Kenzism - In Her Belly

While at church on Sunday Kenzie and I had the following conversation:

KENZIE: Mom, where is the baby? (She was referring to the fact that there were a circle of men in sacrament meeting on the stage, but no baby . . . she is used to seeing a baby blessing with a circle of men, but this was one of her first experiences seeing someone being confirmed.)

ME: Oh, there is no baby this time, see that lady up there? She is getting the holy ghost.

KENZIE: (with an EXTREMELY confused look on her face) Where do they put the holy ghost?

ME: The Holy Ghost is a gift that you get so that you can feel him inside of you helping you choose the right.

KENZIE: Oh, they put him in your belly.

Looks like I have a good idea of what FHE will entail the next few weeks!

Project Bewitch - Rule #1

For those of you who are unaware of Project Bewitch, you will just have to click on the label to update yourself a bit - then you'll be a little bit less confused about what I have to say here.

I really have been putting a lot of thought into how to make those last few hours of the day more pleasant in my house. It's really important to me that we enjoy those few hours that we have together as a family each day, and for Garrett to come home to a happy home as often as possible. Things can just escalate to madness and chaos too quickly and I am determined to have some fun and enjoy each other as much as possible.

So, my first rule of Project Bewitch is:

Four-O-Clock Is Quitting Time!

Let me explain.

I tend to get super stressed out at the end of the day because I am thinking of the things that haven't gotten done, I am thinking of dinner that needs to be made, I am looking at the house that I would like to be more tidy before Garrett walks in, and I can quickly get myself worked up into a frenzy.

Or better yet, I am dead in the middle of a project and I just keep going and going with it and before I realize it Garrett is walking through the door, the girls are ready to eat, and I'm actually hungry myself, which puts us into the hungry grumpy family zone, and things can quickly go down hill from there.

So from now on at four-o-clock my ONLY priorities are

to get dinner on the table,

to do a quick tidy-up,

and to enjoy my family until my girls are snuggled away in their little beds.

If I'm on the computer working on something - I am DONE at four-o-clock, if I am decorating a part of the house and consumed by a project and four-o-clock hits . . . it's quitting time. It's time to change gears.

I know this whole thing might sound kind of silly. But, I think these hours of the day can be hard because I make them hard. I get wrapped up in something else besides enjoying my family and then I get mad because I'm not enjoying my family . . . it makes no sense. If I can simplify those hours to focus on a few things rather than a lot of things then it's so much easier to obtain my happy family goal.

I have to say, it has worked wonders so far. When four hits, whatever else I am doing stops and I sit down and spend some time with the girls doing whatever they are doing. Then I start getting dinner ready and the house a bit tidied up and I just feel so much less stressed when Garrett walks through the door. I'm not trying to unpack, and keep the girls happy, and make dinner, and tidy up, and finish up a blog post, and make a phone call, and deal with the current temper tantrum all at the same time. (Which, by the way, dealing with all that at the same time ALWAYS leads to me dealing with the girls in a less than desirable way - which gets me frustrated with myself about being frustrated with a kid who is just being a kid - which just gets the ball rolling for a stressed-out unenjoyable evening!)

So, there you have it. The rest of you probably don't have a problem with trying to do twenty things at once - but I certainly do. So, my first goal of "Project Bewitch" is to start simplifying at four-o-clock each day and not to concentrate on all the projects at once (which I know I shouldn't be trying to do twenty things at once at ANY hour of the day, but I am just going to take the wise advice from What About Bob? and practicing taking "baby steps").

Wanted: A Shoe Stand

Due to the wetness, the slushiness, and the dirt of our new great state it has become necessary to make a change - our home has become a no-shoe home. (Did I mention the white carpets . . . also a contributing factor).

I never thought I would be the owner of a no-shoe house. I don't like walking around with bare feet and I don't like wearing socks or slippers all day either - which only leaves you with one option: wearing shoes.

The problem with bare feet is that it leads to cold feet. And the problem with slippers is that when I need to go outside then I have to change into shoes, which I never actually do (why would I? I am only going a few steps out the door). So my slippers get all wet and yucky really fast.

Plus, I don't like making people feel like they HAVE to take their shoes off in my house. I want people to feel comfortable and there are many good reasons why a person might not feel comfortable taking off their shoes. (Stick foot, unmatched socks, hole in socks, bunyons, whatever . . . people have their reasons to keep their piggly-wigglies covered up.) Now I don't plan to announce to each house guest that their shoes must be removed, but a line of shoes next to the door might put on the pressure for them to do so.

My final dislike for a no-shoe house is the pile of shoes that accumulates at each door and never accumulate in your closet. (I am a creature of habit and all my life it has been the habit that shoes go in the closet.) This accumulation not only seems to turn into an eye-sore, but it also becomes a fun play spot for the kids. (I can't tell you how many times I have gone shoe hunting here . . . why do I buy my kids toys if they find so much entertainment in every other household item that is NOT intended for being used as a toy?)

So, I am on a mission to find a couple of shoe racks that will hopefully organize my current shoe problem.

Wish me luck!

Kenzisms - Daddy Rocked the Cradle

This is a Kenzism from several months ago that I forgot to record.

We were all sitting around the kitchen one evening after dinner when and I asked a question of sorts that led Garrett to excidetly say:

I Do!

Kenzie: Me Too!

Garrett: Me Three!

Kenzie: (without hesiation) No Daddy, I three, Jordyn one, and you forty.

(In case you don't know, it's funny because my husband is currently 29)

A New Label

My last posting about the overly abundant television expopsure that my children are currently enjoying kind of floored me. You see, at the end of the posting I was trying to decide what to "label" the posting for the blog. Right then I realized that Dora is an icon of sorts for the pre-school aged child, so I quickly added the new label of "pre-school years".

Then it kind of hit me how fast this whole parenting thing is happening. I've already been through some major stages of a child's life - the newborn, the toddler years, and now I am right in the midst of the pre-school years.

Now, I know I can't boast having gone too far due to the fact that I am yet to expereince the elementary years, the teenage years, the adult years, and hopefully those grandparent years that I have heard are quite the treat.

Time is flying. I hope I am doing a right good job of enjoying the ride.

The Girls Meet Dora

This sight has been all too common since we left our home in San Francisco.

While we have been in limbo we have stayed with friends and family that have something that is somewhat of a novelty to my children . . . Cable Television. Garrett and I are have somewhat of a sad combination, we are cheap AND lack self-control. (Which I do realize is somewhat of an oxymoron due to the fact that cheap people tend to have a little bit more self control than is usually reasonable, but hear me out . . .) You see, we are not only too cheap to pay for the monthly access to cable, but we also know that if we had the cable that we would lack the self-control to turn it off (which six weeks of staying in homes with cable television has indeed confirmed)

So, back to the three year old and one year old whom this post is actually about.

I'm a little bit worried about the day a week or so from now when my kids will no longer be enjoying the company of Dora once, twice, or even three times each day. I know they will adjust and life will go back to what they knew in their limited cartoon supply of a few morning cartoons on pbs kids (at least I hope the satellite TV works up here because those few cartoons afford me a shower and a few chores each and every day).

At first Kenzie was absolutely shocked at the idea that the tv could flip to three or four DIFFERENT cartoons all at the same time, but that has become old news for her now. Now she can practiclly name which show she wants to watch at which time of day.

I must admit that I carry a good load of guilt at the amount of tv they have watched during our San Francisco to Alaska transition, but I get some relief in knowing that come August 9 (the beloved anticipated day that we move into our HOUSE, that's right people, our apartment days are OVER)my children will have this constant flow of entertainment taken away.

So, for now I will just let them enjoy it while they've got it. I'm quite certain that the distraction of living in a house quadruple the size of the one they have always known will give them sufficient entertainment . . .

The Bewitching Hour

There is something that can be oh so very horrible about that last hour before Daddy comes home. While most days I can cope just fine and even enjoy this time with my children, there are also days when I can't stop looking at the clock and envisioning the moment when Daddy will walk through the door while I simultaneously run out of it screaming. (I am pleased to note that I have not followed through on the vision yet, but I have come very close.)

Today was one of the more miserable days when daddy's homecoming was very much anticipated by all in the house. (You know it is bad when the three-year-old is screaming "I want my daaaaaaaa-deeeeee".)

During that last hour I can feel like the "please don't do that" phrase is being used in hyper drive. I feel like the busy body toddler is on a mission to destroy every item she can lay hands on. And I feel like the whines, the bickering, and the redundancy of it all is trying to suffocate me.

So, I am on a mission to make this last hour of the day a little bit more bearable. Ideas are brewing in my head about how to make this possible. They won't be able to come to fruition until we are in a house of our own. But I will keep you posted on what I will now refer to as "Project Unbewitch".

I am determined not to be the witch of the bewitching hour any longer.