mathmom's blog

Luke was having his diaper changed this morning, and he was having a rough time. He wanted to take his arms out of his jammie sleeper, but since he was lying on top of it, he was getting frustrated. As he was pulling on his sleeve, he glanced at it and saw something interesting: it looked like a giraffe puppet we play with. He flopped his sleeve around, tried to make it talk, and started having a good time playing with his "puppet". He doesn't say many words, but the way he was playing with his sleeve is the way he plays with the puppet, so I am guessing about what he was doing. I asked, "Where's your hand?" He lifted up his sleeve to his eyes and peered in, then triumphantly said something like "Here it is!" as he pushed the hand out of the sleeve. Great laughs (babies are not shy about laughing at their own jokes). He did that a few more times, until I was finished with the diaper change. What a difference a change of perspective (from ...

I asked Amanda if she was getting sick. "Nope! 4 year olds don't get sick!" When I told her that Eleanor, Mama and Daddy had all gotten sick when they were 4, she seemed taken back, but still sure she wasn't sick. We went to the pool for swimming lessons. Eleanor has hers first. We usually watch Eleanor for a while, and then Amanda changes into her suit in the changing room. This time I wanted to leave our big bag by the side of the pool (it was heavy!) so I told Amanda, "Now it's time to change into your swimming suit. Let me find it in the bag..." In the time it took to find the suit, Amanda had taken off her dress and was working on her underwear. A friend nearby held up a towel so we were able to complete the process in relative privacy. Modesty is definitely something that is taught, not something innate. A few days ago I told Eleanor the famous duck food joke . I first heard this joke on the Prairie Home Companion joke show, told by Roy B...

It is always a temptation to an armed and agile nation To call upon a neighbour and to say: -- "We invaded you last night--we are quite prepared to fight, Unless you pay us cash to go away. Luke loves candy. The other day he pushed the chair up to the counter, climbed up on the counter and opened the cabinet where the Halloween candy is kept. I don't give him as much as his sisters get, but his desire is clearly larger than his sisters', since it is unmitigated by any sort of internal restraint. He quite unabashedly begs for candy from his sisters. I tell them to take the candy and eat it in their bedrooms, away from Luke, but they feel sorry for him and don't like to see him cry (perhaps they sympathize, having to deal with the same cruel mother). They will give him a square from their candy bar, or a skittle, or some other small token to help him feel better. And that is called asking for Dane-geld, And the people who ask it explain That you've only to pay ...

Everyone (except Michael) has been very whiny and grumpy today. I know why: there is a cold going around which makes noses and ears stuffy and throats sore. But it just doesn't make it any easier, especially when I am afflicted with the same cold. When Luke whines about something not going his way (my not giving him his sister's juice, or not letting him play in the cold garage in his jammies ) or Amanda stands next to me holding her shoes saying " uhh ! uhh ! uhh !" it makes me want to whine. That is certainly not the motherly response, but it is a human response. I can't make these kids feel better, I can't let them do whatever they want, what can I do? I suppose what is called for is a little understanding, some hugs, and a bit more patience than usual, as this is the exception, not the rule. And perhaps I will go into the bathroom and whine at myself in the mirror.

Luke today watched one of his sisters spin around and around. He likes to do whatever his sisters do, so he very seriously started spinning. He stopped, and started smiling a little. He repeated, spinning for a longer and longer time each time, and smiling more and more as he got dizzier. Finally he stopped and wobbled back to the dinner table, definitely having had a good time. It was a gift to see something that I am very familiar with from the viewpoint of a child, experimenting with it for the first time.

Today as we were driving to Eleanor's teacher conference, it started snowing. In November. In North Carolina. Of course, this is the day that the kids get to wait 1.5 hours outside while a friend and I have conferences... The reaction in the car was immediate. Eleanor started making plans to wake up early the next morning and make snowmen and build a fort. Amanda said, "And we can have snowball fights!" Amanda actually remembers the last big snowfall we had, when Daddy built a sled out of scrap lumber, cardboard and a humongous plastic bag. Clearly, most of their knowledge of snow comes from books (Eleanor is reading "The Long Winter" by Laura Ingalls Wilder) and from a visit to Colorado to go skiing. The reality of snow in North Carolina is not that exciting. The girls both started chanting, "Snow! Snow! Snow!" Luke joined in: "No! No! No!" He doesn't have to understand to enjoy what his sisters are doing. They had a great tim...

We finally got rid of our jack-o-lanterns today. I like making jack- o-lanterns mostly for the pumpkin seeds, which are worth their weight in gold based on the amount of trouble they are to make. Eleanor designed her own face this year, although the carving was done by Michael. Amanda provided direction on how to make her face, and Michael took off the top layer of pumpkin skin while leaving the rest of the rind. This made the face glow faintly when you lit the candle inside, which was a nice effect. Unfortunately this design made it difficult to get enough air into the pumpkin to keep the candle lit. Over the past few days, the pumpkins have been sitting in our entryway getting greener and hairier. We finally took them out to our "vegetable garden" (where we kill vegetable plants, as opposed to our flower garden where we kill flowers) for compost. Amanda had a good time helping me push the wheelbarrow ("I have very strong bones") and watching as I tried to s...

Amanda wanted a "superhero party" for her birthday. I was willing, especially since having my children plan the parties really takes the stress off of me (I hate planning parties). Since I won the actual party at the jumping place, I decided to make nice capes (from Puking Pastilles ) as party favors (also much better than more candy or cheap toys). I made 14 capes. I still can't believe it, but I started early and worked steadily, and finished a few days ago. One superhero birthday party, coming up. (Please note: nothing else about the party has a theme: not the cake, not the napkins, nothing else.) I loved Amanda pretending to be a superhero. She would run and jump in front of me, saying " SuperAmanda , to the rescue! How can I help?" She did seem to think that wearing her cape made her less likely to be hurt, and better able to jump and run and everything. I could tell that thinking of herself as a superhero made her feel powerful. Today, I noticed t...