New School

The boys started their new school and seem to like it just fine. Not much phases first-grade boys, apparently. During the whole move process, I obsessed endlessly over how the boys would adjust to going to a new school. I did that a lot as a kid (I went to 5 different elementary schools between Kindergarten and 6th grade), and I remember being so sick to my stomach with worry about being the new kid. Would my boys feel that way too?



My worries were for nothing. They enjoy their new school and have met lots of new friends. The school has been very supportive of having the boys and has made the transition easy. The boys each have great teachers and aren't having any troubles being where they need to be in the lessons currently going on at the new school.

Even my worries about starting school 30 minutes earlier - and the entailing having-to-get-the-boys-up-30-minutes-earlier-routine has been a smooth transition. An interesting change I could never have predicted - no more TV in the morning. We don't have a TV in the main living area of our new house (kitchen/dining/living room) instead having opted to put our "big" TV (which is a laughable term, considering it's not big at all, but the biggest we have right now) in our family room downstairs. So when the boys have breakfast in the morning - at our new favorite place, the breakfast bar! - there's no TV, which means no Sponge Bob, no Clone Wars, no nothing. The boys get up, get dressed, eat breakfast, then go back upstairs to make their beds, brush teeth, put jammies away, and please, please remember to turn off the lights up there so Mommy doesn't have to walk up those stairs yet again to turn them off herself (who ordered a house with all these stairs anyway? Oh, that's right, I think it was me...).

The boys do play their Nintendo DSi's in between all these chores, but they are fairly cooperative about turning them off when it's time to leave. Most days, anyway.

The part that's been killing me - and I don't know if it's because we're at a new school or because they are just growing up (sob!) - but they refuse to let me kiss them at school any longer. When I drop them off at school, I have to kiss them in the car before they are seen by any other kids or settle for just (barely) a hug. Another sign that they are succumbing to the pressures of their peers - Nathan pulls off his hat and gloves the second he thinks he's out of my eyesight. This is truly hilarious, because, like every mother of every age, my eyesight extends much further than he can possibly imagine. Plus what will he do when his ears freeze off??!!



My babies aren't my babies anymore...

The Best of Us

Yesterday, the boys were playing outside with the neighborhood kids. The ground here is sloppy with mud and slush, and before I could get back out to see how they were doing, Nathan had run home with sopping wet jeans smeared with - fun! - dog poop. Awesome.

I got him a new pair of pants to change into, and he told me was sorry for getting covered in dog poop. I told him that was kind but totally unnecessary. Boys get dirty. Dog poop is a little extreme, but still. Then he said, "Yeah, it happens to the best of us."

I guess it does.

The Romantic Life

My babies are no longer my babies. I know this. And yet, I love to cuddle and snuggle them as much as they will allow. One night this week, when they both rebuffed my attempts at snuggling, I very loudly protested in a fake, wailing cry. Jack looked at me and, very un-ironically, told me, "Mom, stop being so romantic."

I think he meant dramatic. But then again, maybe he wants me to stop kissing him so much. Whatever.

I'm sure I don't need to dwell too much on their sense of humor, but as a good example, here are pancake "butts" they make at breakfast most mornings. It's supposed to look like a person bent over...you get the idea...

Dating Already?

Nathan has this recent habit of always asking what time it is. I never have a watch on me, other than my phone, which is usually nowhere nearby. So I don't have a good answer for him in most cases. My usual response is, "Why? Do you have date?"

He gets extremely annoyed by this. He must have been thinking of up ways to get back at me - last night, after asking again what time it was, and me giving my usual response, he nearly knocked me to the floor by saying, "Yes, Mom, I have a date. I need you to take me to pick her up in 5 minutes."

Ugh...please no, I'm not ready.