Month: June 2011

We are leaving in 2 days to drive to Alabama! It’s a 22-hour non-stop drive to my parents’ house, but we are breaking it up into 3 days on the road, taking into account that we’ll probably have to make many stops for the kids (7, 4, and 9 months). I am, of course, looking forward to seeing family & friends in Alabama, but I’m also looking forward to the drive! Am I crazy? Maybe. But this is why I like road trips:

1. You can’t do laundry or wash dishes when you’re in the car.

2. The kids are all strapped in, and so even if they scream or make a mess, they are at least confined and safe.

3. An extension of #2–the kids have a more limited area in which to make a mess.

4. When they all fall asleep, I can sneak into the front seat beside my husband and pretend we’re on a date, just the two of us. We can listen to the radio and talk without interruption.

5. I have a stack of books I can’t wait to read.

6. No cooking on road trips.

7. I think it’s easier if you have more than one child to go on road trips. The kids kind of entertain themselves (when they’re not fighting with each other).

8. The hard part of road trips is packing. Once you get everything in the car, you’re done. If you left it, you left it. There’s always a wal-mart at the next exit.

9. Making a new drive is always exciting because you get to see new towns and states. The girls and I flew out to Colorado when we moved last summer, so we’ve never made the drive before.

10. All that time in a small area with my family + no chores to do or things to distract us = a great bonding time!

The other day, Naomi, who is 7, and I were discussing “Tangled.” We were discussing the character of Mother Gothel and why she never let Rapunzel leave her tower. I think that Mother Gothel is a very complex character. She is sometimes kind to Rapunzel, and sometimes not. Rapunzel, likewise, has complicated feelings toward Mother Gothel.  Adults can easily see how Mother Gothel is only kind to Rapunzel because Rapunzel gives her what she wants–eternal youth. But to children, Mother Gothel is not the usual Disney villain that you can pick out at a distance.

I told  Naomi that Mother Gothel never let Rapunzel leave the tower because if anyone saw her, they would bring her back to the castle where she belongs. I said that Mother Gothel only wanted Rapunzel because her magic hair made her young, and that Mother Gothel had kidnapped Rapunzel from her real parents.

Naomi then said, “That doesn’t happen in real life, though.”

How I wished that I could tell her that no, of course kidnapping doesn’t happen in real life. I have always struggled with how much I should tell my children about the dangers of our world. I would love for them to live in a world where no one is hurt or hungry or sick, and since that is not the case, I would prefer to protect them by not letting them even be aware that these bad things do happen. I wish that the worst thing that they could even conceive of would be not getting to the go to playground because the baby is sick, for example.

We sponsor a few children through World Vision and Compassion International, and a couple of years ago I began to get Naomi involved in the letter-writing process. I had her draw a picture to send to one girl we sponsor who is Naomi’s age, and whenever we get letters from this precious girl, I show them to Naomi. I explained to her at the time that this little girl and her family don’t have all the things we have–like food–and so we help them so they will have what they need. That is very true, but I didn’t also add that there are many, many kids who aren’t so fortunate to have sponsors or other help, and who really do not have enough.

When Naomi asked about kidnapping, I decided that I couldn’t lie to her even though my mother’s heart was screaming at me to do so. So I told her, “Well, it doesn’t happen very much, but there are some very bad people out there. That’s why it’s important that you follow our rules, and when you play outside, you stay in the areas we told you were OK. That way you will be safe.” I don’t know if that was too much information, or not enough, but she seemed OK with that, and she didn’t ask any more questions. Ever since then, though, the conversation has been on my mind.

These are the kind of things no one teaches you in childbirth prep classes!

Today was a great day, even though it started a little too early for me. Sarah woke me up at 6:22 so I gave her my cell phone to entertain her while I dozed off again. (If anyone ever gets an early morning call from Sarah, I apologize.) After breakfast Naomi worked on a story she has written about “Princess Naomi.” I found some preK and K workbooks on clearance the other day, and Rachel wanted to start working on those. By 9 a.m. I was feeling pretty proud of myself because the kids had already done such wonderful productive activities 🙂

I do have to confess that during Sarah’s morning nap the girls did watch “Tangled.”

I also set up the kids’ sand & water table for the first time this year in the backyard. However, we didn’t have any sand, so I just filled it with water. It’s better that way, because last year the sand & water table was really a mud table. During Sarah’s afternoon nap, they played outside and had a blast. Of course they got soaked. Rachel came inside saying that Naomi poured water on her “and that was not fun.” But she quickly added that she then poured water on her sister. Ha!

We walked down to the post office where we had a super exciting bank statement in our mailbox. Then we came home and Naomi got to play on the computer a little and we also read books. We have started the Summer Reading Program at the local library and it’s a little different than the ones I’ve done in the past. Instead of getting a reading log where the kids are supposed to write down the titles of the books they read, each girl has a sheet of paper and they put stickers on it every time they complete 15 minutes of reading. They are supposed to earn 10 stickers per week, so I have to make sure they get some reading time in the morning and again later in the day so they don’t get too far behind. So far today they have only read one time. I think when we leave for our road trip to Alabama, they will be getting a lot more reading done in the car!

Sarah keeps chewing on Naomi’s flip-flops, which I hate. She also chewed on some grass today while I was setting up the water table. She either has a rug burn or a sunburn on her knees, the fronts of her lower legs, and the tops of her feet. Since she hasn’t really been in the sun, I would say it’s rug rash from crawling, but it looks just like a sunburn! I feel so bad for the poor baby but she doesn’t seem to notice it.

Finally, tonight, Tim called while I was giving the kids a bath, and against my better judgment I handed the phone to Naomi so she could talk to him.  Sure enough, my phone dropped into the tub. Now I’m ready for bedtime and “mommy time.”