Sacraments....Alex style...

Alex has been learning about confession, AKA the sacrament of reconciliation. For those non-Catholic followers, it's the sacrament of admitting your sins, seeking repetence and having the priest absolve you of your sins and make your soul "clean" again. Kind of an abstract concept that can be hard to grasp- especially when you are 8, and you started catechism class late. I was trying to explain this whole thing to Alex since he has to make his first reconciliation in December. He was getting it- naming off all the things he's done wrong- lying, fighting, etc. I then tried to explain to him that the priest would listen to his sins and help him seek forgiveness and strength to do better next time. All of this he understood. Then, a light bulb went off. And he said, "Wait, wait a minute- I have to sit and talk to the priest, like right next to him? Are you sure I can't just email him or video chat with him instead because that would be way easier."

The above comment coupled with the gagging and disgusted noises he made during class when he learned that the bread at communion represented the body of Christ and he realized he was going to be eating it, I think we may be kicked out of the Catholic Church by the time this kid is through all the sacraments.

Curling

Sometimes, the conversations I have with the kids take off in their own, strange, confusing direction. More often than not I find myself thinking that having meaningful conversations with anyone under the age of 10 just probably doesn't happen very often. I'd like to think that I have actual "talks" with my kids about important issues, but mostly it just goes something like this.....

Anna:  Mom, do you think that hockey is more popular than gymnastics?
Me: I think they are both pretty popular.
Anna: Yeah, there's always a lot of people at my gymnastics place, right?
Me: Yep
Anna: Alex thinks that hockey is the most popular
Me: He's just trying to start a fight with you, just ignore him, they are both equally popular
Anna: Do you think that soccer is popular?
Me: Yes, lots of people play soccer
Anna: How about football?
Me: Yes, seems popular
Anna: T Ball
Me: Well, it's popular with younger kids for sure
Anna: What about curling?
Me: I don't know if it's as popular as the other ones, but it is in the olympics
Anna: What about straightening?
Me: Huh??
Anna: You know, either curling or straightening your hair, which is more popular? Megan straightened my hair once, and you've curled it, right?
Me: Oh, curling, like curling your hair, not the sport.....I think they are both equally popular....

Because really, when you think about popular sports, don't you wonder if it's more popular to either curl or straighten your hair? I'm not sure, but I don't really think this one would qualify as a "meaningful" conversation....

(as a credit to Anna, she did know what curling the sport was when I asked her, but apparently hairstyles are just sometimes more important than sports!)

Nothing says Fall like.....

Pumpkins, of course! This year was Sarah's first experience with pumpkin "guts". Last year we painted them. That went well, but the older 2 requested carving them again this year, so we did. We actually let Alex and Anna carve theirs themselves and I think they did a pretty good job. Sarah mostly played in the "guts". By the time she was done, she had pumpkin in her ears!

In case you were wondering- Alex's is on the top of the steps (notice how one eye is an "x", apparently his pumpkin is 'dead', Anna's is in the middle and Sarah's is on the bottom- it's a puppy in honor of her continuing obsession with dogs :)

Starting Late

So, confession time- apparently we have started our kids "late" with sports. I became quite aware of this when Anna wanted to do gymnastics this year. Granted she has done a lot of park and rec kind of activities and swimming lessons and dance, but this is the first time she has actually been in an organized "sport" with levels and competitions. When I signed her up for the Beginner, 6+(age) level, I naively assumed the rest of the kids in her group would also be actual "beginners". Well, not really. There are a couple, but the vast majority have been tumbling and doing gymnastics since they were 3. We have a lot of catching up to do. Her instructors have been nice and understanding but every once in awhile we'll get a sort of nod of, "Oh yeah, well, she started late so she just needs to catch up". Really, late?? She is 6 for God's sake. Of her 6 years so far on this earth, almost 2 were spent learning to walk, which really leaves 4 years she could have been in gymnastics. I am having a hard time with the whole running around bringing her to gymnastics one night a week (soon to be two just so we can catch up!) as it is now, I can't imaging having to do this with a 3 year old.

Similar thing with Alex and hockey. Apparently 8 is just barely the cut off to be able to get into hockey. If you aren't in by the time you turn 9, forget it- there really is nothing for beginners after age 8. So, I know that Alex will have a similar struggle with the whole "trying to catch up" thing as many of the kids he plays with have been playing since they could walk. Fortunately for Alex, he is a whiz on skates and has always caught on to everything physical very quickly. But still, he's 8, and 8 is old to be starting hockey.

So, what happened? How did we let this happen? I have been thinking a lot about this lately. In some ways, it was a conscious decision on our part to wait. We knew that this stage of life- this run them everywhere and give up every weekend to sports- would be coming. And so, we waited, and we did other things. I don't regret that decision at all. I'm glad we let them be kids just a little longer. And even now, we are still not going as "sports crazy" as a lot of our friends with kids. And, it's ok. I just wish the rest of the world would see that it is ok and that sometimes starting "late" doesn't make you a negligent parent, it just means that you spent a little extra time cuddling, playing and enjoying the sweet, quickly fading "little kid" stage. Because as anyone who is a parent knows, that stage is gone in a blink and you can't get it back. Sports will always be there. And, believe it or not, life can and does happen without them :)

A "Minor" Week

It has been one of those weeks. The week started off with my graceful cooking adventure in which I managed to slice my thumb open with a soup can cover. This little event bought me 2 nice, neat stitches right over the knuckle on my thumb. It did, however, get me out of finishing dinner that night :) It didn't, however, feel very good :(

Wednesday I had the extreme fortune to be rear ended on my way to work :(  Not so good. But, looking on the bright side, the woman who hit me had insurance and spoke English (which if you have done any amount of driving near downtown St. Paul, this is not always the case). Really no damage to the car or me, so all was good.

Sunday Sarah had a collision with the big boys (my brothers) who were playing football in the yard. Unfortunately for Sarah, her little head was involved. Sarah and I spent the night in the ER with her projectile vomiting concussion. She seems better now, but really irritable- which is not typically her personality. The worst part of this is that we need to try to protect her from anymore head injuries in the near future. I think I may just need to keep a helmet on her. Attempting to keep Sarah from injury was already a full time job, this will surely put us into overtime on the whole preventing Sarah from killing herself watch....

All in all, some drama this week. We have certainly had worse weeks. I guess that this week we are thankful for "minor" injuries and "minor" drama instead of any "major" reportings :)

Stroller-less

I like strollers, I really do. They are a great invention when you think about it. Contain the kids, have a nice spot for your coffee and your bags or whatever you might need. Save your back from having to carry the usually struggling to get away from you toddler. But, there is also a sense of freedom when you don't have one. You don't need to worry about how many steps there are to get in and out of a building, you don't have to struggle to get through the doors by making your arm stretch as long as you possibly can and hurling the stroller quickly through the door all the while hoping the door doesn't take off your heel. And the best part- you get to just follow along....

 And meet new friends....

 And find new adventures...

 Wait, are you still there?

 And go places the stroller can't.....

 And crunch in the leaves...

 And meet more stroller-less friends....

 And walk by and look on with interest at those who are still contained....

 And decide that you are big enough to not hold anyone's hand and just to make sure you are going to leave them clasped behind your back so no one tries....

  And just relish the fact that you can touch the glass without trying to reach over a stroller tray....

And just be...

Ah, freedom, can you feel it?

I'm a Big Girl Now :)

Growing up way too fast....check out all the cool stuff Sarah can do now....

The Naughty Corner

Looks just like any other corner, right? Ah, yes, but if you ask Alex or Anna where the naughty corner is, they would both simultaneously show you this little spot in our dining room. Not too long ago we very nearly had someone in this corner almost continuously. Sort of like a cycle- Alex would get out, Anna would get sent in (mostly for taunting Alex for being in there in the first place), and on and on it went. I think it was probably a good 3 years (or at least it felt that long) where not even one day went by without someone in it at least once. A few days ago Anna commented "Mom, how come we don't ever use the naughty corner anymore and why doesn't Sarah ever have to go there?" This got me thinking....

When did we stop using sitting in a corner away from us as punishment?

• I think it was about the same time that going outside, playing with their friends and watching TV all became cooler than spending time with us. They still get in trouble, it's just that their currency is different now. To send Alex to the corner for 8 minutes will not have the same effect as grounding him to the house for a day. Although, to be honest, the whole grounding the kids to the house is really just a mean and cruel punishment on the parents. Not sure who came up with that idea, but stupidly we also enforce it around here....

Why don't we send Sarah to the corner?

• This one is tougher. It's certainly not because she doesn't ever get into trouble. Sarah IS trouble, plain and simple. The corner is still there, we still own a timer. Either we have become softer or we have realized that sending her to the corner for 2 minutes will most likely not make any difference and so why waste our time? Yep, she's the baby and she's gonna get away with it all :)

Why, out of some 5,000 pictures I have taken since Alex was born can I not find even one picture of anybody in the naughty corner?

•  Pondering this one I think it is because at the time we were sending them to the dreaded corner of shame, the last thing I wanted to do was take a picture and remember it. It's not that I don't have pictures of my kids crying, I certainly have my share of those. But absolutely none in the corner....weird, huh? I guess the only thing I can say about this is that when Alex and Anna are older and in psychotherapy for irrational fear of tight spaces and corners, I can deny all knowledge of how this could have developed :) After all, there is no proof, right?

Anybody else have a "time out" ritual like this?