The Professor's Breakfast

I made scrambled eggs and toast for my kids this morning. Kee said, "Mom, these eggs smell sulfuric..."

I guess the eggs had gone bad, but it made me pause for a minute and wonder why he didn't say, "Mom, these eggs are bad." Ha.

S-u-weet!

Eee, Vee, and Kee flew in late last night (Sun night) and I debated over whether or not to hire a babysitter for the little ones or just take them with me and consider it a big adventure. I opted for the chance for Jee and Aee to see what it's like to stay up late.

It was such a blast! We hung around at The Tech until it closed, went out to dinner, and explored the parts of the city that were being lit up by new Christmas lights.

Both Aee and Jee fell asleep in the car on the way home, but were able to walk inside and climb into their beds and zzz.

This morning, I was *sure* that they would be late for school and I figured I would let them sleep until they woke up naturally.

Sure enough, 5 minutes before school, Aee and Jee both woke up, stumbled out to the kitchen and asked for breakfast. They snarfed down a little breakfast, grabbed their lunches, homework and backpacks and waited at the door for me.

They literally rolled out of bed ready to go. They looked pretty good too. (They had changed their clothes right before going to the airport! Their outfits hadn't been worn for a "full day" yet!)

As we walked to school this morning, I was -->beaming<-- with pride. My little well-traveled, rugged road warrior children flopsing their way to school. (It's not really walking, not really wandering, but more of a explore-the-world-as-you-walk type of walk.) I love it. I love it all.

It reminded me of an essay I love: Little Nomad by Naomi Shihab in an anthology titled "Between Mothers and Sons"

Unredo

I love language. My kids love playing with words.

Yesterday we were strolling to school lazily under the orange leafy trees. We happened to get ready for school on time and had the luxury of "taking it slow". We were talking about how people make mistakes & how we learn from mistakes:

Jee: "Mom, just un-re-do it!"

"Wha?"

Jee: "You know, it's that phrase 'just do it' but better."

"Tell me more."

Jee: "Well, with 'just do it' they are forgetting that people make mistakes. Some people 'just do it' then redo it and redo it and redo it (said too many times to repeat) ...until they get it right."

"Yeah..."

Jee: "What if you took your time, thought really hard, and did it right the first time? Then it would be 'just un-re-do it!' That means, don't redo it, just do it right the first time. Hahahaha."

We spent the rest of the walk with Jee & Aee playing with prefixes and suffixes, the current love of both their lives.

Today I am trying to un-re-do it, trying to get it right from the start. Wish me luck.

Party fail.

This post will make the most sense if you are familiar with the Fail Blog. This blog generated all sorts of funnies in our family. For example, last Sunday Eee make fried rice that looked more like muddy farm "sludge". It was a "dinner fail".

Well, we had another birthday party fail today. The last one was Jee resisting going to a friend's party because, "I want to stay home and program! I want to program! No, don't make me go!"

Today was similar, but Jee is apparently becoming a more sophisticated negotiator. This time it was:

* "But mom, if I stay home, I can fix your laptop." (He can.)

* "Mom, they'll have cupcakes or cake or other sweets at the party and those are bad for me. Wouldn't you rather I stay home and not eat sugar?"

* "Wouldn't my time be better spent at my desk, learning something new?" (Yes, he actually talks like this. Sometimes.)

4 knuckles and 2 toes

Why do I love the YMCA?

O, let me count the ways...

One of my favorite parts about working out at the Y is when I see the teacher do a pilates / yoga move and I think, "Pffft, yeah, right! I'm never going to get into *that* position."

Then slowly, bit by bit, aligning knees, ankles, hip bones, moving up the spine like stacking Legos, straightening arms, flexing feet, adjusting shoulders... and before I know it, I am balancing the entire whole of myself on my two big toes and only four knuckles total.

If I could fly like a bird, a passive aggressive bird, it would probably feel a lot like this.

Best Edge #3

I think there might be Five Edges in here somewhere, but this is the one that jumped out at me today. Note that I do not actually follow any of these Best Edges consistently. I just do my best to remember them and implement them when I can.

Best Edge #3: Fiercesome Focus

Apparently, a person can get a lot more done when they focus fiercely on one thing at a time.

Like right now, Vee & Kee are at a friend's birthday party. Eee, Jee & Aee are playing piano at a community center building. I am home doing... I forgot what I was doing actually. So, I am going to try this fiercesome focus thing on... Hum. On... downsizing our house by five more boxes. Ready, set, go!

1,

2,

3,

4,

5.

Done!

Try it. It is fun.

What happens when you don't plan

The kids and I have been planning out their extracurricular activities for the 08-09 school year. Aee wrote each activity on a card along with the date and time of the activity.

As I laid out their chosen activities, I realized that Jee's Mondays would look like this:

5:45 Up with brothers (since they always wake him up "by mistake")
7-8 Skateboarding with Dad
8-2:30 School
2:30-3:45 Basketball
4-5 Fencing
5-7 Home, dinner, homework
7-8 Cub Scout meeting with Dad
8:30 Late bedtime

Hum, that's --way-- too much for a 7 yo.

And you know what would have happened if we hadn't written out the schedule?

1. Sign up for classes since they all look fun.
2. First Monday of class, so much of a whirlwind (getting other kids to & from theirs also) that we don't notice what's happening, only that "we're busy".
3. After the first month, burn-out happens. He's tired by late afternoon and we look into dropping a few extras...

There is absolutely no purpose behind the crash and burn approach, although I know that's how a lot of people live.

Planning WORKS.