The Weekly Review: Week Nine

Well, I completely forgot to post my weekly review yesterday, so here it is one day late.

Blog Post I Thoroughly Enjoyed:

Linda at All & Sundry shared a quote by an author that I am completely unfamiliar with from a book that I've never heard of. Nevertheless I thought the quote was a very accurate description of early motherhood. Check it out here.

Sibling Moment of the Week:

I loved watching Ava sit on the sidelines cheering Michael on as he went down the makeshift water slide we created using the hose and the slide on our playset. Even though she didn't want to slide herself, she loved watching Michael go down and clapped and cheered every time he hit bottom.

Quote of the Week from Michael:

Michael says to me "I love you the mostest of everyone."

Ava's Quote of the Week:

"More on back Dada!" when asking her Daddy for yet another piggyback ride.

Incomplete Project of the Week:

Remember when I shared my idea for an alphabet border with you about six weeks ago? At the time I had finished A, B, and C. Well, so far I have only completed two additional letters: D and F. Yes, I have only done two more in six weeks. And even then I skipped E because I haven't figured out how to make an eagle yet. But my D and F are beautiful and I will eventually finish the project. Really!

Disassembly

You might remember my post about Michael's redecoration of his room and my regret at overreacting to what was actually a pretty creative effort on his part. Well, I did slightly better this time when I discovered his efforts at disassembly.

I walked into the basement playroom and was astounded to discover our beautiful wooden dollhouse in pieces. I couldn't even figure out what I was looking at at first. The garage had been completely taken apart. The roof had been removed and disassembled. The screws holding the floors in place had been removed on one side so that they had fallen making it look like the dollhouse had been the victim of an earthquake.

The words that escaped my mouth in a tone of shocked horror were, "Who did that to our dollhouse?!?" Michael's instant response was, "I don't know!" At this point I was saved from another overreaction by the fact that I was still trying to figure out what on earth had happened exactly. I thought perhaps someone had fallen into the dollhouse and broken it? I was silent for several moments while I just tried to mentally process the scene.

Michael apparently interpreted my silence as evidence that I wasn't too upset about it and volunteered something to the effect of, "I used Daddy's screwdriver." At that point my brain went, "Ohhh....I get it now." (Inside my head a voice was still babbling, "Oh no, look. Look! Look what he did to the dollhouse. When? When did this happen? Wow!")

I took a deep breath and said, "First of all, wow Michael. That was a lot of really impressive screwdriver work. You have to be really, really good with a screwdriver to take all of that apart. But.... Well, some toys are take-apart toys. Toys like your crane truck, or your airplane, or your toolbench - those are take-apart toys. And some toys are stay-together toys. Some toys mommy and daddy work really hard to assemble and they are supposed to stay together and not ever be taken apart. Our dollhouse is a stay-together toy. From now on, we should only use screwdrivers to work on take-apart toys. You and Daddy are going to need to make a special project of reassembling this dollhouse later."

I felt pretty good about how I handled the situation. Michael is obviously really good with a screwdriver. I wonder if you can buy some sort of woodworking sets that involve assembling things (a simple dollhouse or birdhouse or car....) with wood and screws that we could get him that it would be all right for him to assemble and disassemble himself. I should look into it.

The True Problem with being Sick

It is true, I suppose, that you can adjust to just about anything. I've been sick so often this winter that I've adjusted to the actual symptoms of being sick. They just don't bother me as much as they did at first. So I go another few days with sinus congestion or a cough or a sore throat. Post nasal drip, body aches, runny nose, and sneezing all get to be old hat. I'm certainly not saying I enjoy it. I'd much rather be healthy. I'm just saying that it's hard to get all worked up and self-pitying about it after the 15th time.

The thing that bothers me about being sick it the effect it has on my parenting. My children are actually at a pretty great age these days. When I am healthy, I sleep well and wake up energized. I look forward to spending the day with my children. The time flies by and we do all of our regular activities and some bonus ones too just because we are all enjoying our time together. There's a positive feedback loop. The kids are in a good mood because I'm in a good mood and I am in a good mood because they are in a good mood. When small conflicts crop up, they stay small because no one (mama) over-reacts and blows things out of proportion.

All of that seems to disappear when I'm sick. I am tired and cranky. Waking up and facing the day with the children seems more like a chore than a pleasure and privilege. The hours creep by. I pass the time by letting them watch television more than I'd like. They are cranky because I am cranky. I get even more cranky because they are cranky. We do hardly any fun activities and just get through the day as best as we can. That's what I regret most about all the time I've spent sick this winter. I feel like the illnesses are stealing some of my quality time with my children. That is the true problem with being sick.

Here's hoping for a healthy spring and summer.