One Big Sweat Gland

June 16, 2012Leave a comment

I am really disliking this heat. I can’t stand that I walk outside for two minutes and my armpits look like someone poured a glass of water on them. I can only live in black and white shirts in the summer because I sweat so badly that any other shirt is noticeably drenched.

My doctor tells me that I sweat so heavily because my body is so efficient in releasing sweat from all the work outs I do. It almost makes me want to stop working out. Jon calls me his “one big sweat gland.” How endearing. Maria and Mario both back away into the corner when I approach them after being outside and yell “get away, you are too sweaty!”

I have tried the anti-sweat super deodorants but they don’t do a thing. My super-sweat overpowers every time. I guess it could be worse – I could…. Nah, it’s pretty bad. I hate being frozen every time I walk up to the coffee shop because I have sweated so much that the AC feels like ice crystals on my body.

All of this leads up to my sweat experience this afternoon. Jon’s niece, Sherri brought her kids over today while she and her hubby went to a charity golf outing. We decided to go to the pool. Of course, a normal human being would have loaded the kids in the car and headed to the pool. But, alas, I have never been normal (thanks dad and mom and Meg). Maria wanted to ride her bike. Emi wanted to ride mine. Eli wanted to ride mine, too, but she is not quite tall enough. Mario wanted to ride his since Jon fixed the seat and he can actually move pretty quickly. So, we packed up all the towels and goggles into the stroller and set off with Eli walking with me and the rest of the crew biking.

Surprisingly, Mario biked the entire way and Eli walked with me the entire way. The soccer camp she went to last week got her in shape (she even ran with me when Mario got too far ahead). Emi and Maria biked ahead of us – it’s nice having Emi with Maria because she makes her stop at each side street and look both ways – good influence!).

We stayed at the pool for an hour or so but Mario got tired and cold so we decided to head back sooner than we had planned. Mario, because he was tired and cold, did not want to ride his bike. Eli did not want to walk. Thank god Maria and Emi still wanted to ride their bikes. So, I put Mario on one side of the double stroller and Eli on the other and threw Mario’s bike over the two of them. How the stroller tires did not burst, I will never know. We walked a half mile, which included a hill near the end of our walk that took me ten minutes to climb. When we reached the house, I looked like I had just jumped into the pool. Drenched in sweat. Eli and Emi were speechless; Maria scolded me to take a shower; and Mario told me I needed to stop sweating. Oh, the love. Jon just looked at me like I was insane in the membrane.

“Why didn’t you drive?” he asked as I walked in the house. Now that would be a way too normal thing to do, and he knew that before even asking me. His term of “one big sweat gland” for me actually is endearing – he secretly loves it, I know. Or, I guess it is more accurate to say he secretly endures it because there is no other choice. My body is efficient, that’s all I gotta say.

Partyin’ with potato salad

June 11, 20122 Comments

Jon took over the kitchen Sunday morning; there was no stopping the man. When Mario and I got home from our run, we found him hunched over peeling potatoes into a glass bowl. He had spices out, jars open, and utensils scattered. It was quite a breath-taking (and rather attractive) sight. Patty gave him the recipes to her potato salad and her baked beans, and he would not let anyone else see them or work on them. Once he decides to cook, everyone else must scatter away from his kitchen space. After tasting his potato salad, I am happy to give him all the space he needs. He is a heck of a cook. That is how he wowed me when we were dating – he’d bring me soup while I studied for the bar.

Maria and Mario and I cleaned rooms and the kitchen, and got ready for Gracie to come over. Maria loves to babysit that girl but Maria is a tough bird. Gracie does something bad and Maria says “Grace Ann Wells! You should not do that!” She is everything I am not! Discipline, structure…. god help her children. Grace arrived at 1 pm, and yelled “Aunt Mary!” She was glued to my hip the rest of the day except when she took a two-hour nap in the middle of the afternoon. Maria read her The Fly Guy before her nap and when we all left the room, she babbled for fifteen minutes and then fell asleep. That is a foreign occurrence for Jon and me. We would have to rock M&M to sleep, rub their backs for 20 minutes, lay with them, you name it. All of those hurdles before any sleep would occur. And then, 9 times out of ten, they’d be up within a half an hour anyway. So Grace is a piece of cake.

While the gals napped, Mario played Ben Ten games on the computer. He had his Cheez-Its next to his side as he intently concentrated on his next move. His concentration allowed me to get the house decorated for Maggie Jean’s party. Of course, I had felt that we had it all under control the night before but then inevitably, the day of, I find myself scrambling to get everything together. Maggie, our graduate, arrived to the house at 4 pm after sitting in 90 degree heat for four hours. Julie and Liz were with her – Liz having sat through graduation on Friday in Cincinnati. We broke out the celebratory beer and chips and dip, and let the party begin! Maria was instantly mesmerized with Maggie’s friends Sarah and Annie. Mario acted silly with Maggie’s dad, Denny. Gracie stayed on my hip the entire afternoon, which I loved. Liz kept telling me to put her down but I just couldn’t do it. She was so happy hanging out with me that I had to soak in the love.

My aunt Terrie and aunt Ann arrived a little later. They had not seen the house since we bought it. They each brought me a house-warming gift from Pottery Barn (high-class aunts, I will say…), and gave accolades galore about the house. So sweet. I was so excited that they came up to Columbus because I don’t get to see them often. Terrie is in Marietta, Georgia with her hubby and three boys and Ann is in Washington DC and Dubai with her job and beau. When I was little, Terrie and Julie used to invite me over to their apartment on the West side of Cincy for sleep overs and I remember listening to slow sappy 70’s love songs on the radio. Time with them was a treat – hanging with the older girls. Ann is only a year and a half older than me (the youngest of eight) and I looked up to her like a big sis. She was into serious heavy rock when she was in high school and I used to just sit in her room and watch her get dressed to go out as she banged her head to Motley Crue. And now here we all were standing my kitchen as adults. Life is strange.

At one point in the evening, we brought out Dairy Queen cake for Maggie. We were all joking about what to sing to her, what the cake said, etc. and I all of a sudden felt a rush of gratitude and joy for having the day with my aunts and cousins. I just wanted to lean over the table and smooch ’em all on the lips but I figured that may not have come off as I would have planned so I just smiled at them all and lit the candle for Maggie to blow out. After cake, Julie and Terrie helped me figure out the weeds versus plants in the garden. I have a lot of weeds but weeds look like plants to me; in fact, I think I am prone to liking weeds more than plants and flowers. They are tough cookies – not dying for anything and growing back even stronger than before. There is something you have to respect in the weed. But we pulled ’em out nonetheless. We would have been out there all night if Jon wouldn ‘t have announced that there is poison ivy in the garden. That blasted Ter and Jul out of the garden and into the bathroom to wash off. I would have felt like a total heel if they had gotten poison ivy.

The aunts left a while later – all three of them heading to Starbucks to get a coffee for the road. Little do they know how much I think of them and appreciate their generosity in traveling up north to see me. And Julie constantly opening her house to me and the kids when we are in Cincy. It is a rare gift to receive. With their departure, we just had Maggie and her friends left at the house. Maria and Mario were in heaven – Mario danced to I’m Sexy and I Know It and played ball with the boys, and Maria brushed the boys’ hair so that they could “pick up rich girls.” I am sure they were wondering what they had done to deserve a night at our house.

Everyone hit the road around 9:30 and the kids hit the sack pretty quickly. I got to watch my HBO show, Girls, and eat the rest of the DQ ice cream cake. What a great life.

Pushing away

June 10, 2012Leave a comment

Maria refuses to come home. She has been in Cincinnati since Friday morning when Maggie drove her down. Just six months ago, she would have cried for her mama after one night. Now, she tells me to stay in Columbus and not come get her. I can see why – she is getting pedicures and manicures from Aunt Ann, time to babysit Gracie, trips to garage sales with Aunt Julie and Terrie, and attention from her grandma and all of her cousins and other aunts. Columbus cannot compete.

It is yet another step towards independence just like her desire to ride her bike up the street all by herself. I remember dreaming about this type of independence when she was two and a half-years old throwing her binky at me one minute and pulling on me to hold her the next. But now it doesn’t feel quite right. She seems too young to be moving in this direction. I want that two and a half-year old back even if I have to take a binky in the forehead.

Ahh, but in thinking harder about it, I guess I don’t. I guess I just want the affection back, and the desire to take refuge in my arms. Intellectually, I know that how she is acting is healthy and a sign of confidence. I remember reading an article a while back that talked about kids’ confidence levels. A study had shown that kids who feel comfortable holding their ground with their parents (e.g., parent wants to leave but kid says she doesn’t want to leave) are typically more self-confident because their parents have given them the opportunity to not be fearful in standing their ground (now, there obviously comes a point where this self-confidence leads to bratty and obnoxious behavior and I am sure the study went on to find those kids are now occupying positions in Congress). I think of this study when Maria acts this way to me, and chant in my head “I have made her a self-confident girl…I have made her a self-confident girl….”

I wonder if I will feel as strongly when Mario begins to push away? Or is it just a mother/daughter phenomena? I harbor dreams of Maria changing this world in some way that suits her – I’d love if her suit involves curing cancer, feeding the poor, saving the environment. But she can’t stay snuggled under her mother’s bosom and achieve any of those aforementioned feats or others. I have the same dreams for Mario and can only assume, since he is glued to my hip, that I will feel much the same way when he decides to unravel the tie that binds us. Maybe this process with Ri will lessen the sting a bit with Mario. Or maybe it will be a different set of feelings that onset with that little guy. I should have another couple of years before I find that out.

Sunday afternoon stupor

May 20, 2012May 20, 2012Leave a comment

Three little munchos lying in bed
Taking a break and resting their keds.

It doesn’t get much cuter than this scene
You could eat them up like juicy red jelly beans.

Pretty soon they will be annoyed with each other
Yelling “get away from me brother!”

But for today we will stop and stare
Because moments like these can be quite rare.

And at least we’ll have proof in the future
That you at one time were in a love stupor!

Moral dilemmas over dinner

April 10, 20121 Comment

Jon’s brother, Kevin, posed a juicy moral dilemma situation to all of us as we sat around the kitchen table last night. Now that is the way I could start my evening meal every night.

Kevin came to visit us from out-of-town with his wife, Margie, and their daughter Dagmawit. Kevin’s oldest daughter, Shari, and her family came, too. Mario loves Shari’s grandson, Isaiah, because he is spastic and loves to play fight just like Mario. Maria loves Dagmawit and Shari’s two daughters, Emi and Eli because they play dress up and act silly and love to dance. The kids ran all around the yard and the basement while we sat down and talked over a glass of wine and take-out from Aladdin’s.

Kevin’s question sure got the talking started, and set up an engaging, thoughtful dialogue about all sorts of things. The conversation provided a breath of fresh air, and I enjoyed sitting around with a group of intelligent adults talking about religion and politics and the economy. Jon and I don’t get out enough with friends and family to do that. We get so caught up in the thick of work and homework and baths and laundry that we forget to communicate about the latest social issues and news. I used to have conversations like that all the time when I was younger and I don’t want to lose that engagement in my “old age” or should I say my “parenting age.”

Meanwhile, the girls were dressing up in short dresses and heels and spreading bright pink lipstick on their lips. The boys darted in the room with matching spiderman costumes. They all enjoy each other’s company, and I appreciate that we have a family that gets along so well. Maria was so bummed when they left for the night – she talked about how much fun she had with Dagmawit and Emi and Eli. She reiterated a wish that she has expressed before; to have a sister. When I pressed her about how great Mario was, she finally conceded that she loves him to death but that she would also love to have a sister around the house. When I told her that sisters can get in fights a lot, she says she is used to it because her and Mario fight a lot. She always has a retort. Mario begged to have Isiah over for a play date again. I wish we could borrow Isaiah for two hours every night so Mario could get out all of his energy by wrestling him, and get to bed at a decent hour.

The night ended with a resolution to talk more with Jon about the latest world event and issues to make sure we keep these brains or ours a rollin’ with something other than parenting concerns of who paid the tuition and whether the kids’ school shirt got washed. And god knows there is no dearth of issues to keep us from talking….

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.

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.

Broken windows and dreams

January 16, 2012Leave a comment

We survived the holiday weekend. Maria’s cousin, Alana stayed with us from Saturday through Monday morning. I love having her over because the girls get along so well. They go up to Ri’s room and play barbies or listen to Justin Bieber or play Pet Shop in the basement. I can actually read a little bit of a book or clean the house without having Maria at my heels asking me to play. Alleluia. And I love that they are so close. I wish I would have been as close to my cousin when I was little. They are good for each other, too. Maria shows Alana how to be more daring and Alana shows Maria how to play something for more than three minutes.

Mario stayed at Grandma Ionno’s house on Saturday night until Sunday. He loves himself some Grandma and Grandpa time because he is all by himself and spoiled to death. He gets to wrestle, show-off, watch tv, and lay around in his pjs. Not a bad life. He did want to come home on Sunday night, however, because he knew Alana would be there. Jon explained to him that the girls may want alone time and Mario chirped back “Alana will want to play with me because she tells me all the time how cute I am.” Oh, ok…. We gotta watch that head of his.

When he walked in, the girls showered him with hugs and love (no wonder his head is big). They all went upstairs and played “Big Time Rush”. This game consists of Maria and Alana being themselves and Mario being one of the BTR singers. He played James when we saw him. He walked by us with his nose in the air as Maria and Alana fawned over him. It seemed to come natural to him – scary.

I walked up to Stauf’s to do some reading around 5 pm. Jon watched the kids. I got a call around 5:45 from Jon. “Get home now” he stated firmly. “Mario punched his window out.” My mind leapt to blood everywhere, glass shattered all over. Luckily, his had suffered a couple of cuts with no glass in them and the glass mostly landed on the roof. Jon had already subjected him to the wall when I arrived home. He held a tissue on his hand. He looked like a mean mama-jamba. He looked like a prize-fighter. Jon and I are in for it. I made him put alcohol on it so that he felt the sting – until that time, he really didn’t see any negative consequences to his behavior. After I stung him with the alcohol, he cried and shouted “I don’t want to do that again!” When Jon asked him why he would want to punch his window, this was his response: “I wanted to get on the news.” Oh, are we truly in trouble.

Mario showing his wounds

After that chaos, the kids fell asleep in Maria’s room; Maria and Alana in the bed and Mario on the floor in his sleeping bag and band-aid.

On Monday, we all talked about what an incredible figure Martin Luther King was and is in our society. Both girls knew what he stood for and what he fought against. I told Maria how we walked across the Broad Street bridge when she was one year old in order to honor him. She couldn’t remember. Mario knew that MLK “had a dream.” I told him how I remember going to his classroom when he was two and seeing his picture on the bulletin board. The teachers had taught the kids about MLK’s famous “I have a dream” speech. They then had the kids tell them what they dreamed of. The words underneath Mario’s picture were “I dream of ‘popsicles’!”

Thanks for giving us dreams, Martin Luther King, Jr.

The joys of snow

January 14, 2012January 14, 2012Leave a comment

Old man winter decided to shower us with snow today. Finally.

Snowflakes danced on my nose and eyelashes as I ran through the neighborhood this morning. My IPod died on me ten minutes into my run. Irritation and anger raced through me for not charging it the night before. However, as I continued to run and pout, I heard vibrations of snow on the trees and a trio of birds still chirping away in the 15 degree weather. I changed my thinking: rather than be irritated for 60 minutes, I became grateful for the glorious morning and the snowflakes and the weekend and the opportunity to be by myself for an hour. The results were much better, indeed; I had a most enjoyable run.

Maria teaching Mario early

I came home to a trashed house – the remnant of a crazy week juggling colds, homework, work, and kids’ addiction to electronics. As I began to clean, I sat Mario down with a phonics workbook. He is having trouble with his ABC’s and we are trying to think of ways to help him learn them. When Maria was his age, she had numbers and letters down pat. Mario’s teachers tend to put less emphasis on rote memorization and more emphasis on creativity. I like that style of teaching but I still want Mario to learn the basics! Then again, he isn’t hitting Kindergarten for another year and a half so I should probably just chill.

All Maria needs to hear is that Mario needs to learn something and she transforms herself into “teacher-mode.” She set up a desk and asked Mario to sit with her. She quizzed him on letters and when he got them wrong she gently told him “that is not right, buddy; let’s try it again.” He surprisingly hangs in there with her, even letting her lead in the ABC song. He gets to “LMNOP” and he mumbles something incoherent and continues on with Q and then straight to Y. I have no doubt that Maria will straighten him out and get him reciting his ABC’s in no time. She is a born teacher – even giving Mario a report card based on his ABC’s (“You did ok but keep practicing.”).

After an hour and a half of cleaning, Jon and Patrick and Mario left for Marion to see Jon’s mom and dad, and I stayed home with Maria and Alana (Mario ended up staying with Grandma and Grandpa Ionno after just pleading to them one time to spend the night – he is spoiled). The girls stayed in Maria’s room for a while playing a game that scares me. One of them is the mom and the other the teenage daughter. The daughter screams at her mom and tells her she hates her and drives off in the family car. It seems to always start this way. A snapshot of the future? Let’s hope not….

Maria has inherited my ADHD so after a short time of playing that game, she was ready for something new. She threw on her coat and went outside to play in the half-inch of snow. Alana followed. I continued to clean the counters. Ten minutes later, the doorbell rang. I answered and saw the girls giggling around the house. I went back to cleaning. They rang again. I opened the door and they both lobbed tiny snowballs at me. I stood in the house with snow falling off me. Should I get mad about the snow in my house or the snow on my shirt? Should I get mad that they interrupted my cleaning. No. Instead I got even!

I threw my coat and shoes on and chased them around the yard until I got ’em both with snowballs. Since we were covered in snow, we decided to try to build a snowman. The snow was light and fluffy and sparse, which prompted both girls to tell me there was no way to build one. But I always remember my dad’s actions on a summer day at the farm months ago. He had bought Mario a kite and Mario wanted to fly it but there was absolutely no wind. Everyone told Mario he could not fly it; that is, except my dad. He took him outside to give it a try. With a hill and a will, my dad ran down the hill with that kite flying high in the sky behind him. Mario jumped up and down with sheer joy on his face and we all stood in awe.

The girls with Alycia Snowy

And, following my dad’s footsteps, Maria, Alana and I made ourselves a sweet, little snowman. It took lots of work – the girls shoveled their hearts out – but we did it. Alycia Snowy Ionno is her name and she is a beauty.

Hangin’ with the Cousins

January 7, 2012Leave a comment

Baby Grace

Liz and Baby Grace came to visit us today. Maggie and I were hoping she would come up and spend the day with us! Baby Grace has been my biggest fan lately running up to me when she sees me and begging to be held. I love the way that she chirps “Aunt Mary.” Mario showed her all around the house and played with her in Maria’s room. He tried to find books that she would enjoy, barbies she would like, and toys that were “baby toys.”

Maria taking Zach over!

Soon after they arrived, Maria came home from a sleepover with her friend, Zach (when are girls too old to sleep over at boys’ houses?!). Zach and her are the best of friends and the worst of friends. They play really well for an hour or two, and then they scream at each other non-stop. They both are passionate, loud people and neither will back down when they believe they are right (and they always believe they are right). Zach’s mom reported that they woke up by 8 am and by 11 am, it was time to split them up. Maria was bummed about coming home until she realized Gracie was here. She grabbed her up and gave her the “Maria Bear-Hug” smothering Gracie in pure love.

The kids danced to Wii Dance Party 3. Mario and Maria both figured out that the number of stars you get relates to how well you followed the moves. They both get upset when they doesn’t dance perfectly. They should add stars if you sing along to the song – Mario would have the max. He tries to sing to every song. After we danced for a while and I carried Gracie to every room, we decided to get some lunch at Champps. Thank god for electronics. Maria and Grace played with my Iphone and Mario played his leapster allowing for Liz, Maggie and me to talk. A wonderful gift! How did Maggie and Liz turn from little babes to smart, funny, endearing women? I swear it was yesterday that I was changing their diapers and playing peek-a-boo with them!

The crew at Champps

After lunch, Maria opted to hang with Liz and Mag and Grace at Target and Mario and I went home. We got out the stroller (it hit 52 degrees today) and headed to Giant Eagle to find discount Christmas toys and candy. I supply M&Ms at work and getting the big bags for $1.00 is too good of a deal to pass. We also scored a baby doll for Gracie. On the way home, Mario asked me to tell him a story. Mario loves stories about him in different situations. Typically, he is in the forest saving animals or on a boat catching big fish. After my fourth one, I looked down and he was fast asleep (yeah, I have quite enticing stories)! It reminded me of when Mario was one-year-old and I used to stroll him around the neighborhood to get him to sleep. I miss those days… somewhat.

Making "grass" angels

When we got home, the girls were waiting for us. Maggie and Liz were on the couch watching football and Maria and Graice were playing in the basement. Maria loves to watch Grace and try to teach her things. But Grace is an independent little soul, too, so she often wants to do things on her own. This leads to frustration on Maria’s part and a bit of crying. We decided that we would take a walk with Gracie to see if she would close to Maria on the playground. Sure enough, Gracie started to take to Maria as we walked along and maria continued to play peek-a-boo behind the trees. When Maria made a “grass” angel at the park, Gracie was hooked.

When we got home, we sat around watching football, eating ribs and ice cream, and taking turns playing with the kids. Liz and Mag left around 7:30 and the house felt empty. Messy, but empty. When I took the kids upstairs to bed, Maria asked if Gracie could come over again soon. In a heartbeat, I told her. I miss the chirping of “Aunt Mary.”

"MOM!"

Adventures in the Life of a Working Mama

Tag: Cousins