If You Go to Junior Gym
a place I love and suggest frequenting, could you do two favors for me please?
1) please wear a combination of jeans and underwear that allow me to see you bend over without showing me your entire thong and part of your butt crack. Really, the world would be a better place without that visual, no matter how size 2 you are.
2) If you are sitting in the lobby waiting for your child to finish a class and there are toddlers around, could you please find somewhere to put your really huge, hot cup of Peet's besides the floor? No one benefits in that scenario. Ditto the special, easily torn playing cards your child has carefully arranged in a pattern on the floor. That + toddler (especially my toddler)---you see where I'm going here, right? I think my exasperation was quite reasonable.
Thank you.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
House
Latest update, for those concerned (or interested, or midly interested).
* Paint colors are coming along. The Mr. said today "gee, there's a lot to do with paint colors, huh?" To which I replied "would you like the job?"
The dining room is sporting a dark chocolate brown (Benjamin Moore Affinity collection "Kona") which we'll go with. The day-glo aqua just wasn't doing it for me in Miss Z's room, so I decided to put the blue in there we're using in our bedroom (I'll look up the color name and get back to you--but it's another Affinity color. They're gorgeous). I think a pale blue in there will be charming and, very important, soothing.
Still working on a color for the guest room. If you think you might someday be a guest, chez Poppy, then log on and cast a vote. I got nuthin' so far.
* Tile flooring is almost done in the basement and looks great. Tile is going on in the bathrooms. I'm having a very low-level freak out about the countertops I chose for the basement bath and the kids' bath, but it will probably all be fine when it comes together.
* Landscaping is supposed to start in two weeks. Oy. I know nothing about gardening. I need to get an opinion soon.
* I chose the pavers for the driveway yesterday--McNear "cobblestone" in charcoal/grey. Hope they look alright once they're in.
That's it. A bit dull, but what the heck.
Latest update, for those concerned (or interested, or midly interested).
* Paint colors are coming along. The Mr. said today "gee, there's a lot to do with paint colors, huh?" To which I replied "would you like the job?"
The dining room is sporting a dark chocolate brown (Benjamin Moore Affinity collection "Kona") which we'll go with. The day-glo aqua just wasn't doing it for me in Miss Z's room, so I decided to put the blue in there we're using in our bedroom (I'll look up the color name and get back to you--but it's another Affinity color. They're gorgeous). I think a pale blue in there will be charming and, very important, soothing.
Still working on a color for the guest room. If you think you might someday be a guest, chez Poppy, then log on and cast a vote. I got nuthin' so far.
* Tile flooring is almost done in the basement and looks great. Tile is going on in the bathrooms. I'm having a very low-level freak out about the countertops I chose for the basement bath and the kids' bath, but it will probably all be fine when it comes together.
* Landscaping is supposed to start in two weeks. Oy. I know nothing about gardening. I need to get an opinion soon.
* I chose the pavers for the driveway yesterday--McNear "cobblestone" in charcoal/grey. Hope they look alright once they're in.
That's it. A bit dull, but what the heck.
Monday, April 23, 2007
To the Tree House
The Poppy family had an amazing weekend. To rip off my treasured Boz, "it was the best of times, it was the worst of times." It included multiple barf-in-the-car episodes, a family milestone, lots of drama and some real highs.
* I'll get the barfing out of the way first. X-Man is a champion barfer--the kid has great aim. Unfortunately, on Thursday, there was nothing to aim at but himself, the carseat and the car. We were driving to meet a friend so we could borrow a pack-n-play for the weekend away. He gave me a second of warning and then whoosh. A word of caution about the X-Man--he's a little trigger happy on the gag reflex. If he's the right combo of tired and phlegmy, he barfs. That's for your future reference.
The first time it happened on Thursday I pulled over and went into full haz-mat mode and thought (ah, pride goeth before a fall) "I am a pretty damn together Mommy. I'm working it out." After the fourth incident in less than 30 minutes, I was not feeling so hot on myself (or my kid or my car). But we finally got it all dealt with.
* Family Milestone: on Friday it all became official--The Mr., the kids, my parents and I stood before the judge and said "yes indeedy, Miss Z is our little gal forever." With her adoption finally finalized we proceeded to Il Fornaio to get foodie. How blessed we are to be the parents of our kids.
* And then--on some mistaken notion that I could manage with two children, away from home, on my own for more than a day, I had agreed to go to our church's parish weekend retreat here . There are various purposes to the weekend: fellowship with other parishioners, time spent in a really beautiful place, reflection, maybe some kind of transformative experience. And truthfully, I got all that plus lost two pounds in the process. And the kids had a blast.
There were some ferociously low moments. Those moments of feeling like the crummiest mom in the world (or at least in this group of people). Lunch on Saturday was particularly unpleasant, with the X-Man doing his best to push me over the edge--and succeeding. I had to send him off with the other families with children for the afternoon while Miss Z napped and I pulled myself back together. The sleep was not great for any of us, and that factored in. I wasn't able to stay in chapel on Sunday because I had Miss Z with me and she was way disruptive. I was embarrassed several times over the weekend by my apparent lack of control of my children--and of my own temper and internal emotional compass.
So that all sounds pretty crap, doesn't it? But you know what? It's wasn't. It was a really great weekend. This is probably going to sound really churchy, but every time I was struggling there was someone there to help me out. Pete and Lee with hot coffee when the kids were up too early. Leslie and Susan rocking Miss Z and singing their own greatest hits to her while I got X to bed. Serina and Lisa taking him off to play with Ella and the other kids. The fabulous Bolt family who let the X-Man try out their new metal detector (totally his thing) and sit at their table for lunch. Kristi telling me that she never would have left the house with her kids when they were this little. And on and on.
And somehow, being out of our usual environment, I was able to get a fresh perspective on my parenting without fully freaking out about it. I came home thinking "you know, what I'm doing is really, really not working. So I've got to try something else." And that's what I'm doing, and I like it a lot better than what I was doing before. I'm not sure it's the ultimate fix, but it's an improvement.
Tag on to all that the joy of watching Miss Z act as ring leader to a small toddler gang and charm the pants off all the grown ups. And seeing X in a pack of kids, hiking to the tree house, running up and down hills, playing fire fighter with an old hose, taking communion with this really special community of ours, TALKING, and having a blast. All that is just priceless. We'll be back for more next year.
The Poppy family had an amazing weekend. To rip off my treasured Boz, "it was the best of times, it was the worst of times." It included multiple barf-in-the-car episodes, a family milestone, lots of drama and some real highs.
* I'll get the barfing out of the way first. X-Man is a champion barfer--the kid has great aim. Unfortunately, on Thursday, there was nothing to aim at but himself, the carseat and the car. We were driving to meet a friend so we could borrow a pack-n-play for the weekend away. He gave me a second of warning and then whoosh. A word of caution about the X-Man--he's a little trigger happy on the gag reflex. If he's the right combo of tired and phlegmy, he barfs. That's for your future reference.
The first time it happened on Thursday I pulled over and went into full haz-mat mode and thought (ah, pride goeth before a fall) "I am a pretty damn together Mommy. I'm working it out." After the fourth incident in less than 30 minutes, I was not feeling so hot on myself (or my kid or my car). But we finally got it all dealt with.
* Family Milestone: on Friday it all became official--The Mr., the kids, my parents and I stood before the judge and said "yes indeedy, Miss Z is our little gal forever." With her adoption finally finalized we proceeded to Il Fornaio to get foodie. How blessed we are to be the parents of our kids.
* And then--on some mistaken notion that I could manage with two children, away from home, on my own for more than a day, I had agreed to go to our church's parish weekend retreat here . There are various purposes to the weekend: fellowship with other parishioners, time spent in a really beautiful place, reflection, maybe some kind of transformative experience. And truthfully, I got all that plus lost two pounds in the process. And the kids had a blast.
There were some ferociously low moments. Those moments of feeling like the crummiest mom in the world (or at least in this group of people). Lunch on Saturday was particularly unpleasant, with the X-Man doing his best to push me over the edge--and succeeding. I had to send him off with the other families with children for the afternoon while Miss Z napped and I pulled myself back together. The sleep was not great for any of us, and that factored in. I wasn't able to stay in chapel on Sunday because I had Miss Z with me and she was way disruptive. I was embarrassed several times over the weekend by my apparent lack of control of my children--and of my own temper and internal emotional compass.
So that all sounds pretty crap, doesn't it? But you know what? It's wasn't. It was a really great weekend. This is probably going to sound really churchy, but every time I was struggling there was someone there to help me out. Pete and Lee with hot coffee when the kids were up too early. Leslie and Susan rocking Miss Z and singing their own greatest hits to her while I got X to bed. Serina and Lisa taking him off to play with Ella and the other kids. The fabulous Bolt family who let the X-Man try out their new metal detector (totally his thing) and sit at their table for lunch. Kristi telling me that she never would have left the house with her kids when they were this little. And on and on.
And somehow, being out of our usual environment, I was able to get a fresh perspective on my parenting without fully freaking out about it. I came home thinking "you know, what I'm doing is really, really not working. So I've got to try something else." And that's what I'm doing, and I like it a lot better than what I was doing before. I'm not sure it's the ultimate fix, but it's an improvement.
Tag on to all that the joy of watching Miss Z act as ring leader to a small toddler gang and charm the pants off all the grown ups. And seeing X in a pack of kids, hiking to the tree house, running up and down hills, playing fire fighter with an old hose, taking communion with this really special community of ours, TALKING, and having a blast. All that is just priceless. We'll be back for more next year.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Turn Offs
* Wind. I hate wind. And it's pretty damn windy today. Grrrr. The whole Cathy/Heathcliff thing--count me out. No heaths for me. It just makes me grumpy, irritable, pissy.
* Linen. I don't care if you wear linen. I don't care about the wrinkles. It's fine on furniture. But I've finally figured out that if I buy a piece of clothing in linen, it won't find its way out of my closet. I can't stand the way it feels on me.
* I won't get too deep into the shopping cart thing. I'll just say, the carts belong to the store and there is no "borrowing" as it relates to shopping carts--that's just stealing. I won't say any more on the topic in case I start foaming at the mouth--not a good look for me.
* Wind. I hate wind. And it's pretty damn windy today. Grrrr. The whole Cathy/Heathcliff thing--count me out. No heaths for me. It just makes me grumpy, irritable, pissy.
* Linen. I don't care if you wear linen. I don't care about the wrinkles. It's fine on furniture. But I've finally figured out that if I buy a piece of clothing in linen, it won't find its way out of my closet. I can't stand the way it feels on me.
* I won't get too deep into the shopping cart thing. I'll just say, the carts belong to the store and there is no "borrowing" as it relates to shopping carts--that's just stealing. I won't say any more on the topic in case I start foaming at the mouth--not a good look for me.
Saturday, April 14, 2007
The Spell Is Broken
Ah yes. It all comes back to bite us in the ass eventually, doesn't it?
If I've ever directed any smugness your way, or exhibited any smugness near you related to sleep issues (or the relative lack of them chez Poppy), well the chickens have come home to roost.
Three times in the past week, instead of simply falling asleep to the sounds of a book on tape (as he has done for lo these several years), the X-Man has actually LEFT HIS ROOM AT NIGHT!!!! What's that you say? Get a grip Poppy. Children have been doing this since children were invented. Not in my damn house. Oh, but it gets better. As the Mr. says, X is a formidable adversary. You know how in Alien, the alien is so adaptive? Well, take away the sticky, drooly bit and the many snatching claws and you've got X (and yes, he's also hell-bent on world domination).
Three nights this week he has left his room, flung open the door to his sister's room, turned the light on full and stolen all of her Dohs (those not familiar with the peculiar Poppy family lexicon, these are actually Taggies--and she uses them to soothe herself to sleep. They are as essential to her well-being as coffee is to mine.). He then hops back in bed and hollers "I didn't take them" when a parental type goes upstairs to investigate. Ah, but they sit right there on his bookcase, in full view. Guilty as charged.
It gets worse. Tonight we had a sitter and X not only left his room, but he came downstairs. This is totally and completely unheard of. It means he's realized that he CAN LEAVE HIS ROOM AT NIGHT and that scares the crap out of me.
Our wise sitter took all his guys away (guys = his precious collection of stuffed animals). After the second noctural foray I had warned him that there would be dire consequences for not staying in his room. Tomorrow night, the strong arm of the Poppy Mom law will be lowered. Stay tuned.
Ah yes. It all comes back to bite us in the ass eventually, doesn't it?
If I've ever directed any smugness your way, or exhibited any smugness near you related to sleep issues (or the relative lack of them chez Poppy), well the chickens have come home to roost.
Three times in the past week, instead of simply falling asleep to the sounds of a book on tape (as he has done for lo these several years), the X-Man has actually LEFT HIS ROOM AT NIGHT!!!! What's that you say? Get a grip Poppy. Children have been doing this since children were invented. Not in my damn house. Oh, but it gets better. As the Mr. says, X is a formidable adversary. You know how in Alien, the alien is so adaptive? Well, take away the sticky, drooly bit and the many snatching claws and you've got X (and yes, he's also hell-bent on world domination).
Three nights this week he has left his room, flung open the door to his sister's room, turned the light on full and stolen all of her Dohs (those not familiar with the peculiar Poppy family lexicon, these are actually Taggies--and she uses them to soothe herself to sleep. They are as essential to her well-being as coffee is to mine.). He then hops back in bed and hollers "I didn't take them" when a parental type goes upstairs to investigate. Ah, but they sit right there on his bookcase, in full view. Guilty as charged.
It gets worse. Tonight we had a sitter and X not only left his room, but he came downstairs. This is totally and completely unheard of. It means he's realized that he CAN LEAVE HIS ROOM AT NIGHT and that scares the crap out of me.
Our wise sitter took all his guys away (guys = his precious collection of stuffed animals). After the second noctural foray I had warned him that there would be dire consequences for not staying in his room. Tomorrow night, the strong arm of the Poppy Mom law will be lowered. Stay tuned.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
House
So Poppy, how are things going with the new house? (you may or may not be asking). Here's the status report:
* I am knee deep in paint colors. I love and hate this part of things. I wish I had a little more time to focus on it, because I do actually enjoy it. It's especially nice to hit it out of the park right off the bat--we found the perfect pale blue for the master bedroom. Ethereal, soothing, sophisticated. I let the X-Man choose his own paint colors. If you guessed something with orange, you're a winner. I have been trying to work from the new line of Benjamin Moore colors--low-odor, all the colors coordinate with each other (the Affinity collection of Aura paints). And no, I don't get a kickback for that there product placement. Anyway, I showed X the fan deck and he chose the orangest orange on there and a medium blue. And he got it right the first time--they're great colors and great together. His inspiration (clipped from Metropolitain Home) is a Todd Oldham room with very bright colors, a funky lamp, and a painting that reads Hotties 125 (X is pre-literate). So a chair rail for him with orange on the bottom and blue up to the ceiling. Miss Z's room is the one I'm agonizing over. It's a fairly bright aqua right now. Part of me wants to do over and tone down. And the other part of me knows that things like this actually work out. I don't have some grand plan for her room--I am trying to avoid that pink & lavendar, cottage, princess, shabby chic look (no offense to anyone). I'd like to go more boho and funky for her.
The trickiest color so far is what to do all the hallways and extra spaces in. I'm going down today to look at a green-blue-grey we chose to see how that's coming.
And we're going to try a chocolate brown for the dining room, with a blue-teal for the living room. I'll keep you posted on that.
* Tile is starting to go in. Woohoo.
* Cabinets are going in. The pantry is ginormous--making up for the seven years I've spent in hobbit pantry hell here.
* Driveway is going in soon. The brick patio in back and railing are done. The exterior is painted.
So Poppy, how are things going with the new house? (you may or may not be asking). Here's the status report:
* I am knee deep in paint colors. I love and hate this part of things. I wish I had a little more time to focus on it, because I do actually enjoy it. It's especially nice to hit it out of the park right off the bat--we found the perfect pale blue for the master bedroom. Ethereal, soothing, sophisticated. I let the X-Man choose his own paint colors. If you guessed something with orange, you're a winner. I have been trying to work from the new line of Benjamin Moore colors--low-odor, all the colors coordinate with each other (the Affinity collection of Aura paints). And no, I don't get a kickback for that there product placement. Anyway, I showed X the fan deck and he chose the orangest orange on there and a medium blue. And he got it right the first time--they're great colors and great together. His inspiration (clipped from Metropolitain Home) is a Todd Oldham room with very bright colors, a funky lamp, and a painting that reads Hotties 125 (X is pre-literate). So a chair rail for him with orange on the bottom and blue up to the ceiling. Miss Z's room is the one I'm agonizing over. It's a fairly bright aqua right now. Part of me wants to do over and tone down. And the other part of me knows that things like this actually work out. I don't have some grand plan for her room--I am trying to avoid that pink & lavendar, cottage, princess, shabby chic look (no offense to anyone). I'd like to go more boho and funky for her.
The trickiest color so far is what to do all the hallways and extra spaces in. I'm going down today to look at a green-blue-grey we chose to see how that's coming.
And we're going to try a chocolate brown for the dining room, with a blue-teal for the living room. I'll keep you posted on that.
* Tile is starting to go in. Woohoo.
* Cabinets are going in. The pantry is ginormous--making up for the seven years I've spent in hobbit pantry hell here.
* Driveway is going in soon. The brick patio in back and railing are done. The exterior is painted.
* Hardwood floors are in.
Not really a witty and scintillating post, but figured I'd do the update for any interested parties.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
I Don't Eat Animals (part--oh whatever)
Add Peeps to the list. Can you even imagine? My sister is probably sobbing at this--with either despair or delight (more Peeps for her). Yellow only please.
And add jelly beans to the list too--even though they don't look like any kind of animal, they disgust X.
Add Peeps to the list. Can you even imagine? My sister is probably sobbing at this--with either despair or delight (more Peeps for her). Yellow only please.
And add jelly beans to the list too--even though they don't look like any kind of animal, they disgust X.
Sunday, April 08, 2007
Braveheart
Because we still have a few marbles to spare, the Mr. and I decided to take the kids to Disneyland Easter weekend. What actually transpired is that the Mr. had some business to do and could meet us down there. That meant that I needed to get myself and the two kids on an airplane and to the O.C. by myself. So I girded my loins (with goldfish crackers and stickers) and took the plunge. And you know what? It was totally fine.
Anyone looking at me in the airport and on the plane with X and Miss Z probably thought "what a cute couple of kids. What a together mom." I'm not even joking (as X-Man says). Is there something easier about two kids vs. one? Am I jinxing myself to a fresh new hell by writing that? There were a few moments on the plane of "that's stupid" (X's favorite new way to get under my skin) but that was easily outweighed by his total capability going through security, Miss Z's cuteness and well-timed nap during the flight, and the actual helpfulness of X.
And Disneyland itself? We had a blast. Our expectations were very low, which helps (I'm becoming convinced that actual fun with children in tow really is about expectation management). The boys got to go on a few key rides: Pirates, Haunted Mansion, the teacups. We all went on Small World--it was priceless to watch Miss Z--who, my sister pointed out, looks exactly like a Small World doll--clapping in time to the music and pointing at all the fake animals. And on a side note, I totally dig the Small World aesthetic--my 70's childhood showing. Disneyland also has their dude ranch stocked with the nicest, cutest and smallest goats ever (of course, Disney goats)--and the kids loved that. There was a fantastic interlude with a fiddle playing cast member in Frontierland who geared his whole spiel to Miss Z--while she stood in the middle of the crowd clapping, dancing and demanding "mo." And back at the hotel on Friday night, we had some real sibling love going on when we tried to bed the kids down in the same room--the Mr. and I overheard X trying to sing Miss Z to sleep. And when I went in to check on them I found them both in the crib, Miss Z climbing on top of her bro-bro while he giggled. As we dragged him to the other room he kept saying "I don't want to be separated from Sissy!" Pretty damn heartwarming.
Because we still have a few marbles to spare, the Mr. and I decided to take the kids to Disneyland Easter weekend. What actually transpired is that the Mr. had some business to do and could meet us down there. That meant that I needed to get myself and the two kids on an airplane and to the O.C. by myself. So I girded my loins (with goldfish crackers and stickers) and took the plunge. And you know what? It was totally fine.
Anyone looking at me in the airport and on the plane with X and Miss Z probably thought "what a cute couple of kids. What a together mom." I'm not even joking (as X-Man says). Is there something easier about two kids vs. one? Am I jinxing myself to a fresh new hell by writing that? There were a few moments on the plane of "that's stupid" (X's favorite new way to get under my skin) but that was easily outweighed by his total capability going through security, Miss Z's cuteness and well-timed nap during the flight, and the actual helpfulness of X.
And Disneyland itself? We had a blast. Our expectations were very low, which helps (I'm becoming convinced that actual fun with children in tow really is about expectation management). The boys got to go on a few key rides: Pirates, Haunted Mansion, the teacups. We all went on Small World--it was priceless to watch Miss Z--who, my sister pointed out, looks exactly like a Small World doll--clapping in time to the music and pointing at all the fake animals. And on a side note, I totally dig the Small World aesthetic--my 70's childhood showing. Disneyland also has their dude ranch stocked with the nicest, cutest and smallest goats ever (of course, Disney goats)--and the kids loved that. There was a fantastic interlude with a fiddle playing cast member in Frontierland who geared his whole spiel to Miss Z--while she stood in the middle of the crowd clapping, dancing and demanding "mo." And back at the hotel on Friday night, we had some real sibling love going on when we tried to bed the kids down in the same room--the Mr. and I overheard X trying to sing Miss Z to sleep. And when I went in to check on them I found them both in the crib, Miss Z climbing on top of her bro-bro while he giggled. As we dragged him to the other room he kept saying "I don't want to be separated from Sissy!" Pretty damn heartwarming.
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