Lime and Cucumber Mario

January 4, 2015Leave a comment

The last two weeks Mario has stayed up until at least 10 pm but most nights until 11 pm. He has been soaking up the winter break, and until today, has had no desire to head back to school. Jon and I are still perplexed at what changed in the matter of one day, but he was cracking us up tonight. We fought to get him to take a shower but after he did, he was transformed.

“Mom, where are my new jeans you bought me?”

“They are in your drawer.”

“Mom, can you put my belt on them for me.”

I took the belt off the pair of jeans he has worn for three days straight and placed it on the new pair. I wondered why he was asking me to do this since I had asked him the last two days to change pants. My question was answered when he called me into his room.

He had combed his hair over to one side. He walked up to me and leaned his body into me.

“Smell me, mom.”

I sniffed and the aroma of lime and cucumber filled my nostrils. He had used my body scrub on his entire body.

“I want to smell good for my first day of school tomorrow!” He had laid out his clothes on the floor so that his shirt was on the top, boxers under it, jeans under them, and socks under the jeans. He has never done that in his life to prepare for school. Was this Mario or an alien abductee?

Then he proceeded to ask me for an alarm clock he could borrow. All I had was my watch. I brought it into him and asked him what time he wanted to wake up.

“6:30 am.”

This is the time he typically awakes anyhow but I asked him why he wanted to get up so early since he doesn’t leave for school until 8 am.

“I have to wake up, comb my hair, put on deodorant, brush my teeth, floss, rinse my mouth with mouthwash, and get dressed. I have to smell good AND look good on my first day back to school.”

Ok, Maria has never once been concerned about such things and she is in fourth grade. This Mario man is gonna be quite the high maintenance fella’ as he gets older. I don’t think it is gonna be Maria begging for her own bathroom…!

Roller skating

January 3, 2015Leave a comment

I vaguely remember roller skating as a young girl. I don’t think there was a rink near my house so if it wasn’t within walking distance, I was typically out of luck. I don’t remember particularly hating or loving skating. What I remember is the strobing lights and the music. The sweet top-40 tunes streaming from the speakers and the blue and white and and red and green lights circling around the rink. I remember feeling happy and I remember feeling giddy when love songs would come on and all of us girls would stand around giggling while sneaking peeks at the boys. It was all so new and wildly strange.
All these feelings came rushing back to me as I stepped into US Skates with Ri and Mario this week. They were playing top-40 songs and the lights were strobing. Holy cow – what a blast from the past. These skating rinks have not changed in 30 years. They still play the same genre of music, have the same wood floors, the same leather skates, the same goofy employees with their serious monitoring of the roller rink like they are overseeing the Royal Palace, and the same painted cement walls to grip when you are about to fall on your face.
Ri did surprisingly well on the skates. She started slow but moved up her pace as time wore on.

Mario did good, too but he wanted to keep “moving up” in skates. They had “speed skates” for $1.50 extra and he begged for those. He tried those and swore he went faster (even though he really didn’t). Then he wanted roller blades to try out. He begged and begged for me to buy the blades after he saw a sign saying “we sell skates.”

He finally got through his head that we were not buying skates and sulked a bit but then he couldn’t resist taking one more round on the roller rink with Ri and I. As I glided along the far side of the rink and watched Ri and Mario working hard to skate and balance on the other side, I chuckled at how crazy life was: here I was at age 42 back on the rink like I never left – still loving the lights and getting down with the top-40 music, and watching my kids jam in their little heads as they rolled around and around the rink.

New Year’s Eve 2014

January 3, 2015Leave a comment

Jon and I brought in the New Year together for the 16th year in a row. In our beginning years, we’d be at the bars whooping it up. In the mid-years, we were settling down to nights at home in bed watching the ball drop. After the kids were born, we’d be lucky to stay up until 10:30 pm. Then the kids got old enough to understand NYE and we’d make a night out of it by getting snacks and playing games and watching Dick Clark or Ryan Seacrest on tv. Jon and I were looking forward to another NYE together because the kids were away so much this Winter Break. We missed them.
Ri got home early Wednesday after watching Elena at the farm. She and Henley stayed out there for a few days. Each time she returns home from watching sweet Elena, she has two words: “I’m exhausted.” But she loves every minute of it.

Mario returned home after a few days with Grandma Ionno and his cousins. He went ice skating with them and loved it.

Ri and I went out and got some chips and dip and we all planted ourselves down for the evening. We forgot about dinner though so at 6:30 Jon went out for KFC – that’s right folks, we brought in the New Year with chicken legs and mashed potatoes (Mario begged for chicken legs, his new favorite). No high class Mitchell’s for us. Looking back, I think it set the tone for the night…. At one point, Mario was play fighting Jon and wouldn’t stop when Jon told him to so Jon put him in a headlock and pronounced “this is a hillbilly night in this household!” Indeed, between the KFC and wrestling, we were on our way there.
Mario was pissy about not being able to play Call of Duty, Ri was tired and mad that Mario was pissy. I was irritated because I wanted everyone in a good mood and Jon was laughing at all of us. We got out the game of Life and started to play. But this was the look on Ri’s face.

Mario’s wasn’t much better and he wouldn’t look at me.

Then we heard a knock on the door. Quinn asked if the kids wanted to go down to his house to eat NY cheesecake and dance to a few songs. They both agreed and headed down. I told Stephanie to send them back by ten. I thought maybe friends would liven them up.
They both came back a half hour later looking sullen.
“We just wanted to be with you guys tonight and now we ruined it by going to the Markle’s house.”
They are crazy kids. We resumed our Life game and tried to liven them up. But boy they were both exhausted to the extent that Life didn’t even liven them up. Ri laid on the chair and Mario, Jon and I sat on the couch. We watched a little news and some awful NYE coverage on NBC, and looked over to find Ri passed out. Jon prodded her but it was no use. She was out cold.

Meanwhile, Mario was trying with all his might to stay up in order to get the dollar Jon promised him. He had heard the story of Uncle Patrick slapping himself and going outside to stay awake on NYE and he was trying all the tricks. He looked pathetic.

He finally couldn’t hang on and fell asleep at 11:35.

Unlike Ri, he woke up with Jon’s nudging and watched the ball drop – and then promptly fell back to sleep. He was getting that dollar.
Jon and I gave our smooch and hug to one another. Then I carried the kids to their beds and he let Rocco outside. I was nearly asleep when he came up to bed.
And so this year was brought in on a tired note. I was a tad saddened by the lack of fanfare and frivolity as we had in years’ past but with many things in life, my perspective changed after having time to reflect on the evening.
And here’s what I believe about NYE 2014:
It was a night that happened to come after many nights playing with cousins and staying up late and hosting holiday parties. Of course we were tired and barely able to keep our eyes open. Of course we were emotional and susceptible to outbursts about not being able to buy a house in Life. But we were together and persevering through the night together despite our fatigue. We still hugged one another at night’s end, and still woke up to laughter in the morning. We don’t need the pomp and circumstance to bring in the New Year; we are good with board games and potato chips.
In retrospect, this past NYE couldn’t have been more telling about how 2015 will go. This family will continue to grow together; love one another in good times and bad; enjoy the simple moments together; treasure all the laughter; and forgive one another.

Although we have learned a lesson for next NYE, skip the KFC.

Watching Ms. Elena

December 18, 2014December 18, 2014Leave a comment

God bless it’s hard to watch a six month old baby! I forgot what those days were like with Ri and Mario – where they need pretty much constant attention and cry like banchees when their mama leaves. I was whooped after an hour and breathed a sigh of relief when I heard the front door open. Ri gave up after about 20 minutes and played video games with Mario. Smart girl. That actually helped me because Elena appreciated the quiet and sat with me for 20 minutes chowing on her sweet potatoes! But holy cow, it took my undivided attention to keep her happy.

Yes, the selfies actually helped. She likes looking at herself in the mirror. My only goal was to not have her crying when Sarah got home. I had to prove I was a worthy babysitter! Mission accomplished. Once Sarah walked in the door though she was a much happier camper.
And Ri was back in full-on mode following Sarah and Elena everywhere. Sar asked if Ri wanted to hold her in the Ergo Baby and Ri jumped at the chance. Did that work out good or what?!
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She walked around with her for 25 minutes straight; Elena’s eyes fixated on the Christmas lights and objects throughout the house. And, of course, on her awesome older cousin. Now I know the magic bullet when we babysit her next time….
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Precious

December 15, 2014December 15, 2014Leave a comment

This happened on Friday night.

Jon treated Ri to a father/daughter dinner and let her pick the destination. She chose Bravo. The girl goes classy. They dropped Mario off at Kids Night Out first and then went out on the town.
I was busy driving home from Toledo Ohio after an entire day participating in a mediation at the courthouse. I dreaded the drive all week but in the end, it was rather pleasant. Timbits, coffee, the sunrise, and NPR for two and a half hours with no interruption was quite amazing.
Ri and I drove out to the farm on Saturday to visit the munchball baby girl (forget Sarah, Grandma Meg and Peepaw)! She was so excited all morning to leave for the farm and refused to come home until late on Sunday so she could get maximum time with Elena. She is fricken cute as can be.
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We took Rocco out with us so he could run around the farm like a wild man, which he promptly did. He refused to sit in the trunk when Ri was in the back seat so she allowed him to lay his head on her lap the entire way.
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Ri was in seventh heaven when I left her at the farm. Baking cookies with Sarah and changing Elena’s diapers. She is a baby whisperer at age nine – she is gonna make big bucks as a babysitter in a few years. This picture Sarah took of her reading to Elena makes my heart sing.
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Look at those chunk a lunk wrists! Eat her up!
Meanwhile, Mario and Jon hung out together. Mario’s favorite person to hang with lately – his pops. Jon can do no wrong. If Mario overhears me asking Jon to do the dishes, he butts in and tells me how dad has had a hard day and he should be able to relax. If I comment on my strength when I pick up a Christmas box, he puts me in my place by telling me dad is much stronger. But I’m not complaining – I think it is precious. Jon is great about taking him to his basketball practices on Saturday and Sunday and watching him play for two hours. And Mario loves having his undivided attention. I went to watch him play on Sunday and it was a trip watching him move up and down the court with his buddies. It was also sweet to see Jon rooting him on.
I think he liked having Jon and me all to himself for a day. I woke up with him on Sunday morning at 6:45 am (heaven help me) and played Wii Kartz with him for an hour. He was so excited that I would play with him. Obviously, doing homework with him, taking walks with him and eating with him pales in comparison to playing Wii with him. And then Jon played Wii basketball with him. He was in such a great mood. But the best was when we arrived home from his basketball practice at 1:30. He threw off his coat and ran to the family room.
“Come on dad, let’s watch the Bengals beat the Browns!” He flipped on the tv and sat on the couch right next to the spot Jon always sits.
Precious.>

Trudging through with love

December 9, 2014December 9, 2014Leave a comment

I finally walk among the living today. It has been three weeks of coughing, fevers, headaches, stomachaches, nausea, fatigue, and grouchiness and I am so ready for my world to revert back to healthy bodies and laughter and positive spirits!
First, Mario got sick before Thanksgiving. If I don’t get the sickness he carries, I still get run down because I end up staying up with him half the night. Even if he’s not calling out for me, I lay awake because I can’t stand to hear him coughing. It was that hoarse, gagging cough he had and it sent chills up my spine to hear him. I’d go into his room and make him blow his nose and give him water and then rub his back to settle him down. I’d reach a time when he wasn’t hacking and think “yes, he’s asleep and well.” Then I’d climb back into bed and within 30 seconds he’d start hacking again. I’d toss and turn as Jon snored away beside me. How can he sleep so soundly?! I’d sit in bed both worried about Mario and pissed at Jon for being able to sleep (to give Jon credit, as soon as I nudged him and told him to get Mario water, he would). The mother gene kicks in full throttle when our babies are sick. I can’t rest peacefully unless they are. And when I don’t get 7 hours of sleep, I go downhill. And so I did. The day after Thanksgiving, I began to feel crappy. And just when I began to feel a bit better, Rocco got sick. He had the same hoarse cough as Mario but with one difference. He had gotten into the bag of turkey bones. So, at 2 am when he was wrenching in his crate, and Jon was snoring away, I awoke. Those mama genes in high alert even for my non-human baby. Poor pup had thrown up everywhere and continuously gagged. I found no turkey bones in his puke (what a life) so became increasingly concerned that one was stuck in his throat. Jon came down and we agreed I should take him to the ER (I’m better at hospitals is Jon’s reasoning for not going). So at 3:15 am, me and my pup drove to OSU Vet Hospital. At least it wasn’t too busy. Lots of dollars later, they diagnosed him with kennel cough and pneumonia and told me I could keep him at the hospital for a boat load of money or take him home and watch over him all day. By this time (7:30 am), I was exhausted, sick, and distressed. I decided if stay home to rest and watch over Rocco. But Monday was the day that all hell broke out at work and I was on phone calls all morning and afternoon. As I left to go to Ri’s geography bee, Rocco threw up blood. Are you kidding?!
So, I ran to her bee, watched her kill it, and then ran home to take Rocco back to OSU. Another chunk of cash later, they confirmed no turkey bone. Still just the kennel cough and pneumonia. The blood must have been from all the coughing. I got a handful of different meds and headed home at 8:30 pm. Jon could see how tired I was and told me to go to bed with the kids. He stayed downstairs with Rocco. I fell asleep before the kids and slept until 4:30 am when Rocco came upstairs to heave beside my pillow. At least I got 7 hours of sleep. It’s all I needed to feel somewhat revived and at least be able to make it through most of the day before wanting to crash.
But then Ri got sick. She was at a concert at Mershon Auditorium when I got the text from a mom friend. She reported she was hot and pale and miserable. Ugh.
Jon was in a meeting so didn’t answer my call. I had a meeting at 1 that I couldn’t miss and it was 11:30. I called the doctor and got her in at 12:15. Tried Jon again.
Voicemail.
I scooped up my coat and keys and drove to Mershon. My girlfriend brought her outside and she laid in the back moaning about her head.
Jon called.
He would meet me at the doctor so I could get back for my 1 pm meeting. This constant juggling and meeting and exchanging and dropping off is the sign of a true partnership and of true love. Jon and I may not see rainbows and stars every time we look into each others’ eyes but we do see deep devotion and love. We see perseverance and dedication and mutual struggle and joy. I watched him and Ri talking as I left the doctor’s office and felt such affection for him. I also wanted to pass out from exhaustion.
Ri was sick all weekend and therefore, Jon and I and the kids just chilled around the house all day Saturday and Sunday playing board games and watching football. It was wonderful and much needed for the body and mind.
Here’s to this upcoming holiday season being free of bacteria and viruses and full of the warmth and love that, thankfully, so beautifully fills our home and keeps us among the living – even when we are completely exhausted.

Human pretzel

December 8, 2014December 8, 2014Leave a comment

This boy is a human pretzel. He challenged me to a game of Twister before the OSU game on Saturday night and he whooped me. I thought I did pretty good – got my right leg on red while my left was on blue and my right hand was on yellow and left on red. But when he spun and told me to move my right leg, I collapsed. Don’t quite gave the agility I once had.
But Mario, he cranked the moves out. He was literally in a near back bend and held it as I slowly flicked the spinner to give him a new move. Eventually, I ditched the spinner and just began to yell out where to place his feet and hands, calling out positions that should be impossible. But he achieved them.
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Eventually, after 20 minutes, he caved when he had to try to twist one leg under the other and his trembling arms were spread out the length of the plastic mat.
As he walked by me to sit with Jon, he commented “I only fell because I wanted to watch the game with dad.” I believe it.
Rascal.>

My caretaker

December 8, 2014December 8, 2014Leave a comment

I took Rocco for a run yesterday morning. Our regular Sunday trot together. The kids will allow me to do that on Sundays but no additional running or working out because it is our day to chill together. I got a call as I approached home. Ri chirped “when will you be home mom?”
I told her I was five minutes away and she hung up the phone on me. I came home to the spread pictured above.
“Mom, I know how you like to eat healthy so I made you eggs and your toast you love with just a little jelly and pineapple and yogurt. And guess what I put in your coffee?!”
Yep, she added my milk and cinnamon and sugar just the way I like it.” She is proving to be quite the caretaker, and gives me hope for when I’m 95 and finally in need of assistance.
In furtherance of her care taking duties, she also got on me this morning because she came downstairs and found an empty ice cream container that had not been opened when she went to bed last night.
“Mom! This is wrong! You ate the entire container of ice cream?!”
What could I say? I fessed up to her and admitted I did it.
“That is ridiculous,” she responded throwing the container away.
Who takes care of who in this family?! (I did make her dinner last night, though – so BAM!).
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Geography Bee Girl Buzzes

December 2, 2014December 2, 2014Leave a comment

This girl!
I am so proud of her.
She studied over the past three weeks for her school geography bee – there were a few rough moments where she was not happy with me pushing her to study, but she did it anyway. In the end, I believe she tried really hard.
She had left this weekend to go to Grandma Ionno’s on a sour note. I had told her that she should take her geography book with her to study. She sighed at me and barked in an exasperated tone “how much do I have to study?” I explained to her that she needed to study to the point where she felt that she had tried her hardest. I didn’t know when that point would be reached but I knew she should put some time in since the bee was Monday. She rolled her eyes and turned to get in the car.
I was sad when she left. I questioned how strict I should be about studying. Should I demand she study for 2 hours a night? Or should I give her the freedom to study as she feels necessary? I felt like I had taken the middle road and required her to study at certain times over the three weeks but also given her the option to study or do something else (which usually ended up being “something else”).
When she arrived home from Grandma Ionno’s on Sunday, the first thing she said to me was “Guess how much I studied, Mom?!”
I asked her how much and she exclaimed “Two and a half hours!”
I was heartened to see that she had taken time away from playing with her cousin to study.
On Monday, I think I was more sick to my stomach about the bee than was she. All my nerves were on high alert. She was a cool cookie about the bee from the day she found out she was in it. Her nerves did get shaken a bit the night before and the morning of but I kept reiterating how Jon and I were proud of her no matter what.
“You studied hard and you will give it your all and that is a win for us no matter the outcome.”
When I walked in the room Monday afternoon, she sat in the middle of the long table between two fifth grade boys. She was stoic. She gave Jon and I a quick smile but then was all business. The moderator asked all ten kids (2 girls and eight boys) individual questions and then a group one where each of them had to write the answer on a white board like Jeopardy. Hilarious.
Ri got all of the answers correct! She and four others (3 fifth grade boys and 1 fourth grade boy) got them all correct so they got to move into the final round. The final round consisted of seven questions that Jon and I could not even answer (“which Mediterranean country produces the most cotton?”). One of the boys got lucky and answered one of the questions correctly so he became the finalist. Ri was gracious and smiled at him. Then she leaned over and consoled the boy next to her who was crying. She possesses such a warm soul.
Her teacher congratulated her on how well she did. She smiled and said thanks. Then she walked out the door with us, looked at a box of canned goods, and immediately started gabbing about the 4th grade can food drive. I loved how she already moved on to a new subject and didn’t wallow in despair over not winning the bee. She gave it her best shot and was on to new things. Yep, she continues to teach this grown-up many a life lesson.

Wing kids

November 30, 2014November 30, 2014Leave a comment

The kids have returned from a weekend with Grandma Ionno. At age 75, this lady takes her 4 grand kids for more than 48 hours and complains not one bit. God love her – more than I can say about me after 24 entire hours.
We took Grandma to Matt the Miller’s for brunch. All Mario likes these days are ritz crackers and chicken legs. Yea, don’t ask me. He is an enigma. He ate an entire sleeve of crackers when he stepped into the house; and when we went to brunch he asked for chicken legs. They had chicken leg wings, thank goodness, and Mario was pleased. Ri couldn’t pass up the wings either because the waiter confirmed they had ranch dressing to which she could dip her wings. That girl knows how to live.

Mario isn’t quite as seasoned as Ri on the wing front. He doesn’t dip them in anything and only ate two before he was full (may have had to do a bit with the sleeve of Ritz crackers…).
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Wings have never tempted me and never will. They look and feel gross. I stuck with a turkey club and sweet potato fries – yum. But as always, the best part of the meal was the dessert – Greater’s buckeye blitz and chocolate chip ice cream. If only I could live on that for every meal. The kids have inherited my love for Greater’s as well taking down scoops of chocolate chip with me. Needless to say, I can’t take a picture of us all post-feast because we are sprawled out on the couch with our pants’ buttons undone. Happy post T-Day!>

"MOM!"

Adventures in the Life of a Working Mama

Tag: Kids