An Apple a Day

One morning I was on the treadmill (shocker) and my son asked who was singing on The Today Show. It was Coldplay. Love them. My son is taking piano lessons so I was doing my best to sell Chris Martin and the piano.

"See how well he plays? I bet he practices a lot. Wouldn't you like to play like that when you are big?" I bet he started piano when he was your age. I also told him things about Chris Martin that would make him seem like a real person (that plays piano) and not just a lead singer of a band.

"Chris Martis is from London. He is married to a really pretty woman named Gwyneth. She is a famous actress. They had a baby and guess what they named it? Apple. Can you believe they have a baby named Apple. "

My kids loved it. Lots of giggles! Apple. Giggles.

We play all kinds of music in my van. They make frequent requests for Brick House and even the Madonna and Justin Timberlake song. But lately, there is one request. "Mom, put on Apple's Dad."

Golden Reminder

We were sorting our piggy banks last week. The kids were putting their money towards some Legos and a mega slip and slide. As we sorted the money, we came across some coins from when I studied abroad in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The kids loved the different shapes and sizes of the money. I showed them the British Pound coin. When I lived there, I loved that coin. Probably because I was such a poor college student and I was hoping to score a pint with it! I also loved it because it is very thick, has cool writing on the outside of the rim and I love the color. It looks like a thick Chuck E. Cheese token. At least that's what my kids thought.

It has been a rough few weeks here in Indyworld. My youngest, Kyle who is 4, has been tough. Really tough. The tough times that you usually have when they are 2. We have tantrums and fits many times a day. Sometimes he is so tough that I am the one that ends up crying.

Yesterday, I begged my husband to put the kids to bed. After a day of three major tantrums in front of my parents, I didn't have the energy to finish the day. I asked my husband what we were doing wrong. Why was it so tough? Will it ever change? What will school be like if he doesn't listen and know right from wrong? Will we have enough money to send him away to boarding school?

Hubby put the kids to bed. They got up. Hubby tried again. They got up. I got crazy mad and then tried to put the kids to bed. They still got up. So after my last attempt, my husband tried again. By this point we were both angry and the blood pressure was boiling. My husband tried again.

When he came down, he brought a gold coin from Kyle. He said he wanted mom to have it because it was her favorite coin. I took it as a sign. He isn't all bad. He remembered his mamma's favorite coin and wanted to share it with me. He is a good boy and this is just a stage. We can make it through this and it will be OK. I swear I am going to keep that special coin somewhere in my kitchen so I can remember throughout the day that this stage will pass. I know it will. I know it will. Inhale. Exhale. Repeat. I know this will pass.

Piles Aren't So Bad

Piles. Most of us have at least one pile in our kitchen. In mine, there are usually two. One pile is for my husband with the latest mail. I then have my own pile that includes things I have to tend to at some point. We live with the pile and make promises to clean them up and they somehow seem to regrow while getting on with the more important parts of our day.

In our house, we have a very important pile. It is a tradition in our house to start "The Pile" for our vacations. Today, we were piling our sand pales, fishnets, buckets, balls and many, many sand toys high on the dining room table. Whenever we are going somewhere, one of the most exciting things to happen is when we start our pile. Yesterday, we started our Myrtle Beach pile.



My boys were so excited to get the pile started. They ran around and found alligators, boats and Star Wars guys to add to the pile. My husband and I agreed that the anticipation of the trip is almost as much fun as the trip. We got excited ourselves!

The pile keeps getting larger and larger. But, a few of the toys have wandered off and the fishnets are no where to be found. We just have to wait a couple more days until we pile our pile into the minivan and join the other minivans in Myrtle Beach. There, we will create new piles of seashells and other goodies to bring home to remember our trip. We have a lot of piles in our house.

***For a few of my N. Irish, British and Australian friends, piles in America are stacks of paper or objects. Not hemorrhoids! What a post this would have been if it was really about hemorrhoids not being so bad. ***

I Slipped.

I didn't mean to slip. It was a moment of weakness. I only slept with him twice.

My oldest has always had trouble sleeping through the night. When new moms complain about their baby not sleeping at six months old, I tell them that my oldest still doesn't sleep through the night and he will be six years old (Yes, you should see their shocked, very tired faced when I say it). It isn't so bad anymore. But it is only because we are strict with our bedtime routines. Super strict.

We don't lay down with our boys at night. We go through a routine that never changes. Teeth, pajamas, books and lights out. Through the past six years, I have tried every sleep method. You name it, we've tried it.

This past weekend we were away at our in-laws summer place on Lake Erie. It is a condo and it is very open and spacious. The light shines through the large windows and the sound of everyone below fills the loft. My kiddos struggled to fall asleep with the light and noise. My children out of their routine were desperate to fall asleep and so were we.

So, in a weak moment, I layed down with my oldest son and helped him fall asleep. It was beautiful how easy it worked. We had two relaxing nights at the condo and they went bed beautifully.

But tonight, we are back to our strict ways and he is nearly crying it out upstairs. I never imagined that I would be doing this at 6 years old. Back to Ferber!

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

Dear McDonald's,

I want to thank you for today. We had an unbearable morning. We had plans for today. When we woke up, it was raining and are plans were canceled. There were many tears. There was a lot of yelling. We have had a lot of rain lately in Ohio and the kids are tired of all of our rainy activities. They do not want to paint, color, cut or make anymore cookies. They want to run and play.

You saved me by providing a place for them to run. Their tears turned into smiles. We ate lunch and they played for over an hour. I even got to read my book, Pillars of the Earth. In peace. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Indy
A very tired mom in Ohio

Tootsie Talk

There is a put-together woman that I see every week at swim lessons. She has a style about her. Her hair is long and very dark. Her skin is pale. Her eye make-up dark but her lips neutral. She wears a lot of black and silver jewelry. Her style is not my style but I appreciate the look she is creating. As she walked by me this week, I noticed that she had a great pedicure with white toe nail polish. Bright white. It works for her. She looks great.

Now, this is something I could never pull off. With my skin tone, bright white would look pretty nasty on me. I go for bright red toenails most of the time. Sometimes I get a little crazy and wear hot pink or light pink. But, I usually go back to red.

I have been trying to remember when I first started wearing polish on my nails. When I was in high school, I used to create my own polish by adding glitter (red and blue for our school colors) to my clear nail polish. I'd wear this on my hands and my toes. Yes, it was thick but boy I thought it looked cool. I don't think there has been a day since high school when polish wasn't on my toes. Hard to believe.

What color do you wear most of the time? Is there is color that you wear when you try to be more adventurous? Are you a natural girl without any polish? Are you lucky enough to have it done professionally or do you do it at home?

Not So Wild for WALL-E

I love Pixar. I love watching Toy Story 2 almost as much as my youngest son. I love almost all of the Pixar films. I thought I loved them all. All, except WALL-E.

I think I might be the only adult that doesn't like the movie. Before we went to the movie, I checked the reviews. The reviewers were wild for WALL-E. I checked Entertainment Weekly first. I always trust their reviews.

Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Magazine reviewed the movie and wrote "I'm not sure I'd trust anyone, kid or adult, who didn't get a bit of a lump in the throat by the end of WALL-E, a film that brings off what the best (and only the best) Pixar films have: It whisks you to another world, then makes it every inch our own."

Real life people have reviewed the movie and have said the same three things:

If you don't get to verge of tears in the final act, then you just aren't human.

If you didn't like this film than you obviously have no soul.

The best movie of this year definitely.

Hmmmm. How can I be so different than most people? I know I have a soul and that I am human. I cry at commercials. As I sat and watched the movie I kept thinking about how dark and dreary the movie was. I didn't enjoy watching WALL-E in the garbage dump. I didn't care for his friend the cockroach. There is little dialogue. Reviewers loved this. Maybe as a woman, I needed more conversation and a connection. I also didn't care for the social message even though I am very dedicated to environmental issues. I also didn't like that all of the characters on the ship were extremely large. Hmmm?

By the end of the movie, my robot loving five year old asked me to leave. He loves all movies and can sit through anything. He said he was ready for it to end. I made him wait it out and watch the ending.

On the way home, I asked him what he thought. I said "Did you like it?" He said "I liked it a little." That is from a little boy with a soul and who I would trust with all my heart, review or no review.