Family Reunion

I thought I should let you know that posting might be light for the next week, in case you come here looking for your daily fix and find nothing new. I like to try and write at least three times a week, but on Wednesday half my family will be in town, and some staying with us. So it's going to be ten times the crazy around here. More stories, I'm sure, but less time to write. Or less quiet. Probably both.

The reason for the pseudo family reunion is due to the recent passing of my paternal grandmother. Now before any of you become extremely sad or sorry for me, believe me when I tell you this was for the best. Grandma had Alzheimer's for the past ten years. She's been in a home for the last three, and hasn't really been with us for at least that amount of time. A few weeks ago she suffered a stroke and it was down hill from there. It was a blessing when she passed away last Saturday morning, for her and for my Grandfather who has been in limbo ever since he put her in the home three years ago. He was never really able to mourn her and move on since she was still here physically, but mentally it's been a long time. So when she passed away it was not a surprise and somewhat of a relief, I think for my Grandfather especially. Since my Grandparents lived near me, well my Grandpa still does, the memorial will be here this coming Saturday. This means my parents, my youngest sister, and her family are coming to visit. I bought six bottles of wine on Saturday.

I'm kidding! Sort of. I really did buy that much wine, but I'm actually very excited for them to come visit, and we like to drink wine when we get together. My parents try to come a few times a year, but I don't ever really get to see my sisters, especially now that we all have kids. I am sad that Beth won't be able to make it, because she has a belly full of baby ready to pop in about 4 weeks. Megan will be here with my nieces and her husband though. Since Vivian is still new to this life, I have yet to meet her. Lucy I've only met once when we all went to Florida last year. She and Georgia are just 5 day apart, so it should be quite a circus when everyone is here. Megan and her family are staying with us, but my parents are smart and staying in a hotel. Well also because my house is not big enough for everyone, but I'm thinking I may steal their hotel key one night and head over there myself. Then again, I do have my six bottles of wine to keep me sane.

So, while my Grandmother's passing is a bit sad, it's also happy because I get to see my family for a little while. Her death also made Sonya ask a few questions, which I had to field. This is the first time we've ever had to deal with any kind of death. Luckily, she didn't ask too much. She didn't really know my Grandma at all, because she was about three when she went into the home. Lana was just a baby and I don't think G ever met her. Sonya has faint memories of her though, because she did ask me once, a few months back, why Great Grandma never came to visit us with Great Grandpa anymore. I explained a little about the nursing home at the time. When I told her about everyone coming to visit this week, she was curious as to why they were all coming at the same time. I told her that Great Grandma died and went to heaven.

"What does that mean?"

"It means, Great Grandma died. She's not here with us anymore," I told her.

"And now she's in Heaven?" she asked.

"Yes."

She thought about this for a minute then said, "Poor Great Grandpa. He doesn't have a mom anymore."

HA! I'm sure Grandma would have loved that. "No, no Sonya," I said. "Great Grandma was Great Grandpa's wife, not his mom."

"Oh," she said. "Then where is his mom?"

Like I said, we haven't really had to deal with death at all. Just for the record, I'm not complaining about that.

Well, I do have a great story to share with you all when I get a moment, but for the next couple of days I have to prepare for everyone to get here. Then once they're here, who knows when I'll have a moments peace. It'll be a fun, crazy good time, with a tinge of sadness on Saturday when we reflect on the passing of Grandma. I really am looking forward to it. The hanging out with my family part, I mean. Why else would I buy six bottles of wine?

It's Going Swimmingly

I thought I would perhaps give you all an update on the swimming progress of the girls. Well, maybe some of you don't really care, but then again if you didn't really care you wouldn't be coming here to read this. So I'm going to assume that if you are reading this you do care. Or at the very least are mildly interested. So here's how things are shaping up with the Burbank Parks and Rec swim classes.

Sonya has been progressing well and is even going under the water for two whole seconds at a time! By that I mean her WHOLE HEAD under water. Not just her face. That is progress for her, trust me. She seems to be less afraid and is having more fun. I'm hoping this will continue as we go to friends' pools throughout the summer and she doesn't decide to become fearful again at some point.

Georgia absolutely LOVES going in the water. She can't wait for her class, and when Sonya and Lana are at the end of theirs, she begins to yell,

"Mwy tuwn! I go in pool!!"

It's all I can do to keep her from getting in the water before the other class is out. Today they had us practice putting the kids on the side of the pool, either sitting or standing, and "jumping" into us. This basically meant I held her hands and kind of pulled her in the water. She had a blast with this. She must have made me do that with her at least 25 times. She would jump into me then would immediately say,

"I tye again!"

So yeah, she's all good with the water now too.

Then there is Lana. Oh my Lana. Well, we spent Tuesday much like Monday. She was eager to go in the water. She sat on the ledge, when everyone started kicking and she got splashed, she was done. I begged, bribed and pleaded with her to get back in the water, the rest of class. That child is just so stubborn, and it wasn't until all the kids were getting out that she decided to sit back on the ledge again. I didn't know what to do. So I went home and did what I always do when I get frustrated with the kids about something and it's not 7pm or "wine time" yet. I called one of my sisters to bitch.

This particular time I called Beth. She suggested using a reward chart. This is what she did when she was having a difficult time potty training Zach last summer. She told me to get a timer and for every 5 minutes Lana was in the water, she would get a sticker on the chart. It had ten spaces, and when she got to the end she would win a reward of her choosing. Then if I needed to, we could start the chart over again.

So, I logged on to Supernanny.com and printed out a reward chart they had there. (This is a great resource to go for ALL moms! That British lady really knows what she's doing.) We bought some colored smiley face stickers at Target, and a digital kitchen timer, and by Wednesday morning we were good to go. My other thought was to keep Lana out of the water until the rest of the kids were done with their warm up kicks in the water. This way she wouldn't be splashed in the face to begin with.

I had explained the chart to Lana the night before and she seemed to understand what we were doing. She sat out of the pool for the first couple minutes and when they were done with the kicking, I took her over to get in. She sat herself on the ledge and I started to the timer. I also told her that in order to get her stickers she had to do what the teacher told her to. The first time one of the teachers came to do an exercise with her, she shook her head no and began to cry. But the teacher was persistent, yet nice with her. and she did what was asked and sat back on the ledge. Then she turned around to me and said,

"I want to get out now."

"Not yet," I told her. "The timer just started you have to keep it going to get your sticker."

She turned back around and waited until it was her turn to get back in the water. The next exercise there were a little less tears. Then she hit her five minute mark and got her first sticker. I think I was more excited than she was, but I could tell she was getting used to being in the water and collecting her stickers.

She ended up staying in the pool the ENTIRE REST OF CLASS. And, AND, she was even giggling and having fun by the end! I called my sister as soon as we got home and told her what a genius she was. The chart worked! There was no more begging and pleading. She managed to get halfway through her chart on Wednesday and finished it yesterday. Yup, she stayed in all day yesterday and today without any chart at all. She seems to be enjoying it now and is excited to get in the water. Since she has started to trust that the instructors are going to hold her and not drop her into the water, there has not been one tear. I honestly thought we were going to spend the entire session with Lana not doing anything in the water. Instead she's spending time in the pool and becoming less afraid of the water, and actually learning to swim. She's not going to be joining the Olympic Swim Team anytime soon, but at least it's a start. Then again, as you can see Lana surprises us. She may be challenging Michael Phelps before we know it.

So, even though week one of swim lessons started out shaky, it ended pretty successfully. Plus all it cost me was a few stickers and a trip to Menchies for some frozen yogurt yesterday.

And that's waaaayy cheaper than a pony.

The Kindness of Strangers

Yesterday I had one of those crazy, when the hell did it get to be 4:30pm kinda days. We had swim lessons, followed by trying to get Lana and Georgia to nap for at least an hour before I had to take Sonya to gymnastics at 2:15. Then I decided we needed to go to Target after gymnastics because we were out of cereal and milk. So, it was really no surprise when one of the girls decided to throw a full blown temper tantrum in Target. Who was it this time? The one headed into the terrible two's. Miss Georgia girl.

When we walked into the store, I had Georgia sitting in the front of the shopping cart, Lana in the back and Sonya walking. After about ten minutes Lana wanted out, which meant Georgia wanted out too. I let them both get out and walk. Lana is good about staying with me and doing what I say, but Georgia is still new to having any walking freedom. Consequently, she tends to wander. Far. Since I'm fond of still having her around (most of the time) and not being kidnapped, I was constantly running after her to bring her back to the shopping cart. This isn't very conducive to getting shopping done in a timely manner. After about the third time she ran off, I gave her the count of three to which she, of course, didn't return. So, I scooped her up and plopped her back in the shopping cart, while she kicked and screamed, thus starting THE TANTRUM.

My, can THAT one scream. And I mean hair raising, ear piercing, horror movie, I was trying to murder her, kind of screams. Sonya and Lana tend to yell more than scream. Georgia may have an acting job in Friday The Thirteenth part 25 someday.

So there we were walking around Target. Sonya and Lana walked along side the shopping cart acting perfect, and Georgia screamed and thrashed her body about in the front seat. This was all because I had the nerve to put her in there and strap her down, when all she wanted was to run around. Horrible mommy that I am.

I've dealt with the other two having meltdowns in Target, so you would think I would be used to it, but you never really get used to having that kind of attention. Believe me. I am someone who likes getting attention, which is part of the reason why I wanted to be an actress. Getting attention because you have a screaming two year old, however, is not the fun kind of attention. The stares that you get from EVERYONE you pass makes you feel more and more judged. I just felt like I was in one of those Southwest, "Wanna get away?", commercials. To which I say-yes, please!

After what seemed like three hours, but was probably about five minutes, I found an unoccupied aisle to walk down and stop. There I tried to talk Georgia down from the crying and screaming. At first she was having none of me, but I continued to talk calmly to her and try my best to distract her with whatever I had in my backpack. Almonds, crayons, diaper rash cream, whatever. There was nothing I could do really, short of pick her up, grab her sisters and leave the store and my cart full of groceries behind. I never want to do that though. I mean I spent 40 minutes shopping already and damn it, we needed milk!

Slowly, though, she started to calm down and munch on some almonds. Thank goodness Sonya and Lana were continuing their good behavior. They sat between boxes of coffee machines and blenders while waiting patiently for me to bring Georgia back to sweetness and light. It seems that when one of them flips off the page like that, the other two instinctially know not to go there too, or Mommy will flip off the page herself.

I started to walk out of my private aisle as another woman was turning into it. She was probably in her late 40's or so, and she stopped and looked at me and said,

"You are such a GOOD mother."

I was completely taken aback and quickly stammered out an, "Oh-thank you."

She had apparently caught part of our act, including me calming GG down, and she continued to compliment me. She told me how patient I was and what good job I did. She mentioned that she had two kids herself, who were older now, but she remembered when they would do the very same thing, just about every time she went shopping with them. She said how frustrated it would make her feel. I mentioned how I mostly just try to get through the store, and keep in mind I would probably never see any of those people with the judging faces again. Then she said,

"People are going to judge you if you don't discipline them and when you do. You did the right thing and a great job, so don't you even worry about anyone else."

I thanked her again, more heartfelt this time, and we parted ways. After I walked away I was near tears. I'm not sure why. I was just overcome with emotion over what she had said to me. I mean it's great when someone tells you what a great job you're doing with your kids, but when a complete stranger tells you, it makes it all that more real. She had no investment in me or my kids, but it was probably one of the nicest things anyone has ever said or done for me. It made me feel so much better about what I do and how I do it.

So as a way for me to "pay this forward", I wanted to tell all of you, weather you are moms or not, that when you see a mom somewhere dealing with a cranky kid and you do think she's doing a good job, tell her. You have NO idea how much your simple words will make her whole day.

Sink or Swim

Just when I think I won't have anything to write about for the day, I take my kids to swim lessons for the first time. Oy!

About two months ago, I signed the girls up for swim lessons through the Burbank Parks and Rec department. I am finally able to put Lana in a class by herself, well without me in the water anyway, and Sonya has been old enough for some time. I signed Georgia up for a "Mommy and Me" class. Sonya and Lana are in the same level one class. I knew from the beginning that this would most likely not go well. If you haven't realized by now, my girls are not the type to" jump in with both feet" to do anything. A pool is no exception, so I was pretty sure this was going to be a tough time.

Sonya began proving my point this morning, when she started to get a pouty look on her face about a half hour before we had to leave. I tried everything from, "there's nothing to be afraid of", to "there are instructors there to help you", and "I used to get nervous about swim lessons myself." All being totally true. I can remember every year taking swim lessons, as a kid, and feeling like I was going to throw up at the beginning of each session. Then I learned what we would have to do and began to relax and have fun. As you can see, the apple did not fall far. Lana and Georgia didn't seem to care, which made sense, since they didn't really understand yet what we were doing. Oh but they soon would...

We got to the pool and the other classes were still in the water. Sonya got even more quiet and nervous. I continued to try and reassure her, but it didn't seem to be working. Lana, however, was ready to dive in the minute she saw the pool. I put sunblock on all of them and Lana continued to beg me to get in the pool. I told her we had to wait until it was our turn and that there were other kids still doing their lesson. Sonya would have been fine waiting until they closed the pool in September, but Lana wanted in RIGHT NOW! Georgia just watched and waited to and see what was going to happen, and who to take her cue from.

Finally, the other class was over and it was their turn. The time had come for them to get in the water. Sonya was hesitant, but managed to make her way over to the wall where all the kids in class stood and clung to the side. Lana eagerly entered the water. Then after placing one foot on the steps, she immediately changed her mind about wanting to get in at all. Still, the instructors managed to get her over to the wall and sat her on the ledge. She looked back at me with that, "I'm all done with this, can I please get out now" look. I encouraged her to do what sissy was doing. She responded by whimpering and threatening tears. I tried my best to ignore this.

Then the lesson began. They started by holding on to the wall and kicking their legs behind them fast then slow. Sonya tried this and eventually got into it, but as soon as Lana got the first splashes of water on her, she jumped up from the ledge and out of the pool, running over to me crying. Yes I have THAT kid. I spent the next 25 minutes of class promising her anything to get her back in the pool. That girl is so damn stubborn though, and no amount of ice cream, Mickey, candy or ponies was getting her back in the water. Great. So we sat on the edge watching everyone else while she whined about not wanting to get back in, and I pleaded with her to try, if even for a minute. I did manage to sit her back on the ledge and put her feet in the water. Then she even play splashed one of the instructors. This was the last two minutes of class, but at least she was in! Sort of.

The good news was, Sonya warmed up to it and allowed the instructors to help her try the things they were teaching. She was still nervous and scared, but she did everything, including jumping into the pool in the end. Well the instructor was there to catch her, but still. Then she got out out of the water and declared,

"That was fun!! I can't wait to come back and do it again tomorrow!" I'm just hoping this sentiment holds until then.

After their class we moved to the other side of the pool where Sonya and Lana sat and ate snacks, while I took Georgia into the water for her class. Lana was totally fine at this point and promised me tomorrow she would go in the water and do better. Uh-huh. Just like I was going to get that pony I promised her if she would just get back in the water to begin with.

Georgia wasn't too excited about swimming either. I'm sure her sisters being so enthusiastic didn't help matters. She cried for about the first five minutes of her class. Luckily I was in the water with her, so it was easier to convince her it was fun when I started to spin her around. I think her problem was the initial chill of the water, which wasn't really that bad, after we got used to it. By the end of her class we were singing songs and dancing in the water and she was having a great time.

Now according to all of them, tomorrow they will all be eager and happy to get back in the water and learn to swim. My question is do they realize that tomorrow is just a day away, or do they think it's some far off time they don't have to worry about for a while? Since they've never seen Annie, I'm guessing they don't know just how close tomorrow is. Unfortunately I do, and now I'M dreading it. Along with the rest of these next two weeks. Classes aren't done until next Thursday. Yay.

I think we might just end up with a pony by then.

Your Next American Idol!

Georgia LOVES to sing. I caught a couple of her greatest hits on the Flip Video. She even comes up with her own song to sing. Halfway through the video you'll hear the older two arguing over who gets to sit in the rocking chair. I think Sonya even sits ON Lana at one point. Fun times! Enjoy!

Itsy Bitsy Spider/ABC's

Book vs Street

Over the weekend, Andy was voicing his concerns to me that Lana isn't, "where she should be", academically speaking. We have this conversation every so often. I always assure him that Lana is exactly where she should be, even if it is a little behind where Sonya was at her same age.

The problem with Sonya being first was that she was WAY ahead of all kids her age. I've mentioned this before. I promise it isn't bragging, it's just fact. I mean the kid knew ALL of her numbers, letters, and colors by 18 months. I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't seen it myself. So this is what we knew of children learning. We didn't realize that with most kids you have to actually do some teaching yourself, and that they don't learn by osmosis like Sonya did.

Lana is at a normal pace of learning things. She's where most kids her age are, perhaps even a bit ahead. She knows most of her letters, numbers, and all of her colors. But by the time Sonya was this age, she was starting on some reading skills. Lana still has a way to go to get there. Because of this, Andy gets concerned from time to time, that Lana isn't going to keep up. That and she doesn't seem to have as much an interest or attention span as Sonya did. Will Lana be the straight A student that Sonya most likely will be? Maybe, but she will probably have to work at it harder than her sister. Lana, however, has more of what people would refer to as, "street smarts" or even life logic. She has this all over Sonya. She can figure a way out of or into a situation much quicker than her older sister. This was made even more clear to me on our trip to the grocery store Tuesday morning.

After we finished our shopping I allowed the girls to each get a free balloons that Ralph's gives out. They were all fairly well behaved and they love balloons, so I gave it to them as a reward. Plus they're FREE! Who can complain?

It was a little windy that day and the balloons started blowing around when we walked outside. Keep in mind they were weighted, so they weren't going anywhere. As soon as they started blowing with the wind, Sonya got nervous. I assured her it wasn't going to blow away. I opened both doors to the van and put the kids and the balloons inside. It was at this point that there was a bigger gust of wind, and since both doors were open it created a cross breeze. Sonya's balloon, which she was holding on to AND was weighted, made it's way outside one of the doors. It was only the balloon part and she still had a hold of the string it was tied to, but she started a full scale flip out.

"MY BAAAALLLOOOONNNN!! NOOOO!! MYYY BAAALLOOOOON!!" She yelled.

"Sonya," I said in my most calm Mom voice. "Sonya, calm down and think about how to handle this situation. You don't need to get upset and flip out about this. You're balloon is not going anywhere."

The balloon continued to bob outside of the car and she tugged on the string, trying to reel it back in still yelling, "NOOOOOO!!! MY BAAALLLOOONN!!"

I continued to try and talk her down, then showed her how easy it was to gently bring the balloon back in the car.

"But it's going to fly out again!!" She wailed.

I started to try and appeal to any higher sense she had to think of a solution to the situation. Before I could get two words out, Lana who had been watching the entire scene, took it upon herself to push the button on the van that closes the door. The same door the balloon was trying to escape from. Problem solved.

"Nice job, Lana! That was smart thinking." I told her.

She just looked at me with a "what's the big deal?" look, and climbed into her car seat.

Okay no, Lana isn't as "book" smart as Sonya is, but she's not that far behind and she obviously thinks more logically than her sister. This may just give her an advantage over Sonya's smarts in the long run.

So yes Andy, I think Lana will be juuust fine.

One Year Later

The past week has been a little crazy, which is why I've neglected this blog. There are a number of reasons for me to not get to it last week, most of which I won't bore you with. However, yesterday was because I came down with some sort of stomach bug, and I couldn't do anything but lay around all day. Something I don't think I've done since well before we had the girls. I just couldn't get up. Thank goodness Andy was off work and able to entertain them. Anyway, that's not what I wanted to talk about today really, although it does play a part. What I do want to talk about is the fact that last week was the official one year anniversary of me writing these crazy stories. I can't believe it! When I originally started this blog, I aimed it more toward me not being able to go to the bathroom in peace. Since then I've ventured outside of that idea and given you many stories of the girls, and sometimes my life. Just in case some of you were wondering though, I still have no private bathroom time. So in honor of the one year anniversary of my blog, I thought I'd prove that point with what happened yesterday.

When you have a stomach bug, it usually means whatever contents are in your stomach do everything they can to make as quick an exit as possible from your body. Whichever way. Yesterday was that fun time for me. I'm not trying to gross you out, but hey, we've all been there a time or two.

Sonya had this bug on Friday and I woke up in the middle of the night Sunday to Georgia crying that she was going to throw up. At that point I was already starting to feel queasy. By yesterday morning, my stomach was in full revolt mode.

I spent all of the morning in bed, then most of the afternoon on the couch, with interval trips to the bathroom. By the early evening I was beginning to feel a bit better. I headed to the bathroom at one point and was interrupted by a whining Georgia. I tried to explain to her that Mommy REALLY needed to go potty, but she didn't seem to care. Instead she followed me whining with Lana trailing behind her. Andy and Sonya were outside playing catch.

I tried to keep them out, but all they did was bang on the door and ask to be let in. Georgia was the one who really wanted to be with me. Lana was okay being outside the door. She and Georgia had been pushing their strollers around and thought Georgia should have her stroller with her. In the bathroom. With me. Now the biggest problem with this, is the bathroom I was in is more of just a toilet closet, so to speak, and has little room for one person let alone that person a toddler and her baby stroller.

Lana didn't seem to care. I told her to leave it outside, but she insisted GG needed it. Georgia was actually on my side and tried to push it back out. This led to the two of them screaming at each other, while pushing and pulling the stroller.

In the bathroom.

The one I was in.

See what I'm saying here? One year later, and even though I've ventured off to tell you other stories of my day involving things that the girls say or do, the one constant in my life, and the inspiration for this blog, is that there is still no pooping in peace.

Thanks to all of you who have supported me this past year reading this blog. If you keep reading I'll keep writing. Hell, even if you don't, I'll keep writing. I've kinda grown fond of venting some of my frustrations on here. Plus some of you have told me you like that you can relate to some of my stories. That was always my main goal. To entertain, while making other moms feel like they're not alone. So, tell your friends and make sure they tell their friends. I'm hoping someday this thing will pay for my kids college education. Hey-a girl can dream!