Tag: Parenting

Summer nights 

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Maria and Mario chowed down their dinner on Sunday night because Jon got a text from Biscuit and Cookie’s dad that they would be over in ten minutes to ride electric scooters with Mario. Ri chimed in that she wanted to go, too, on her bike.

Mario’s response in a flirty voice: “Ri has a date with Cookie….” 

She shoved him into the table.

We told them both to be back at Cookie’s and Biscuit’s house at 8 pm because it was a school night. Last word out of their mouths “ok.”

And 8 pm came and went. Jon was trolling the streets trying to find all of them. I was walking up and down adjacent streets. We asked neighbors if they’d seen them. Now, I was not too concerned for their safety. They were together in pairs – Ri and Cookie and Mario and Biscuit. That is one beautiful thing about our neighborhood – it has sidewalks, people are out, kids are running around. But I was irritated that they hadn’t listened to us. 

Finally, I see Ri and Cookie and Lucia biking down the street laughing and having a great time.

 “We stopped by and said hi to Lucia! When we told her Cookie’s mom was making ice cream sundaes she got her bike and joined us!”

Ok, we nabbed two of them but we needed the other two rascals. It was 8:20 and nothing. Then I get a phone call. My neighbor says “I’ve got two boys – one in neon. Want me to hold them til you get here?” Little does Mario know there are eyes all over Grandview watching him. I asked my neighbor to send them to Biscuit’s house.

   When I asked where they were, Mario replied excitedly “the highway!” 

What?!

He explained that he had convinced Biscuit to go down Grandview Ave. towards Tim Horton’s and the highway to “spice up” their usual route. Jon and I had a long talk with him about staying within a two block boundary. He is quite the instigator and I would bet he’s gonna be quite our little rule breaker, too.

But we forgot all about being irritated with them once the ice cream sundaes were served.  Moose track Ice cream, chocolate chips, chocolate syrup, whipped cream. Yum! We are gonna miss these summer nights.

   
  

 

First day back to school

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I woke Ri up from her slumber at 6:45 am this morning. She had wanted to wake up at 6:30 am but I struggled to get out of bed for 15 minutes. Jon and I were rather liberal with our wake up times this Summer – getting up at 7 or 7:30 to get ready for work. We knew that would end today since the kids would be wanting to head out early for the first day of school. 

I got Rocco out of his kennel and took him for a quick walk in the woods. When I returned, Ri and Mario were dressed and preparing their lunches. Ri was packing salad and ranch dressing in her new containers. Mario was watching her. She walked over to the counter after placing her containers in her lunch box and began dispensing mini M&Ms into Mario’s yogurt. I had complained the night before that Mario needs to eat Greek yogurt to get more protein. But he refuses to eat yogurt unless he can dump the crushed Oreos or M&Ms in it. So Ri went to the store with me last night and bought a large container of Greek yogurt and a bag of mini M&Ms. 

“This will save you money, mom, because you can just pour the yogurt in a container and sprinkle a few M&Ms on for Mario instead of buying a bunch of separate yogurts that don’t have as much good stuff in them.” 

The girl is a born mother. Mario began pouring more M&Ms in his yogurt and Maria stopped him. 

“Whoa there buddy, that’s enough chocolate for you.”

Seriously.

They put their water bottles and lunch boxes in their book bags and slung the bags over their backs. They knew I’d need to take my pictures of them so they scurried outside to get them over with as quickly as possible.

   
   

They look a bit gawky for their first day, in a sweet way. Ri’s got the fifth grade “I’m growing into my body and it’s strange” look and Mario has the second grade “I’m way too cool for pictures look.”

But they broke loose once they hit their respective schools. Ri ran around with all her girlfriends laughing and playing. The pictures say it all.

   
   

I met up with Mario after some other moms got the crazy photos for me.

  
By the time I arrived, he looked like a little angel carrying a backpack and ready to conquer school.  

He had no desire for Jon or me to head into school with him. When the bell rang, he and a throng of kids rushed inside the doors anxious to see their rooms. Now, to keep that excitement all year…!

Home

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All is well with the world again. My babies were home all weekend with me and Jon. We played Quirkle (Jon won one and Ri won one) and hung out around the house. Mario is still fighting some virus so we needed to lay low. 

The kids biked up to Stauf’s on Saturday afternoon to get bagels and write a piece about Jorge on my computer. They did not want me to come with them. Ri packed the computer in her book bag and they set off together. It is the sweetest sight ever to watch them when they are getting along. I take joyful refuge in watching them bike side by side up the street as they smile and and talk to one another. 

  
They called me after 45 minutes and asked if I wanted to come up and play cards with them. Why, of course, I told them. I opened the coffee shoppe door and there they were with their drinks and half-eaten bagels with cream cheese. Mario reading a magazine and Ri on my computer. I marveled at their independence. We played crazy eights and go fish and I didn’t win a game. But I loved hanging with them all the same.

   
 

We went school clothes shopping after Stauf’s – heaven help me. I have too much testosterone or something because I detest shopping. We only went to one store and I was ready to rip my head off after an hour. I am my mother’s child. I recall my mom and I going to Shapely Outlet Mall when I was a pre-teen. I was trying on dress after dress oblivious to my mom. All of a sudden, I hear a crash and a yelp. Mom had walked right into a mirror. She was done, shot, ready to go. So maybe it’s not too much testosterone – maybe it’s hereditary. 

On Sunday, we had our breakfast at Stauf’s – one of my single most favorite Sunday activities. Jon joined us for a game of Go Fish. Mr. “I don’t play those childish games” certainly became Mr. Competitive as we started playing. He almost beat out Mario but Mario pulled away with 14 pairs to Jon’s 11. A bit later, the kids got their lemonade stand together. Ri worked for an hour on the sign while Mario prepared the lemonade. They didn’t get to many hits, unfortunately. But I can’t believe how long they sat out there together with no computer or tv to watch. Just staring out at the street and chatting together. 

  
I’m holding on tight to these days: I know the time will come sooner than I like when the kids are more interested in friends’ houses and any where else other than home.

Ohio State Fair Hair

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I sent Ri off to the Ohio State Fair today with our summer sitter. She’s been begging to go all week and it almost didn’t happen because Mario got sick this morning. Super Dad came through though and worked from home so Ri could go. 

I told her to send pictures with the pigs and horses and chickens. Instead, this is what I got…

 

Along with a message to please let her by a flat iron for $150. Seriously?! Has the fair always had booths that sell flat irons and woo young girls in by curling their hair for free?! What has the world come to? 

She did later text me this picture.

 
I was happy to see she engaged in traditional fair activities like the Ferris wheel. I’m sure she also took down some yummy fair food as well. 

But I’m still flabbergasted at her first text. Really, a hair products booth?! 

procrastination

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I am such the procrastinator. It’s August 4 and I’m just getting around to trying to find a sitter for the kids for after school. Granted, I thought our summer sitter would be able to do it and just attempted to confirm that fact with her two weeks ago when she quickly informed me that her classes would not allow her to do it. Lovely.

I immediately signed up Mario for Kids Club at school but am still waiting to hear back about whether they have space. There’s a non-procrastination point for me!

I trust that Ri could head home on her own and stay at the house until we got home from work. She is more responsible than Jon and I combined and is definitely a born mother! The other day Jon didn’t have on his seat belt and she barked at him to put it on…now! When I drove her to Target, my phone beeped and I looked at it for a second to see if it was work and she reached up to the front seat and yanked it from the console.

“Mom, do you know how many people die every year from looking at their phones while driving?”

But Jon and I still feel like she’s too young to come home and be all alone for a few hours. So, the mad search continues. I’ve got other moms helping, colleagues, friends, and babysitting sites. I wish someone wouldn’t have decapitated that robot walking across America – I bet he would have been good with the kids.

Last night, Ri and Mario got on one of the babysitting sites and looked at prospects. Mario wants a boy sitter (a manny) so badly. He’s over girls already…. Ri could go either direction although I know she’d rather stick with a girl. But she’d give that desire up to appease her little brother (as always). Mario found a guy that he thought looked cool. He was an athlete with cropped hair. 

“Can you call him, mom” he asked.

Maria stepped in and covered his contact info. 

“No way! We cannot have him!” She declared with force.

“Why?” Mario pleaded. 

“Because he’s not CPR-certified” Ri responded matter-of-factly. 

  

Monkey man

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Mario wanted to go to the park badly yesterday. He has been missing his buddies down the street this Summer; they have been staying at a cabin in Hocking Hills most of Summer break. Last year, they were inseparable so he’s not quite sure what to do with himself this Summer. However, he surely knows what to do when I’m around. Beg me to take a bike ride or go to the park. He doesn’t have to beg long, however, because he knows I’m game if the activity involves being outdoors. 

We walked up to the park; actually, I walked and Mario rode his electric scooter – his prized possession. He told me he wanted to do Parkour. Ok, I thought. I’m game for some exercise. 

Oh my.

I knew Mario was a monkey but didn’t realize how much strength it takes to perform some of the activities he does effortlessly. For example, scaling up a fireman’s pole. You need some arm strength to scale that bad boy. We did it three times in a row and I thought death was upon me. Then we did those darn monkey bars. They have always been the death of me since I was little. They hurt my shoulders but they kill my hands. Mario got such a kick out of me crying about how much my hands hurt; he couldn’t imagine how they could hurt so badly since his didn’t hurt at all. 

I finally understand Jon’s complaints to me when I make him walk miles and miles – it doesn’t bother me so why should it bother him? 

I finally had to call it quits on the monkey bars (after going across about 20 times) because I had a blood blister on one hand and two nasty pussed-up blisters on the other. 

   
 

Mario agreed to cease activity on the monkey bars but we had to do jump ups on to the slide before we called it a day. He has quite a career in exercise training if he wants to go down that path but I think half his clientele will quit before they have to climb those bars along side him. His inner monkey is too much to handle. 

camp time

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I have been all out of whack the last few weeks. Irritated at people much sooner than I usually am. Snapping at Jon. Sighing loudly as I wait for the person ahead of me at the grocery to load their items on the cart. 

Why this irritability?

Because my babies have been away at camp. The earth is off its axis, or so it feels. I’m used to coming home and seeing their smiles, hearing their stories, watching them wrestle.  It has been non-stop camp time this July with Ri going to Eco Chic Girl Scout camp for 6 days, Mario going to Boy Scout camp for one week, and Ri going to Camp Akita for 5 days. 

Ri was less than thrilled with Eco Chic. She was in good spirits upon her return and didn’t complain about it until I started digging. Then she divulged that it was super dirty and they didn’t do much and they had way too much down time. The biggest issue was the cleanliness – and my girl is not one to really care to much about that so it must have been gross. But she did meet new friends and got girls’ phone numbers and emails. And she said there were some fun times during the trip like swimming and getting manicures. 

   
    

She also thought it was cool to stay in a yurt. I thought that was cool, too. I lost the mom of the year award by not writing her a letter during her stay. Everyone else got letters from their moms and family during the trip. I felt really bad about that one so I made sure I wrote her one for her Camp Akita stay (watch, no one will have letters on this camping trip and she will be embarrassed that I sent one – never fails). 

All the parents talk about how much their kids love Akita so I’m hopeful Ri comes back loving this experience. And she was placed in a cabin with seven of her other girlfriends so she was happy about that. Can you tell?!

   
 

Mario was not overly thrilled with day camp for Boy Scouts. None of his other scout friends went this year and Jon and I decided to drop him off and not stay with him this year (last year a parent had to be there). We knew it was going to be a crapshoot as to whether he’d take to it or not. He’s much more a homebody than Ri. And sure enough, he asked to stay home on Wednesday and Thursday rather than go to camp. We let him. But he did go on Friday to finish up the week. The good parents that we are did not realize that it was only a half day on Friday so I went to pick him up at noon (Jon had dropped him off and picked him up each day and Mario LOVED that). I searched for Mario when I arrived – not finding him amidst the mass of kids. But then he popped up before my eyes and grabbed my hand. 

“Mom, let’s go fishing!”

It was free time in the afternoon and that’s all he wanted to do. He caught two fish within ten minutes. As we were waiting on number two, I commented that I liked fishing because it was relaxing.

“Mom, it is not relaxing! You have to be pumped up and ready to pull that fish in if it gets your line. You gotta be alert. It is far from relaxing!”

Well, ok then. He told me.

   
 

Unfortunately, all the other kids wanted to fish, too so we had to give up our pole after 20 minutes. But Mario was ok with it (so happy he caught two right out of the gate). We tried archery but the line was long. So he introduced me to ga-ga ball. It’s like gladiators but with a rubber ball. These boys were brutal in the wooden ring trying to take each others’ legs out with the ball. Mario loved it.

  
So here I sit on a Friday night with my hubby. We had a delicious La Tavola dinner together and hit up Kroger’s for some groceries afterwards. Then we came home to an empty house. Should we play cards? Watch a movie? We are paralyzed with the strangeness of no kids in the house. 

But we still have the Rocco-man. 

Walk time.

  

Bed time

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Maria has been begging for a new bed for months. She complains she’s not comfortable in her bed – it’s too hard and too lumpy. I’m not sure when we bought her bed or if we even bought it. It may have been my grandma’s since the headboard and footboard are hers. I can’t remember. In any case, seeing we have had foam pads laid across her bed for months, I figured it was time to get a new one. Besides, she swears she will sleep in later on a new bed….

I took the kids to the Original Mattress Factory down the street on Saturday morning. What a hoot that trip ended up being. The kids could have tested mattresses all day. Mario, of course, pleaded and begged and whined to be able to get a new mattress like Ri because his mattress was horrible, too. Yea, right. Of course, the ones they immediately gravitated to were the most expensive. $2,200 for a twin orthopedic mattress! Seriously? Mario couldn’t leave its side. The salesman, Thom, was a 20 year employee of the store and gave us its history. Maria was fascinated and peppered him with question after question. She loves any kind of history. He even took them behind the showroom doors to let them see where they stored equipment and beds. He was quite the host.

Then he showed me where the more reasonably priced beds were located in the back of the showroom. Now we were talking – $200-350. Of course, after laying on the orthopedic ones, these felt like rocks. Smart move, Mattress Factory. Mario kept jumping from one to another to another. Maria actually laid on a few for a while and soaked them in. She finally landed on one that she felt was the best. It was a pillow top double sided mattress that was not at the low range but not ridiculously high. She convinced me by analyzing the others in comparison to her current mattress and the difference in the pillow top. I tried it out and could feel the difference. But honestly, what drove me to agree was the sheer hope that this gem would have her sleeping until 9 am.

  
Mario continued to hop from bed to bed while I filled out paperwork for Ri. When I told them we had to go, Mario pleaded for the $2,200 mattress. When I said no way for the tenth time, he distressingly replied “ok, I will take that one.” He pointed to the $1,200 one. I’m glad he continues to believe he will be a pro football player making “$1 million dollars a week” because he’s gonna need it with his taste.

  

vegetarian gal and meat boy

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Maria became a vegetarian this weekend. The reason? Still no clue but she just wanted to give it a try. She is going “meat-free” she declared at Kroger’s. Vegan is next on her list. 

 

Ri has stuck to it this week – La Tavola ice cream has helped quite a bit. I believe we had ice cream for dinner two nights straight…. But she’s also taken down cucumbers and plums and salad. We will see….

Meanwhile, Mario declared that he was only eating meat from now on … oh, and donuts. It’s gonna be hard with his two front teeth missing.

  

Party animal and fitness freak

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Maria had four parties to attend this weekend. Mario had a 150 pound tire to pick up and turn over. Let me explain….

Maria is up for most anything. She went to the 4-8 grade swim party on Friday night from 8:30-10:30 pm with her friend Henley. There were only five fourth grade girls who showed up, including Ri, but lots of boys. She hung in the entire time going off the diving boards and eating chips and cookies. 

  
On Saturday, she played softball and then went straight to her girlfriend’s house for a birthday party sleepover. When we walked in the condo lobby, seven girls ran across the hall to greet her. So precious. She didn’t even say goodbye as she ran with them towards the elevator. 

I picked her up at 11 am on Sunday morning and she went straight to the basement to get revived for her 1 pm soccer party. She was ready to go at 12:45. She chowed on pizza and lemonade and ran around with her girlfriends while one of the parents got the Kaoroke machine running. Then they all let loose singing Lady Gaga and Katy Perry songs.

 

After some brownie batter ice cream (La Tavola ice cream is the BEST), we hit the road to go grocery shopping. We came home with 50 minutes left before book club, and cranked out some lemon zest cookies to take over to her friend’s house.  I picked her up at 7 pm and we went home to throw the softball with the boys  until 8:30. Party girl!

  
And then there’s Mario. I am sure he will follow in his sister’s footsteps in a couple of years – running around with his buddies to their different houses. But for now, he still hangs with mom and dad more often than not. He’s my biking and running buddy – we walked to Stauf’s and ran Rocco on Saturday. 

On Sunday, Mario’s friend Henry was available to play. We biked over to get him at 11:30 am (it was blazing hot already) and decided to hit the football field. 

  
These two ran the steps with me and threw the football together. While we were tossing the frisbee, we noticed two guys close to us who were doing a Crossfit workout with a huge tire and weighted sled. Mario was entranced. One of the guys asked if the boys wanted to help him flip the tire. Neither of them hesitated.

  
After the thrill of flipping it with one of the guys, they had to try it themselves. I tried to help them but Mario shoved me away. “We can do it, mom!” And they did. 

   


The testosterone was pumping after the tire flip so they moved over to the weighted sled. They looked like mini weightlifters with their shirts off and muscles pulsating. 

  
But what did they like most? Acting like hamsters in a hamster wheel when I let them run in the tire as I rolled it across the field.  They may be strong men but they are still kids at heart.