Father of three?! When did this happen?

This is T's first Father's Day as a father of three (six if you count the four-legged children). I think Father's Day celebrations are inversely proportionate to the number of children you have. When we just had Q, Father's Day was a big occasion. T was treated to a special breakfast and showered with gifts. This year Father's Day really snuck up on me. Unfortunately for T, it was not the most festive of occasions. We did have a nice breakfast and dinner, and Q proudly gifted T with a handmade keychain. I was not the best wife though. Not even a card, I hate to admit. But he does deserve a lot for being the father that he is.

T is the modern dad to my modern mama. He has a stressful, successful job and is constantly fielding calls and emails from work. He takes his kids to soccer and swimming and wrangles Lena into the frilly outfits I lay out for her (the Packers sweatsuit above notwithstanding).

He cooks dinner for the boys when I am at class and defrosts breastmilk to feed Lena. I write the grocery list and he does the grocery shopping. He cleans the cars and mows the lawn and shleps poop from three species out to the curb. He takes the boys to the Home Depot Kids' Workshops and soothes Lena to sleep balanced over his forearm.

Being a dad makes him laugh and beam with pride. Sometimes it makes him yell or grit his teeth. It brings him great love, moments of frustration, long nights, and fun days. It is his biggest challenge and his greatest success.

Happy Father's Day T!

(Hopefully this makes up for the less-than-stellar Father's Day celebration.)

--MM

Mini masterpieces

Q is a prolific artist and craftsman. His works are mostly abstract of course, but he churns them out by the dozens in preschool and at his caregiver's house. I am hoping that someday he will be on of those kids who can sell their pieces of art for $20,000, but in the meantime his masterpieces are either packed away in a Tupperware container surreptitiously stashed in the recycling bin.

I was looking for a way to display his talents, and remembered seeing a clothesline idea in a magazine somewhere. T and I found some twine and clothespins and came up with this set up in our basement:

 

The basement includes the kids' playroom and a TV room, so it is a nice fit and it adds a bright touch. We will have to be a bit more selective in our choices as our line fills up, and as R begins to lend his artistic genius to the mix. Q is extremely proud of his handiwork. He helps us decipher the inspiration behind some of the images. 'Oh that's a moon! Of course! I see it now." 

--MM

May Favorites

1. Martha Stewart Everyday Food recipe emails

Every weekend I plan my meals for the week and write a grocery list. I'd like to say I am just totally organized and in control, but it is mostly out of necessity. Otherwise we'd be eating peanut butter and jelly every night and the kids wouldn't have any milk.

It's not always easy figuring out a week's worth of good, quick, mostly healthy meals, and I try to limit myself to one night of takeout at the most. Lately, Martha Stewart recipes have been a big help. I get an email each day with Everyday Food recipes. The ones that sound good, I pop into a Gmail folder called "Recipes." Then when meal-planning time comes around on Sundays, I open that email folder and print out whatever sounds enticing. Easy. Thanks Martha.

You can sign up here.

2. The trashiness that is the Real Housewives

I like them all, but New Jersey and the OC are especially scandalous. T rolls his eyes every time I turn on an episode. I think I just like how it is mindless fluff, like cotton candy for the brain. Or maybe just because it makes me feel good about myself for not being such a train wreck.

3. Revlon ColorStay makeup

I used to wear MAC makeup every day for work. That was when I needed a good spackling to look good under TV lights, and when I had a monthly hair and makeup budget. Those days are gone. Now I would look like a prostitute if I walked around with the same amount of makeup on as I did then, and my hair and makeup budget consists of what's left over after buying groceries and paying the mortgage.

It felt a little overly extravagant to still spend $30 on MAC foundation, so I went looking for an alternative. Revlon's ColorStay is good stuff. It stays on and covers well. I now use just about all Revlon products from their eye shadow to their lip gloss and am quite pleased. And you don't even have to deal with the annoying makeup counter people.

4. Pineapple

This has to be my favorite fruit, and it is very sweet and cheap right now. I could eat a whole pineapple by myself. We had it mixed with blueberries this month and broiled with salmon. (Martha Stewart Everyday Food recipe!) And we still have a pineapple sitting on the counter. Yum! I should have been Hawaiian.

5. Craft scissors

I have a love-hate relationship with scrapbooking. I love to look at the completed product, but I don't generally like the act of actually scrapbooking. It hangs over my head and stresses me out! I just want it to be done! I wish I could hire someone to do it for me! But I am determined that all the kids have nice scrapbooks to commemorate their first tooth and graduation from sixth grade and all that.

Lena's was stressing me out as I had not even started it, so this weekend I promised myself I would get it up to date. I hit up Michael's for the requisite pink patterned paper and baby-themed flair. I also grabbed a three pack of craft scissors to give cool edges to my background paper and labels. It didn't make scrapbooking totally enjoyable, but it was definitely more fun as I admired the crinkly edges of my work.

6. My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding

This show on TLC about the extravagant and bizarre world of European gypsy weddings is baffling and fascinating. They dress like whores, yet disallow any sex before marriage. The wedding dress in the picture above was complete with twinkly lights and moving butterflies! It's definitely an intriguing watch. After I finish catch up on The Real Housewives, of course.

(By the way, I do listen to NPR in the morning on the way to work. I am not a complete pop culture moron.)

--MM

Week of crap

Wow, I had a bad week last week. Just horribly bad. And I pretty much let one person control that.

I knew going in that it would be a stressful week. I was teaching entirely new topics. I had to work late at night and get up very early in the morning poring over my notes and lesson plans to get ready for class. I was stressed and tired and felt awkward and unsure. I was counting down the hours until class was over. But I made it. And I actually thought I did pretty well. People seemed to get it, and I didn't make a complete ass of myself. Sometimes that counts as success.

Then I made the mistake of reading my evaluations right after class, when I still felt pretty good about how the class had gone, all things considered. Many were very kind and complimentary. A couple said they weren't thrilled with the training. And then one had a cruel personal comment that I won't repeat here because I have been repeating it in my head far too often.

I was pissed. And sad. I had worked so hard that week to make the class a success, and all this person can say is a comment on my appearance. Of course the comment was anonymous. So I spent a fair amount of time trying to figure out who it was or how I had wronged that person.

Then I switched to deciding I was horrible at my job and for some reason people didn't like me. Then I evolved to thinking I shouldn't be working anyway if it was going to make me miserable, and I might as well just stay home with my kids. It was a long weekend.

This week went better. I had a good class, and my trainees were engaged and seemed happy. I decided to not even read my evals, opting to let my boss share any actually constructive criticism after she read them.

It's a shame people can be such jerks. It's sad that women are more likely to criticize women. It's pathetic that one person saw a personal comment as a valid item to include on an evaluation. And it's not right that I should feel miserable after a week I had every right to be proud of.

--MM

ET Amphibian

Q asks me, "Are those arons frogs?"

"What?" I ask. "Errands?"

"No," he answers, as if this is the most obvious question in the world. "Arions. They go way up into the sky in the circle things."

"Aryans?"

"Arions!"

"Oh," I say, finally understanding his kidspeak. "Aliens. That go up in the sky in the flying saucers. Are they frogs? Is that what you are asking?"

"Yes."

"No, but they do look like frogs," I finally respond.

"Oh," he answers satisfied. "So they just look like frogs, but they're not really frogs."

"Yes," I say. Then I add after some thought, "And aliens are not real. They're just pretend."

--MM

Awkward

Q is in that horrible phase where he just blurts out whatever he observes. I believe this phase shows up around the age of four and then again around the age of 75.

A few days ago we were walking in a parking garage when a tall couple approached. "Dad, look how TALL they are. Look! They're so tall!"

The people were about ten feet from us, so they just smiled in an embarrassed way and shuffled on.

He did it again this past week at the airport, exclaiming loudly about how tall a guy right next to us was. The tall person in question just ignored Q and acted like he didn't hear him, but a kid behind Mr. Tall thought the whole scene was hilarious.

I dodged a bullet when we were checking in at the airport. I noticed the woman taking the checked luggage appeared to have gigantism (like Andre the Giant).

"You better drop off the bag alone," I whispered to T.

But you can't dodge every awkward moment. We were in Boston this past weekend for Lena's christening. We stopped by to visit an old man who knew T when he was little. The man had trouble getting around, and as could be expected, his chair was shabby and their were stacks of magazines and other things.

"He lives in a dumpster!" Q declared.

Time to go!

I was filling the kids' nanny in on all this awkwardness, and she told me that Q had asked a chubby friend of her teenage daughter, "Why are you so fat?" I'm sure that's just what that poor girl needs at this stage of her life.

So now we are trying to inform him that you can't say everything that comes to mind, and some things are just not nice to say because they hurt other peoples' feelings.

How have you handled this pre-school awkwardness? Besides pretending the child belongs to someone else (though I have tried this).

--MM

April favorites

The author of a blog I enjoy does a monthly list of her favorite discoveries during the previous four weeks. I know a good idea when I see it, so I am shamelessly ripping off her monthly list. Here then are my favorites for April:

1. Skinnygirl Margarita

What a wonderful thing. A margarita that's low in calories. Brilliant. I kind of love Bethenny Frankel, and I admit, I watch her reality shows. I had been meaning to try this, so we had it the other night with tacos, and it didn't disappoint.

2. Endless.com

This website lets you narrow in on the exact shoe you want. Two-inch heels, black, open-toed, under $100, C width? No problem. And then best thing is you get free overnight delivery on most shoes, and two-day delivery on most others. Awesome.

3. Chobani individual pineapple Greek yogurt cups

This isn't always the easiest to find because it is super popular. Pineapple is my absolute favorite, but they have other types as well. It is very high in protein and tastes like dessert. I'm in love.

4. Bumbo seats

Lena eating her first cereal

I think a lot of baby products are pointless. We got rid of our Pack n' play, and I don't get things like covers for shopping cart seats. But I do love this Bumbo seat, and I highly recommend it if you have a baby or plan to some time in the future. It is perfect to help them sit up and keep them contained before you want to haul out the big high chair. You can also get an attachable tray. I don't however purchase the optional Bumbo seat covers.

5.Yoga

This will never be me

I used to do a lot of yoga. In fact, I even taught yoga several days a week, though I don't really have formal yoga training. I knew enough.

I have been away from yoga for a short while though and just started up again this month. A girl at my work teaches yoga once a week either in the hall of our training center or outdoors if we are lucky. She knows her stuff, and her classes are challenging and enjoyable. It's great. After the first session that was actually outdoors, I felt refreshed and serene. And really sore. I love the feeling of strengthening rarely used muscles and maybe even firming up my stretched out post-baby belly. Yoga, I've missed you.

--MM