Just a little update about what in the world we're doing these days…
…to Reversed Lens Photography. They did a family photo shoot with us on Saturday, and we just got to see the initial proofs – they’re fabulous!! We’ll be going in to look at all of them soon, we can’t wait. The photographers are so nice and really awesome. We’d recommend them to anyone!
To see our “first look” proofs, check out the Reversed Lens Photography Blog.
Tonight, Mylie was pulling all her usual “I’m tired” antics of getting really hyper, basically to keep herself from falling asleep standing. She gets really silly and runs around and smacks into things. So, to calm things down before bed, we suggested she put her pajamas on and then we would play a game with her. She was still being all goofy while Nick was trying to get her PJ’s on her, and I could hear her running around her room singing nonsense songs and jumping all around.
And then, out of the blue, I hear her yell at the top of her lungs “To Infinity, and BEYOND!” (For those of you less familiar with Pixar’s Toy Story, well… this will probably just go right over your head). Both Nick and I started totally cracking up. Apparently she had climbed up on a big hat box that’s in her room, and pointed her finger in the air before proudly proclaiming Buzz Lightyear’s famous line. What a goof that girl is! I’m almost positive she thought she was going to attempt flight, too. Luckily, her parents rolling on the floor in laughter distracted her before she broke any bones. Thanks for the laugh, kiddo…
This last weekend Mylie and I (Nick) went away on a camping trip at Fort Stevens State Park near Astoria, OR. We were even close enough to hear the ocean while we were sleeping. This was to commemorate the restoration of the Aaronic Priesthood. Typically these are father-and-son outings with our church but because some fathers don’t have sons they figured they can give the mothers a break by having a father-and-children outing. I also went with two other dads who also had a young kid with of them.
So, this would be my second time with Mylie by myself overnight but what made me the most nervous was she is in the middle of potty training and letting her go in public camping restrooms was not my idea of fun. Luckily the bathrooms in the camping area were actually quite nice and she loved “playing” in it. She probably just liked that the sinks were her size and she could do it all by herself.
Fort Stevens State Park is known notoriously by their mosquitoes, or “p’quitoes” as Mylie would say. That’s a new word for her. Luckily I had brought along some mosquito lotion I used when I was in India that seemed to do well since the only place I was bitten was on my foot where I didn’t apply the lotion. Mylie also never complained about bites…beginner’s luck?
That evening I tried teaching her how to make and eat a s’more. She did a pretty good job toasting the marshmallow but really wasn’t interested in eating it. Strange, but I wasn’t going to force her…more for me.
We actually slept fairly decently and by the time I got into the tent to go asleep, she was completely out.
The next day we went near the beach to participate in a service project for SOLV. We picked up trash in the park. It was amazing to see how much junk is tossed, especially car tires and other car parts. Mylie helped a little but she was mostly interested in playing in the dirt. Everyone loved her Scooby Doo gloves, though.
Eventually we did make it to the beach to let Mylie play. One site we saw was the remains from the Peter Iredale ship from the 1906 shipwreck. She always loves coming to the beach and just loves picking up the sand and throwing it back.
For more pictures you can go to the photo album.
Nothing beats a chocolate chip cookie at the park on a nice sunny day! Photo courtesy of Jessica Johnson (let me know if you want her contact info… she does some great photography!)
Last week we attended playgroup as usual. Toward the end, I asked Mylie to start helping clean up the toys. I watched from across the room as she started to pick up a few of the items (in her dawdling, pre-schoolish kind of way). She headed for the cupboard with her items, when she got into one of those common territorial toddler tiffs (heheh, how’s that for alliteration?), and the other little girl pushed Mylie out of the way. I almost jumped in, but decided to wait and see what Mylie would do (since she didn’t know I was watching). To my surprise, rather than hitting or pushing back, she turned around and said, rather sternly, “Don’t push me! I’m a princess!” I honestly have no idea where she picked THAT one up from, but it was definitely hard to keep my composure. Needless to say, self-esteem does not appear to be an issue with this kid.
It’s probably just me, but I’ve been noticing much more hype going on this year about Mother’s Day. Maybe it’s just the evil empire, capitalizing on yet another holiday? Possibly. Or perhaps it’s because I’ve joined the blog-o-sphere, and I’m now captivated by numerous other sites dedicated to parenthood and published by mommy-bloggers. More likely. Or maybe it’s just that this day is beginning to mean more to me than it ever has.
My feelings about Mother’s Day have run the gamut. Once, in elementary school, my class marched in a “Kids Day” parade, after which I was interviewed by the local news station about “Kids Day.” My response was something to the effect of, “They have Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, and Grandparent’s Day… Why shouldn’t we have Kids Day?” To which my father replied after seeing the new story, “Um, hello… everyday is kids day.” But that doesn’t mean much to a 5th grader, and I kind of saw Mother’s (and Father’s) Day as just another time to have to figure out a present to buy for my parents that would, A) make them say, “Gee… that’s just great… thanks…” as they rolled their eyes or; B) make them weepy and cause me to get all uncomfortable. In general it was mostly an annoyance. And if I had to go through the motions, then we very well should have a Kids Day as a reward!
Even once we became parents, Nick and I have mostly seen Mother’s and Father’s Day as simple day, not to be given much time or effort. Generally, the Mothers are given a plant at church, which I promptly proceed to kill neglect forget to put in the ground until the leaves and petals are shriveled and it has absolutely no hope of survival. Other than that, Nick has always done a nice job of finding a humorous card to make me giggle, and buying a nice, but simple gift. We’ve never really seen the point of going all out, or doing anything extraordinary.
And frankly, I don’t really see the point of “taking a day off.” Because taking a day off just means double the amount of work to do the next day. But more than that, if you’re only taking one day off a year, you’ve got bigger fish to fry.
Lately, it seems that I’ve been taking most evenings “off.” I leave the kids with Nick and head out… either for exercise, church responsibilities, or often just for fun. But not to worry, I have plenty of mommy guilt associated with such excursions. But as I’ve reflected on Mother’s Day, at a point in my mommyhood that has been particularly frustrating for me at times, I’m learning to let go of a little bit of that guilt. I have been blessed with an incredible husband that is more than willing to “parent” the kids when I need a night off (we don’t use the “babysitter” title when it comes to Daddy). And when I stop and think about it, having them spend time with Daddy is not detrimental to any of their well-being. In fact, it allows them all to get a chance to bond that wouldn’t happen if I was there taking up Daddy’s time and energy. And that doesn’t even touch on the benefit for me.
Recently I ran across a quote from Carl Jung that I particularly liked:
Nothing has a stronger influence psychologically…on children than the unlived life of the parent.
And I started realizing how true this is. I know that some of my most difficult and poignant childhood memories are from times when I felt responsible for sacrifices my parents had to make on my behalf. Or if I felt they were sad in any way, I felt it was my job to cheer them up. And though I’ve always given them a hard time about it, I’ve [almost] always secretly approved of the fact that my parents missed my first day of kindergarten and my brother’s first birthday in order to take a once-in-a-lifetime rafting trip down the Grand Canyon. I’m glad that they lived their life, and got that opportunity, instead of being a little too tied down (but don’t tell them that… I’ve been using this as a guilt-trip for years!).
I’ve also recently started to notice what a difference my mental attitude has on my children. When I get frustrated with Mylie, she immediately begins to ask “You happy Mamma? You happy?” This is a dirty little trick of hers, to try and get out of being in trouble, but it does make me pause and check my emotions. It’s obvious that they have a big impact on her.
So for my gift to myself for Mother’s Day, I’m going to try a little harder and not feel guilty about living my life outside of my children. I’m going to take better care of myself, and relax a little bit more. I’m going to let them have all the Daddy-bonding time that Daddy can stand and not feel guilty, because “you can’t draw water from an empty well.” I want my well to be full, because I want to be 100% for my children and my husband. I’m grateful that I’m in a position that I can do this, and that I have a husband that supports me in it. You guys are the greatest!
