I take it back.

Have you ever wished for something, had it happen, then wanted to immediately take it back? I have….

My oldest daughter, Abby, just finished Kindergarten and will be 6 in a month. She is now a 1st Grader, and don’t even try to tell her she is GOING into 1st Grade……she IS a 1st Grader right this very moment in time.

Her school has an awesome Summer School program of which she is attending and so far she loves it. Yesterday was her second day and I let her walk to school with some neighborhood friends. That was kind of hard for me even though we live literally a block and half from school. I knew she would have no problem getting there, it’s just that little bit of uncertainty in the back of my head that gnawed at me. I figured I would still meet her after school to walk home with her. I mean all of those kids running around, she might get confused and wonder which way to head home…right? Well, I had to work that day and got off just in time to rush over to the school to make sure my baby would see my reassuring, motherly face in the sea of children. Hah! When she finally noticed me standing there, I got a weird look, a “No Mommy!” and she kept on walking with those aforementioned neighborhood kids. After I got over my shock, I caught up with her and asked if she wanted to just walk home with her friends today. Well, the look I got then could have been translated to this: “Duh Mom, I will see you at home…now get out of here!” So, I put on a winning smile and shouted out to her, “OK honey, I will just drive home and see you in the driveway.” Off I went to my car, feeling very alone, not needed, but also very proud that I have a confident and smart 1ST GRADER!

I confirmed with her later that afternoon, that she indeed did NOT need me to walk with her to and from school, she could do it all by herself. Hmmm, maybe I shouldn’t have mumbled that wish after all. Can I take it back?

I have a new obsession….

More trampoline fun..

Anthony’s new favorite thing to do = make the girls go REALLY high on the trampoline.

Danielle’s new favorite thing to do = take pictures of it.

Good times.

Trampoline=Pure Joy

So we got a trampoline this weekend and it has been loads of fun. Unfortunately Abby has been having the majority of the fun since Emma has a hard time when their are bigger kids on it.

Well, Emma got it all to herself today and she had a blast…hahaha.

Princesses make everything better..

Abby has been really, really sick this entire Spring Break with Strep, stomach virus and eye infections. She was barely conscious the first part of the week, sleeping 20 hours a day. Nothing sucks more than seeing your child so sick and not being able to do a darn thing about it.

We finally got her diagnosed on Wednesday and got her some medicine (don’t get me started on doctors!). She started to look better by Friday.

We had tickets for Disney Princess on Ice for Saturday and were sweating whether or not Abby would be up for going. But, Friday night she was looking good and we decided to go ahead and bring her.

Well, the picture below says it all…..Princesses  and Disney really do make the world a happier place : )

It’s a beautiful thing..

Yes, that’s right….the egg timer is a beautiful thing.

Here at the Richardson household, we have been struggling with focusing on the task at hand (getting dressed, brushing teeth, eating lunch under an hour, etc…..).

So, we bought an egg timer. Very small investment for such a huge payoff. You might be thinking, why don’t you just use the timer on the microwave, oven, or your cell phone? Well, that is where the beauty of the egg timer comes in. All of those other tools for timing have nothing on the visual impact and sound the egg timer produces. For some reason, you set that thing right in front of your kid and they see the minutes shrinking and they hear the tick, tick, tick, and it gets them in gear.

Today, we used it at lunch time. Emma started off good eating her lunch, and then she went and got Froggy (some of you know whom I speak of). Well, the dawdling began. Chatting with Froggy, not really eating. I told Emma that if she focused and finished her lunch like a good girl, she would get a yummy pudding for a treat. That still didn’t do the trick. I then took the pudding out of the fridge and set it right in front of her, hoping to entice her to speed it up. Nope, still chatting with Froggy and getting squirrelly in her seat. Time for the big guns, the egg timer. I set that thing for 5 minutes, put in right in front of her and told her no pudding if her plate still has food on it when the egg timer dings. She was done in less than 2 minutes…..NICE!

Check out Emma enjoying her hard earned pudding!

I’m so proud….I think???

So I am in my room, doing some stuff on the computer and I start smelling nail polish. The only other person in the house is Emma. Oh crap.

I run into the other room expecting to see nail polish all over the carpet and knowing there will be hell to pay. To my amazement, I see my sweet Emma sitting quietly with her hand neatly resting on her legs. “Mommy, I painted my nails all by myself!” she says. “Wow honey, that is really amazing” I say in a very uncertain voice. I look all around, no nail polish on the carpet, the cap is put back on the bottle correctly and she doesn’t have nail polish all over her. What the??

I’m not sure to encourage this independence, or discourage for the sake of my carpets and furniture.

I think I will just be really proud of the fact that my almost 3-year-old can paint her own nails without making a mess and just chalk it up to my stellar parenting skills.

Something interesting: She only painted her right hand….and she left handed.

Poop Patrol

We have two dogs, a black lab and a yellow lab/collie mix. They are good size dogs, which of course translates to good size poops.

My husband, Anthony, has this “thing” about how much they poop. For about 9 years or so he is still to this day is completely amazed about how much they poop. It literally is unnerving to him. I mean, he will comment EVERY time he happens to look out the window and sees them doing their business….”HOW MANY TIMES DO THEY NEED TO POOP IN A DAY!!” It is kind of weird, they seem to go quite a bit.

Anyways, he is really good about keeping it picked up. And, I can guarantee to hear about how much he picked up every time!

So, since we have moved from a completely different climate (California), we have come across a few things that we don’t really know how to approach yet. For me, I was completely stressed out about how to find out if Abby’s school was closed due to inclement weather. Of course, when I received my first lovely message on my cell phone that her school would be closed the next day, I realized I didn’t have to worry about that anymore. Another thing we couldn’t figure out was the watering lawn thing. Some people seem to do it, others seem to let the lawn turn brown. What’s the deal?

But, I digress.

Today was a beautiful day, and all the snow melted away in our backyard. Well, let’s just say that Anthony was appalled at what was waiting underneath all that beautiful white stuff. Poop everywhere! You see, we didn’t really know what to do with it in all the snow….do we try to pick it up or do we let it go until the snow is gone?? There was at least of couple of weeks worth. And of course, Anthony could not let is go a day longer. He spent a solid hour picking up the stuff!

And yes, he came and and let me know that he had to use two hands to carry the poop receptacle when he was done. Apparently, it was as heavy as our 5 year old. He also let me know that if he ever starts talking about getting another dog, to please remind him of this day….the biggest poop haul yet!

My downspout is throwing up!!

Ok, so those of you reading this that are back in California…..it is reeaaalllly friggin’ cold here right now. We are talking high of 17 degrees today (and that is not figuring in wind chill).

I was letting the dogs out in the yard to make what we like to call “poop-sicles” and I looked over at my downspout. The first thing that popped into my head when I saw it was “Wow, it looks like it is throwing up ice.” Seriously.

I know, how juvenile am I, but I thought after my last post I should lighten things up a bit.

Hope you like the picture….and yes, that water is frozen solid!

Compartments are full…

I have this special talent, not the greatest to have, but at least I’m really good at it…..until now.

From a very young age, I have been really good at compartmentalizing my fears, sadness, anger and frustrations. I have never had to linger over a problem or issue for very long, I simply just tuck it away and move on. I don’t know why I do this, could be a product of a really crappy upbringing. I believe it was a tool of survival for me when I was young, but then turned into a habit as I moved into my 20′s.

I’m 33 now and I have no compartments left. I have lost my special talent and am coming to the horrible realization that I can’t just lock away my feelings anymore. I’m not sure why I have lost this ability. I do believe that in order to see the best of yourself, you have to first see the worst. I have realized that if I keep forcing them away and not dealing with them I will suffer great consequences….my health, my happiness, and most importantly….my children’s view of a healthy, normal adult.

So, what do you do when you realize your way of “dealing” all these years needs to change? Well initially, you freak out. But then, you feel relieved. Happy to find the courage to find a better way.

I don’t usually do New Year’s resolutions….I don’t like to set myself up for failure. But,  I think I may have found someone or something to help me. So, hears to emptying out compartments and being happy.

Happy New Year.