A Pox Upon Our House

We've been sick...all of us. Three weeks ago Nathan came down with a cold, a pretty nasty one. Within a week, we all had it. Just as we were finishing up with the cold, Malia got sick with something else icky. I won't give details because it is all pretty disgusting, but it was not pleasant. That was Friday. I got sick on Saturday and Sunday morning Kevin, Daniel and Nathan jumped on the bandwagon. Matthew held out until Sunday evening.

This is the first time in my memory that all of us have been sick all at the same time. We've had all the boys sick at once before and we've had times where we took turns, but this is the first time we've all been down and out on the same day. Not fun. I think we're in recovery mode now, but we're planning to hunker down for a bit longer and try not to share the misery.

The germfest is definitely my very least favorite part of sending my kids back to school.

Journal Jar #4-3 Pet Peeves

1-Lateness. I’m one of those people who have difficulty understanding how some people can be late to every single event ever in their whole entire lives. You would think that they would clue in and maybe plan a little in advance so they can arrive on time. Because as one of the usually on-timers, it can be very frustrating and a huge waste of my own time (which, contrary to their beliefs, is just as valuable as their time) to sit around waiting on the perpetually late. I feel like I’m late if I’m not on schedule to arrive ten minutes early, so I know that being on time can happen on a regular basis. Yes, there are times when life just craps all over my plans and I end up being late, but it is the exception not the rule.

2-Rudeness. No, you really don't own the road. And no, I'm not to blame just because you are either 1)having a crappy day or 2)just a total jerk.

A fine example of rudeness happened five or six years ago. I was shopping with several children in tow, I think I had Matthew in the cart and Nathan trailing along behind. I turned around the corner of an aisle, peeking back to make sure Nathan was behind me at the same time, and accidentally bumped into the back of a woman with my shopping cart. I felt terrible and apologized profusely. However, she didn’t even take time to listen to my apology. She just lit into me, hollering that it was the third time that I’d hit her. Ummm, no. It was the first time. It had been an honest accident and I had apologized sincerely. Nevertheless, she felt she had the right to yell at me in the middle of the store in front of my kids.

I’m not perfect, but I do try my best to be polite. I say please and thank you. When I am driving I let people in when they are trying to merge. I don’t butt in line. I don’t assume that I’m more important than everyone else. And when I’m in the wrong, I apologize.

Seriously, if everyone would just treat others with the kindness and concern that they feel they personally deserve, the world would be a much nicer place. Remember that famous little golden rule? There's a reason it is so famous. Unfortunately, it seems to be less and less popular as time goes by... (And when people sincerely apologize, accept it for crying out loud!)

3-Saving seats at church with scriptures, lesson manuals, etc. when there is no warm body in sight! If at least one person is there I don't mind, but rows and rows of printed materials preventing people who arrive on time from finding someplace to sit really bugs me. And it bugs me even more when the people saving the rows are then late for church! Seriously, if having a great seat is that important to you, get there early…like I do!

Open Sesame

Malia has figured out how to open doors. I realized she had acquired this particular skill when I turned around and found her happily searching for gloves and a hat in the coat closet. She was mightily pleased when she found a matching pair of mittens and got them on all by herself.

She can’t do all the doors yet, just some depending on what kind of doorknob they have. But it won’t be long. She can already open the door to the fruit room which is where the food storage lives. I may need to move the marshmallows and chocolate chips to a higher shelf. She can’t quite manage the pantry door which is good since she knows that is where the crackers live and she is always hoping for a snack just as I’m cooking dinner since that is when she is getting hungry. At least she isn’t allergic to half of what is in there. That makes the door opening skill an inconvenience and not a nightmare like it was with Matthew.

Of course, it may turn into a nightmare if she figures out that she can open the door to the bathroom (we have already thrown away half a dozen of Matthew's toothbrushes because one of the boys left the door open and Malia decided to brush her teeth) and Nathan and Matthew's room (that is where all the fun junk lives and she loves to get in there and wreak havoc). It's a shame that I only have one of the good doorknob covers left, the ones that you can't buy anymore. All three of my other kids figured out how to work the most common doorknob covers in about a week. So it could be...interesting.

Rejoice!

The lunch box is found! When I asked Matthew how school was, all he told me was that he found his lunchbox. There was not another single thing in the entire day that he deemed worthy to tell me. When I asked where his lunchbox was, he told me he found it in his lunch tote but it wasn't there yesterday. That tells me that his teacher helped track it down. Thank goodness for the people who want to teach first grade. They are like mighty miracle workers in the eyes of the six-year-olds (and occasionally their parents).

Does Iron Man have GPS?

Today was Matthew's second day of school. He came home completely devastated because his beloved Iron Man lunchbox with the Iron Man water bottle inside is lost. I tried to reassure him that when lunchboxes are not in the lunch tote when it comes back to the classroom they almost always show up in another teacher's lunch tote, but he was not to be consoled. Nathan helped him talk to the office and his teacher before they came home and I've already gotten an e-mail from his teacher letting me know they will search in the morning, but in the meantime he has to pack his lunch in his old lunch box and Toy Story is so preschool...

He is a little puddle of sadness.

Better Than I Had Hoped

When all the wards in our stake were re-organized last year I was pretty unsure about how things were going to be for my family. In particular, I was concerned about Daniel. He is not a terribly social creature and both the boys who he played with and who could get him to come out of his solitary happiness were no longer in our ward. For the first year after the change, Daniel pretty much hung out alone. And then he turned twelve and joined the deacons quorum on our ward. In the past six months, he is no longer alone all the time. The other boys in his quorum call to invite him to attend parties and go on fishing trips. They show up at the door to get him to come hang out. They give him the inside scoop about middle school so he is more excited than nervous. They include him in their comings and goings and he enjoys their company.

They showed up at the door again this evening to invite him to a spontaneous Studio C (For those who don't know, Studio C is a comedy show on BYUTV) marathon and it made me realize that while the ward change has been okay for the rest of us, it has been really good for Daniel.

I’m so grateful.

He’s a Full Timer!

Today was Matthew’s first day of first grade. He has been pretty nervous about the whole thing, but once he met his teacher yesterday his fear ebbed and this morning he was just super excited. So he was off to school decked out in his Ironman t-shirt with a brand new Ironman backpack, a new Ironman lunch box and a new Ironman water bottle. Looks like Ironman is starting first grade to…

Celebrating Freedom

 Malia was pleased as punch about her "bows."

 

Matthew was nearly bursting with excitement.

As always, the boys love to play with fire.

This is how Malia felt about all the loud noises. I kept telling her it was okay so she crawled up in my lap and repeated, "Otay, otay, otay..." in a panicky voice.
 

After awhile Malia calmed down...and then she got bored so she got out the bubbles hoping someone would blow them with her.

 

 But the boys were too busy...

 

Once she got brave enough to give the sparklers a try, Malia was thrilled...until she grabbed one too high and burned her hand. Then she was just done and told me, "Inside. House."

The boys were not done when the fireworks ran out. What can I say. They love sparklers.