Join Me in Snarkville

My boy, my FOUR year old boy, went to sleep last night talking about waking up and being FOUR. No, I have no idea why he wanted to be four so badly — other than he’s been looking forward to his birthday since April (not at all like his mother, who never mentions her upcoming birthday randomly and possibly to strangers). However, there is NO way that his dreams of being four included me working since 6:30am and being completely exhausted. (more…)

There’s this thing in my world over the birthday.  Oh, yes, we all remember last year when I focused on me (which is totally unusual, right?) and looked at my birthday for what six or seven straight months?

Well, my dear son has been in FULL on birthday mode since like May.  Yes, I’ve trained him well, though I fear I may be forced to share my own birthday candles with him next month.  I’m a mommy, I can share — for the good of the child — and because after he goes to bed, I’m totally having a second piece of cake with my OWN candles, dangit.

Ok, back to the point here.  Duke is turning four — tomorrow.  Yes, tomorrow.  And yes, we’ve totally been celebrating around here for about a week.  (Frankly, this is really no different than the year he was born and I was kept trying to get the party started and he was all “No, thank you, Mommy, it is really nice in here. But I digress.)  I’d say the party began on Wednesday of last week.

A List of Birthday Celebrations that may or may not be a Four year olds idea of a birthday party:

1. First trip to the dentist.  Went very well.  Duke likes the part where they “got the oatmeal out of his teeth.”
2. A day at the amusement park.  Highlights included riding MANY rollercoasters — some of them completely on his own.  He also got soaking wet on the rapids ride — and never stopped grinning.
3. Shopping trips that included TWO Costco runs, a trip through Target, and Lowe’s.  Oh yes, that was fun.
4. 18+ pancakes consumed over the weekend.
5. Watched a movie AND ate a bowl of popcorn.
6. Ran the vacuum cleaner in his room.

And the birthday hasn’t even begun quite yet.  As I have it figured we will STILL be celebrating this birthday at the end of August too.  And you know, I’m totally ok with that — just as long as the four year old girl in me gets *MY* month of September.  (You thought we’d NOT talk about my birthday??  It’s like you don’t even know me.)

As naptime rolled around yesterday I was patting myself on the back and praising the fact that I’m a good mother and my son is a good son who makes choices and promptly laid down for his nap at 11:30am and was sound asleep shortly thereafter.

Then he woke up and I was slapped back into the reality that my near perfect morning was the exception that this child who was NOT the same one I put to bed for a nap is the reality. (more…)

Ok, so I’m a wee bit DOWN on the Easter Bunny this year.  And I have a very good reason — 6 straight hours of the TALKING.

This was the first Easter that Duke ate his candy.  Let’s review,

• Easter 1: Duke was given plastic eggs with Cheerios inside.  He played with the eggs and ignored the Cheerios.
• Easter 2: Duke was given the same plastic eggs with a combination of Cheerios and fruit snacks inside.  He ate the fruit snacks and ignored the Cheerios.
• Easter 3: Photos here.  Duke LOVED the eggs of Matchbox cars, totally ignored his candy.

(more…)

Last night, Duke was an eating MACHINE.  I’m serious if it was not nailed down he either ate it or asked to eat it.  (In case you are new, this is so not like him.)

So on our drive home from school last night, he says to me, “Mama, I like strawberries.” (more…)

Oh my — things have been a whirl for the last 24 hours and I slept (in a house with heat and the windows closed) for 7 of those 24.  I seriously have no idea where the time goes some days, but yesterday found me eating lunch at 3pm (though I thought it was 2pm because I hadn’t — still haven’t — changed the clocks in my car).  So, since my to do list is longer than yesterday, I fear I must bring you snippets of the last 24 hours. (more…)

(Sidenote: For all those desiring a photo of the Boise shawl (which yes, was left off the list) will have to wait. You see, as I was digging through the WIPs, I COULD.NOT.FIND. it. Yes, it is freaking me out, but right now I’m left with three options:

• Someone has broken into my house and stole my unfinished shawl.
• I have packed it up in an “I will always know where this is” location and promptly forgot.
• I have lost it — but frankly this is so far fetched I can not imagine this is truly the case.

I did find two balls of the yarn, so I was able to rule out that I had imagined the whole shawl.) (more…)

…until I was hit by the felon* and completely sidetracked with a discussion of arrests and policeladies.

Ok, back to my more boring life again.  On Friday**, I kept Duke out of school.  We talked about how playing hookey wasn’t something I was going to allow since I value an education, but since this was pre-school and one day shouldn’t affect his whole ivy league college application, we were going to do it. (more…)

I’m sick.  Horribly, icky sick.  I need to stay in bed and live on nothing but Nyquil all weekend — the doctor said so.  So in the tradition of Family Circus, when Billy fills in for his dad, I bring you Duke’s entry for the day. (more…)