Sunday, January 30, 2011

Counting Backwards

I was too busy living, and loving, and squeezing every last squeezable moment from last week to sit down and type about them.  I will forgive myself tomorrow but today? Today, I will count backwards.

7.  Ruth just ate ice cream and microwave sausages for breakfast because she doesn't mind at all if the ice cream is covered in ice crystals - ice crystals give it "flavor."  She also had sweet tea... sweet tea that she drank from a glitter lamb glass through her self assembled (two foot long) crazy straw.

6.  Bells rode in her stroller for the first time without her car seat on Saturday.  Of course, she really had no other choice - we traded the infant seat in for two big kid car seats.  I will do anything for a discount...

5.  Ruth brought home another straight A report card.  Typing it makes me ask myself two things:

  • Do I under-celebrate her achievement?  I treat each progress report and report card the same way my family treated mine.  I take them out of her backpack, I look them over, I high-five her for continuing to work hard and talk to her briefly about focus, blah, blah, blah.  Then I ask her if there's anything she wants to talk about before I sign it and put it back in her folder.  There's no parade, no party, no pulling out my wallet or trip to the toy store.  I basically just expect her to do what she's capable of and...well...that's all there is to it I guess.
  • What on Earth am I going to do the first time she brings home a grade less than 100?  I fear I may have ruined her in kindergarten when I would tell her 80s are not "almost" A's - they are B's and C's are, in fact, not almost like B's they are C's and they're actually more like F's than A's and (while we were talking about it...) she was capable of making A's so I expected her to make them.  I may or may not have also told her (sometime since then) that students who are capable of making one hundreds should strive for them...

4.  I told someone, "You're only going to experience today, TODAY.  Live it up!  Enjoy it!"  and as soon as I said it I smiled because I think I may have needed to hear those words myself.

3.  I went into Bells room to wake her up for school.  She rubbed her eyes, pulled her binky out of her mouth, and GIGGLED.  That is the best possible way to start the day - baby laughs.

2.  ...buttoning jeans without holding your breath or painfully sucking it in.  YES.

1.  I fell asleep on the couch with my husband every single night this week while something I know I wanted to watch whirred on DVR.

Oh, and right now?  Right now an adorable baby is taking a nap, Ruth is sprawled across her bedroom floor, playing with her new squinky addiction, and Ben is recovering from his eighth morning of waking up before dawn with the baby so I can sleep all of my hours consecutively.  I am on my third cup of coffee AND I am very, very lucky.

Love,
me

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Lucky Lucky you! I am the same with my children...I cherish the mornings I crawl into bed with my 17 year old daughter, amid her laughing protest, and we chat about life. Or when my son walks by grabs my hand and says,"Mommy, I love you!" He is 12! Lucky...nah..we are blessed!

My Menagerie said...

It sounds like it's been an extra-fabulous time in the Sides house. I hate to be missing so much.

I miss you guys.

(Kiss my baby and my best girl for me - and have your super sweet husband give you an extra special hug *from me*.)

(oh... and while you're at it, hug him back *from me*.)


[and p.s. - I think I'm going to have the entire week of Spring Break... OFF. Guess what that means?] ;)

Big Mama Cass said...

Do you ever not rock?!?

I think you handle her grades perfectly. You rock.

Ice cream for breakfast? Ruth Rocks.

Buttoning your jeans without sucking it in?!? You suck. HA!

I think I needed to hear that too. I am going to try to follow your advice and live it up!