Small Joys of Being a Mother

SO FUNNY: In Target with Simon and Clare. Against my better judgement, I let them get out of the cart towards the end of our trip. They sprint off ahead of me. I am pushing the mega-ton cart (the one that holds two kids sitting in the front contraption, then there's the actual cart itself) loaded with stuff and Violet perched precariously in her car seat on top. So I am trying to catch up with my runaway children, but going kind of slow so Violet doesn't topple off. I can see Clare and Simon running towards the Halloween section. They run through a decorated arch, then start screaming. I have never heard them scream so loud! They both turn around with petrified looks on their faces and bolt back to me. Now they're both in tears and clinging to my legs. Turns out there was a motion-activated bigger-than-life electronic creepy skeleton on the other side of that arch - just waiting for errant children to run by him so he can scare them back to their mothers.

The Plot Thickens

Violet started crawling yesterday, which was so exciting! Not as exciting today since it is only 8am, and I've already pulled playing cards, kleenex, a Bionicle piece, and fake plastic blueberries out of her mouth and rescued her from toppling down the basement stairs. Plus now she can find me in the house and cry at my feet until I pick her up.

School Day Photos

I am so bad at formatting photos on Blogger, but here are some photos from Clare's first day of afternoon preschool, Jamie's first day of first grade, and Clare's first day on the bus. They both started at new schools this year, and both are doing great and loving school!

Jumpy

I am starting to feel somewhat settled in our new school routine, and we are going to shake it up a little bit on Thursday. After battling my Mommy-guilt, we have decided to let Clare go on the bus to school. I know, I know, what's the big deal really? But I have HUGE reservations about that big yellow thing (even though Clare's will be a little yellow thing and might even be a van). I imagine all sorts of horrible things that could happen on the bus. Yet the time between dropping Clare off at school and leaving the house again to pick Jamie up from school is too short for Simon and Violet to properly nap. And my two little ones desperately need their naps. I weighed my negative attitude concerning the bus (and, mind you, I personally never had to ride the bus to school because I lived within walking distance) against these facts:
* four days a week, I have to wake up two grumpy kids from too-short naps and deal with their wrath for the remainder of the day
* this will allow me to put Simon and Violet down for naps before the bus picks Clare up, so they can get a quality naptime and make for a much happier afternoon all around (and the little ones do need their naps for their overall health as well)
* it's a Special Education bus with at least one aide on it and maybe one or two other kids that stops right in front of our house to pick Clare up - she has a seatbelt and booster seat for safety
* it's just to bring Clare to school - I will still pick her up from school after I pick up Jamie
* Clare is excited to go on the bus (and Jamie is jealous, but there is no way I am bussing him, too!)

So I need to tell the Mommy-guilt to take a hike. I know in my head it's ridiculous to feel like a bad Mommy because I am putting my four-year old on a school bus when I am perfectly capable of driving her to school myself. In my heart, though, I still feel terrible about the decision. I feel selfish - like I just want that extra time while the kids are napping to myself. And I do want that extra time! I won't lie! But I also want the little ones to be able to nap and not be stuck driving around in the car all afternoon. I don't want them to be tired for the rest of the day, red-eyed and whiny. I have to write this all out to justify to myself why my decision is a good one, made for the good of all of us, not just Clare. And that Clare will love this new adventure of riding the bus. Thank goodness Shawn finally talked me into our new fancy-schmancy camera so we can take lots of pictures!