Monthly Archives for January 2013

That New Car Smell

Or maybe it’s just the absence of that old car smell.  We cleaned everything out from all the nooks and crannies in the Jeep Cherokee this morning, and ended up with 2 laundry baskets full of crap.  I don’t know how this happens.  Every time we pull in the driveway, when all the good mommies are saying, “Welcome home!!!”, my trademark line is, “GRAB SOME CRAP!”

I know…kids aren’t supposed to hear/say crap, but “transport your personal belongings into the house” doesn’t have the same ring to it.  So theoretically, each time we go into the house the car should be empty.  Everyone should be able to gather up all the crap they brought with them, or make two trips.  But NOOOOOO.  The car just gets more loaded up with crap until I finally lose it (or there’s any possibility that I’ll have to drive a client or coworker somewhere), and I’ll have the car cleaned – inside and out.  This usually happens once a month, so I don’t know how it gets so bad.  It’s a company car, for crying out loud!  It’s embarrassing!

I swapped the old crap-mobile at the dealership for the shiny, new, slightly more petite Ford Escape.  Aliya picked the color because she figures I can buy it for her after my time with it is done.  After a 5-minute discussion about what’s in the owner’s manual pouch and one signature, I had a half-hour lesson on how to use the phone and radio controls on the dashboard and steering wheel.  It’s still a little intimidating, but I made a phone call and didn’t crash, so I’m good.

And in the interest of keeping the new ride crap-free, everything that’s left behind when the kids exit the vehicle will be scooped into the strategically-located trash can at the end of the driveway.  All done.

Time Flies

People who have older kids always say how fast time flies…”Enjoy the kids while you have them because before you know it they’ll be grown up and gone.”  I have never felt that way.  Whether I was changing diapers, struggling with sleep issues (theirs, not mine), breaking up fights, cleaning up spills and couch-drawings…I felt like it would never end.  Until today.

Adlani had homework last night that he didn’t finish before bed – he was falling asleep at the table.  He asked me to wake him up early to finish it – a 6-page story.  So this morning I got up at 6:30, woke him up, and made chocolate chip muffins to reward him for working hard and taking responsibility.  The muffins were in the oven, the dishwasher was running, the house wasn’t a complete wreck, nobody was bickering, the dog didn’t need to go out, the dryer wasn’t beeping, I had already responded to the email that had arrived since midnight, and I didn’t have anywhere to be after delivering all 3 kids to Lego Club (Aliya’s an assistant to the coaches).  I felt, temporarily, at peace.

So I sat down on the couch and looked at Adlani sitting at the table.  He looked so cute and was really concentrating on his homework.  And then, it happened.  I thought, “Time flies.  I should take a photo because I will want to look back on this moment.”  So I did.

This week has been a big one.  After my ankle injury and sciatica during the holidays, it felt so good to catch up on some overdue work and whittle my email down from 400+ to about 150.  I was motoring along when two things happened.

First, Aliya decided that instead of going to middle school where the rest of her school typically goes, she was interested in looking at the charter school.  So I spent some time researching it and talking to people, and then we went to the open house.  We both loved the school.  It is an Expeditionary Learning school, and the students do a lot of field work and experiments as part of their curriculum.  They are taught to be critical thinkers, rather than memorizing facts from a book.  I was very impressed with the dedication of the teachers, and the respect between teachers and students, as well as the students with each other.  Admission is by lottery, so now we wait until February 7th to see if she gets in.

Second, I heard that our friend’s parents were willing to rent their house in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico during the summer.  And just like that I got permission to work remotely (more remotely than usual) for a month, to take the kids on a Spanish immersion adventure.  The more I read about it, the more excited I get.  The girls are excited as well, although Adlani is worried that the house might collapse and that there will be bats and/or bears in the caves that house the hot springs.  He is his father’s son.

The fact that Aliya is leaving elementary school and heading to middle school seems to be the tipping point for the sudden feeling that time is flying by.  When I (briefly) considered whether or not to go to Mexico, I thought about how many more summer family excursions we actually have – not that many.  At some point Aliya will have a summer job, and it won’t be long at all before she goes off to college.  If we wait until we can comfortably afford it, it will be too late.  It’s only money.

¡México aquí llegamos!