Running

This week has been, well, crazy. It's the busiest week we've had in my recent memory. Each afternoon, Monday through Thursday, has been full of driving and doing. Tomorrow won't be any different. I'm glad that we're giving the kids the chance to participate in these activities, but I'm glad that they have an end date.

On a related matter, I'm glad that my kids eat leftovers, even when they don't want to.

I'm Gonna Knock You Out

A few weeks ago I was reminding the kids that it is not okay to hit anyone. They pointed out that it was allowed if someone was trying to kidnap them. Yes, I conceded, then hitting and yelling and kicking were all acceptable. That's when Sophie mentioned her friend Gemma, who is smaller than Sophie and a year and a half her senior.

"But if Gemma tried to kidnap me I wouldn't punch her in the face, because I think that would ruin our friendship."

I think several aspects of that scenario would do harm to a friendship, but I'm glad she's trying to think through the consequences of her actions.

Sportsing

Yesterday Sophie, Topher, and I picked Phoebe up from the bus stop, Cooper from school, and drove thirty minutes to attend Peter's first volleyball game. Bryan left work a little early and met us there. Four games were played and Peter, wearing the number six, finally got to play in the final game.

We learned a few important things from our adventure.

1. The families from each team sit in separate areas. We didn't realize this until we were seated. We had to move.
2. Cooper and Phoebe are excited and vocal fans. I had to tell them that booing was not cool but cheering was encouraged.
3. Bleachers are temptations. Sophie had to use great self-control to keep from climbing all over them.
4. Topher loved the clapping and cheering. He clapped and yelled, no matter who scored.
5. Shocking to no one, Bryan knows a lot more about volleyball than I do.
6. Peter really liked having us there.

One game down, eleven more to go!

The Longest Minute

Cooper loves to write. He can often be found hunched over lined paper, scribbling furiously. This weekend he wrote a few stories and some poetry. He read one of the stories to us during dinner and I asked if I could post it here. He grinned and said yes. I've typed it as he wrote it, no editing.

The Longest Minute

by Cooper

I woke up. 5 seconds. The first second, one eye opened, checking to see if light was coming in through the window. It was. The next second, my other eye opened. The final 3 seconds, I came to my senses and sat up. Only 5 five seconds. The next 2 seconds, I swung my left leg out of bed, and the 2 seconds after that, I swung my right leg out of bed. 9 seconds. The tenth second was odd. I fell, and yelled. I got up in the eleventh and twelfth second. Three more seconds to walk to my dresser. 15 seconds. I found my shirt in the next five seconds, and my pants in the five seconds after that. 25 seconds. Half the next second, I closed my eyes, and the other half I opened them. Blinking. I took a deep breath in through my nose. 1...2...3...4...5. And out through my mouth. 1...2...3...4...5. 36 seconds. 7 seconds to slip on my shirt, another 7 seconds to slip my pants on. 50 seconds. 1 second, 1 step. Another second, another step. 52 seconds. I'm out the door. Across the hall in 3 seconds. And 5...4...3...2...1.
Everything went dark.

Where's Sophie?

Giving It (Not Quite) My All

Last week three different people commented that they didn't know how I was doing everything that I'm doing, that they were impressed at how together I seemed, at what a conscientious mom I am, at how patient and relaxed I was. They asked my secret.

I laughed.

I don't know how even one person thought I was relaxed or together, though I do work hard at the momming bit. Over the last few months one phrase has continued to run through my head: at capacity. I am at capacity for everything. We are doing just enough of what needs to be done to stay afloat, and nothing more.

After I laughed, I did give some real answers. Here are a few of them:

I say no to many activities out of a desire to maintain my mental health. I don't say no to everything (I still have three callings at church, which is proof that I'm still saying yes), but I don't participate in much. That includes stuff for the kids. I'm excited that Peter is doing volleyball, but it's already sent disruptive waves into the rest of our schedule and I'm not sure how to reorganize it. Phoebe wants to do an after school swimming program that would be twice a week, but I'll probably need to say no, in part because I simply can't be in two places at once.

We've placed a ridiculous emphasis on chores and teaching the kids to clean. Sometimes this is awesome, because my house stays much cleaner than it would if I were trying to clean up after everyone else. I still clean, but much less than I would if we hadn't made chores so important, and it's usually while people are at work and school, so I suspect they don't know it's happening. Sometimes it's awful because nobody here likes to clean and there is much weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth when chores are mentioned. That does not a happy home make. But I believe that in the long term their lives will be blessed by knowing how to clean and having an appreciation of and desire for a clean house, so we clean.

I try to keep everyone's expectations really low. Seriously. That way when I'm finally able to do something full out, it's amazing. But if people expected amazing all the time? Nope, I'm already exhausted.

Speaking of which, I have learned that I must have a minimum of two showers per week to maintain any level of social acceptability. But that minimum is also usually the maximum number I can make time for during the week. Thank goodness for dry shampoo.

I sit and hold Topher almost every evening while I listen to scriptures and books. There is something important about being made to sit instead of being constantly busy. And the scriptures and other books enrich my mind and soul. Maybe that's where the false impression of patience comes from?

Finally, after many years, I'm embracing sleep. I sleep whenever I can. I nap. I've started getting insanely tired at like 10:00 at night, to the point that I can't keep my eyes open. It's really odd, but I'm trying to go for it.

And that's it. That's what I do. It's not much. It's certainly not enough to warrant the comments I received, but it's just enough to keep us moving forward.

My Current Favorite Photo

The Music Man

Gifted Green

Our St. Patrick's Day was a busy Sunday and therefore a low-key celebration. We wore green...and that's about all we did to mark the day. Peter and Cooper borrowed green ties from Bryan. The girls' green was thanks to two aunts. Sophie wore a green bow from Aunt Leah, thank you Aunt Leah! Phoebe wore a scarf  (Peter says it was a cape) that I wore at my sister's wedding way back in 2011. Thanks for getting married Aunt Paige!

The Lucky Ones

I attended a parent/teacher conference for Phoebe this week. Her teacher had many glowing things to say about Phoebe. The only negative is that Phoebe is a talker (which isn't surprising), but her teacher said she admires Phoebe's wonderful communication skills. That's a good spin to put on it.

Phoebe is a friend to everyone. She helps whenever she gets the chance. This quality sets her apart so much that she received her school's version of the student of the month award in February. Each month is dedicated to a characteristic or two. In February students that were especially kind and caring were honored. Phoebe was also honored the year before in the Being Dedicated and Showing Best Effort in School category.

I also loved seeing an example of her writing on the wall outside her classroom. She listed all the reasons why she's lucky including a wonderful family, awesome parents who love her, and a spectacular teacher.

Phoebe, I'm pretty sure we're the lucky ones to have you in our family.