3.29.2010

The Fashion Sense of a Father of 4

What a great weekend!! I spent Saturday heaving and wretching while my dear husband tried to keep all 4 kids occupied, check in on and tend to me as needed, take our son to baseball practice with a 1- and a 4-year-old girl in tow. 

Ok, yes...that first statement is a little sarcastic. But wasn't it better to read that than 'Oh dear god this weekend was stolen from me (*insert hysterical sobbing*) by a vicious and still-hangin'-on flu virus'? Yeah, I thought so too. 

So yesterday I was feeling better.  Define "better"?  Well, I wasn't attached to a Puke Bowl or hanging my head over the porcelain throne...I actually spent some time in a vertical position...and while the attempt I made at Swiffering and vacuuming (a job that I normally whip out in 20 minutes, albeit several times throughout the day, took me a good hour) sent me back to the sofa for a substantial amount of time...I apparently felt well enough to be agitated by the fashion statement that was my 1-year-old. 

Now, all of my children have their own unique fashion sense.  And 99% of the time what you will find them wearing is of their choosing.  Case in point: my 9-year-old wore a vampire-ish halloween costume for school photos. No. I'm not kidding.  And while we had decided to stop ordering school photos at the beginning of this year, I find myself drawn to that Girl Dracula photo order form, prepared to write out a hefty check in order to get several 8 x 10 glossies and possibly a wall poster, envisioning it as fabulous blackmail material some day.  Ok, totally off point now...going back.) 

My children wear what they want.  And so they often look like they have chosen their own outfits. Not that I'm any fashionista, but that's a whole other topic.  My little Ray of Sunshine is the one exception thusfar.  At fourteen months she just isn't there yet...not feeling the need to assert her independence in that way.  Hell, she'll walk around totally buck naked and be happy. Anyways, in my time of need, my dear husband, who is the most fabulous father you could ever imagine, took care of picking out Miss L.'s clothing and got her dressed. Picture it: the long sleeve top is from The Children's Place (love that store!!!): an artsy-fartsy sort of pattern, combined with some repetitive geometric patterns: deep blue, turquoise, red, pink, yellow and white.  The pants are Old Navy (love that store too!!!) cargo, in a cream/tan/green camo/hawaiian print. I really should have taken a photo, but the Swiffering had sucked any possibility of that right outta me.  True testament to just how cute our 1-year-old is, she still looked absolutely adorable....but in a horribly wretched sort of way.

3.10.2010

Can you USPS a kid??

So, I won't go into the details at this point (it's still too fresh to be funny to me) but my 4 year old (Miss A.) is my Button Pusher Extraordinaire.  And what transpired the other day prompted me to call my folks, a few hours later (when the steam had stopped coming out of my ears and nose), to tell them to be on the look out for a 40 pound package with air holes.  To give you an idea of what I'm dealing with, in regards to being the Mom of little Miss B.P.E. (yeah, Button Pusher Extraordinaire) my Mom's response...the B.P.E.s own grandmother...was this: "Well...be sure to let us know when you send her...so we can move." 
*sigh* 
So, if raising my little B.P.E. doesn't kill me, I'm gonna be one freakishly strong mama by the time she leaves the nest.

3.03.2010

"Commented" By A Boy

So, last Friday when my kids got home from school, my 9-year-old was blushingly thrilled about something that had happened while they were dancing in music class.  In that rotating-back-and-forth-like-a-washing-machine-agitator way that would send a twirly skirt out like an umbrella being opened, and with a grin from ear to ear she said:
 "A boy commented me today".
 I replied, correcting her as all good mom's (*ahem*) do "A boy complimented you today?"
"Yeah." (still grinning ear to ear)
My husband asked "What did he say?"
"He said he'd never seen anybody dance like that before!"

So perhaps, as my own mom pointed out, my oldest was "commented" rather than "complimented".

Is this the innocence of youth, or evidence of great self confidence?  Either way, I'm good!