good days

I've had some good days with the kids lately. Some long awaited, much needed good days!

Part of the secret I think is to look fore the positive more. In every situation of frustration or anger, with little kids, there are many things to laugh about!

Kaylin is becoming more and more vocal about "all the other kids" at school - On one day when I completely misjudged the weather she let me know how hot she was at school. "All the other kids were wearing shorts." The next day I wasn't about to make the same mistake. But she came out of her room in long sleeves and jeans again. She had checked the weather by looking out her window. I did manage to convince her to change by reminding her of the day before.

Kavan and Kai both managed to make a scene at the library. I have never gotten any of my kids to just sit still and listen during a storytime. During the brief moment when Kavan sat down, the librarian asked what song we should sing. Kavan did not hesitate to answer the way he always does to that question. "Hush little Kavan!" he yelled out. He said it about 5 more times before I clarified his request and explained his bedtime song to the librarian. He settled for the ABC's instead. Did I mention there were about 50 moms/children there? And Kai was not the least bit interested in sitting on my lap but decided he should be on the storyteller's lap. Who could say no to Kai? There he sat while she tried to show the pictures to both the rest of the room and the child on her lap. That didn't last too long though and thankfully we had the excuse of Kaylin's kindergarten pickup time to get us out of there.

Kav made up a song the other day in the car about Jordan's daddy that he sang over and over. He said it would bring him back. I still need to answer numerous questions every week about when he's coming back and why he's gone.

Kai has a mesh bag he eats food through from his OT. He loves to have it in his mouth and squeeze all the juice out of oranges. The idea is that he will get used to the taste of foods without having to worry about the texture since he's such a picky eater. He takes down his pants regularly now. I try not to encourage going to the bathroom but if one of his siblings says "he wants to go potty," Kai's there. He says "all gone," in many contexts with words and the sign, all day long. If Kaylin goes down a slide - "all gone"

It has been very fun to see how all 3 of them have progressed in their abilities on the playground equipment at parks. Kai LOVES running around on the bridges and steps and it's hard to pull him away. He is starting to have fits when he doesn't get what he wants. Like wearing his shoes to bed. Not going to happen.

I'm consciously working on slowing down the pace for all of us. It's really hard for me. Good opportunities are out there everywhere I turn! Yet I realize everytime I say "yes" to something else I'm saying no to Ben and the kids, so I'm certainly trying to be more selective. And the reward is that I'm starting to experience more joy in my conversations with my kids. They are experts at making me laugh. The other day I dropped something off at a friend's house who wasn't home. They tried to solve the mystery of where she was, where her kids were, and why her husband's truck was there but he wasn't home. I told them she went on a trip to Seattle. "Who's Attle?" Kaylin says.