Attention-Seeking

Henry was eating breakfast while I was sitting on the living room floor as Kat happily meows and tangles a brush in my hair. No idea what game we're playing but she seems content. Henry, however, has noticed not all eyes are on him.

Henry: MAMA! How come you're in there wit' Kaffryn an' you're not giving me GOOD ATTENTION? Huh? Huh? Huh?

Mama: I'm RIGHT here, Henry! You have my attention too.

Henry: Yeah, but it's not A LOT!

A Whole Flock of Birds

Henry left for school trying to stuff a blue wooden block into his fleece pocket.

Henry: Help Mama! I have to take my Baby Bluebird with me an' he's too FAT to fit in my pocket! He has to stay with his MAMA!

Then on the way out the door, I heard him discussing Baby Bluebird's family in detail with Dada. Apparently he has a sister, Baby Redbird and there are 4 sisters, 5 brothers and 6 Mamas.
That's a lot of birds.

Henry's BORED stream of consciousness

Since the kiddies and I have been together a lot lately (I lost my job recently during a mass layoff), I've had lots more material to write about, but subsequently less time to actually write.
Henry just lost interest in his latest activity and charged over to me while I was posting. He's taken an interest in my blog since he's discovered it's largely dedicated to him and loves to hear the stories.
Reminds me a bit of Peter Pan listening to Wendy's stories.

Henry: Mama! Whatcha doing? Writing about me? I HATE posts-es. Let's play a fun game on the computer together! How about you get me a cold and yummy treat because I'm a FRIDGERATOR!

Well, duty calls.

Monsters under the Bed

Ever since Henry watched that episode of "Berenstain Bears" about jealousy and the Green-Eyed Monster, he's been TERRIFIED to go into another room by himself. Tonight was especially trying and I remembered some parenting tip about helping kids deal with irrational fears by handing them a baseball bat and telling them to aim for the family jewels.

I did not have a baseball bat but we do have a kid-sized rolling pin. Tucked Henry into bed tonight with the rolling pin and repeated the old "there's nothing to be afraid of" line and that he could sleep with this if it made him feel better. A few minutes later I heard "CRASH!" and ran into Henry's room to find him standing in his doorway, rolling pin in hand.

Henry: I heard something an' it scared me so I hit the floor wit' THIS!

Green-eyed monster beware

I'll Cry if I want to

We took the kids on a little adventure after church and we pushed it a bit with Kat's naptime.

 It was actually Henry that started the chaos on the way home when we turned instead of going up a hill, which was apparently where he wanted to go, regardless of the fact that it was NOT the way home.

Henry starts that dramatic tearless cry when Kathryn shows her support for Big Brother by joining in too.

Henry (crying abruptly stops): KAFFRYN! You're NOT sad! You want sad? I'll GIVE you sad!!

Why Bother Blogging

Feeling a bit discouraged with blogging.

I love to write about parenthood and the wonderfully spontaneous ways of my children but sometimes I feel like, "Why should I bother? Why not just jot these moments down in a personal journal and not post them for the entire world to see?"

When I first started this, I wanted a creative outlet which quickly centered on the role which largely defines me nowadays- parenthood. I didn't really want to join online forums to discuss hot topics like cloth diapers and breastfeeding because frequent bouts of sleep deprivation has taught me to reserve my patience and diplomacy for other times, like the perfectly timed meltdown in public (the kids, not me)......or for Facebook drama.
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Anything remotely related to parenting also seems to be controversial in some way to someone and someone always ends up being offended. Luckily, I have not encountered offended persons firsthand with my blog venture but who knows. Maybe somewhere out there in Russia or Germany, someone was extremely revolted by my detailed descriptions of Baby Kat's blowout diaper and immediately resolved to never read another post. Oh well. Parenting is messy and frustrating to the breaking point. But it's also heartbreakingly precious and sometimes you just have to laugh.

So I sought advice from my friends and fellow-parents and saved my writing-time for those moments when I wanted to record some crazy-random conversation or a moment of frustration where nothing seems to be working out.

Does anyone actually READ this?

Tough Day

Henry had a rough day today- lots of temper tantrums complete with cranky, crocodile tears. During our night-night kiss/hug/cuddle, we talked a bit about it.

Mama: Henry, Mama will love you forever. You know that. You had a pretty tough day today. Lots of not listening and talking back. You all right?

Henry: Yeah, my allergies showed me how to do that and so I did so they didn't make me sleepy.

Well, I wasn't prepared for that response.