From Preschooler to Big Boy: Happy 5th Birthday to The Boy

My not-so-little boy turned five today.

FIVE.

Five years ago I was wondering what the HELL I was doing... who's great idea this whole 'baby' thing was and how the HELL I was going to get that baby OUT of there! (Still boggles the mind if you ask me.)

Five years later, I'm still wondering what the hell I'm doing. Funny how that never changes. Sure I can (and have) change a diaper with my eyes closed, wipe someone else's bum without blinking an eye, and I now know the best way to handle minor boo-boos that seem pretty major at the time (in a word: freezies).

But since every new day with The Boy is a stage we've never experienced, he gets to teach us how to parent in the moment, as we go. Isn't he lucky!

We don't yet know how to handle 'big school', or girlfriends, or broken bones (KNOCKING ON WOOD). We haven't put him on a bus by himself or helped him put together a project on Nefertiti or the Human Body. We have yet to send him careening down the street on a two-wheeler without training wheels, or deal with him running away or telling us he hates us (again, knocking on wood, though I know these things are probably coming). We haven't had to explain where babies come from or why pets have to die, or teach him to cross the bunny ears and loop-swoop-and-pull.

We'll learn all those things and more, I know. But we're not there yet... for now it's all band-aids on scrapes and time-outs and LEGO and three books at bedtime and the excitement of a playdate with your best friend.

Happy 5th Birthday little buddy. Love you.

1 year

1 week

2 years

3 years

4 years

Five!

They're Just Trying to Make the Moms Cry

I swear, half the stuff set up for parents and kids are designed solely to make moms cry. And I'm not a crier! I didn't even cry at the movie Beaches, even though everyone else in the room was a blubbering mess.

Yesterday was a big day around here. The Boy had his Primary Orientation, which is the day they have all the 'newbies' come to Big School to get familiar with it before school starts in September. They also assess the kids to see where everyone will fit and assign teachers and classrooms accordingly. For parents of kids who are just starting for the first time, it's a chance to meet the teachers, and start to get a feel for this whole "school" thing.

Now, we aren't total newbies... The Boy went to preschool when he was three, and now attends a daycare with a preschool program, with a focus on learning and schedules and taking turns and working in groups -- all the things kids need before they start school.

And yet, taking my little boy into that big building with all the classrooms and big kids and a cafeteria and library... Aren't those things for big kids? Like, teenagers? Exciting, for sure. But big... a big deal, this whole school thing. And I really can't believe, as most parents have echoed, that the time is here already. How have 5 years gone by so quickly? It's really not possible... is it?

I've been told once kids start school, time speeds up even more. Everything goes in fast-forward and before long, your little boy with his brand-new backpack and pencil case and his name in his shoes is getting his driver's license and graduating from High School. I think that's what's getting me about him starting school -- it's not that going to Primary is so heartwrenching, it's the reminder that you can't stop time, and your kids just keep growing up. Exciting... but...

And then, the principal read us parents a poem, which I guarantee was just to get us all to cry. I was FINE up to that point. It was just orientation! Not like he's really starting school... yet... I held it together watching him walk to the front of the room and go off with 20 other kids to check out the classrooms, without us, like a big boy. But when the principal said to get our tissues ready, and began to read this poem about handing our kids over to the capable teachers and not being able to watch everything they do and achieve... well I admit I welled up.

We still have a few months before The Big Day (which we're told we're not supposed to make a huge hairy deal of so as not to scare the kids... HA!!), and then I will be a total mess. Until then, I'm enjoying every minute of my "preschooler" kid.

Okay, not every minute. I love him... but come on. :)

Garden update... my beds are in!

My beds are in!! Woot woot! The Hubs has worked tirelessly to make these gorgeous raised garden beds for me, and install them (level and everything). Aren't they *pretty*??

We just need to line the bottom with wire mesh to stop the critters from getting at my veggies from below, and fill them with dirt. Yay! Then the real work begins!

In other garden news... My not-so-little seedlings are growing like crazy! One very important lesson I've learned: transplanting seedlings at the right time is crucial. Case in point: I started these tomato plants at the same time from seed, and they were roughly the same size when I transplanted the one on the right to a bigger container. Seriously. That's the only difference. Whaaaat!

That photo, and these, were taken about 10 days ago. The tomato plants are about 18" now, and I've started hardening them off (putting them outside for a few hours a day to get used to the 'real world'). I've also turned off the grow lights at night. Tough love!

Green onion & carrots (we'll see how those do after they're transplanted...)

Zucchini, beans, tomatoes

Arugula & mizuna (so yummy, I've been sampling!), a couple of pathetic non-transplanted tomatoes, and a sad little leek. What's up with those?

My glorious day OFF!

When I heard that the kids' daycare would be putting on a Mother's Day event this afternoon, I decided to attend. Since I'd have to be there at 3:00, I figured, I better take the whole day off work. Heh.

There is really nothing better as a mom than an entire day (until 3:00 anyway) to do whatever. Anything. The day is MINE! I feel so free!!

So, what am I doing on my day off?

Cleaning. Laundry. Organizing. (well right after I finish this post...)

And sadly, I could NOT be more excited about this.

You see, as a work-outside-the-home mom it's very rare that I get any time in my house without other people (little and big) around, making messes and needing things. There are the ever-loving piles of laundry - clean and dirty - begging for attention. There are the scuzzy floors that almost never see a cleaning product. The toilets... 'science experiment' comes to mind. Yech.

So, after sleeping in (thankyouhubby!!) until 7:30 am (my 19-year-old self just recoiled), drinking coffee in my PJs ALONE, tending to my seedlings and plants (update on them to come soon), playing a little DrawSomething, and writing this post, I'm off to do laundry and clean toilets.

Wheeeee!!

I really need a day off every week. An actual day off - not a weekend day, those are worse than weekdays! The errands, activities, messy kids... No, a real day off where I get to choose what to do with my time. If not every week, maybe every 6 months?

A girl can dream.

The Accumulation and Storage of Things Outgrown

Seasons changing always mean a massive clothing migration, which means in the Spring and Fall we have every kind of clothing out and everywhere, from swimsuits and bucket hats to mittens and sweaters, and everything in between. Doesn't help that it was 30 degrees in March and snowed this past weekend. 

The thing about kids is, they are always growing. Always. They grow out of clothing, and you get them some more, and they grow out of those too.

Will the insanity never end??

Alongside the outgrowing and seasonal migration of clothes, we have the Accumulation and Storage of Things Outgrown. The boxes and baskets in the kids' closets, collecting things that you swear just fit them last week! Heaven forbid it's a favourite item, that you go to put on them and discover is at least 3" too short but, now that it's on, good luck getting it off.

And somehow these boxes and baskets are always overflowing with things outgrown. I empty them (okay only about once a year but still... I do it), and I turn around and they're full again. Poof! Magic clothes!

Then there are The Bins. Huge, plastic bins stuffed with more Things Outgrown, occupying nearly all the shelves in our basement, as well as some of our garage. Heaven help me if I ever need to go looking for something in one of The Bins. *shudder*

The issue is that I really don't have a good system in place to organize, label, and store these things. I'd like to think that someday I'll sell some of the really good stuff, but the thought of going through all those bins to pull out, photograph, list, price and categorize all the items is enough to stop me from doing it. (Also the possibility that we might have another child... hence we're hanging onto *everything*, just in case.)

As of right now I have bins 'sorted' (I use that term loosely) by size and gender. Size being the wearable size of the clothing, not necessarily what's on the label (so something that fit the boy at age 2 would go in the 2T bin). Then there are the boxes of shoes and boots - many of which should probably just be donated or tossed but got boxed up and put on a shelf forevermore. I'm filled with a sense of dread anytime I have to go put a box of outgrown clothes away in the basement, because I'll have to actually look at the bins and acknowledge the huge task that awaits, someday in the not-too-distant future: the reorganizing of the Things Outgrown.

When I get to it, I will organize things by gender: boy, girl, and neutral. I'll be more brutal when it comes to deciding what to keep, and I'll sort things by season. I'll purge. I'll store bins on the shelves in order of age. I'll keep a small bin in the kids' rooms for the next size up (at least for The Girl, for any hand-me-downs that can be worn from her brother).

When I get to it... Or maybe I can just call some professional service to come and do this?

My hopes for my daughter

I wish a lot of things for my kids in their life... health, happiness, success. But my biggest, most important wishes are the little things:

For my daughter...

I hope she can look in the mirror every morning, as she did on this morning, and say "I have pretty hair!"

I hope she will always "go for it", and not inherit her mother's reservations, hesitations, and worry.

I hope she keeps dancing like it's her job. 

I hope my daughter never loses her spark. Girls can be so mean, and I just pray that she is resilient and doesn't let some snarky b's squash her tenacity.

I hope she always sings with her arms open and her eyes closed the way she does today.

I hope she keeps doing silly voices, making up silly songs, and making silly faces.

I hope she keeps looking at her brother with all the love and adoration in the world, the way she does now.

Even though I grumble about it at the time, I hope she keeps waking me up with a big smile and a cheery "Mummy!" at the side of my bed, showing me whatever creation she's made while waiting for the rest of us to wake up.

I hope she takes her spunk all the way to the top, of whatever mountain she chooses to climb.

I hope she always knows how full of awesome she is.

I hope she never stops calling me "Mama" when she really needs her Mama.

I hope she keeps telling those around her exactly what she wants and when.

I hope she can find someone to share her life with, who truly appreciates her goofy sense of humour, and can see when she really needs a hug. As I have.

I love you, my spunky, sweet, adorable, awesome-filled girl. I hope you always know that.

Seedling Watch 2012

We have more things sprouting up over here and doing a lot of planning. It's very exciting!

First - The Hubs is awesome. I mentioned (three weeks ago *cough*) that I needed my new grow light mounted somehow, to make it useable. I may have said something about making it adjustable... if possible. THIS is what he made for me! It's fully adjustable... though the height seems fine to me. Cool huh?

I have to say this project has meant a lot of learning on my part, some of it unexpected. Did you know that green, yellow, and red pepper are all the same plant? They're just picked at different times. WHAT!

My little seedlings are coming along as well. Unfortunately, being a bit of a disorganized twit, I've lost track of which plants are which. I know what most of them are, generally, but I've got all my tomato plants mixed up and some random cells of seeds weren't marked (me: "I'll totally remember what this is") so... yeah. Next year (if I do this again) I will come up with a good way to ID seedlings!

A few pics of my newest babies, half of which I'm sure I wasn't even supposed to start indoors but... my raised beds aren't built yet! (Hopefully this weekend...) Aren't they cute?

tomato (pretty huh?)

crazy zucchini (this is 2 weeks!)

green onion - not sure what's up with these

green leaf lettuce

I wanted the kids to get into the seedling action, so I had them shove a couple of bean seeds into some dirt just for fun. I had NO IDEA they'd do THIS. And that's the small one! Dude!