The Things They Say #982

Today, we were on the way to dropping Benjamin off at school when I overhear the following: 

Nico (in a very demanding tone) - Benji, I'm going to need you to go ahead and eat poop for me. I just can't do it. 

Benjamin - ............

That's right. I think Benjamin is starting to learn the art to not reacting to every single thing that comes out of his brother's mouth. 

But seriously, where does this child get this stuff from? If only I could have a quick glimpse inside his brain. Or maybe not...

Deep down they do love one another. Even if one asks the other one to eat poop and is 100% ignored.

Weekend Mornings

Most of our weekend mornings involve chores, commotion, tupperware out of cabinets. boys arguing over the same tiny lego and plans of what all we need to accomplish for the day. When I say most of our weekend mornings, I mean like 97% of them.

BUT, every now and then (3% of the time), the stars line up, time freezes and we experience mornings like this:

Usually I come across these moments when I am hurrying to clean up the kitchen after breakfast, or in and out of the garage straightening things up and declutering our 2 sq ft of counter space. And then it hits me... I realize that there is a sense of calm and no bickering, no running. For the most part, I say a little prayer and start moving even faster to "maximize the time" before someone starts crying or starts getting out all the finger paints. 

Today was different though. Today instead of shifting all my to-dos into 5th gear, I instead warmed up my coffee in the microwave and sat down on the couch to watch and enjoy. 

Things They Say (during a pandemic)

As we are getting ready to get our flu shots, I am explaining the concept of vaccines to the boys “soon, when the scientists develop a vaccine for the Coronavirus, we will go to the doctor again to get the vaccine. That way we can avoid catching the virus” 

Benjamin replies “And that will be called the corona shot”

As the boys were getting ready to watch TV, one claims the big chair and turns to the other and says very matter of factly “I’M sitting here! You can’t sit here because of the corona!”

Chess

A couple of weeks ago, Benjamin found a chess board in the trunk where we keep the board games. He asked about it and we provided a basic explanation of the game, how ti set it up and how the various pieces move.

This past weekend, I caught him trying to play with Nico. Nico, on the other hand doesn’t appear to be too interested. 

Turn your volume up and see if you catch why the King moves so slow. And watch until the end to fully embrace Nico’s take on it. 

To Nico’s defense, he had a bite on his finger and was trying to show it to me. The video is still priceless. 

Following this explanation, Benji and I looked up all the names and reviewed the various moves for each piece. 

We’ve played a couple of times and he is quite great at it! He makes comments like “this is a thinking game” and “this game is hard... we need practice” and instead of capturing pieces, he “chomps” them!

Watch for the Little Kids

This morning we were dropping Benjamin off at school. There was the regular line of cars as well as various children moving about. Getting out of the cars. Walking up to the school. Waiting outside for the school door to open. 

As we pulled up and I drove next to the side walk, Nico says from the back seat:

"Don't drive over the little kiiiiiiiiids!!!!"

...............................

I guess that's how a 3 year old expresses that he does not approve of his mother's driving skills. He may for real be fearful that I may drive over the little kids. 

Making it Work

Saturday is the only day of the week when we all get to be at home together, it is our day "off". Which also consists of juggling all the things while both adults are home to help run interference with the kids. 

Yesterday, I was upstairs switching out laundry, straightening up and such while Norm was downstairs cleaning up the kitchen while the boys played and Gracie roamed. 

At one point, I realized I didn't hear Grace. So I texted Norm to see if everything was okay. He sent me this picture with "everything is great down here"...

I giggled (because if I laughed out loud she would hear me, remember I was in the house and start to cry). 

Problem Solving at its Finest

At 5.5 years old, Benjamin does not stop to amaze me (almost on the daily) when it comes to his critical thinking and problem solving skills that just flow so naturaly out of him. 

We have a yard sign that is held up with an h-stake. For a few weeks, the bottom cross bar of the h-stake has been broken, so the sign has been leaning. Every couple of days, we adjust the sign, only for it to start leaning within hours. 

The other day, Norm had pulled the entire sign out of the grass to mow the lawn. So Benjamin and I went to put it back together only for it to start leaning immediately. 

So I mentioned to Benjamin how we need a new sign holder (which we actually went to the store last weekend to purposely purchase a new sign holder and we walked out with everything but the sign holder...). Benjamin casually looks and me and says "why don't you just flip it over?"

I was confused for a minute and then realized what he was telling me. 

So we flipped it over and eneded up with the broken cross bar at the top and a sturdy bottom part. 

I mean, I know he's my child and everything, but we all have to agree that was pretty unbelievable for a 5.5 year old problem solving skill. 

Style

 Every few days or so, after getting dressed, Nico will come running to find anyone, jumps in front of them, opens up his arms and says 

"Do you like my style?"

Yes, son. I LOVE your style!

The Things They Say #75

The other day Nico was upset because he had something in his eye. And just like pretty much everything else in his little life, it was A LOT. Everything is always a lot. 

So he was crying and rubbing his eye. He wouldn’t let me look at it to see if I could help. So I just sat next to him. 

As he melted down, he said: “There is something in my EYE!!!”

He kept rubbing his eye and continued: “WHATEVER it is, it doesn’t belong IN THERE!!”

Birthday Month

This month Gracie turns a year and I promise I will sit down and upload all of her monthly pictures. In the meantime, I will just leave this evidence right here that our hands are full.

And because standing on wobbly picnic tables and reaching for little LEGOS is not enough. She has started walking... 

Artist and Insight

In the Summer, Benjamin started taking painting classes locally at the teacher's house. She set up easels on her back porch and everyone had their own little station. He really enjoyed it! 

Dinosaur:

Mountains:

He also painted fish. They are all hangin on his wall next to his bed:

Now that he started Kindergarten, his drawing skills have sharpened so much! Today he brought this picture home. We asked him to tell us about him and he said:

That is me (person in orange to the right), and I am wearing a hat. 

That is Pellet and I am holding him on a leash with his collar

That's the sun at the top and it's a little blurry

Benjamin only new Pellet for little over a year, and it is amazing to see the impact that he left on him. His heart misses Pellet, I know. Because of that and a thousand other reasons, we miss Pellet so much! 

Pandemic Life Through the Eyes of a 3-year old

Benjamin’s school issued each kindergartener a little blue mask. 

Today on the way to school, Nico mentions that there are blue masks like Benji’s at Wheeler Pinea (the daycare).

So I ask him who wears those blue masks.

Nico: the teachers do!!! 

Me: oooh okay! That is great!

Nico: they wear them so they don’t have to smell all the poop! 

Me: I didn’t know that! 

Nico (with attitude): yes mooooom!

The Things They Say #921

Today on the way to dropping Gracie off at school, Nico tells me, out of the blue: “Mami, when I am a growm up, I am going to drink beered AND wine”

Yes son, can’t wait for the day when we all drink beered and wine together. 

A Year

I think back to this time last year and everything that has happened in the last 12 months. It is so much. Some things my brain understands and other things it gives up trying. 

Some things are drastic like Nico losing his chunkness. Other things remain constant like Benjamin’s bathing suit. 

. 

Time

9 years later

5 moves later

3 houses later 

3 jobs later

3 children later

Never in my wildest dreams would I had thought then that I’d end up working in this beautiful place, with Mr. Frog and everything! 

Ears

My Gracielou got her ears pierced today! Norm volunteered to sit with her since days leading up to today I ended up chickening out. Hearing her cry when she can’t get a toy she wants pierces my soul, therefore I knew I was not fit to sit with her during the piercings. 

Norm tells me she was most upset about being held still more than the actual piercing... not sure if that’s true or that’s what my ears like to hear. 

It is wild how the earrings make her eyes look so big!!

Her brothers are mesmerized by the whole concept. Nico told me that now Gracie looks like me... 

COVID Academy

It was about a week into the shutdown that Norm founded COVID Academy. He took the lead when it came to activities in the mornings and keeping the kids engaged. I was just the after school teacher that let them do whatever. 

Norm actually facilitated circle time, centers, small groups with some sort of themed worksheets, show and tell, and the most favorite of all - outdoor play! 

Some of those days were long. Some hours were never ending. And just like that, right at around the 2 month mark, COVID Academy has come to an end and back to their regular school the boys go. 

We are going to miss them.... Norm actually teared up the other day (don't tell him I told you), as we were discussing the kids returning to their regular school. 

So here is a snapshot of the things that took place during this once-in-a-lifetime (hopefully) season.

Health & Hygene

Boy have we been washing our hands... a lot... all day long.

We haven't had the need for the kids to go out in public wearing masks, but we are ready for when the moment comes!

Considering we were going to be stuck at home for a couple of weeks (so we were told back in mid-March), we tackled potty training for Nico. After little progress we had to resort to bribery with chocolate cheerios - two for peeing in the potty and four for pooping in the potty. 

Art

We did some type of art every single day. We also took advantage of various music classes that people did live. It was super fun (also read as a big mess) to get all the music instruments out to play along. 

This day we did water paint... as in plain water and brushes on the hot driveway

Nico got ahold of the scissors one day and took off cutting the paper! He did so great!

Dramatic Play

Fashion

They love wearing their matching shirts. One day they went to the kitchen with Norm to pick up things so we said they were on field trip wearing matching uniform!

The day their flip flos arrived was quite glorious. 

Horticulture

We planted parsley, basil and tomatoes (that we grew from seeds!)

Benjamin learning how to use the blower

We went on a field trip to visit a farm and harvest strawberries

Culinary

The boys sure acquired a good bit of culinary skills. Even if it involved licking butter from the knife. We made milkshakes!

They made me chocolate chip cookies from scratch for Mother's Day. They insisted in decorating them... so, why not?

Outside Play

Boy did we do a whole lot of outside play. The main activity was riding bikes. Benjamin got pedals on his balance bike for his birthday (about halway point of COVID Academy's existance). He picked it up right away!

We went on family walks around our neighborhood

Washed the cars...

One afternoon they had soccer class with Norm... notice them so proper sitting on their soccer balls paying attention..

Randomly it got hot, so we inflated the inflatable pool and had water day!

Business

This picture was taken the weekend before the shutdown... we had to stop by Sam's to pickup salmon for a Mighty Meal - they insisted on helping

They would ride along with us to do deliveries as a way to get them out of the house (and give the other parent some time to get some work done)

Benjamin lives for pushing the kitchen cart... notice the cart is stacked literally twice as high as he is tall. I am pretty sure this is not OSHA compliant... neither are the flip flops.

One day when he is 15 we will show him this video as proof that he liked sweeping the Mighty Meals kitchen...

S.T.E.M

Benjamin took the initiative to reuse items from the recycling bin to create this robot. We named him Robbie.

They looked for dinosaur fossils in this little kit. They finally found all the bones and put together the dinoaur that quickly ended up with no tail.

Reading the instructions to put together the inflatable pool... goggles and all.

Deductive Reasoning

One afternoon I taught Benjamin how to play tic-tac-toe. He got the hang rather quickly and on this one he actually beat me (see the score) on his own... I am not that mom that always lets them win.. they have to figure it out and earn it!

These are just a peek into the ins and outs of COVID Academy... our days also involved coffee, snacks, naps, quiet time, all kinds of field trips thanks to these people in South Florida, learning how things work, silly dances and songs, a fair share of 3-year old meltdowns and lots of brotherly love (both ends of the spectrum), coffee.

It's been intense. It's been a lot. This strange season is not over yet, we are just adapting to a new way of life. School next week is going to be different than the school they left back in March. 

Altough we juggled all the things and some of them were ocassionally dropped, like patience, COVID Academy has been fulfilling and we have all learned from it.

It is going to be so quiet here next week. Maybe I'll finally get to cleaning the toilets...