Kids and Recess

When I hit junior high and high school, there was a bit of a fiscal crunch going on. (Sound familiar?) The schools started trying new and creative ways to cut corners.

Our day began earlier, but eliminated one entire class period all together - if I remember right, we ended about 1:15pm. Study hall was gone. Many "electives" started going by the wayside, and even lunch got eliminated at one point. It was replaced by a "snack break." I don't really remember the duration of said break, but thankfully that was one change that didn't last long.

The NY Times has published a good article on the importance of recess. We are just starting our venture into this whole idea of school where Daniel is concerned. But I am seriously considering clipping this and filing it somewhere for easy access.

Interlude

The fever started Monday evening, he was uncomfortable and wanted into our bed, then back in his own bed - and we wound up falling asleep in the living room: me on the sofa, and him on his own Superman sofa - with the Noggin channel on for distraction. I dosed him with Tylenol, to which his response was: Mommy, you shouldn't do that. And we got through the evening.

He's my baby, my honey, my little Energizer Bunny, my little blond Tasmanian Devil. So seeing Daniel feverish, with no energy - just poured on the couch watching videos and napping and drowning his sorrows in juice is a bit of a change in routine.

Today he's more up and around. It's Mommy with the run-down appearance, the semi-sore throat and the cough. H's job has pretty much said that they are cracking down on anyone using their sick time. Can you believe it? I'm sure he's wishing for a hermetically sealed room for when he gets home this evening. Makes me want to sneak into the manager's office at his work and lick all the office supplies or something, I mean really!

Here's hoping this virus is as kind to parents as it seems to be to my kiddo so far...

Digging In

We've taken to calling Daniel "Badger" lately. He digs in his heels about everything. What to eat, what to wear, the potty, stalling bedtime... And invariably when I am occupied, say on the phone, is when he most wants my attention.

One item I decided to stop fighting about early on was using utensils at the table. I put out a spoon or a fork every time, and he dug in with his hands. We serve a lot of finger foods.

Both he and his Daddy are big on eating cereal. I've never had much of a problem with it, as we've mostly avoided the really sugary stuff: a lot of that baby-staple Cheerios, oatmeal, and Daddy's Honey Bunches of Oats. Badger has suddenly decided that his formerly-dry Honey Bunches of Oats should have milk, and he should be driving the spoon.

He's not arguing about sitting at the table for it, and all things considered he's doing a pretty good job. Now I have to find a solution for the multiple clothes changes due to milk spillage. Any ideas? Naked cereal eating? A rain poncho?

Spring - Loaded

H and I spent a lovely Saturday evening recently, eating dinner out with some friends, a couple we have been trying to connect with for months. We finally met up for dinner, courtesy of some babysitting from my parents/Grandma & Grandpa having driven in from Wisconsin for a visit.

They departed, and H and I were spending a quiet evening at the computer and curled up with a book respectively when:

BANG!

I remember feeling puzzled - peeking in on Daniel to see that everything was OK. I finally settled on feeling annoyed, assuming that one of our condo-neighbors had left late and inconsiderately slammed the door.

The next morning, H discovered that one of the massive springs that move the garage door up and down had broken. Sounding like a gunshot that shook the whole place! I'm certainly glad that I wasn't in the garage at the time. Who knew those things could go like that?

We've had a few warmer days here recently. Teasers of 50 degrees or so, that feel gorgeously like Springtime. While we have retreated again to colder temps, it's not quite as bitterly icy as before. I'm holding on to those wafting bits of warmer weather, coiled and waiting for Spring.

Out of Synch...

I love Fall. H and I married in October, with the crisp air and the falling leaves. Winter, I have to say, has been kicking my butt with increasing frequency every year. I'm always cold, and my thoughts turn to cuddling by a fire with a good book and a hot chocolate until the warm weather returns.

(And now, it seems our things are out to get us. We've been spinning with multiple car repairs, computer problems... at the moment I'm afraid to touch anything around here lest another problem rise up to bite me with an ugly chomp.)

My hibernating self is closeted with a three year old Energizer Bunny, and whoo! some days are an interesting tango of what to wear, what/when to eat, the potty struggle...

Today we went to my mother-in-law's place for a visit. It was the usual happy chaos of dogs, cats, Gram, aunts, uncles and cousins. At one point, Daniel came barrelling through the kitchen up to the gate penning in the dogs and shouted into the living room to us: I'm having fun with Nick-o! He then spun about, tearing back through the kitchen to the back bedrooms where he had been playing with his cousins. Leaving us all smiling.

I do love my stormy, passionate kid.