Tuesday
following the holiday was rough.
The boys have been doing so awesome sleeping in their own bed but somehow both migrated to ours during the night. Since I had let the dog out twice during the night, my assumptions were that he woke them too.
Maddox, who sleeps in a pull-up, had (for whatever reason) took it off and climbed between Lance and I, sans-pantalones and then peed on me.
I hopped up, pulling my drenched night gown off while griping at him for being in my bed, and for taking his pull up off, and for not pottying before he went to bed-- acting erratic and slightly psychotic. Lance (who sleeps through a hurricane) rolled over and snuggled up Maddox and said, "its okay buddy".
To which Maddox responded "I deserve it Daddy. I wish she would just spank me. I don't know why I do this?"
My heart broke and I cried myself back to sleep-- on top of a towel and snuggled up next to a naked sleeping boy, that I of course did not make go back to his own bed.
I woke up, vowing to turn the day around.
Mornings were always a bit rowdy and stressful growing up with fights over my outfit or hair or a paper needing to be signed, etc so I have made a conscious effort to make our mornings easy, smooth and calm. (I am certain if I ever have a little girl, this will take more effort-- I am sure of it.)
I woke the boys up, got their lunches made, their hair fixed, them dressed for success and then out to the yard for pictures.
We talked on the way to school about how awesome school was going to be and that I had a surprise for them once they got out.
Maddox rolled into class with confidence, like he has from day one.
Beckham's first day of Mother's Day Out, however, was nothing short of catastrophic.
The teacher was late and he was good with that. He and I sat on the rug playing with blocks until others started showing up.
Once the other kids started coming in, he started playing with them and I decided to slide out unnoticed.
I made a stop by the security computer to see how he was doing and was just him time to watch him do the glance-around, realize I was gone, and then melt.
He slowly slid his hands up to his mouth, bowed his head, and sobbed.
I probably should have left there, but I went back to soothe him.
That was fuel to the fire and he was stuck to me like glue.
I finally peeled him off and went back out to the cameras, where I sat for over an hour waiting for him to play with the other kids-- crying. my. head off.
He did finally stop crying, but he just stood alone at the back of the class while the other kids did activities at the tables.
Once they moved them out of the classroom to the gym, I left.
I called Lance, who was also having a bad day-- so I got to eat my emotions and pretend to be happier than I really was.
Chaney and Jennifer invited me to lunch with them in Boyd, where we laughed and cried-- and sometimes did them both at the same time.
I picked up the boys and both said that they had good days.
Maddox got a note from his teacher in the mail...
And B promised he would go back on Thursday, but would probably still cry a little and only sit on his bottom at nap time.
Wednesday
was great.
I love being back in Paradise with familiar faces everywhere I look.
Beckham is so enjoyable when he is here by himself. He doesn't require the attention that Maddox did as an only child and really enjoys playing by himself with his trucks or legos. I cleaned and did all of the laundry and we ate lunch together and shared popcorn.
We picked up Maddox and started on his homework, and Lance's dad joined us for dinner.
Wednesday seemed to be okay except the part where Beckham came walking out of the bathroom butt-naked proclaiming in the most excited voice ever, telling me that he fit a lego arm in the end of his teetee.
Holy cow, I thought I was going to vomit.
Thursday
was terrible.
Beckham woke up that morning crying about school and begging me not to take him.
He wore sunglasses the entire way to Maddox's school, telling me that no one could see him.
He grabbed onto me in a death clinch, shaking and telling me his belly hurt.
He begged me in the quietest, most terrified voice, "please don't leave me mommy." over and over.
I sat again at the computer, and cried.
It took about an hour, and he finally migrated into the group.
Again, he claimed to have a great day once I picked him up, and told me he was excited to go back.
Maddox and I made this about me poster, and finished his first homework of his little life!
The child is brilliant, so I don't feel bad mentioning his terrible artistic ability and sloppy handwriting!
B even walked straight up to his bear, hanging outside the classroom, and said, "that's Bubba's!"
He was right.
It was the messiest!
Friday
Felt like it would never come.
A cool thing about tiny schools, is that the entire school gets to attend the pep rally.
The coolest part, in Maddox's eyes, is that he gets to ride a bus to the high school to see it!
The coolest part to me, is that I can send my kid in a shirt with the word Jesus on it, and we don't end up on the news.
Go figure!
The weekend
A cold front came through and it felt like fall for a quick minute.
We took advantage with hotdogs on an open fire and cozy clothes!
We also went to our friend's for a fish fry and Cowboy game watching party where the kids played with bubbles and silly string.
Monday
We were back on the grind.
It was also the first morning of "Rise and Shine" that I completely forgot about.
Tuesday
Beckham was supposed to be back in school.
Except he started croupy coughing during the night and every time he would wake up coughing, he would start crying asking me not to take him to "shool".
He cried getting dressed, he cried eating breakfast, and I decided that we were staying home.
To which, he became happy.
Wednesday
Pushing through.
That expression on B's face, is his newest thing.
Its my favorite thing too.
He usually does it when he wants to smile but is pretending to not care or be cool.
I also love it when he uses the "best friend" card against you.
Mostly towards Lance, "daddy, you know what best friends do? They give they bess prins a tandy when they mommy already said no."
Lance and I surprised the boys with a quick trip for Pho Noodles and icecream after school.
Because that's what best friends do.
Thursday
B went back to school.
The teacher was late and he cried for the 30 minutes that we sat in the room waiting, but I watched him on the computer and within 5 minutes, he was playing play-dough.
Success.
It was also September 11, and the first time I have not had my children with me, for that anniversary.
I *may* have made a friend promise to lay her body across my kid if anything happened-- laughed and then cried-- not really knowing how serious I was.
I left for a hair transformation with two of my favorites.
B was crying when I picked him up and she said he cried only at nap and lunch. (so 4 times out of is day.)
His entire lunch was uneaten and unopened and when I asked why, he claimed his teacher was "too tired" to open it. --I obviously know that wasn't true, but it does bother me that he was too scared to ask-- or cried too much to eat-- or whatever the case was. That boy likes food.
Lance took them to the deer farm with him and took them for a tractor ride, but my mommy heart was about crippled by school for B.
Friday
Maddox asked for me to come eat lunch with him.
The problem is that every place in Decatur will not serve lunch at 10:00 am.
The plus-side to small town living is the owner of our town cafe (that I happened to work at for 2 years of my high school life) is my friend, and she whipped me up a burger and fries and made his little day.
We stopped by and visited a friend and then B and I headed home.
The weekend
My friend Zane turned 30.
I love him, and was happy to celebrate his big day with our friends.
His wife pulled it off well!
I was not happy, however, about accidentally leaving my keys in my friend Erin's chair, and not realizing it until she was 40 minutes away.
Luckily, Bridget let me take her fancy ride to go get my keys-- and entertained my kids while I was gone.
Monday
They only went half of a day.
It was our school's homecoming week, so the town pretty much revolves abound that.
For as long as I can remember, the kindergartners have participated in the parade by making cars.
Many moons ago, they were just boxes with stapled paper plates for wheels, but over the years they have morphed into amazing works of art.
Ours did not fall into that category.
But we tried.
Tuesday
Couldn't be good.
Late bed times and more sugar than any of them need, were sure to be a lethal combinations.
I warned Mrs. T when I dropped Maddox off and I was right!
B also woke up crying. Again through breakfast and during our entire 14 minute drive to the school. Another mom saw him in the hall and said, "oh no. It must be school day."
As we pulled into the church, he started wailing out and shaking all over, and that boy just isn't a fit thrower.
That was it.
I unbuckled his seat, lifted him out, walked right into the office, and pulled him out.
A lot of money wasted.
I am sure there are a lot of opinions about how I didn't give him long enough-- or I showed him that if he cries enough, he will get his way, or about how I need to let him get over this stranger-danger junk before he goes to kindergarten...
But guess what?
He's mine.
And there's something to be said for mother's intuition.
I am not saying that the program is bad, but I honestly do not think it was right for us... At least not right now.
And rather than choosing to believe that I just bought into B's crying-- I am choosing to believe that my child is giving me red flags and I am listening.
He's also only 3.
And I am just sitting at home, while he's there and miserable.
It just doesn't work for me.
B and I went to meet Lance for lunch and break the news to him.
And to replace the Chi that Goose chewed up.
As if the morning wasn't dramatic enough, Maddox got his first bad mark in his folder.
He claimed something about a cracker, and another boy yelling which wasn't adding up-- and the more questions that I asked, the harder he would cry and claim to not know-- which was making me angry!
While trying to straighten out the details, another mom called my phone.
She said that her son and a few others were making fun of Maddox at lunch and her son told her that Maddox got so upset he threw a cracker. (He had not told me any of this) Her sweet boy got on the phone and apologized and then said, "I'll see you tomorrow Maddox!"
I was so impressed by that, I thought I could cry!
Kids will be kids, but I hope I can mimic her parenting if {and when} the same situation falls into our lap.
Come to find out, Maddox was talking and being disruptive in class-- so I think the cracker story might have been his conscious, telling on himself for lunch!
He lost all tv and ipad for the rest of the day and we had a talk with him about talking.
Wednesday
He apologized to Mrs T.
But his day wasn't much better.
He and I had a random conversation on the way to school that particular morning. We
talked about how God created us all equal
in his eyes and that we shouldn't ever make fun of anyone because God
had the choice to make us the same, but chose to make us unique and different. I told him that it was important for him to remember how he felt the day before so that he chose his words carefully in the future with others.
My friend Kristen called me after their lunch and said Maddox was crying hard at lunch and saying that
some girls were making fun of him. (his last name, apparently?!
--Little does he know, "Erwin" is a royal treat compared to "Eyster"!) She said she told him that 'Erwin' meant 'strong' and she wanted him to show them how strong he could be. I emailed his teacher to check on him.
She told me that he was still really upset when he got back to her and she talked to the girls about it. They apologized and gave him a big bear hug and he seemed to be better.
It was ironic that we had the conversation that we did on the way to school that morning because it was a great segway into another conversation that evening.
Like his teacher said-- it was like God was preparing our heart for that afternoon.
The two little girls that were picking at him, are the same two who have a BIG crush on him!
He is just not 'there' yet, and finding out that God also created boys and girls very different, and sometimes girls FLIRT by picking-- made his 15 shades of red and really rocked his world with embarrassment.
One of the girls drew this picture, and her momma sent it to me saying that she says she LOVES him.
Thursday
I don't remember a single thing about it.
Friday
Maddox begged to wear "tall socks". Except we don't own any tall socks so instead he insisted on wearing some Halloween socks that were more like "half-way socks" with a grey band around the top.
Bless it!
He was happy as a clam with his spirit tattoo and tall socks, so I let it ride!
Beckham and I surprised him by checking him out early and taking him to the Homecoming pep rally with us!
Saturday
My mom kept the boys, and took them and their cousins to the movies to see the new dolphin movie!
Lance and I stayed at the Gaylord in Grapevine, to surprise and celebrate the birthdays of two of our friends.
Sunday
We realized that we are old and both needed naps!
Monday
At Rise and Shine, our little Gunny-honey won the polite panther award!
No one yelled louder with excitement than Maddox.
I love how they love each other.
Those Eyster babies are so sweet and easy to love.
We were so tired-- and I can't believe it is only Tuesday!!
Most mornings, Lance's goodbye kisses wake Maddox up and he'll come and crawl in bed with me until it is time to get out of bed.
On the rare morning where I get to wake him up, I always do so by snuggling up next to him singing "you are my sunshine" and before I finish, he starts singing with me.
It is one of my favorite things.
He always wakes up so happy...
I love my mornings with him.
B likes to be handled with more caution in the mornings...
he comes by it honestly.
I love their love.
I don't, however, love that unfixed hair-- but I am learning to let go.
Call it growth.
And finally, 57 weeks later, this ol blog is up to date!
Mercy!
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