TGIF

May 11, 2012May 11, 2012Leave a comment

Ten Reasons to be Grateful For Today…

1. Gorgeous powder blue sky with cotton ball clouds and 70 degree temperature = perfect biking to work weather.

2. Lunch with Mom at Mario’s school – free Panera with a big chocolate chip cookie! Running around the playground with Mario, spinning in plastic seats and playing tag in the muscle room. Mario made me a gorgeous beaded necklace so “I can remember him every time I wear it.”

3. Playing soccer with Maggie and Mario in the back yard (except when Maggie stole the ball from me and scored)!

4. Figuring out which drapes to get for the living room window and hall window. So exciting to branch out and take a walk on the wild side! I am not matching the color of the drapes with the furniture – crazy!

5. Seeing Jon on a scooter that his friend wants him to buy. He looked like a ten-year old who just got the present he begged his parents for all year.

6. Taking Maria to school and listening to Jack’s CD in the car. Maria asked if Jack wrote one of the songs after he broke up with Chelsea. I told her I was not sure and that we should ask him since we have the good fortune of being related to the singer of the band! She stopped me in my tracks and told me that we should not ask Jack such a question because it may make him sad and she doesn’t want to see her uncle sad. Also, loved seeing her in the cowboy boots that Grandma Meg got her for her b-day!

7. Going for a bike ride with Mario; he still fits in the baby seat on my bike! We biked all over Grandview; hit the park for some slide tag and Giant Eagle for a flower to plant outside.

8. Watching a yellow finch land on the branch of a japanese maple tree.

9. Talking to my mom about her new pup, Lou, and how everyone at the doggie day care thinks he is the best dog ever (so funny to see her as such a proud doggy mama!).

10. Eating Orange Leaf’s brownie batter and birthday cake yogurt with oreo and graham cracker topping. Mario got his pineapple, as always. And sitting outside together talking about desert animals.

Conquering the bike

April 30, 2012April 30, 2012Leave a comment

Maria has conquered the art of biking!

She is now able to mount the bike by herself and get off the bike by herself. She must have grown a half-inch over the last two months because that was the crux of the problem earlier. She couldn’t quite get her foot down to the ground when she stopped the bike without falling over in a heap. But now when she stops, she is able to get the very top of her foot onto the ground like a ballet dancer’s en pointe and that little move stops her from falling to one side. And she has mastered the balance of putting one foot on a pedal while jumping on her seat and getting the other foot on the other pedal. It is the coolest sight ever!

The babes riding away!

I am so proud of that girl. And she loves to bike up the street alone with me far behind her. She does a great job looking down both sides of the street when she crosses at intersections and she doesn’t have to deal with any crosswalks with lights for a mile (and by that time I have caught up with her – albeit gasping for air).

Mario wants so badly to catch up with her. We took his training wheels off yesterday with the hopes that he would just pick up the art of two-wheeled biking. Wishful thinking. It is so funny how siblings have incredibly different strengths and weaknesses. Maria is so good at biking and rock climbing. Mario, not so much. Mario is so good at baseball and basketball. Maria, not so much. He fretted the entire time we rode and made me bend down to hold the front and back of the bike. My back screamed in pain when we got home (he did massage it for me though!). He wasn’t too proud to ask to put his training wheels back on, thank goodness. I was worried he would not ask because he would think it was a “defeat.”

Maria, forever the cheerleader, immediately zoned in on the potential break-down Mario could have exhibited over the bike. She wrapped her arm around Mario’s neck, and said “Ahh, buddy, you will get the hang of it. You can do anything!” Mario responded “I just want to win!” Maria looked up at me, shook her head and whispered “Oh, Mario, Bo Bario.”

Tuesday ramblings

April 24, 20122 Comments

My mom came up from Cincy tonight with the hope that she could help me figure out what were weeds and what were flowers in my garden, and also see the grandkids on the side. She picked up Maria from school, a treat Maria absolutely loves. If she could have each of her grandparents pick her up everyday of the week, she would be in heaven. When they got home, Maria helped my mom in the garden a bit and then asked her if she could ride her bike to the park. This question floored my mom who expected Maria to ask to watch tv or play a game. They biked down to the park, and Maria gave my mom a mini-stroke when she climbed up her favorite tree to the near top. My mom made her stop way before she typically stops, which majorly irritated Maria. Mario and I arrived soon thereafter. We walked down from the house. I had given him the option to bike but he wanted to race. He set forth the typical prize for winning the race – a chocolate cake. We ran about a block and then he asked me to carry him. As I carried him the six blocks to the park, we talked about the green leaves and why they were green now and brown in the Fall time. He also asked me if he would die, and we talked about how everyone dies eventually. He asked if I would die, and then covered my mouth when I started to answer. He shook his head while holding my mouth and confirmed to me “mom, I know you will die, too, just like me.” Nothing like some light, uplifting conversation with your four-year old on the way to the park.

After the park, we headed to the police station to go to the bathroom, and to say hi to our former neighbor, Kim. Maria biked from the station to Panera. Mario ran most of the way. I love it when they enjoy being outdoors on their own. At Panera, they learned how to make “lemonade” from Grandma Lolo. They squeezed three lemons into their water and added one Splenda. Maria also wanted to add a Sweet-n-low, which made her water taste like something a hummingbird would love. We walked home from Panera with much pomp and circumstance. Maria crossed a street without looking, which prompted a major smack-down from my mom on me. She was completely right; I need to do a better job of making these kids look both ways or stop at the edge of the street. But I still felt irritated. After a few minutes, I realized it was not so much irritation as it was hurt. It’s funny how we, as adults, still look to our parents for moral support and adoration. We still want to impress them with our skills – only it’s parenting skills rather than algebra brilliance.

But I am 40 years old – really, Mar, let it go. In the end, a lot of the hurt has to deal with me realizing that I am letting myself down. I know I need to set more rules and work harder at imposing more boundaries and structure at certain times (like at an intersection!). I am pissed at myself for not working harder at doing just that. So, learn from it and do it better (you all just got a little glimpse of the dialogue raging through my head – lovely, heh?!).

After we worked in the garden a bit more, we decided to treat ourselves to Orange Leaf. A car trip later, we were eating yogurt with oreos and brownies and lucky charms on top. Maria sat slumped in her seat with her sunglasses resting on her head and Mario sat in his seat staring at Shrek and eating pineapple yogurt. My mom looked at me and said matter of factly “Your kids are mod.”

I am still trying to figure out whether she meant “mod” to mean dashing and smart or to mean offbeat. Either way, I will embrace the compliment, which I know she meant it to be. After all, what grandma gets to hang out with a pirate grandson and a granddaughter who engages in questions about past relatives and their spirits.

Congratulations all around

April 23, 20122 Comments

Maria finally got on her bike by herself tonight! Yes, sounds strange but that’s life for ya. She is right in between bike sizes and we went with the bigger size for her. Therefore, she has trouble getting on the bike by herself and stopping the bike herself. When she stops, she used to have to fall into the grass or onto the sidewalk because she could not reach her feet to the ground. She has recently gotten tall enough to lean to the side and place her foot to the ground. It is much easier to the eye to see her do that versus falling to the ground with her bike on top of her. Two nights ago, she stood by her bike on the driveway, raised one leg over, and jumped on her bike as it rolled down the hill – she got on the bike all by herself! I was so pumped up! Maria was even more excited asking me to watch her over and over until I yelled “My baby is getting on a bike by herself!” at which time she promptly told me to hush because I was embarrassing her.

Mario, not to be one-upped by his sister, got out the scooter and tried to ride around on it to impress me. After I congratulated Maria again for working hard on her bike, Mario looked up at me with sad little eyes and said “Mom, why aren’t you being nice to me?” I tried to explain to him that Maria was accomplishing something at the moment and he would have a time when he was accomplishing something big, and I would congratulate him. It fell on deaf ears. He held his hands up to cover his ears and ran away. When I went inside to talk to him, he ran to his bedroom. He only came out after I tempted him with baseball.

I pitched the ball to him and he whacked the ball all over the yard. I kept congratulating him for his stellar performance. After a few more hits, he looked at me and said “Maybe we should let Maria try to hit.”

Maria swung and missed. Again. Mario looked at her and said “Too bad, Maria. When you get better, you will get congratulations.”

That little sh–. He was setting it all up and I did not even see it coming. He has always got to one-up. Maria is luckily unfazed by his behavior, but I am going to break him of this nasty little habit eventually (although I am sure there will have to be some congratulations involved).

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.

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.

Dogs and Hamsters and a Super Bowl, Oh My

February 6, 2012Leave a comment

This past weekend was one of those weekends where you wake up Monday morning feeling you totally took advantage of the weekend’s purpose – to relax, be silly, watch football, and eat chips while vegging in your pjs.

On Friday, Jon and I took Mario to the hockey game. Maria had to make the executive decision on whether to go to Kids Night Out at school or to the game with us. It was a brutal decision because she had her girlfriend asking if she was coming to Kids Night Out but she had her dad going to the hockey game. She LOVES hanging with her dad lately, especially when it’s dad and mom and Mario (she is the pack dog). But, ultimately a brief description of the hockey game (watching boys skate on ice and try to hit a puck in a goal) led her to choose Kids Night Out with popcorn, grape juice, friends and a movie. The pack dog strays when there is food and entertainment….

Mario loved the hockey game. He ate his favorite food – a hot dog – and watched the players skate along the ice and hit each other up against the wall. Jon and I thought he might enjoy that activity more than he did since he is all into fighting. Rather, he enjoyed hanging on the railing and talking to the older boys behind us in the box. He also enjoyed the cheerleaders…. We left the game during the third quarter and picked up Maria. It seems that every time I see her at school, she is even older and more independent. She reminds me of me when I was in fourth and fifth grade (probably like when I was in first grade, too, but I can’t remember that time at all!) hanging out with my girl posse. When I picked her up, she was laughing with her three girlfriends and they were falling all over each other. Too cute.

On Saturday, we headed to Hamilton Parker to find tile for our bathroom. The kids ran around checking out the showroom showers and the kids’ room while Jon and I talked to the sales guy. Maria explained where everything was in the showroom since she had come to the store with me back in September. “Buddy, the kids’ room is over here and it has a tv.” Mario’s response: “Will the tv have Godzilla?” Maria’s reply: “We’ll see buddy and if it doesn’t, we”ll find something else for you.” The way she calls him “buddy” makes our hearts melt. After Hamilton Parker, we headed to BW-3’s for some wings and nachos. Nothin’ like a healthy lunch. We waddled out to the front of the restaurant and the kids begged to play a game. They put a dollar in a chicken and egg machine and each of them got a plastic egg. Maria scored a tattoo and Mario scored a little orange plastic cone that had the words “Back away slowly.” I read it to Mario and he laughed “I know, mom and dad, I am going to put this in my room and when you walk in, you will have to walk back slowly.”

We headed to the pet store in the late afternoon to torture ourselves by holding sweet little precious pups that needed a home. Maria always picks the most docile puppies that love to be held. She sits in the little room with them caressing and talking to them. Mario hangs out at the hamster bin trying to put the hamsters on the exercise wheel or in the tire. They run from him like he is death. Mario does not have quite the touch with the pups like Maria does. He likes to put them on the ground and watch them run around and play. If they don’t move much, he picks another. I can usually handle about 45 minutes in that store because it is such a madhouse of people but I made it an hour on Saturday. When we left, Maria begged to go on Sunday.

On Sunday, I skipped yoga because Maria and Mario begged me to stay home. We ate cereal and read books. Maria and I went on a stroller ride to the store to get pencils for her class project – a timeline of her life – all 6 years. We headed out to Dirty Franks for lunch (yeah, two for two on the healthy lunch front for the weekend!). When we returned, the kids and I took a bike ride to the library to grab some movies and new books. Maria and I watched Mario ahead of us – his little legs pushing the clunky wheels of his tricycle. He wants so badly to lead the group but usually Maria cannot help but bolt ahead because she is on a two-wheeler bike and can’t easily slow down without falling off. But I held onto her on this bike ride so Mario could take the lead and he was one proud puppy. When an older lady passed him, he stopped and said hello to her. When we stopped at the library, he said “Mom, an old lady said hi to me and I said hi to her back. I stopped my bike and everything. Are you proud of me?”

We headed to Kroger’s before the Super Bowl and Maria and I stocked up on chips and dip. Maria was grabbing all sorts of dips and chips for our party arguing that “it is the Super Bowl – we had to have a real party!” When we got home, we turned on the Super Bowl and watched all of the commercials. We all sat on the couch together – Mario on Jon’s arm playing Leapster, Maria in between Jon and me. She loved it. She kept saying “I love cuddling with my mom and dad and brother.” We have got to start up family movie nights. Maria fell asleep with 30 seconds left of the Super Bowl. Mario remained wide awake playing his Leapster Ben Ten game. I dragged him upstairs with me to hit the sack, and we were both out cold in three minutes flat.

Morning Bliss

October 26, 2011Leave a comment

My muchos and me

I thought it would be pouring down rain this morning based on the local meteorologist’s report last night. I should have known better – how often are they correct!? I didn’t get to bed until midnight, too, and anymore, I need at least 7 hours of sleep to function properly. Those two facts combined led me to sleep in until 7:30 with Maria pressed against my back side, hand over my head and Mario pressed against my front side, his warm breath intertwining with mine. I could have laid there until noon.

The munchballs when they were just babies!

But alas, work and school calls and we must eventually listen. I smothered them both with kisses and whispered “Do you want to know a secret?” They know my secrets by now so Maria said “Let me guess, you love us to the moon?” I laughed and said “No, I do love you to the moon but that’s not my secret.” Maria cocked her head to the side and said “I know. You think we are the cutest, sweetest kids.” That was my secret but I would not admit it. Maria looked at me funny and said “Oh, I really know now. You love us so much you could eat us for dinner!” I proceeded to nibble on both of their arms and they squirmed and giggled. Then, content with my feed, I took a shower.

Maria and I strolled to school because it was so pleasant outside. She talked about how her friends teased her about her name “Menkedick” and how two girlfriends always talked about being “BFFs” and she was not a part of it. I try so hard to reinforce the craziness of girlhood. How girls just form cliques without even thinking about it. How girls can be cruel to try to fit in with someone they think may be cool. How she needs to just learn to be self-sufficient and not care about what others think about her. It seems to be working in some way because she doesn’t come home crying and upset like she used to in Kindergarten. And I can sense an err of confidence when she heads to the school door and other girls don’t run up to her to say “hi.” She is ok with it and continues on her way. I like that she talks to me about these concerns and feelings. I hope it continues eight years from now.

Mario last year with his deranged mom!

When I arrived home from dropping off Maria, Mario watched me from the front window. I loved the sight of him but knew that it would not be pretty when I walked in the house. Jon would be aggravated at him for taking so long to get ready and leave the house. I have it easy with Maria – I drop her off at 8:20 and am done. Mario takes quite some time, especially if you try to be patient and let him get dressed at his own pace. So Jon has been getting into work at 9:30. I could sense his frustration, and like any good team, I agreed to take Mario into school so he could get to work at a decent hour. Mario begged to watch a show and I still had to get dressed in work clothes. I let him watch Dino Dan. He looked at me as I put it on and said “I thought you’d like Dino Dan, mom, because it’s not a killing show.” Lovely.

After Dino Dan, I turned off the tv and told him we were taking the bike to school. He did not have a major meltdown, which was the most wonderful gift he could have given to me. We hopped on the bike and headed toward the river. I asked him if he thought we would see “his bird” (a heron) and he opined on whether the river would be too high or it would be too cold this morning or whether his bird had already died. As he was discussing these thoughts with me, he quickly pointed to my right and yelled “look, mom!” I looked and did not see anything. “I just saw a red woodpecker in that tree!” “Really?” I exclaimed. He was sure of it. Definitely a red woodpecker. Pee-paw would be impressed, he thought.

We finally arrived at the river, which was high. I took a look down each bank and did not see any birds. I told Mario that the river must be too high for them and he sighed. But then again, out of nowhere he pointed to my left and yelled “My bird!” I stopped the bike and backtracked to the area confident that his bird was no where in sight. But, to my surprise, his bird stood on a giant grey rock, still as a palace guard. Mario and I stared in amazement at his poise. He must have heard a faint noise from us and without warning, shot off the rock into the air and onto the opposing bank. He made a screeching pre-historic scream when he shot off the rock, which caused Mario and I to turn to one another in further amazement. We remained silent as we headed up the trail to school. Finally Mario broke the silence by stating:

“The bird we saw mom, was a blue pterodactyl.” “Are you serious, Mario?” I replied. “Yes, mom, we saw a blue pterodactyl. I am sure of it. I saw a blue pterodactyl and a red woodpecker this morning. I can’t believe it.”

Heck, maybe he did see a red woodpecker.

Morning bliss….

From Rocks to Waltzes

September 4, 2010Leave a comment

One aspect of my upbringing that I most cherish is the fact that my parents gave me such a breadth of experiences and viewpoints. My dad took inner city kids out on hikes in the Ohio forests, my mom appreciated beautiful artwork and running; my step mom harbored a passion for writing and funky music. I am committed to providing that same breadth of experience to my kids.

Maria and Mario debating which rocks can be thrown in the river versus taken home

Our Sunday morning began with a trip to the river to throw rocks and a jaunt to the woods to play amongst the trees and our Monday night ended with a bike ride to the dance studio to watch professional dancers waltz across the newly polished hardwood floor.

Sunday morning is our donut morning. I pack up the kids in their pj’s and we stroll down to Tim Horton’s. You know you eat at a place too much when all of the staff members know your name and what you want to eat. Maria inevitably gets her rainbow sprinkled vanilla donut and Mario chows down on five chocolate timbits. This Sunday we got a special treat. There was a half marathon course running right past the Tim Horton’s. We got to watch men and women run by us as we stuffed our faces with dough and sugar. Nice.

I told the kids about how much I relied on cheering by-standers when I ran my races. That struck a chord in Maria and she started yelling “girls beat the boys” as the runners raced by. Unfortunately, all of the runners passing by were men. Mario, of course, had to point this fact out to her with the quip “he was not a girl, Maria, he was a boy.” However, within two minutes of Mario’s statement, we saw a woman pass by and Maria chimed in again “Girls beat the boys!” Mario got her back by shoving her and Maria got him back by kicking him. Lovely. Luckily, their attentions got diverted by a stray cat walking outside in the parking lot.

After the donut shop, we drug our tired selves out to the stroller (watching those runners whooped us up (or maybe it was the massive sugar infiltration!)) and headed down the street to a bike path that led to the river.

Maria being the good sport and watching Mario's 25th toss in the river

The little bank we stopped at is perfect for the kids. Maria can pick up rocks to take home to our garden and Mario can throw a zillion rocks in the river. I had yet another moment at the river where I thanked the stars above for giving me Maria first. She is so good with her brother. Mario must have said twenty times “Maria, look at this throw.” Now most people would ignore Mario after two or three throws but Maria stops what she is doing, watches him, and exclaims “Cool Mario!” And even when she has no desire to watch him after the twentieth time, she will still throw a glance at him right when she needs to so Mario thinks that she is watching. What a trooper.

Maria deep in her massage (notice eyes closed and all!)

After collecting a handful of rocks, we left to head home. On the way back, the kids decided they wanted to visit the trolls in the forest. There is a little woods about a mile from our house (close to a home we thought of purchasing a few months ago and didn’t – slight regret) that is perfect for the kids. They can run around in it and not get lost. We can make up stories of trolls and fairies. We can play hide and seek. We can balance across fallen logs. We can look for worms. Mario collected acorns for the trip home and Maria asked about the trolls and where they sleep at night.

After all of that rock throwing and hiking, we needed a good massage. Luckily, there was a masseuse on the streets of Grandview giving a “mini massage” to try to get business that day so Maria convinced me to take a load off and hit the masseuse up for a shoulder massage. After I finished, Maria stood up out of the stroller and quipped “I am next!” Of course, Mario could not resist if his sis got one. So, there we are, the family massage on Grandview Avenue.

When we got home, Jon had a surprise for me. He was taking the kids to his cousin’s house for a fishing escapade so I could work and relax. Ahh, the most wonderful gift I could ever receive on a Sunday afternoon.

Smiling Mario on his bike

On Monday night, the kids jumped on their bikes to ride up the street. Mario is intrepid but when it comes to crossing the street, he becomes hesitant and cautious. He stops ten feet back from the street, looks both ways, and then looks at me and says “I’m worried about cars, mommy.” There could be a car five blocks down the street, and he will wait for it to pass before riding. Maria gets exasperated with him.

Hot times on Grandview Avenue

We finally made it to the top of the street and decided to go in the dance studio. They sat on the couch and became mesmerized with an instructor and his student. The two of them were doing a waltz around the studio. The kids were in awe. They got up every few minutes to try out a move they witnessed and then sat back down and continued watching. We probably could have stayed until midnight – they just loved it. When we left, I was fumbling around looking for my money, and when I looked up, the pose to the left is what I saw. Maria reminds me of a female James Dean with her suave leaning pose. Oh, how they make me smile!

From Perfection to Grief to Perfection Again

May 17, 20101 Comment

Maria starting the day with her yoga moves

We woke up this morning to a hazy, slightly chilly morning with no rain in sight and a double stroller screaming for a tour through the city. Jon had gone East for one more try at turkey hunting, which left me for a second day of bliss with my darling children (Saturday had been filled with a three-hour b-day party at an indoor pool – fun for the kids, but afterwards every parent looked like they had gone through that negative gravity machine that Chevy Chase and Dan Akroyd were in for the movie Spies Like Us).

I was not upset at Jon taking off for the day because it was going to be a gorgeous day, which inevitably lead to lots of bike rides, stroller rides, and walks. Within an hour of waking, we were on the road in the double stroller with our stuffed monkey and dog, two blankets and obligatory binky ar we are going to get him off that thing by age 3 (it took Maria to 4 ½). We headed down the road to Tim Horton’s for a breakfast of sugar and dough. It was heaven.

Mario enjoying his timbits!

After breakfast, we headed across the road to a bike trail that we had not experienced because we typically headed down the opposite stretch of road. The trail was gorgeous. You felt like you were in a national forest at times with the tree cover and the rivers on both sides of you and the birds flying closely overhead singing their morning lullabies to you. We stopped at a bank on the river to throw stones into the water (Mario could stay in that place for three hours and enjoy every second of it). We also snagged some killer stones for our rock garden (Maria knows how much I love rocks and she presented me with a gorgeous red one wishing me a happy mother’s day (yes, she is still celebrating!)).

We stopped on the way back to pick wild flowers and make a bouquet for grandma. It was perfect. We visited our friend Kim at the fire station and presented her with a few flowers, and then went home to get dressed (yes, the kiddies begged to stay in their nighties and I could not resist – they looked too precious on a Sunday morning).

After a quick change, we hopped back outdoors and the kids jumped on their bikes to head to the little woods down the street (we went at Maria’s request – lately she has been wanting to take walks and hikes, which I immediately agree to in order to get her away from the tv and leapster). Maria guided us through the woods to the fire station and back down to the park and back up to our bikes all the while finding us walking sticks and cool rocks.

Maria and Mario enjoying their tree climbing

Mario loved climbing over the giant fallen tree trunks. They both mentioned a few times while in the woods how they were “getting exercise” to keep them healthy (yes, my influence finally shines through!). When we got back to our bikes, we were all drained and it was quite the chore to get home. Maria ended up getting on Mario’s tiny toddler big wheel and Mario on Maria’s bike in order to keep them amused and doing something new. We get home and all three of us plopped down on the front steps.

“What now?” I said to them. “I am hungry.”

Maria seconded her hunger while Mario just stared at the ants crawling on the step below. I suggested macaroni and cheese and Maria agreed at first. Then, a few seconds later, she piped in with a question:

Mom, how about we get Jeni’s ice cream for lunch?”

Normally, I would have been rationale and explained that lunch was a necessity before ice cream but it was Sunday, we were exhausted, and Jeni’s Dark Chocolate and Buckeye State ice creams sounded too tempting to nix. So, off we were in the stroller to Jeni’s for our ice cream lunch. While eating lunch, we decided the library was the next stop because we had run out of new books.

The library slurped us up as always and we did not leave there until an hour and half later with new books in tow and a craft that Maria made me for Mom’s Day (yes, again!). From the library, we walked to Giant Eagle for cheese, bananas, and squeeze yogurt (Mario’s new love – he chose the “I Carly” yogurt because “she is my girlfriend” – nice influence Maria!).

We traveled back to the house after the grocery, and crashed on the couch with popcorn and a My Little Pony video (which was luckily only a half-hour ong). I sat on the couch with Maria on one side and Mario on the other and felt that calm elation I get every once in a while when I have been through something great or I have heard a wonderful speech or I have finished an amazing book. I was so pleased with life.

Jon got home shortly thereafter, and I got packed up to head to Stauf’s for a bagel and coke and a little “me” time. As I got my stuff together, Maria asked me to play barbies with her. I told her I was going to meet a friend for coffee.

She flipped out.

She bawled.

She went boneless.

She sobbed.

She screamed at me. “I don’t like your friend, mom!”

What a grand send-off after a remarkable day.

I tried to calm her down. I hugged her. I told her we’d go for a walk when I got home. I told her I loved her to the moon. Nothing worked. She cried and begged to come with me.

Ok, so do I take her? I started to feel like I should or else she may feel like she has been abandoned or not loved? But if I took her, she may never understand that her mother needs time with friends. But she does see me go to work every day so she knows I have friends and activities outside of her. But since I work every day, I should take her with me on the weekends. And the voices continue and continue…

I chose to leave and walk to Stauf’s. It felt necessary to get away for a few minutes but the entire time I felt the pang of motherhood. Did I scar Maria by leaving this afternoon? Will she feel abandoned? Will she be stronger because she knows mom can’t be there with her every second? Will she be more independent now?

An hour later, I walked up to the house and saw Maria in the side of the yard.

“Mom! Can we go on a walk now?”

M&M watching the circus horses coming down the street

Maria posing with the elephants

No grudge for leaving; no apparent scars; all smiles. Ok, so maybe I do worry too much. In any case, we are back to continuing our wonderful day. Off to see the elephants and horses walking to the railroad from the circus!

"MOM!"

Adventures in the Life of a Working Mama

Tag: Biking