Category Archives for Family

Miss Norah

Someone asked me recently if Norah is “like that” because I’m tired out from the other two.  I didn’t bother to ask what she meant by “like that”…anyone who has met Norah knows that she’s what you might call a “spirited” child.

I’m sure it’s at least partially my fault that she’s “like that,” but I think being the 3rd child has something to do with it too.  She is extremely independent, because we’re not always hovering around to help her like we were when we only had 1 kid or even 2.  Today, Norah was trying to get something on top of the entertainment center, which over 5′ tall.  I caught her heading in with a second stool to put on top of the first one since she still couldn’t reach.  She learned to dress herself and zip her sweatshirt before Adlani did, even though he’s 2 years older.  Nothing stands in her way.

Aliya knew at a young age that there were words she wasn’t supposed to say, even if we said them occasionally, and Adlani was pretty oblivious to the “bad words” so he didn’t often repeat them and get us in trouble.  Norah, however, has absolutely no filter.  If she knows that she’s not supposed to say something, that’s even more reason to say it.  Being extremely curious, having no restraint, and being naturally loud is a bad combination (her preschool teacher actually had the nurse check her ears to see if there was a medical reason that she talks so loud).

Recent comments from Norah (all spoken at top volume):

To a lady in Wal-Mart:  “IS THAT FAKE HAIR???”
To me in Mel’s, a restaurant with very tight quarters:  “WHY IS THAT GUY SO FAT???”
When she drank out of the wrong cup in a restaurant:  “WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!?!”
To random friends and family members:  “MY DAD CALLS YOU STUPID.”
Me:  “Your hair looks like-” Norah:  “HELL??”

I’m pretty sure that someday she’s going to become a well-behaved young lady, but for now all I can do is tire her out and grab the few hours of peace while I can. There’s a song on my iPod with the lyrics, “She looks like an angel when she’s sleeping, but she looks like Charles Bronson when she cries.” I can’t help but think of Norah when it hear it. Or when I heard “Born to be Wild.”

It’s a good thing she’s cute.

I Feel Happy

This morning in the middle of the chaos of having 3 kids on summer vacation and trying to get some work done, I got that giddy feeling that has been so elusive recently.  I almost didn’t recognize it.  It’s not that I’m usually unhappy or sad, but the range of emotions has seriously leveled out.

Twenty years ago I could go from depressed (“He didn’t call.”) to elated (“He called!!!”) at the drop of a hat.  I felt hopeful when I woke up in the morning, proud when I was complimented by a customer, angry when something didn’t go my way, sad when I found out that I had been lied to, excited when I had plans to go out and mingle.  Now my emotions on a typical day range from overwhelmed by my to-do list, annoyed when I have to say something for the 5th time, angry when I have to say something for the 10th time, enraged when I have to say something for the 15th time, and relieved when I’m able to escape and go to Zumba, a business dinner, or just to run errands.

Today was a great day.  I had a few things that I had to do for work this morning, and I did them all.  I had the afternoon off and went to Lana and Larry’s to tire the kids out in the ce-ment pond.  While I was there, our niece cleaned our house top to bottom.  When we left the pool to take Adlani to Taekwondo, Norah fell asleep and I went through the DD drive-thru, got an iced latte, and had a half hour of peace and a People magazine.

After that we went to Papa Gino’s for Aliya’s soccer party, and tired the kids out again.  Aliya went back to Lana’s so I *had* to go get her [alone] later on.  When I walked in, Lana handed me a plate and a beer, and I got a little misty.  We watched some Friday night trash TV, and came home to a quiet house with everyone asleep.

Add in the fact that BJs now stocks turkey pepperoni, I got new hand soap and shampoo at Trader Joe’s, and I have a bowl of raspberries and whipped cream waiting for me to finish this post, and it was a fabulous day.  Meeting our new friend Bailey, who just arrived from Ethiopia (and is the most lovely, delicious baby ever), made it even better.

It’s all about perspective.  My kids are still rowdy, my house still has piles, and my to-do list is still long.  But I’ve been working on getting things organized, prioritizing the responsibilities I take on, and checking at least one “toleration” off the list every day.  I’ve been sleeping at least an hour more each night, and I feel better.  Aliya has been a huge help in getting the house in some semblance of order, and she works cheap.  🙂

I realized the other day that this is the way it’s going to be for a long time.  I’m not pregnant or nursing an infant any more.  My kids all buckle their own seatbelts, wipe their own butts, and dress and feed themselves.  I don’t have an excuse…”I’ll have more time when Aliya’s out of diapers…Adlani learns to walk…Norah morphs into a human being…”  I’d better learn how to manage the time that I currently have, because I’m not going to have more time until Aliya learns to drive.  No more waiting for things to get better…the time is now.

Adios Kindergarten!

Adlani and 100+ of his pals graduated from kindergarten yesterday, and he’s moving on to first grade.  He’s extremely excited to have Sra. Stubbs-Dame for next year, mostly because she has a pet gecko named Brenda who lives in the classroom (no offense, Sra. S-D).  We’re excited too because I think Sra. Stubbs-Dame will be a perfect mix of fun and structure for Adlani.

We’re going to be working on his reading over the summer…I actually noticed some improvement when we read today vs. the last time I did the reading groups in his classroom a few weeks ago.  He loves books, he just wants someone else to read them to him.  The Spanish books we have at home aren’t as good for beginning readers as the ones from school, but we got some from Norah’s teacher Maria today that are perfect.

Adlani’s really going to miss his kindergarten teacher, Sra. Gray.  In his card to her he told me to write, “I wish you could be a first grade teacher or I could stay in kindergarten.”  He told me to write in his English teacher’s card, “I love you because every time you say my picture is beautiful.”  AAWWW.  🙂

Above:  The kids were cracking up because the wrong music came out of the CD player.

Above:  The presentation for the retirement of Aliya’s kindergarten teacher was really sad.  🙁

Above:  Adlani’s teacher gave me this one.  So cute!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgjDNXWZ2sM&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0]

Canon Rebel T1i

When I was getting ready to go to Costa Rica I realized that I HAD to upgrade my camera.  I hesitated because it was right after Christmas and I didn’t feel like I should spend the $$, but I got a great deal on Amazon.com, and my friend Rob did the research and told me what to buy so I just took the path of least resistance and went for it.

I’m so glad I did.  I LOVE this camera – seriously.  L-O-V-E.  Aliya did her project for the research fair on bees, and when we were at Old Sturbridge Village last weekend she saw a bee on some flowers and asked me to take some photos for her project.  The photos came out so great!  There were some challenges with the papier-mâché and clay beehive but after the structural collapse I had the brilliant idea of re-inflating a balloon inside until it dried (I had to pop the first one before putting it in the oven to speed the drying process).  It’s looking sort of like a brown clay balloon, but Aliya put it all into perspective when she said, “Don’t worry about it Mom.  We’re in second grade.  They don’t expect that much.”

Anyway, here’s one of the bee photos (click on it for higher resolution).  Isn’t it cool??  And if you think it’s easy to take a photo of a bee, give it a go.

Camp

Last spring I mentioned to a friend that it was almost time to head out to our camp and she responded, “I don’t know what you like about that place.”  She went on to say that I spent my weekends there doing some of the same stuff that I do at home – cooking, cleaning, and listening to the kids fight over nothing.  We have to pack up every Friday and fight the traffic on the Pike.  We share the camp with my brother and sister-in-law, so we clean up when we leave on Sunday.  Seems like a hassle.

For some reason it feels different out there.  In fact, it’s not even so much about liking the place, it’s more of a NEED.  I NEED to go there because it’s the ONLY place that I relax.  I know, I should just learn how to relax at home but so far I haven’t been able to master that.  There’s always laundry piled up, errands to run, or emails demanding my attention…if I ever lay around for a day at home I’m almost always deathly ill.

Our camp in Holland (MA) is a tiny (600 SF) ranch, on a tiny (.16 acre) lot that’s basically vertical.  We have a small beach on Hamilton Reservoir that we share with 7 other houses.  I honestly don’t know why I can’t relax anywhere else, but as soon as I turn onto Holland Road on the way out of Sturbridge I feel so happy, even though just 10 minutes prior I was wearing earplugs to cut the volume of the whining and screaming coming from the back seat.

We arrived at camp around 6 p.m. last Friday, with pizza that we picked up on the way.  I ate dinner, drank 2 Oranj & Frescas, and fell asleep at 7 and slept for almost 12 hours (I usually sleep 5-6 hours per night).  Over the 3-day weekend I read 2 entire books, took at least 3 naps, played games, made s’mores, and went for a couple of walks.  We made a trip to civilization on Saturday to load up on provisions, and spent a few hours at Old Sturbridge Village, where we take full advantage of our membership.  Today I found the energy to knock a few things off the to-do list, followed by more reading and another nap.

I expect that the kids will eventually think camp is boring and start giving me trouble about going, but right now they love it as much as I do.  They love to play in the water and fish, but tonight when I asked Aliya why she loved camp, she said it was because we get to spend a lot of time together there.  I don’t know how many years I have before the kids get sick of spending time with us, but for now, that’s what I like about that place.