Bubble Wrap

Our neighbor is not the kind to drop by with cookies.  Industrial glue gun, anyone?  Maybe a couple of 6-packs of break-away glass bottles?  This week it was  a giant roll of bubble wrap!  We pinched, jumped, danced and then got creative.

Are we having fun, yet?

Saying YES!

I love it when I get to say, YES, to my little darlings.  Like the rest of humanity, they are impulsive and prefer their gratification to be instant whenever possible.  The hottest movie ticket at our house is currently The Adventures of Tintin.  That means all things Tintin are desirable to the point of fixation.    What is Mom to do when the light of her dear ones' hearts changes weekly?  "Mom, can I have a [fill in the licensed character du jour]?"  "YES!"

This is my solution.  We make our own.  They tend to last as long as the celebrity crush, but if not, are easily replaced.

Step 1:  Print favorite characters

Step 2:  Color

Step 3:  Glue onto sturdy cardboard (this is the inside of a cereal box)

Step 4:  DIY laminate with packing tape (optional)  I opted out this time.  

Step 5:  Play

Play

Play

Note:  This has worked for Disney's Cars, Shaun the Sheep, Angry Birds, and Dr. Who

Get on Your Boots

Brilliant idea of the day:  Get on your boots and go outside.

Friend in Need

Generally, it's not okay with me when Mermaid slides under a closed stall in the ladies restroom.  This is not an infrequent issue.  My usual response includes dropped shoulders, hand to forehead and the rolling of eyeballs followed by a frustrated groan.  Yet, there she goes, slipping under the stall door with her supernatural flexibility and popping up on the other side.  Her friend is in there.  Her friend, E, is throwing up.  E needs her.

I can see from Mermaid's ankles that she is standing to the side, but very nearby.  As the belly contents lurch again, Mermaid puts her hand between E's shoulders in a series of soft pats.  By now, I'm peeking through the slit in the stall trying to decide whether or not to intervene.  "Ooh!"  Mermaid says, "That's gross."  All the while patting E's back.  All the while standing by her friend.  All the while comforting her.  Never looking away.  Never minimizing E's suffering.  Mermaid stands there, by her friend just being with her.

My eyeballs are not rolling.  My shoulders do not shrug.  There is no frustration.  Only the unspoken wish that I could be more like Mermaid.

A Time to Play

"Summer and every single moment is worth its weight in gold!" -Phineas & Ferb

Memorial day couldn't come soon enough and now the long sunny days of summer are nearly gone. 

Did we change our pace?  

Did we make enough memories?  

Did we sleep in and snuggle?  

Did we take a road trip?  

Did we visit friends?  

Did we taste adventure?  

Did we eat ice cream?  

Did we dance?  

Did we make new friends?  

Did we get mosquito bites and sunburns? 

Did we stay up late reading stories?

Did we use up all of our glue sticks?

Did we watch movies?

Did we catch fireflies?

Did we write new music?

Did we eat watermelon?

Did we attend a family reunion?

Did we camp?

Did we play games?

Did we have lengthy play dates?

Did we enjoy it?

You bet we did!!  We allowed so much time to play this summer that I'm actually itching to start the routine and schedule of a new school year.  It's so great to have the balance tip so far in favor of play that I choose to tilt it back towards work.  

A Day of Miracles

Torpedo reading an entire book to the family complete with silly voices and accents.

Sparkle voluntarily reading...at the breakfast table  

and the playground.

These are all milestones and miracles.  Some days are just better than others.

Life is sweet.

Life is sweet...and sticky

Life is sweet.  I believe that.  But life is also sticky...kind of like a tangerine.  Sweet things usually are.

Recently, I've been particularly adept at noticing how sticky I feel.  Mermaid has become quite the climber.  Her new skills have imbued her with unprecedented bravado.  We've chased her down storm drains, under fences, into traffic, and even out the window.  Aren't prepositions great?!  Ironically, her growing competence makes her more difficult to protect.  I am on alert and it's exhausting.

Did I mention she locked herself in the men's lavatory at a state park?  It's okay.  The ranger had her out within 30 minutes, but not before an entire dynasty of Chinese picnickers having a family reunion tried picking the lock with each other's credit cards.

Oh yeah, and there are four more amazing growing individuals with unique needs and desires that also call me Mom.  The list of things that need doing is pretty long.  I think about it a lot.  The list of things that actually get done is rather short.  I generally disregard it because I'm thinking about the long list.  No wonder I feel so sticky!

Maybe I need to loosen up and stick my tongue out at the long list.  The short list covers eating meals together and making music every day. The short list includes communicating with God and moving the miraculous bodies He gave us.  The short list features playtime and rosy cheeks whether from wind or sunshine.  The short list has snuggle time and story time.  The short list provides a space for conversation and spontaneous play dates.

When the ranger liberated Mermaid from the men's lavatory, she threw her arms around his waist and said, "Can you love me?"  Yeah, I have time for that.  It's on the short list.  I'm not going to stick my proverbial fingers in my ears and whine Nyah, Nyah at the long list because high school transcripts, IEPs, home improvements, thank you notes, laundry, and other worthy causes really should be on a to-do list somewhere in my life.  But when I stick my tongue out at it I'm sure to remember that life is so sticky precisely because it is so incredibly sweet...kind of like a tangerine.