Packin’ It In

March 17, 2012Leave a comment

We headed out of Cincy on Friday night with Cheez-Its, Diet Coke, and apples. We were set for our rush hour drive down I-71. Half-way through the trip, I found a kids size bag of M&M’s in my side pocket so all was good. The kids watched Tom & Jerry and Maria drew pictures as she glanced up at the tv. We burst into my mom’s house in record time; traffic was surprisingly light on the way down. After playing on the treadmill for a few minutes, and eating some Girl Scout cookies, we headed over to Julie’s to pick up Gracie for a park trip. Gracie is about the cutest little thing possible. I venture to say that she may even compare to my munchkins when they were her age. You must want to eat her up. She loves her “Aunt Mary” so I get big hugs and kisses when I come over.

Liz let Gracie come to the park with us while she picked up Laura and they got pizza for dinner. Liz warned me that Gracie would not want to ride int he stroller but I told Liz that Gracie had never seen the “Cadillac” of strollers before. Sure enough, when Gracie saw the BOB, she hopped right in it as comfortable as can be. Maria strolled Mario and Gracie nearly the entire way to the park (she loves playing mom). Maria took control of the climbing wall, as she always does. The girl may just be a professional climber one day. She has amazing upper body strength and she scales up the wall like she’s spidergirl. It is awesome to see. It’s funny how she likes these “untraditional” sports like rock climbing and frisbee while Mario enjoys the more “traditional” sports like baseball and basketball.

The kids tried to find frogs for me in the stream but had no luck. They did get plenty wet though. Maria likes to go off on her own and “think” as she puts it. I keep a distant eye on her but she does enjoy her space. Mario feels like he has to do the same so he announces that he is going off, too, but inevitably within two minutes he is calling for me to show me something. I like how they feel comfortable enough to go out on their own (just as long as they tell me first!).

After the park, Liz and Laura graced us with LaRosa’s pizza. The best pizza ever. We ate at Julie’s house, and Mario ate three pieces of pizza. I almost fainted. He has a little appetite lately. After dinner, the kids went downstairs (Julie’s basement is the play area for the kids and is heaven-sent). Liz and Laura and I got some alone time to talk, which was also heaven-sent. I love their love for family and their respect for who I am. The two of them are a lot more strict in the discipline area and tend to lean more conservative than me, but they have a respect for how I raise M&M, and we have a healthy dose of ribbing with one another on our parenting styles (Laura is like a second parent to my kids and Grace).

We all traveled over to my mom’s for a viewing of “Babies.” My girlfriend had recommended it to me and I was excited to think of watching a movie that wasn’t animated or geared towards four-year-old boys. The movie turned out to be a delight, especially with Liz and Laura’s quips here and there. It is about four babies growing up in different parts of the world – the San Fransisco, rural Mongolia, Tokyo, and Africa. It follows them pre-birth to age 1 or so. The movie does a great job showing the immense differences in the cultures. The only constant is the breast-feeding mother, and the cats. Each house had a cat that provided pleasure in one form or another to the babes. I found myself getting a tad annoyed at the San Fransisco mom. She did a lot of the activities that I did with M&M but putting her up against the other mothers made the things the SF mom did look ridiculous. In one scene, the SF mom was in a class with her baby where they were listening to African music and waving their hands back and forth overhead in a dance-like motion. The baby stands up and makes a bee-line for the door. “That’s right, get out little one,” quipped Laura, and we all laughed. After seeing the African women with their babies sitting in the dirt, with flies swarming around them, with smiles on their faces talking it up amongst each other, it was hard to take seriously the group of five white parents trying to sing African songs with their babies. However, I fully admit that it may be something that I would do with M&M to introduce them to other cultures’ songs. The kids were intrigued with the babies. They enjoyed certain scenes like the African baby eating mud and water from the ground, seeing the Mongolian baby taking a bath with a goat coming up from behind to drink his bath water, observing the Tokyo baby trying to put a toy together and getting upset each time she failed, and watching the American baby take a poop in her diaper (with all of those memorable “poop” faces). They also enjoyed Laura’s and Liz’s comments throughout the film. On the way home to Columbus, Maria and Mario made the same comments while watching the movie in the car. What influences those girls are!

After the movie, we hit the sack. The kids slept on the floor – Mario in a sleeping bag that he thought was awesomely cool and Maria in a regular blanket because she allows Mario to have what he wants. She was actually burning up for some reason so did not want to be stuffed into a sleeping bag. They slept until 7 am, which was a gift to me. By 7:45 am, we were in the stroller heading to Marx Bagels for our bagels and cream cheese. Heaven on earth. Pumpernickel combo toasted burnt with cream cheese. Maria has fallen for the strawberry bagel. Mario eats a small bite of the raisin bagel. After the bagel shop, we hit the pet store and found a floppy frisbee. I was charged after looking at three different places in Columbus. The kids have taken to frisbee but we lost our old floppy one and the plastic one I bought produces much pain when they fail to catch it and it strikes them. Mario wailed the last time we used the plastic one, and now he is gun-shy with the floppy one.

We headed to the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in downtown Cincinnati at 11 am. I had been looking forward to the parade for the last few days. In all my years growing up in Cincy, I never hit the parade even though I lived in Clifton and worked downtown for years. Also, the kids had never seen downtown since we always stop at the Blue Ash line. I had big plans to go to Bicentennial Commons and the Riverfront but those were squashed after the long parade.

We partied on Fountain Square for a half hour before the parade, and then found a good seat on Fifth Street (thanks to Laura pushing us along). The parade brought much excitement, especially when the participants threw candy at us. I scored a green cowboy hat, and Mario scored a fireman’s hat. Maria got mega compliments on her green hair. The kids loved the clown that was part of the parade. He walked out in the middle of the road and dropped his pants. They laughed so hard. We loved the Irish dancers and the bagpipes. But after an hour and half (and hardly any candy), the kids got restless and we took off. We were all exhausted. Laura had to do round two with her girlfriends, and I had to get us home to Columbus. So, it was definitely Energy Shot time and time to head home (only after we took a glance at our mom and mine’s old Clifton house and reminisced about our time living together).

When we got home, Laura surprised Maria with a rockin’ Big Time Rush home-made shirt. It is nothin’ but cool with BTR on the front and ruffles on the bottom. She looks too cute in it. She got it a little muddy later in the day and she freaked out crying that her shirt was dirty (she never does that with any other shirt)! Laura is a sewing machine and has started a blog, Finding Red Fern detailing her escapades. Laura also has stored an inordinate amount of facts in her brain. She has answers to anything – I mean anything. It always amazed me when I was with her the things that she would know. Maria has since picked up on this fact as Laura blurted out random facts during the Babies movie and then gave descriptions of things at the parade that only Laura would know. When we were driving home, Maria questioned me from the back seat: “Why does Laura know so much and my mom doesn’t?” Lovely.

We played frisbee outside of my mom’s condo in the parking lot. Then we played jump rope. My mom bought a jump rope for her exercise kick and the kids became interested. We twirled the rope as they tried to jump. Again, Maria did surprisingly well. Again,it is those random, non-traditional sports that she enjoys. Mario did alright, too, but again, he is much more proficient at picking up a ball and bat. We had to take the dogs for a walk before we left so we dropped by Julie’s to pick them up. Maria always takes Butters because he is heavier and pulls harder. Mario takes Willie because he is a piece of cake to walk and he allows Mario to do anything he wants. M&M love dogs, that is for sure. They are very gentle with them and always patient.

We finished up the day with a bath (and the duckies that the kids remember from times past) so they smelled fresh for the ride home (I almost passed out on the ride down to Cincy because Maria took off her shoes and her feet reeked!). We arrived home to beautiful skies (it had called for rain). We played outside the rest of the night. Maria and Mario built a rock wall for me in the front yard and brought blankets and pillows out in order to be able to lay down. I love that they engage in these activities. Anything outdoors makes me giddy. When it got dark, I laid with them on the blankets and we found stars in the dark blue sky. Not an easy task with the immense amount of clouds. It was idyllic for about 5 seconds and then Mario shot up and jumped on me and acted like a monkey. He could not sit still. We lasted another 10 minutes before we packed it up and moved it inside for nighties and a book.

As I unpacked our clothes (I pack as if I will be gone for a week for an overnight stay), I grinned. Then I smiled, Then I smiled wide. What a jam-packed St. Patrick’s Day full of new adventures and old ones. The kids built a rock garden. We ate bagels and cream cheese. Gracie warmed us up. We saw clowns and bagpipers. Butters and Willie let us walk them. We learned to jump rope. What a wondeful life we have.

Let the Bikes Roll Out

March 13, 2012Leave a comment

Let the bikes roll out.

Let the shorts be worn.

Let the convertibles lose their tops.

It hit 70 degrees today, and life is good.

I could not wait to get off of work and pick up the kids. I retrieved Mario first since he begged me to do so this morning and he is on the way to Maria’s school. He has been discussing Superheros all week, and when I picked him up he had a red cardboard cylinder around his bicep. I asked him what he was wearing.

“It is my superhero power shield. We all got to pick a superhero name and I picked GoldStar. I have lightning that shoots out of my mouth and lasers that shoot out of my eyes.”

Awesome, dude. He says goodbye to his friends and we head to the car. On the way to Maria’s school, we talk about superheros. He loves to talk about Wonder Woman since I loved her so much as a kid. When we get to Maria’s school, he leads me to her classroom. The room is quiet with kids studying until Mario barges in and yells “Ria, mom picked me up first!” He always has to get one up on her and I am surprised she doesn’t just belt him some days. This morning she wanted me to take her to school so badly but Jon had to take her to get to work on time. She cried for me (she was having a “I need mommy” morning) as she walked downstairs. Mario stood at the top of the stairs and yelled to Maria “Mom is taking me to school – not you, Ria.” If she would have thrown her shoe at him, I could not have said much to her. He is a complete stinker.

We left Maria’s school with Maria on my iPad and Mario on my iPhone. We got home and I let them sit on the front steps playing with the electronics while I put things away. It is so refreshing to open the windows and feel the breeze run through the rooms. Fresh air, finally! We got the bikes out to time Mario’s dash up the street and back and to try to help Maria learn how to mount her bike without falling. We cooked sausages. Jon came home and Mario darted down the sidewalk to greet him.

We stood outside and watched the kids play. We admired our work from Sunday – the garden looks half way ready to go and the windows look good with their screens. Walking in the house and smelling the fresh outdoor air is a godsend. And hearing the kids playing outside on the back deck brings gratitude for the upcoming Spring.

Character in my Characters

March 10, 2012Leave a comment

“Mom, I am Catwoman and Mario is Batman and you are WOnder Woman. The Joker is following us and we need to escape.”

“Drive the jet faster, mom! We need to get away!”

And that’s how our morning started. I drove the Volvo jet down King Avenue in order to escape the Joker. Catwoman kept an eye out and fixed my lasso while Batman made all sorts of plans for our get-away. We didn’t watch any tv in the car. Beautiful. We arrived at the nursery having escaped all bad guys.

I promised the kids that they could each get a small plant to put in their rooms. I figured that such a gift was a lot healthier than a plastic toy. I had read numerous articles about the attributes of house plants recently and hoped that it would get Maria and Mario jump started on green thumbs (I need all the help I can get with my back yard). Mario spent the first fifteen minutes in the nursery frightening the fish in the pond by trying to reach in and grab their tails. I ignored him for a bit but when the nursery employee kept giving me the evil eye, I told him to stop. Maria played with the nursery kitty – a big ol’ plump tabby cat who let Maria carry her everywhere. I found some pots to re-plant my grandma’s flowers from her wake, and waited for Maria and Mario to pick out their plants. Mario chose a plain green one and Maria chose a green one with white polka dots. They got their pots (Maria, red and Mario, green) and we headed home. They took their plants out of the plastic container and re-planted them in their pots – so proud of doing it themselves. Maria built a little “home” for her plant with a balcony and a hot tub and a bed. Mario placed his on his chest. They do add some life to their rooms.

By the time we finished that adventure, it was starting to warm up outside. I enticed them to head to the woods with me by telling them we may find baby bunnies or eggs in a bird’s nest. Of course, we found no such things but by that time, they enjoyed just running through the woods and climbing rocks. I needed to be outdoors. I have felt stifled for the last week and a half with grandma’s sickness and eventual death. Even though I have gotten outdoors for runs with my sis or walks by myself, I have not been able to enjoy the sunshine and the songs of the birds. My brain constantly wafted into a separate world – blurry and lacking much emotion. I just got by for those days. To actually feel some emotion again and the warm sun on my face was refreshing. And Maria and Mario only added to the day by making me laugh again and again as we walked through the woods and played in the sand volleyball court and the swings.

After my grandma’s funeral earlier this week, a few people approached me to comment about what personality Maria and Mario exhibited. One commented at how they were both so spirited and happy; another commented on how outgoing and engaging they were; another at how confident they acted. It naturally made me proud as their mama but it also made me happy. And as we hiked up a hill full of sticks and mud, making jokes and laughing at one another, I remembered those comments, and felt such an intense moment of joy. These babes of ours are genuinely happy creatures, not scared to take risks and adventures, ready to question ideas they don’t understand, comfortable in their skin, able to laugh at themselves. They take our lives up a notch.

Jon met us at the park and we watched them brave a climb up a huge rock.

We didn’t say a peep. Just stood back and admired the view.

I love you like a Love Song Baby

March 9, 2012March 9, 2012Leave a comment

Watching Maria mouth the words of Katy Perry’s Teenage Dream takes me back to my pre-pubescent years listening to Phil Collins and Air Supply on my 45s. Or better yet, waiting to hear the love songs on Casey Kasem’s Top 40 so I could tape them onto a cassette to play over and over on the weekend.

It is only in the last month that Maria has shown more of an interest in music. First, Big Time Rush; then Justin Bieber; now Katy Perry and Selena Gomez. She struggles to understand the words and produce a dance move while she sings but she certainly tries. And it is doggone cute to observe her attempt it. She does what I used to do a lot; sing a word that is not the actual word of the song. She belts out “I love you like the Love Sun Baby.” Meanwhile, her little brother stands in the background pretending to strum a guitar and mouth the words to the song – perfectly content not to have a clue what he is singing. He just enjoys moving his body.

I caught Maria the other day on my mom’s treadmill jamming it out to Ms. Gomez. I had allowed her to start the treadmill and keep it at a low-level. She had grabbed my mom’s CD player and headphones and inserted her Teenage Bop CD in it. I saw the teenage Maria at that moment as she belted out a word here or there while walking on the treadmill and dreamily staring out the window in front of her. I wish I could get into that brain of hers in those moments to listen to what she is thinking in that dreamy world of hers. I am quite sure it is not how much she loves her mama….

My mother-in-law forwarded an announcement about Big Time Rush coming to Nationwide Arena in July. I can’t wait to take her to her first concert – I still remember heading to Prince with my mom in Cincinnati. What a concert in which to begin my concert experience! I think Big Time Rush will be a tad bit more subdued than Prince….

The Joys of Parenting A Daughter

February 20, 2012Leave a comment

I had not seen Maria since Friday morning when I dropped her off for school with the exception of a few minutes on Saturday afternoon between her return from a friend’s house and her departure to her cousin’s house. I pulled into the driveway at 5:30 pm and she ran down the driveway yelling “MOM!” What a marvelous feeling.

I loaded her and Mario in the car to head to Wendy’s Gymnastics. She asked me if she could run in the house and get a snack. I told her I would head in with her (knowing that her snack may be a four course meal). Indeed, she was ready to rip into another cereal bar (after eating one a half hour ago with the sitter). I told her that she could have an apple or grapes rather than the cereal bar since we would be eating dinner right after the gym. She looked at me in disgust and walked away. I asked her if she wanted fruit, and she shut the door behind her. Lovely. When I opened my car door, I got the following pleasantry thrown my way:

“I can’t wait until you are away in Cancun. You can’t leave soon enough.”

Even lovelier. I gave her a sad face that I know she saw through my rear view mirror but it stirred no response. When we got to Wendy’s, she opened her door, stepped out of the car, and marched into the gym alone. Mario looked at me as I picked her up out of his seat and observed “She seems mad at you.” He is a smart cookie. He gave me his sweet Mario hug to make up for Maria’s quick departure.

Once inside, she continued to ignore me. I had a pack of Tic Tacs and I offered her a few. She accepted and whispered “thanks, mommy.” I didn’t press the issue any more. I want her to feel that she can assert herself with me – without retribution or revenge on my part. I am not going to give her grief for saying she wanted me in another country – she needs to be able to get her feelings out (although there are times that it takes me biting my lip to near bruising to avoid saying something to her I will regret (and sometimes I say it anyway and slip up; I am human after all)). I will draw the line if she cusses me out or behaves like a crazy woman but other than that, I am going to let her process her feelings.

About a third of the way through gymnastics class, she waved me down and motioned for me to watch her jump off the balance beam. I did. And I gave her a thumbs up and a standing ovation. She smiled at me.

All is good.

Partyin’ til the Cows Come Home

February 18, 2012Leave a comment

Party Girl

Maria slept over at her friend’s house last night. Her friend turned seven and had Maria and two other girls over for a birthday party/sleepover. She wrapped her friend’s presents (two barbies) in Christmas paper (I never buy wrapping paper besides Christmas time); signed her card, and found a big party bag to place all of the goodies. These are the times that I think she could make it by herself in her own apartment better than most 20 year olds. When I told her she could call me or dad if she got scared, she looked at me with an exhausted look. “Mom, pleease!” And sure enough, Jon and I never heard a peep from her until we picked her up. She had gotten a manicure, perfume, and made up with her girlfriends.

Meanwhile, Jon and I had chilled with little Mario all night. He wanted to play on my iPhone or ipad all night long. He is completely and totally addicted to all things electronic. He could sit on the floor, legs crossed, head cocked downward to see the screen, and tap on the iPad all day long. He is mesmerized by whatever he is playing. You could call his name ten times and he still doesn’t hear you. Scary stuff. Was I like that when I played PacMan on Atari? He gets away with murder when Maria is gone because Jon and I let him stay up while we watch a show or read. He plays the iPad the entire time. I figure he is in school all week with no electronics so why not let him live it up on the weekends.

Mario and his iPad

In any case, after we make him turn off the electronics, I read to him for at least 20 minutes. He enjoys that time with me, which is good. At least he is not crying for more electronics or covering his ears yelling “I’m not listening!”, which is how he reacts anymore when he gets mad at you (learned behavior from his sister, I believe). And he understands the books we read – he can tell me the main idea of the story every time. So, his fixation with electronics doesn’t concern me… yet.

We picked up Maria from her friend’s house this afternoon and visited our old neighbors, Doris and Kim. We had not visited them since we moved in our new house (we are so bad that way). They always welcome us into their house, and the kids love them. They hung out with Kim outside while we talked to Doris. Kim does anything they want; today she let Maria act like she was driving her car and let Mario toss a ball to Gunther (their dachshund).

As soon as we left and walked in our door, Maria asked “when am I going to Alana’s house” My brother-in-law invited her to spend the night tonight through Monday since they are going to watch Maria on Monday while Jon and I work. Jon and I are chopped liver anymore. The girl likes to get her party on. We packed her up and Jon took her over. She’s gone until Monday.

Mario, meanwhile, loves having his sister gone for a day or two (any longer and he misses her like crazy). He gets Jon and me all to himself. I play baseball with him (he has got an arm on him and can hit pretty good, too). I take him for a bike ride and he is in the lead the entire time (when Maria goes with us, she always gets in the lead). We go to the library and he gets all my attention while he plays his computer games (usually I read to Maria while he plays). We play Wii table tennis and he kicks my butt! We play Hi Ho Cherry-O, and he refuses to stop playing until he wins a game. No, he’s not competitive at all….

Jon and Mario play hunting games on the iPad. Mario yells “Dad, I shot the bear right in the heart!” Jon gives him the rock and then takes a turn. Mario watches in awe. They are hilarious together. I think Mario will be supplying the meat for the family in no time. Meanwhile, Maria will be busy having sleepovers and partying it up til the cows come home.

The wink

February 17, 2012Leave a comment

Maria hates to have her hair brushed. She hates to brush it herself and she detests anyone else brushing it. She is not at all vain when it comes to her hair. I have tried to change her mind about brushing her hair by telling her that her hair is a tangled mess and everyone else comes to school with hair at least brushed, if not in a braid or head band or barrettes.

But nothing phases her – she could care less.

Little Maria toes getting painted

However, my girl loves pedicures. The lack of vanity in her hair translates down to her feet. Whenever she is line for a treat for doing something good, she always asks for a pedicure. And me giving her one does not cut it. She must go to the salon and be completely and utterly pampered. I think I forever damaged her when I took her to get one at age 4. We went with my mom and grandma in Cincinnati. After that experience, it was over for her. She was an addict. When we went for one this week, she finally experienced the pleasure of the leg massage. She’d always look at me like I was crazy when I sighed and moaned while getting the massage part of the pedicure but this time around, it was Maria doing the moaning. Her beautician had the touch and melted Maria with her touch. It was hilarious.

Maria seems to exhibit the dichotomy in caring less about her hair but obsessing about pedicures in other ares of her life, too. One minute, she can be the most exuberant, spirited, vivacious little girl running around the house in pure slapstick and the next minute she can be the most melancholy, introverted, reclusive soul. I do appreciate that quirky personality in her; I love how she puts her whole self in her emotions – whether happy or sad. A sign of living life to the fullest, I think.

Our exuberant Maria

The other day, we got in a fight because she “gave me lip” and then shoved me away when I tried to talk to her. I got angry and said some mean words, too. She bawled her eyes out. When I apologized for being mean, she cried even harder and professed her love for me. Later that day, I picked her up from school (still feeling guilty) and we were walking to the car. She had on her good shoes and she looked at me with a big smile and stated “I am going to walk in the mud, mom.” I told her she better not.

Without hesitation, she laughed and skipped along the edge of the sidewalk and mud and retorted “We don’t want another fight like this morning, do we, mom?!” while she winked her eye at me.

Mario Returns

February 15, 2012Leave a comment

Mario returned home from Grandma and Grandpa Ionno’s house this evening. He wasn’t in the door for ten minutes before he asked them to go back to their house. I have no doubt that he would be just fine visiting us every other weekend and living day in and day out with Patty and Joe.

He hid from me when I got home from work and only when I faked crying for two minutes did he come out from his hiding place and give me a big ol’ smooch and hug. His arms wrapped around me felt like a piece of heaven. Could I just bottle up that feeling and open it up on those days I feel like jumping out my window?!

But within 30 seconds of giving me a hug, he begged me to wrestle him. That is all he wants to do anymore. Wrestle or box. He could do it all day long. I can last about 15 minutes. Maria joined in after 15 minutes and within 5 minutes, Mario hit Maria in the mouth (truly an accident, I think) and she slapped him the face. The crying and screaming ensued. I wrapped up the WWF and moved us up to the bath where I hoped the warm bath water would calm them down. It did nothing but cause water to be splashed everywhere.

After our bath, we headed downstairs for the most random combination of dinner food possible. Pancakes, hash browns, hot dogs, hot pockets, cottage cheese and cheesy veggies. Just the sound of the combination makes me gag but it wasn’t bad while we were eating it. I grabbed two loads of laundry that needed folding and brought it into the family room to fold while we watched Blues Clues (haven’t watched that show in two years). I didn’t have to say a word to Mario and he dove right in to help me fold. Maria not so much. She draws the line at certain chores and laundry is one of them. She gets away with it for now but another few months and she is in for a rude awakening.

Mario is the most meticulous clothes folder I have met. Even a more amazing feat when you consider that he is four years old. He folds clothes over three or four times and makes sure that there are no edges sticking out before he hands them over to me to put in the pile. It is hilarious. He is going to be one of those people whose closets are in such complete and total order that you wonder how they function in the real world. Then again, I am probably completely off base because I see his closet and floor and they are both a disaster area full of unkept clothes and shoes.

After folding, we drew pictures. Maria drew me a picture of roses and I drew her a picture of a tree and birds and a swingset. I exhibit the poorest, saddest, drawing ever for a forty-year old. The drawing look identical to drawings I made at age 8. At least my writing is a tad better. Mario drew a picture of a sunflower for Grandma and Grandpa to thank them for having him over this week. It was precious. We missed the little bugger although it was nice for Jon and I to relax together from 9 pm onward. Maria always fell asleep at a normal hour. Here we are tonight as I write this with Mario dancing around the downstairs waving his arms and singing “I’m sexy and I know it!” It is 10:45 pm.

Happy Valentine’s Day Munchballs!

February 14, 2012Leave a comment

Happy Valentine’s Day To My Precious Babies…

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways….

1. I love the way that you stand at the side of my bed at 7 am waiting for me to open my eyes. I love how you wait only about three seconds before you rub your hand on the side of my face and whisper “Mom, can you come downstairs with us”

2. Mario, I love how excited you are when it is the weekend. I love how you ask the question “Is it a school day?” and when I answer “no”, you smile so wide and we can see joy bursting throughout your tiny body.

3. Maria, I love your empathy for people and things. When we watch a show on animal planet and a poor animal is killed, you feel a deep sense of sadness and ask questions about why the animal couldn’t fend for itself and why the predator had to eat the animal. When you see a person that looks like he is down and out, you want to help him. You ask if I have anything to help him. When I complain about the person in front of me at the grocery who is taking so long, you remind me that she could be having a bad day or have something wrong with her that doesn’t allow her to move as fast as me.

4. I love how you both care so deeply for each other even if you get into fights everyday. You never go to bed mad at each other. I love how you have to give hugs to one another every morning before you leave for school.

5. Maria, I love how you always call Mario your “little buddy.” Mario, I love how you call Maria “Ria.”

6. I love how you yell for dad when you get home from trips with me, and when you hear him, you run to him and give him big ol’ bear hugs.

7. Mario, I love how you have such a passion for hunting like your cousin, Mario and your dad. I love how you enjoy hunting shows, and have learned how to shoot so that you immediately kill your prey and they don’t suffer. I love how understand the circle of life at age 4!

8. Maria, I love how you are so animated and possess a wild, uninhibited spirit that allows you to be yourself no matter where you are and who you are around. I love your raucous laugh and big smile. I love your blue eyes.

9. I love how you both fall asleep in Maria’s bed like two angels in a Raphael painting. Maria’s golden hair swept to the side; Mario’s baby face and red cheeks lighting up the canvas.

10. I love how you appreciate family and enjoy your time with grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins. I love how you beg to hear stories about times when you were little – real stories about how you acted and your first words and what you liked to play with, and who you liked to hold you.

11. Mario, I love how, at age 4, you have mastered the Ipad and the Iphone. I love how you can download an app and within ten minutes, describe the entire premise behind the app to me (i.e., there are dragons and you have to fight off the main dragon because he leads the other dragons….).

12. Maria, I love how, at age 6, you have mastered more than games on the Ipad. I love how you use the video like an amateur cinematographer capturing some hilarious moments in our lives. You have an eye for the camera, my love, and I have a feeling we may be seeing your name on the big screen one day.

13. Mario, I love how you don’t give up, especially when it comes to sports. You will play a Wii game over and over until you have it down. You will swing a bat 100 times until you connect with the ball. You are a perfectionist in more ways than one (your clothes must still sit perfectly on your body before you will start your day), and I have a feeling we will see you on ESPN catching a line drive and making a double play.

14. I love how you take care of one another whether it be nursing the other when he or she gets hurt or it is agreeing to watch a show that one of you is not too fond of watching. I love how protective you are of one another. Maria, you will stand up to anyone that teases your little brother and Mario, you will confront anyone on behalf of your big sis.

15. I love how you sit so close to me when we read books at night. Mario, I love how you snuggle with me on my lap and make a million comments as we read the book. Maria, I love how you let him make those comments without one complaint.

16. I love how you both can throw a frisbee; I see ultimate frisbee in our future!

17. I love the smell of you whether you’ve just taken a bath or haven’t had one in two days.

18. I love how you always think you can wrestle dad and win.

19. I love how you always indulge me and let me take your picture.

20. I love how much joy and wonder you have brought to your dad and me. Our lives were full before we chose to have you but after you were born, our lives filled up in so many different ways that we would have never known of had we chosen not to become parents. You opened our eyes to new way of loving; would we have ever understood how a heart can encompass such a range of emotions for such a little creature? Ache so heavily for your well-being yet burst so happily at the sight of your tiny hands and feet? Watching you grow every single day is a gift; seeing the world from your eyes is a treasure; hearing you express yourselves is fascinating. We believe in you, Maria and Mario, and we love you to the moon and stars and sun and back.

Happy Valentine’s Day 2012!

Making our way

February 13, 2012Leave a comment

The kids woke up at the break of dawn again Sunday morning. Jon and I heard them in Maria’s room talking quietly, probably about superheros or barbies. Jon got out of bed first and shut the door behind him to allow me to continue dozing. That is true love.

When I finally dragged my tired butt out of bed 20 minutes later, I found Maria on my Ipad playing Pet Shop (her favorite game now) and Alana and Mario fighting it out on Wii Table Tennis. They would take turns rubbing a win in the other’s face and then when the other rubbed it in his or her face, they would cry about it. They are competitive as heck together – something Maria is not. Maria wants everyone to win and every time she starts a game, she prefaces it by saying “Let’s just play for fun.” To the contrary, Mario prefaces it with “I am gonna whoop you up!” However, he wants a fair fight – he doesn’t just want to whoop you up without a good fight. So, when I could not figure out how to shoot in basketball Wii, he stopped the game to tutor me so that I could give him a run for his money. He continued to whoop on me a bit but then I stole the ball from him. He gave me a look of amazement. He wanted to congratulate me but he also wanted to win. So he just shook his head and kept playing.

Meanwhile, Maria just kept playing Pet Shop. She bought two new kittens and some pups and a fish. She arranged them all and proudly showed them off to us. Then, when she decided to play Wii, and lost badly to Mario, she got angry. “I hate these games!” Mario looked at her kindly and explained “Maria, you have to practice a lot to get good. I practice a lot.” She shook her head at him in disgust.

The girls and I headed to Washington Courthouse to meet up with my Cincy girls for brunch. We ate at Bob Evans – my new favorite restaurant because of their breakfast food. I could eat their eggs and hash browns with onions and bacon and multi-grain pancakes everyday. I choose the multi-grain pancakes because it makes me feel like I am being healthy but after I eat three of them with syrup, I don’t feel too healthy. In fact, I have learned to make sure to wear sweats when I head to Bob Evans so that I am not uncomfortable after my meal. Maria takes after her mom – she got chocolate chip pancakes and bacon. Alana did, too, but only ate half of her food. Maria and I swooped in like vultures and finished it off. Maria hugged on Grace through the meal. Kathy is so good about letting Maria hold her and walk her. Maria loves it. She has got the babysitter gene in her body – something I never had. My girlfriends and I talked for a bit over breakfast but between Gracie grabbing our attention and the quick service, I felt like we didn’t get to talk for too long. I must still be spoiled from Italy.

The girls and I headed to the outlet mall after our meal and tried to find clothes for my Cancun trip with Jon next week. Just shoot me. Is there any store in that outlet mall that has a mirror that flatters? Maria and Alana just kept saying “You are having a baby!” Nothing like that comment to stroke your ego. I was ready to buy a mumu and call it a day. I did score some pretty jewelry but no hot dresses. I should just stick with Target.

Mom and Mario

When Maria and I got home, we found out Mario was spending the night with Jon’s mom and dad. He loves spending the night with them because he is spoiled like crazy and he gets out of school. He cracks them up as much as he cracks us up, too. Patty took him to the store and they looked through the toy aisle. He wanted a toy and Patty told him it was too much money. His response: “Grandma, you need to get a job and earn some money!” Patty bought him some boots, and he is charged because he can “track animals” now. I miss my boy like a mad woman. It is nice to have him visit Patty and Joe – the break with just Maria means a lot to her and us – but after a day or two, I miss his contagious smile and his wild antics and his bear hugs. I let Maria sleep on the couch while i watched the rest of the movie “The Way” starring Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez (my old 80’s crush) as father and son (just like real life). It is a tender film about a father who loses his son while the son is on a pilgrimage to El Camino de Santiago. The father decides to take the pilgrimage on his behalf and meets up with a few quirky pilgrims who he befriends by the end. It is a wonderful tale of understanding and opening up and taking a leap. And it put Maria to sleep in ten minutes.

Sick girl calling her grandma

Maria was sick today. She woke not feeling right but we forced her off to school, if only because we had to work, but got the call at 10 am that she was not doing well at school. I picked her up and brought her home. I rubbed her back while she watched Toy Story 3. I made her soup. I laid with her. When she got a second wind, I tickled her and laughed with her. We made “nests” out of the covers on our bed and slept in them. We stared out the window at the tree cutters. We cuddled. Not a bad day at all. Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day and she is trying with all of her might to get better so she can hit her class party. Mario could care less. He begged to stay with Patty and Joe. Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

"MOM!"

Adventures in the Life of a Working Mama

Category: Parenting