A Loooong Week

This was the first week I've had both kids all day. N had school then VBS, but now he is unoccupied until morning camp starts week after next. This wouldn't have been that big of a deal - actually it's kind of nice because we could have playdates in the morning and not interfere with nap time. But alas, B had pneumonia (she's better now) so we had to stay in. No trips to the library, the park, his friends' houses. . . All this amounts to time outs. Many, many time outs. And tantrums. Lots of those too. On the bright side, he seems to have gotten over running around the house screaming (now he just runs sans screaming), and he hasn't freaked out thrashing and kicking when I put him in his time out spot. If he wasn't so darn cute when he is behaving . . .

One really cute thing is his reaction to my tattoo. He asked why I had a stamp on my finger and I told him it was to remind me that Jesus loves me. He said maybe he should get a "God stamp" too, but I said he could just remember in his heart that Jesus loves him. I told him I was surprised he was just now noticing it, because B has touched it and seemed to know it was something weird on my hand. So he said that maybe B likes to look at it because it makes her think about Jesus, and for a few days after that he would tell me to show B my God stamp. So cute.

Off Days

All these years as a student I never knew what I was missing: Days Off!!! Now that I have designated on and off time, I'm making the most of the off.
Last Saturday I trotted off to North-West Jersey to go hiking. I left a note for the Fam saying where I was going and if I wasn't back by 6 to send a search party, since I was going alone and likely to be without cell reception. Turns out such warning was not really necessary, since a "hike" in New Jersey is a pleasant stroll through the woods in Colorado. I think the elevation gain was something like 500ft. But I saw a bear on the road, and a beautiful view from the top of the fire lookout tower I climbed. Rattlesnake Swamp Trail was much prettier than the name suggests, and my only complaint (other than New Jersey not being Colorado) is that there are a lot more bugs here.
Today I had the day off to replace my usual Saturday off, since they need me to watch the kidlets tomorrow down the Shore. So I a woke up early and set off for NYC. I walked to The Strand, from whence I emerged with 7 books and a new tote bag. I meandered through the Green Market at Union Square. I got a variety of yummy salads at Whole Foods and ate lunch on a bench outside. I went to the Ukrainian Museum (so wierd to see my namesake city and clan on so many maps and placards!). Then I made my way back to the house where I am now going to do laundry, make some dinner, and watch a movie in the home theater.
Rough life.

What Kids Know

I find the cognitive and moral reasoning ability of an (almost) 4 year old fascinating. Does he reason through the process of bargaining down his punishments, or does a behavior develop over time whereby he hears the threat of no tv then promises to be better (the actually words are usually more sophisticated than that, unless he's having a full-blown tantrum) so he manages to keep being bad and not get punished? Yesterday I was threatening to cancel a playdate if he didn't start behaving and he actually said "you're joking!" I probably should have just canceled the playdate immediately to make my point, but I wanted to meet the nanny. I've come a long way in 9 days as far as firmness and consistency with discipline, but the smack is going to have to start being laid down if he's going to stop manipulating me and his parents out of punishments. We all chalked his behavior up to transission stress, but it's time to get him over that hump.
I do actually enjoy nannying though. When N is sweet, he is REALLY cute. Yesterday he told me that I had a mission to take care of B all day long. He also found a plastic toy coin and gave it to me and was so excited to have given it to me and wanted me to keep it forever and show it to everyone. B really wants to stand, and it looks like she'll skip crawling. That'll be fun with hard wood floors.

Also, you may have discovered that I don't get cell phone reception here. If you need to reach me you can call the house 8am-9pm and the number is on facebook and on my gmail signature.

God Bless the Inventor of Nap Time

Today's afternoon nap was sandwiched by the 3 1/2 year old boy (henceforth "N", for privacy) freaking out a lot, running around the house screaming, refusing to do pretty much anything. I don't want to chase him and make him think it's a fun game, and couldn't anyway with the 7month old girl (henceforth "B") on my hip. I've seen him do this a number of times with his parents and this was my initiation. In a few weeks maybe I'll know whether this is just acting out over a rough transition between nannies, or testing me, or just a broader behavior issue, and probably some combination of the above. To make matters more interesting every time he freaked out today I couldn't really discipline him effectively with time out because the first was right before nap, the second was as we were rushing out the door to swim lessons, and the final his dad took over and I was relieved.
But nap time . . . It was short today, but I had an amazing and quiet lunch. I made myself a salad of baby spinach, grilled chicken, cucumber, pear, romano cheese, and pomegranate vinaigrette. Ahhhhh.
Tomorrow N has a class field trip to an amusement park, so his mom is going with him and I'm staying home with B. She's mostly pretty easy and happy, but she's definitely having some separation anxiety.

Mad props to Alisa, Jennifer, and all you other moms who spend your days (and nights, and every moment) with an infant and a toddler and still manage to be delightful and mostly sane people.

Back to the Drawing Board

I visited the United Methodist Church nearest me this morning. It was me, 3 elderly couples, the pastor, a guitar player and a pianist. It was also quite probably one of the most stream-of-consciousness random (and somewhat theologically dubious) sermons I've heard in a long time. They were really friendly after the service, inviting my to coffee hour and chatting with me. The pastor seems like a good guy and wants me to preach when he goes on vacation. The long and the short of it is, I'll probably be hard pressed to find a church with younger people and things for me to get involved in. I have at least a year, so we'll see how it goes.