Post Category → Mimi Lessons

Too Loud to Ignore…

Too Loud to Ignore…

Today was the tipping point, the universe is sending messages that I really need to share this stuff… Wish I could make it up, but the three-year-old is doing that for me.

To be fair, my ‘morning’ started somewhere between 11:30pm and 12:00am… Remi, (aforementioned three year old) knocked on my door, which I’ve been locking as he’s now taken to getting out of bed and coming into my room. I was good until I heard “Mimi I need help” – then I gave in… I opened up the door and we went to the potty and I got him back in bed. Unbeknownst to me, he got up at 12:30am and went to Mommy’s room… At 3am he came in to snuggle with me – I had forgotten to lock the door after the first visit, again we got him settled back into bed, i remembered to lock the door and thought we’d have a ‘great sleep’. Which, honestly, is all we want…

I opened my eyes around 6:00 ish to hear something going on but checked the phone and had no messages that Chelsea had gone to work out, so I thought things were good… About 3 minutes later I bolted out of bed as I heard water running into the tub, lights and fan were on, and the sound of water when you’re dozing is never good… I noticed that the door to the infant’s room was wide open but she didn’t appear to be awake – how unusual… At the exact same time I realized I didn’t have my glasses on, my nose was assaulted by a strong puke/cheese smell.

As I cursed to myself, trying not to gag, I got my glasses, only to have the following scene come into focus: Water running into the tub, Remi (with poopy butt) naked in the tub, the brand new parmesan container open on the closed toilet, parmesan ‘sprinkled’ on the rug next to the tub, and Remi exclaiming that he’s ‘going to take a bath’…

Once panic subsided, I checked on the baby to find that she (and mom) had gone to work out… (I later reminded youngest daughter to text me when that happens… ) With the water temperature corrected, parmesan put away… I then proceeded to wash the child and attempt to get him dressed. Chelsea and I have commented lately on the value of 3-year-old energy and that if we could bottle/sell it, we’d be sitting pretty on some beach… (WAIT – we do live at the beach! tee hee hee). I tempted him with a banana muffin and blueberries – got him settled and began the task of guiding the 7 year old to move…

Suffice to say, Mimi’s patience was running a little thin this morning and we came very close to time outs… Somehow Remi pulled it together in time. Mom made it home, Mimi got dressed, scooped up Remi, hugs and kisses to Mom, however, Remi refused to say good bye to Cam… We successfully avoided several puddles on the way to the car (much to his disappointment) to only have him remember that he didn’t give Cam a hug and kiss which he realized as Mimi is pulling out of the driveway… (Remember patience is still thin, so I kept driving.) This lead to a full blown tantrum that continued to daycare.

I have NO IDEA how childcare givers do their job… they are angels in human clothing. I felt like the worst Mimi on earth, and the look on the lady’s face that held the door for me, said it all…

I’m human, he’s human, we’ll be okay… and yes, thank you for the lessons, Remi, I love that little bugger. *** Now to clean the bathroom, and maybe a nap? ***

Weekend Shenanigans…

Weekend Shenanigans…

Again, it’s the weekend and we’ve already been up several hours… During that time, we’ve gone to work and returned, fed and changed/dressed children, did dishes, started laundry, napped (infant), prepped breakfasts for the week, and prepped dinner! All of this taking place during a sibling confrontations, negotiating a truce, and restarting the day after removing TV and replacing with music.

While cooking pancakes this morning, with the smell of cinnamon wafting from the stove, the sun rose and came into the kitchen window. I was again reminded of how very blessed and grateful that I am to have yet another day and feel the sunshine on my face. I will definitely be looking for a house with a kitchen window facing east!

As usual, the universe allowed me to be the receiver of multiple lessons this week, and I’ll share a few 🙂

  • When looking for a ‘good’ recipe online (not something I’m used to doing) pay attention to the number of reviews and stars… Just because a cottage cheese pancake recipe is simple, looks good, and “seems like the one mom used last time” it clearly was not… So we now have a large stack of cottage cheese crepe-like pancakes – fortunately these kids are awesome about not complaining about flat pancakes!
  • Mimi discovered this week that Maple syrup is NOT an early breakfast friendly condiment – this time I added a little into the batter – hopefully that will speed the trip out the door in the morning.
  • Potty training is a complicated system and if you think you’ve got it figured out – you’re wrong… Just after pinpointing the exact time the 2 year old ‘usually’ goes all week, he throws a curve ball and waits until the next day – surprise, surprise!
  • Everyone deserves a DO-OVER… so after the screaming, arguing, frustration and sibling competition – they both got an opportunity to make up and try again.
  • Little sister is now on the move in her little walker-like-thing… She hasn’t exactly figured out how to get where she wants to go – but is loving the fact that she can be part of the action in the room with everyone else. She’s becoming quite verbal and has a good set of lungs on her. The boys will have some competition very soon.
  • We’re anticipating another tooth being pulled soon, but the new tooth is actually pushing it sideways, so it will be interesting to follow.
  • I’m learning a lot about personality tests, if you haven’t taken it yet, try this… https://www.truity.com/test/enneagram-personality-test I’m an eight. I found it enlightening and apparently there are songs created for each one also. I plan on learning more about this 🙂

I don’t remember my life with small children as being so busy, but that may be part of my repressed brain memories. I firmly believe there’s a reason that your brain helps you to forget the crazy/painful/unbearable moments such as childbirth or losing a parent or a child.

As we so blissfully head into a three-day weekend, I’m ready to keep my eyes open to new possibilities, fun, opportunities to improve and give to others. I wish you peace this week ahead!

Bike riding…

I am beyond amazed at how fast time flies right now… it seems like we make it through the week and the weekend is over in a blink of an eye and we’re back to the 6am bus stop. Sleeping in really isn’t a thing in this house…

Our 6 month tax ‘season’ has finally ended for now just in time to get ready for year-end prep! Head’s up to my clients – I’ll be emailing you soon with reminders 🙂

In the meantime, I’m loving the cooler weather here now and have been able to get some gardening done in the front of the house…We’ve been passing some nasal/cough/icky funk back and forth between the kids and adults and I’m hoping that this week is the last of it! We are all super tired lately.

I took Aléa to her two month visit – WHAT?? and the little (not so little) angel now weighs in at a healthy 10 1/2 lbs – she’s really growing sooo fast.I got baby snuggles this am while mom made breakfast for the boys… Then Remi came in as a monster… he does that a lot lately 😉

But I have to admit the highlight of the week was teaching Cam how to ride his bike 🙂 The first attempts were painful and we will spare you those videos – but the look on his face was the BEST when he realized he finally got it! Today Mimi even ran while he rode his bike around the ‘block’. (NO – there are no pictures/video of that – thank goodness…)

And the Mimi lessons still keep coming…

  • No matter how many times I get to hold/feed Aléa I still forget to get a burp cloth first… My outfits are great at catching liquids 🤢
  • NEVER start a question with ‘Would you like to….” For these boys, it’s “Now it’s time to…”
  • Remi can now open the bathroom door **Ahem** and the refrigerator – of course the latter is more important for Remi…

I can’t believe we’re half way through October… the goal is to stay safe and healthy for the rest of the year!! Rest assured, more stories to come 🙂

When life has other plans…

Things don’t always go the way I have planned out, but there is always a lesson or opportunity to learn if you pay attention. I know I’m here for a reason right now, working on making myself better: re-learning patience, trying to get healthier, it will all come together eventually… I still have so much to learn. In the meantime, I’m still being given reminders that even at my best, I don’t know it all, and never will…

Here are this week’s lessons for Mimi:

  • DO NOT – UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, microwave the sacred comic-strip-hero mug… the shiny, reflective images on the mug ARE actually metal. It WILL create sparks, not only the in the microwave, but in the eyes of the owner as well…
  • DO stay OUT of the kitchen on food prep days… I consider myself an ‘expert’ of sorts in food preparation for multiple people, however, I bow to the lady of this house when it comes to prepping, measuring, packaging, labeling, sorting, organizing and planning for food for a family of 5 (4 that eat chewable food) for the week. I was totally overwhelmed by the tools/patience/skill/space involved and have promised myself to give her kitchen back to her on ANY day she wishes to prep and make myself scarce…
  • Be ever so grateful that we can spend time out together, the boys behaved so well at the restaurant, ate their food, no complaining or whining, so proud to be their mimi… (The adults behaved well also, we can let them come with us again.) 😉
  • Always be prepared to be caught off guard by these two boys (if that’s possible) – Cam will most certainly be leaning toward the debate club in school and Remi will be the comic in the talent show. It is highly advisable that you: do not try to argue with someone much younger than you, you’re the one that ends up frustrated and feeling stupid….or laugh out loud when the smaller one is trying to get away with something, which does not bode well with the parents.
  • Always be prepared with a snack, drink or pbj sandwich just in case the middle child has an urge for something… and whatever you do – do NOT presume to know what he wants, just have it ready…
  • Tonight I got double hugs and kisses (bonus!) and I’ll take it ❤️

Good night all! Sweet dreams 😴

Time flies…

Well – it’s been a while since I did a “Mimi” post, so for everyone that’s been waiting on the edge of their seats (both of you…) I apologize. There’s way more to share, but my mimi brain tends to let go of the day-to-day ups and downs and I try to focus on the positive side…

I just can’t believe that the infant is now 4 weeks old – HOLY SMOKES – HOW did that happen???? She’s as cute as ever, but now her cheeks are starting to fill out and although she still has frog legs (we’ll NEVER mention that to her as a teen…) she’s already using them like crazy and trying to stand up!

Aléa has a super healthy appetite, and mom has been able to stockpile a wonderful supply of breastmilk in the freezer, which Mimi (during a moment of frustration) yanked on the door and sent 45-50 bags of frozen milk all over the kitchen floor. Fortunately for my toes, I had shoes on… Unfortunately someone (probably me) will have to re-organize the packages by date… Guess I know what I’m doing tomorrow morning 😉

Speaking of toes… WHY is it that the designers of the little bouncy seats, high chairs, ladders NEVER consider the humans’ toes in their design? Last time I visited here over Thanksgiving, I literally broke my toe on the child’s seat – this time it’s been tested several times by the highchair, ladder, and just basic stuff on the floor. I know… some of you are saying, “wear shoes”!!! Well – I have an answer for that, it’s Florida! the rule is flip flops in Florida! and I don’t care what anyone says – they don’t protect your toes very well, so I might as well just go barefoot… (yes, I’m done complaining about that).

Just as my three daughters all have different personalities, these three are very different also… the only thing that they have in common is that they SLEEP THROUGH THE NIGHT!!! I don’t know what Chelsea did, but jeeze if I could have done that – I wish someone had told me! Right now, we’re just all grateful – mostly mom and dad – that baby girl is going 6 hours at a stretch at night!!!

So back to the fact that they’re so different – obviously Aléa hasn’t had enough time to develop much of a personality except when she has gas… this little girl burps like a champ once you get it up there – but mostly she’s just exhausted from being so cute all day….When “the book” comes out – these two boys will each get their own chapter…

Two year old has developed a fierce independent streak that rivals that of any middle child…”I do it” – “it’s mine…” – “let me” – followed by the inevitable melt down when Mimi had just tried too hard to ‘help’. I’m waiting for the “leave my ‘lone”… The most comical thing is when he is so polite… everything is followed by yes ma’am (mom/mimi/dad). We’re working on the yes ma’am daddy part…. He already knows that if he smiles and tips his head ‘just so’ he’s going to make an adult crack up (probably me) and ruin the seriousness of the moment – I’m learning that I’m useless when it comes to that stuff!

Cameron has been bringing home ‘all green’ reports – meaning that he follows instructions, is helpful and most of all a ‘joy’ to have in class! WHOO HOOOO! (This is WONDERFUL news this year – parents are thrilled and GRATEFUL!!!) The biggest challenge for this fella is trying not to run the world… sometimes he feels it’s his job to keep the 2 year old in line, which as you can imagine, doesn’t sit well with the child in question… He had the world in the palm of his hand for 5 years and now in a mere flash he has to compete with 2 siblings – to say it’s been an adjustment is an understatement, but honestly he’s doing extremely well with it… As he says: “you know mimi, it’s really hard being a big brother sometimes…” I totally agree, being the oldest child!

He also has a pretty independent streak himself, like if I double check for the mask in the back pack, I get the eye roll and ” I can’t believe you would think that I would forget THAT look”… and yes, fortunately they do have paper ones at school – thank goodness!!!

Overall, we’re getting into the swing of things and I have to tell you that I’m loving the hugs and love these two boys are so willing to give – unless it’s meal time, snack time, tv time, reading a book time, or play time 😉

Overall – the lessons this week were (in no particular order… unless you’re the middle child)

  • Do NOT – and I mean do NOT serve food separately to the middle child… the only way to make sure everything is eaten is to mix it together, like a taco salad for example… otherwise you end up with meat, and the tomatoes, sour cream, chips are gone.
  • When you introduce an activity to calm the child (it happens to be watching aquarium fish on the laptop with soothing music in the background – try it…) be prepared to be reminded that the fish are in the computer and they must appear daily. My fish are doing an awful lot of sleeping lately… I think they have narcolepsy.
  • BE STRONG when it comes to keeping your word – good or bad… as much as you want to give in, do NOT allow them to get away with it, and the old saying is true, it DOES hurt me more than it hurts him… and they remember EVERY time they got away with it…DANGIT
  • DO NOT SAY DANGIT… it will haunt you for weeks…
  • In the end, forgive it all, and start the day over, even if it’s noon, everyone deserves a ‘do over’ once a day…

Have a wonderful week ahead!! No pictures of Remi today – he’s so dang fast and getting him to sit still is hard!!

Weekends

It’s becoming apparent that weekends are made for Mimi lessons…

– Playing in the rain is encouraged by the parents as the children are occupied, safe and getting cleaner, despite mimi’s concern of ‘catching a cold’ – heck it’s FLORIDA for goodness sake Mimi… not Massachusetts 🤪

– Remember that 2 year olds are little tape recorders and will come back with ‘DANGIT’ a few days after you say it… causing the parents to question who he’s been around, and then having to confess to becoming frustrated with the 7 year old…

– There is nothing quiet about children – not eating, dressing, bathing, playing… did you know that even putting a puzzle together requires singing or ‘beatboxing’ (yes, I had to look it up)..

– Taking pictures of the new tooth erupting is ‘cool’!

– Sometimes discipline is harder on the parents/mimi than it is on the child… it’s okay to let them know it hurts you too 😢

– Small humans can create more decibels per lb than an adult human ever thinks of or can absorb…

– When you have a headache and are doubting your sanity, GO FOR A WALK… don’t question it – just go! (Make sure there’s another adult watching the kids first…)

– and somehow through it all, the automatic vacuum just keeps going, and going, and going… just like the energizer bunny!

– and the infant sleeps through all of the chaos (until 2am)…

Week by week…

Well, we have survived the first full week with the new infant 🙂 more pictures of Aléa and the boys at the beach in the very near future when I can figure out what the deal is with the funky picture uploading issue…hopefully they will load!

I was also gently reminded today that I’ve been slacking on the Mimi lesson posts. As luck would have it, I was provided with several examples over the past few days… 😉

  • Asking a two year old to be patient is just asking for trouble… just tell them you will get to A after you do B then be prepared to answer questions about B for the next Z minutes.
  • Running to Walmart to get bleach with the 7 year old somehow requires an entire tour of the store to ‘make sure we don’t need any toys’… (we didn’t)
  • being a kid is ‘tough’; especially a big brother…
  • Sharing an apple with a two year old at the beach can be kind of icky, crunchy, and leave sand in your mouth…
  • the distance that a two year old can run over the sand chasing the helicopters is vastly greater than the distance an adult can run on the sand and the softer it is, the farther away the child gets…
  • While explaining to a 7 year old that a pelican catches a fish to eat, be prepared to explain how it ‘kills’ it’s prey – apparently swallowing doesn’t count as killing…
  • With respect to the infant, she is coming up with all of her own rules – nursing is not really ‘eating’ – it’s just the quick version of waking up starving, then sleeping on and off just so she can have the milk pumped for her, then is fussy less than a hour later because she’s hungry??
  • Infant poop is so much less offensive than 2 year old poop – sometimes I wonder what he eats??
  • I am forever amazed at how cute adorable and wonderful they can be!
  • probably the best thing ever: When the 7 year old decides that YOU! (ME?) are the person that gets to pull out his first tooth!!!!

More lessons

So, this morning I thought I would be the ‘heroine’ and allow the boys to sleep in a little bit, permitting Chelsea to go work out early w/o distractions…

By the time she got back, boys were dressed, semi-fed and I was running around in my pj’s… HOW DID I USED TO MAKE THIS WORK? was all I could think of during that ever-so-long 50 minutes of confusion.

Way back when, I remember getting up early, going to swim, coming back to three sleepy girls, getting them started on breakfast, jump into the shower, make sure they were dressed and off we went – probably in the same time span…

Today did not go as smoothly as I had hoped, and of course, Mimi learned some new lessons:

  • If you offer juice, make sure that you let the 2-year-old help pour or you might as well tell him he’ll starve for the rest of his life – drama ensues!
  • lucky charms are NOT the small tan pieces, it’s only the colored marshmallow bits
  • “let’s get dressed” really means running after said 2-year-old with clothes while he just wants to “read a book”
  • meanwhile 7 year old has decided that while mimi ‘made lunch for him’ to save time, it is totally the WRONG kind of sandwich and he just wants to ‘do it myself – I know how!!’
  • I worked up a sweat this morning and all I could think of was: Dang! I didn’t have my fitbit on??? all those missed steps!
  • childhood independence is AWESOME until the clueless grandparent tries to ‘help’

It appears that I still have a lot to learn in this life…