Learning Losing Graciously

Libby has taken to board games. I was never a fan, but Candy Land and Chutes and Ladders don't require a whole lot of thinking and Libby's enthusiasm is contagious. The problem is that she hasn't won a round of......well, anything. I've won a few, and Peyton cleans house and mops the floor with the rest of us regularly. Which is weird. She's two. Make no mistake, the games we're playing involve little (or no) strategy, so we're all at the mercy of the spinner or the cards we draw.

Today I had a few exchanges at Target (and some Valentine M & Ms to buy), so I bought Chutes and Ladders while we were there. We were meeting Shane for lunch (furlough day for me) and we opened the game and played at the restaurant while we waited for our food to arrive. By the way, did I mention how fun it is to have kids of an age where I can take them to lunch and entertain them with a board game? Not to mention that everyone eats from the menu and no one gets there meals from any part of my anatomy. I know it's been a while since I breastfed anyone and I'm so glad I did. But it never hurts to reiterate how wonderful it is when your children feed themselves solids.

Where was I?

We played the game and put it away when our food came. When we got home Libby wanted to finish the game before naps and I'd told her that we would. Peyton had long lost interest, so it was just Libby and me.

I was stoked to win quickly, which meant earlier naps for all of us, but I misjudged the devastation my win would bring Libby. She dissolved instantly into a puddle of tears and rage shouting things like, "I never get to win!" and "Peyton always wins!" and "Why don't I ever win?!" Her disappointment was reasonable. Her stomping around and screaming earned her a trip to the rug. Now that I'm thinking about it, thank God we didn't finish the game at the restaurant.

And I remembered why I don't like board games. As a kid, I hated to lose just as much as she did today. And I handled it roughly the same way. The world, in general, doesn't receive us well when we lose. So, at some point I just stopped playing games. Because people like us better when we don't resemble the Tasmanian Devil. Holy tantruming reflection right in front of me. Oh, I love her.

Ironically, after her time out, she wanted to read a Berenstain Bears book about dealing with the disappointment of taking third place instead of first. Gotta love those Berenstains. I'm thinking tomorrow we'll do a puzzle together. That, or I'll take Peyton with me to buy a lottery ticket.

Phew!

What a week. Last week we started and finished our first round of state testing. I won't lie. I was so nervous that my students results would be drastically different from my (very strong) teaching partners. And my students did great! Phew. I ended the week with an exciting round of report cards. This girl can party, huh? Anyway, with last week behind me I've been able to just love being with my family this weekend. My dad and Margie were here and helped watch the girls on Thursday and Friday. Then yesterday we spent the morning at the park in the sun. It was glorious.

Peyton plays contortionist.

A spring-like sunset.

Last week Libby went to a birthday part for her best friend in her class. How cute are they? The party was at Build-a-Bear and ended with princess cupcakes in the food court. My girls love anything princess.

Speaking of a princess..... all dressed up and too tired to go.

The girls watched Nick Jr. in my classroom one day last week. Five minutes later Peyton was sound asleep. She's been fighting a fever for the last few days which makes for a very snuggly Peytie.

Look at those feet. Our baby's getting big!

What'r you lookin' at?

Just a Chair? Please.

Y'know that chair I bought at IKEA? The one that hangs from the rafters of the wood shed? It's totally my kind of thing. I'm always trying to figure out the optimum way to use the smallest of spaces. It's sooooo not Shane's sort of thing. I know when I brought that home he raised his eyebrows when I wasn't looking. He thought of better ways to use twenty five dollars. But just now as the girls and I were playing with stickers at the kitchen table, Shane walked through the kitchen to the back door and announced, "I'm going out to the wood shed."

"Daddy, I'm coming with you!", was Libby's reply.

"Daddy, I'm coming with you!", echoed Peyton.

"You are?", he said. "Now wait a minute. You guys just want to come out and watch t.v. But, you've already watched enough t.v. today."

"Noooooo." answered Libby. "I just want to BE with YOU."

Case closed.

A week (or two) in review...

Gone are the days where I would take the girls to do an activity and be simultaneously writing a blog post about the activity in my mind. We're too busy. There's too much going on to find the time to sit and enjoy writing about it. Even as I'm sitting here writing I'm thinking I need to invest in earplugs. The decibels that Peyton can create, when Libby has taken something she believes is rightfully hers, will render me deaf within two years. Mark my words. The good news is that before I could finish a sentence and intervene they were already laughing about what was a battle seconds earlier. Even Grunden keeps approaching me, putting his wet nose under my elbow and looking at me as if to say, "Remember me? You used to throw a ball for me. I still sleep on the bed, but only because you're too tired to notice I'm there. My ears are infected. Help."

And I have so much support it's not even funny. No other working mom would (or should) have one ounce of sympathy for me. I've got it relatively easy. Shane and my mom cook for all of us. Often. I'm not the only one who does laundry, and I even got Shane to agree to being in charge of scrubbing the bathrooms. But better than that even, my kids are so well loved. They're happy and thriving. And loud.

Anyway, here's a look back over the beginnings of 2011....

One project I obsessed about over vacation was these picture frames. I made them to hang outside my classroom and frame work that my students produce. They took too long. I should've waited till summer. But, they're done now. I'll have so much more time this summer.

Libby noticed this tree behind our house when we got home from Bend. It had been cold and snowy and though it was still December these blooms made me wish for summer.

I love weekend mornings. The girls entertained themselves in the kitchen one morning. Lately though, their entertainment involves moving furniture.

Last week my mom and I took the girls for a final game at Mac Court to watch the Lady Ducks play. They won, and I love the idea of my girls growing up and being able to say, "I've been a Duck fan for so long that I even went to games at Mac Court!"

They just had fun with the chairs.

Post game play.

Last week, my mom and I went to the new Matthew Knight Arena for the first men's game. It was awesome! I didn't bring my camera though, so you'll have to check out the pictures on my friend Amy's blog. It was so much fun!

We often do Friday night burgers with the girls. I had the same when I was a kid. Last week Peyton came to the table as Bono.

Grammy Jane bought some construction paper for the girls and they're getting the place ready for Valentines Day. If ever there was a holiday for little girls....

Last weekend the girls and I went to Portland for Lucy's third birthday party. It was a pool party and the girls loved being in the water. In spite of how she did last time around, Libby just might be ready for lessons this year.

Happy Birthday, Lucy Bug!

Dinner and presents after the party.

Birthday Girl.

On Friday night we took the girls for sushi. We ordered them teriyaki chicken with rice, but Libby got her hands on the sushi and loved it. Peyton was happier with chicken, but loves eating (stabbing) with chopsticks. Today she tried to eat her lunch using two straws.

On our trip to Portland last week I got the girls this chair at IKEA so they'd have a cozy little place to call their own in the wood shed. The wood shed, a.k.a. the out building, the workshop, the man cave, or a place to sleep out of the elements when you're in trouble. Anyway, it was a hit. And since Shane put a t.v. out there..... well, the house was so quiet.

Watching Diego.

Quack!

I

love

my

What a game! It was fun to watch and Auburn was a tough team. We got so excited in the first quarter we screamed and yelled and made the girls cry. Oops. By the time it counted in the fourth quarter, they were yelling with us! I'm proud to be a Duck!

prerequisite to Parenthood

A friend of mine sent this to me in an email and I loved it because it reeeeeeeally speaks to me at this stage of our lives. Plus it just made me laugh. I especially loved the part about the goats. Try it. You could probably substitute cats for goats if you have better access to cats. Enjoy....

Thinking of having kids? Try this 11 step program first....

Lesson 1

1. Go to the grocery store.
2. Arrange to have your salary paid directly to their head office.
3. Go home.
4. Pick up the paper.
5. Read it for the last time.

Lesson 2

Before you finally go ahead and have children, find a couple who already are parents and berate them about their...
1. Methods of discipline.
2. Lack of patience.
3. Appallingly low tolerance levels.
4. Allowing their children to run wild.
5. Suggest ways in which they might improve their child's breastfeeding, sleep habits, toilet training, table manners, and overall behavior.
Enjoy it because it will be the last time in your life you will have all the answers.

Lesson 3

A really good way to discover how the nights might feel...
1. Get home from work and immediately begin walking around the living room from 5PM to 10PM carrying a wet bag weighing approximately 8-12 pounds, with a radio turned to static (or some other obnoxious sound) playing loudly. (Eat cold food with one hand for dinner)
2. At 10PM, put the bag gently down, set the alarm for midnight, and go to sleep.
3. Get up at 12 and walk around the living room again, with the bag, until 1AM.
4. Set the alarm for 3AM.
5. As you can't get back to sleep, get up at 2AM and make a drink and watch an infomercial.
6. Go to bed at 2:45AM.
7. Get up at 3AM when the alarm goes off.
8. Sing songs quietly in the dark until 4AM.
9. Get up. Make breakfast. Get ready for work and go to work (work hard and be productive)

Repeat steps 1-9 each night. Keep this up for 3-5 years. Look cheerful and together.

Lesson 4

Can you stand the mess children make? T o find out...
1. Smear peanut butter onto the sofa and jam onto the curtains.
2. Hide a piece of raw chicken behind the stereo and leave it there all summer.
3. Stick your fingers in the flower bed.
4. Then rub them on the clean walls.
5. Take your favorite book, photo album, etc. Wreck it.
6. Spill milk on your new pillows. Cover the stains with crayons. How does that look?

Lesson 5

Dressing small children is not as easy as it seems.
1. Buy an octopus and a small bag made out of loose mesh.
2. Attempt to put the octopus into the bag so that none of the arms hang out.

Time allowed for this - all morning.

Lesson 6

Forget the BMW and buy a mini-van. And don't think that you can leave it out in the driveway spotless and shining. Family cars don't look like that.
1. Buy a chocolate ice cream cone and put it in the glove compartment.
Leave it there.
2. Get a dime. Stick it in the CD player.
3. Take a family size package of chocolate cookies. Mash them into the back seat. Sprinkle cheerios all over the floor, then smash them with your foot.
4. Run a garden rake along both sides of the car.

Lesson 7

Go to the local grocery store. Take with you the closest thing you can find to a pre-school child. (A full-grown goat is an excellent choice). If you intend to have more than one child, then definitely take more than one goat. Buy your week's groceries without letting the goats out of your sight. Pay for everything the goat eats or destroys. Until you can easily accomplish this, do not even contemplate having children.

Lesson 8

1. Hollow out a melon.
2. Make a small hole in the side.
3. Suspend it from the ceiling and swing it from side to side.
4. Now get a bowl of soggy Cheerios and attempt to spoon them into the swaying melon by pretending to be an airplane.
5. Continue until half the Cheerios are gone.
6. Tip half into your lap. The other half, just throw up in the air.

You are now ready to feed a nine- month-old baby.

Lesson 9

Learn the names of every character from Sesame Street , Barney, Disney, the Teletubbies, and Pokemon. Watch nothing else on TV but PBS, the Disney channel or Noggin for at least five years. (I know, you're thinking What's 'Noggin'?) Exactly the point.

Lesson 10

Make a recording of Fran Drescher saying 'mommy' repeatedly. (Important: no more than a four second delay between each 'mommy'; occasional crescendo to the level of a supersonic jet is required). Play this tape in your car everywhere you go for the next four years. You are now ready to take a long trip with a toddler.

Lesson 11

Start talking to an adult of your choice. Have someone else continually tug on your skirt hem, shirt- sleeve, or elbow while playing the 'mommy' tape made from Lesson 10 above. You are now ready to have a conversation with an adult while there is a child in the room.

This is all very tongue in cheek; anyone who is parent will say 'it's all worth it!' Share it with your friends, both those who do and don't have kids. I guarantee they'll get a chuckle out of it. Remember, a sense of humor is one of the most important things you'll need when you become a parent!

For anyone else reading this - I'm thrilled that you are all enjoying it, as I did - immensely. However, I DID NOT write it! It was sent in an email from a friend of mine... and I'm not sure who the original author is.