The boys were really well-behaved on the trip.  It’s not a long trip, maybe two hours with the leisurely pace we decided to take.  We’re in the hotel now and the first thing the boys did was ask if the television had Cartoon Network.  Hubby had suggested we go to the park today to scout out the location, but he’s sleeping on the bed.  I think we’ll be lucky to make it over to the Cracker Barrel for dinner.

The nicest thing of all is that we are all relaxing.  There is no schedule.  I’m not even going to make one, other than to make sure we get downstairs for the breakfast by 8am tomorrow.  We can always come back upstairs to the room after we eat and finish getting ready for our adventure.  I packed nice and light.  A lot of the bags were actually filled with food and drinks.  The room has a mini-fridge and microwave.  Mini-fridge is now filled.  When the boys finally looked in it, they initially thought it came magically filled with everything they love.  Then they put it together that I must have filled it.

Oldest son is thrilled that the accent wall in the hotel room is orange.

Youngest son is thrilled that he and I went to the room first and he got to claim which side of the bed he wanted.

All I hope is that we find some fossils tomorrow.  And that I stop sneezing.  Terrible day for an allergy attack.

 

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Dig It

Posted in Musings and Epiphanies, tagged , , , , on July 19, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Tomorrow oldest son will feel more like a paleontologist.  He will have officially gone on a fossil dig.  He is so excited he can barely contain himself.  He can barely contain himself on most days, so he is really bouncy today.  Add to it that a young lady he is very fond of will be joining him on the dig.  She digs dinosaurs too and that makes oldest son smile from ear to ear.  The day will be filled with funny moments…I must remember not to embarrass him.

Funnier moments will come from the idea of oldest son asking youngest son to be his wing man.  The modern interpretation of this role really isn’t that different from the original, a pilot who supports another pilot in a possibly dangerous flying situation.  But picture it–a six-year-old trying to be wing man for an eight-year-old.  Neither of these guys have any experience with the ladies.

The advice this evening at bedtime was to be yourself, less is more, and think of her first.

My main function tomorrow is two-fold.  Do not embarrass the big guy as he tries to impress her.  And run defense for the wing man.  Can you dig it?

 

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Singer and Dancer

Posted in Musings and Epiphanies, tagged , , on July 14, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Younger son loved camp.  The only problem he faced was that he was not a “good singer and dancer”.  Thus he sat out of some of the activities.  He loved everything about the camp.  His counselor, the bunk beds, the friends he made, the crafts, the food!  He said the pancakes even rivaled Daddy’s pancakes.

He brought his blanket and two special stuffed animals, but he had me quickly hide them under his sleeping bag.  My guess is they didn’t have to stay there for long.

I know it was only four days. I know there were only two actual days that I didn’t see him, but he looks older.  The confidence and independence my sons have gained at camp is a wonderful thing.  Younger son is handling himself with more control and is managing older son more easily.  There is more patience in my son’s soul.

I am so proud of younger son for going to camp with an open heart and mind and really giving it a try.  He fell in love with the camp, just as older son has, and we are very blessed to have this wonderful camp to send our sons to for learning.

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Time can move so slowly

Posted in Musings and Epiphanies, tagged , , , on July 13, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Younger son went to camp on Wednesday night.  We left him at camp around 7:45 that evening and he was crying.  Older son and I were crying too.  Yesterday was tolerable.  I only got misty-eyed a few times, but held it together pretty well.  Today was a different story.

Last  night I cuddled a pair of his footed pajamas.  I didn’t sleep well.  I woke up every few hours.  I didn’t really have bad dreams or anything, just kept waking up.  Didn’t sleep soundly.

This morning I cried a lot.  Couldn’t get myself to stop.  I kept myself busy and tried not to think about it on my way home from the lovely half-day Friday.  Filled my afternoon with busy work.  It was good because it was purposeful work.  But I was still thinking about him.

Tonight I put in Sweeney Todd and figured that would fill the evening but it was only 10:30 when it was over.  I can’t bear this.  If I go to sleep this early I know I won’t sleep well.  I wish it were already Saturday morning.

I know it’s only two days of not seeing him, and I know others in the world have had to deal with far more dire circumstances.  Still it hurts my heart to know my baby isn’t in our home.  Tomorrow morning.  Only an hour and a half away.  Then I’ll see my baby.  Still, it’s only 10:52…

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