Classic Movies that Scare My Children, Plus A Birthday!

Last week, Beatrice turned 8 years old.

She choose to have a "movie night" with a few of her friends. They watched Annie, ate cupcakes, popcorn, and full-size candy bars, and sang "hard knock life" at the top of their lungs. It was quite cute.

Now before you ask, no, it was not the original Annie with Carol Burnett, it was the 1999 made for TV version with Kathy Bates. I know, I know, I am a horrible mother. But in my defense, we actually own the original Annie and my girls don't like it. They are scared by the helicopter scene, and they may have been emotionally scarred by Carol Burnett, only time will tell. Jay, on the other hand, loves the original, and has been known to quote it from time to time.

"Punjab, get me a drink!"

My children also don't like the original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory as much as they like the Johnny Depp version. I realize that admitting these things is akin to confessing my failure as a parent, but it is what it is. Gene Wilder frightens them (which is sort of the point, I suppose). Natalie also hates the blueberry part, no matter what version we're watching.

They do like The Sound of Music, though, as long as we skip "Climb Every Mountain," so I guess I am doing some things right.

Ok, back to Beatrice. She had a lovely party, and then the next day - her actual birthday - the celebration continued. It was our last day of baseball (insert slightly guilt-ridden whoop of joy here), and then we had a very mellow family party in the evening. Bea's Primary teacher came to her last game and held up a birthday banner while simultaneously attacking her with purple silly string. It was fantastic (though I don't think the parent in the background approved of the whole situation).

The silly string is flying! 

Bea with her fantastic Primary teacher and her teacher's sweet husband

At home, we were supposed to have Bea's favorite meal of tacos, but I was frankly too tired and hot to cook, so we had leftovers instead. Thankfully, Bea does not hold that kind of thing against me. We did have a "baseball cake" and Giants-themed decorations, so all was not lost. Plus, Grandma was there, and she gave Bea a much-longed-for present: walkie talkies.

Note the towel on Grandma's shoulder. This is a Pierson / Fear habit that has made its way into my life. In fact, I'm sitting here at the computer with a dish towel on my shoulder as I type. It's like second nature. One day I'll have to make a picture book with only pictures of family members sporting the shoulder towel.

Because Bea turned 8 and will be getting baptized in a few short weeks, our present to her was her own set of scriptures, complete with a sparkly pink scripture bag. She was very pleased with them and is happy to have her own set. It has made her much more excited for family scripture study!

So there you have it. Life is moving pretty fast but I'm trying to enjoy it and be more "present" every day. It's a struggle for me, I admit it, but I'm making strides. I'm so proud of my sweet children. They are good kids... even if they are scared of Gene Wilder.

It'll Grow Back.... Right?

I don't know what happened. One minute, we were talking about how long Dexter's hair was. The next minute, Jay had  out the clippers. We put the clippers on the longest setting, but still... his hair is so short. He doesn't look like himself.

I didn't realize how much I loved his Halpertesque mop-top, how much it added to his spunky personality.

Oh, THERE he is!

Don't get me wrong, I still think he's an adorable boy even with the buzz. But I am growing it out immediately. 

Four

Legend has it that Marie Osmond once said that going from two kids to three kids was the most difficult transition, and adding any more after that just meant "one more potato in the oven." Now, I hate to say this because she is the patron saint of Mormonism*, but... the woman doesn't know what she's talking about.

Going from three kids to four kids is very hard**. I don't know how it's possible, since Calvin is only a couple months old, but four kids make 10 times more of a mess than three. And don't even get me started on the laundry situation. Then there is the difficult impossible task of making sure you are doling out the right amount of attention to each child. I feel, in the words of Bilbo, like butter scraped over too much bread.

Now, to be fair to Ms. Osmond, I think the situation is made more difficult by the fact that Jay works 12-hour shifts, which means I am alone for dinnertime, AKA "the witching hour." You moms know exactly what I'm talking about. But more importantly, there is Dexter. He is not yet two years old, and therefore demands a disproportionate amount of my time and attention. In general he has taken the addition of Calvin well (he doesn't try to poke Cal's eyes out or anything), but he does take his frustration out on me quite regularly. He has recently taken to screaming at me, hitting me, and trying to grab the bottle whenever I am feeding Calvin. It is quite frustrating. I have had to put Dex in "time out" in his crib at least once per day (because mama doesn't tolerate hitting, for any reason). But I hate the way I am feeling about him right now, because I know it's not his fault.

Now, I don't want any of you to be alarmed. I am really doing OK and taking each day - each hour, actually - as it comes. And I know it will get easier as both Dexter and Calvin become more and more independent. But for now... I am worn out.

* No, Mormons don't really have patron saints.
**this post is not intended to scare you, Brenda. I'm 100% sure that you will handle four kids with your usual grace & style**

It happened already...

So, today I went to change Dexter's diaper (don't worry, this is not a poop story. Stay with me...) and when I went to grab a diaper out of the basket in the living room, it was empty. Normally that's no big deal, but I knew I had one more of his diapers left in there. I shrugged it off, got another diaper from his bedroom, and went on with my life.

A little while later, Jay found the missing Size 5:

You would think I would have noticed that my newborn had a diaper covering 75% of his body, but NO. Man, if I'm this scatterbrained with Jay here, can you imagine what I'm going to be like tomorrow?

My life of ease is almost over

Jay returns to work in exactly one week. He has been home since the week of Thanksgiving, and I frankly have no idea how I'm going to survive without him. I'm actually going to have to take Natalie to school in the morning, which means packing up all four kids for a 5-minute round trip. And I'm going to have to *gasp* make dinner by myself! AND, as if that weren't bad enough, I'm going to have to take the kids with me to the grocery store!

Ok, maybe not. The grocery store will have to wait for Jay's days off.

I don't know how I'm going to fit in showering and getting dressed every day. Maybe those will have to wait for Jay's days off, too.

(kidding on the shower part... maybe)

It has been a joy to have Jay home for the past 7 or so weeks. And I mean that honestly, not the way I mean it when Dexter is screaming his head off and doing the straight-back-I-refuse-to-get-in-my-carseat-dance and I respond with a fake smile and a "You're a joy and a treasure, son!" Really, Jay has been fantastic. You would think we would get sick of each other after spending so much time together, but I think I speak for both of us when I say it was wonderful. I can't wait for our retirement years. Maybe I should make a paper chain...