Seems like my last post was only yesterday....though I guess it is closer to 24 yesterdays. What in the world sucks up my time like a Bounty? Hmmm...
Could it be working with adolescent students who are needier and more enabled than any child in any of my own children's classes? Nah.
Could it be running from work to tennis to home for dinner to the grocery store to baths and bedtime stories? Nah.
Could it be checking and rechecking and re-rechecking fares to NY in Oct, NY and MA in Mar, HI in July? Nah....ok, that's a lie. A lot of my time DOES go to that. I really should have been a travel agent; nothing gets me going more than a good deal on a flight that is non-stop and on the days I need!
What it boils down to is that 24 hours in a day and 7 days in a week is nowhere near enough time to live my life, love my family, and share with you the highlights. Unfortunately, I only have time for two of the three (if that), so you, dear reader, will always get the short end of that stick. However, it is after 10 pm, I am the only one awake, and I have had at least one glass of wine - i.e. I am in perfect form to reflect and regale.
Taidhgin--- started kindergarten on 25 Aug. He is officially a big kid now. There is homework and classwork and sight-word tests starting next week and an actual 3 ring binder filled (already!) with things to sign, papers that have been graded, and forms to fill out. What is more amazing than anything to me is that the start of kindergarten seems to have triggered in him this jump from baby to boy. He rolls his eyes, knows how to be a smartass (okay, so given his DNA perhaps this part isn't so shocking), and has begun to favor his friends over me. WTF is up with that, by the way!? Seriously, though, I sit back and watch the new Taidhgin with awe- he has a sense of humor, an overabundant sense of compassion and concern, a love of jokes and sarcasm, and more confidence than I ever remember having. His drawing...wow. He used to draw oval-shaped "circles" that were people without eyes...now he draws pirate ships with masts and cannons. He asks what words mean if he doesn't understand them and then he uses them in conversations later on that day/week. He desperately wants to tie his shoes and gets so frustrated when his fingers don't work the way he wants them to. He is so excited about trying to ride his bike without training wheels, but has decided he won't be ready to make the attempt until he is 5. HE JUST ASKED FOR A NINTENDO DS FOR HIS BIRTHDAY!?! My bug-boy is gone and left in his wake is the beginnings of the young man who will crush my heart by dating some girl who I hate and then will fix it by reminding me that I will always be his M O M (with a heart next to it for love).
Eibhlin--- my bestest gal is now in Pre-K. She is in the Turtles class and, according to her teacher, is about the most polite and helpful child ever to have gone through Highpointe. Come again? She is so damn intuitive and smart and manipulative. *Sigh* Everything I could have ever asked for in a daughter! :-) What comes out of her mouth sometimes is so insightful...for example, on our last day in San Antonio, Meema was saying how much "(she) loved spending time with (Eibhlin), Taidhgin, Connlaodh, your mom and dad..." What was Eibhlin's response? "What about Gramps?" Ha ha, especially if you know my folks *wink wink*. She has mastered the art of getting what she wants by "trading" to someone else something that she claims is better. She directs the events of the day..."First, Mom, we are going to the zoo, okay? And then, maybe, if we're good, we can go and get a treat at Target. And then, can we have salad for dinner? That sounds like a great idea, doesn't it? Then we can do a puzzle and read and watch TV. Okay? Okay, Mom?" And imagine all of this said with her three year old hands placed on her mini-teen hips with her sun-streaked hair swinging as she nods her head in exaggerated approval. How could one do anything other than what she suggests? It is hard to argue with the logic of one who includes a behavior clause in her agenda. It amazes me that she is so grown up inside that 38" body. And it blows my mind that she is no longer the colicky newborn of my nightmares and instead is the preschooler of my dreams.
Connlaodh--- Mongo began the summer with a vocabulary made up mainly of grunts and screams and has ended it with a number of words that can actually be understood by strangers. Every day I look at him and realize that he is no longer a baby- while not a preschooler, barely even a toddler, really, he is truly NOT a baby. He thinks, he decides, he teases, he plays games, he gets mad, he gets sad, he fakes tears for effect- he does all of these things that a baby can't do and yet I have such a hard time accepting it. Why? Because for as much as I am anxious to embark on a new era in our lives, it hurts to hear the squeak of the hinge of the door that is quickly slamming shut behind us. Connlaodh was our last doorstop, if you will; he was my last tie to the world of stretch marks and preggo pops, of new life to come, of teeny tiny diapers and bottles and highchairs. And yet, for as much as it hurts to let go of that world, I look at the little boy I have now and couldn't imagine reliving it. Who he is, this not-quite-2-year-old, more than makes up for the little loss I feel. He is 100% CHILD- fun loving and active. He is 100% SIBLING- he follows his brother and sister and desperately wants them in his life. He is 100% INVOLVED- he participates in every aspect of the world that is shown to him. He is 100% BULL IN CHINA SHOP- he breaks nearly everything. He is 100% MINE...and I couldn't ask for anything other than that. I melt with each sloppy kiss and every time he says "Tarry (sorry)" and hugs my neck I forget about the breakfast he threw on the floor and the water bowl he spilled....
Okay, so maybe I don't forget about them altogether, but I do find them easier to forgive :-).
I wish I had the wherewithal to remember the "moments" of each day of the last month...hell, of the last five years. I am going to make a concerted effort from now on to make this more of a slice of life page as opposed to a lexical collage of random thought. I am sure to bore you either way, but at least I can pretend to be more entertaining if I am more anecdote and less soapbox.
Bear in mind that I make no guarantees as to the success of this new drive; I promised myself I would do laundry every weekend, too, but I am fairly sure that at least two people in the family have recently run out of clean underwear. And on that note, it is way past my bedtime and the hours between now and my morning alarm are growing shorter and thinner with each passing moment. Good night, friends.
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