My Chivalrous Little Man

Chay loves his mommy. A lot. He has my back and looks after me like my little man.

Chay likes to take his time at things, just like his dad. Its an annoying habit because he's slow. To get him  moving, E likes to say, "the last one there is a rotten egg!" For some reason, I am always in the back of the line, and this bothers Chay immensely. He refuses to let me be the rotten egg. If he thinks I will be, he yells, "Mommy, hurry! You need to beat daddy, you can't be the rotten egg!" Sometimes he'll even fall on the sword for me and be the rotten egg.

The other day, he didn't realize I was in last place when Daddy yelled, "Last one in the house is a rotten egg!" Chay stopped, gasped in horror, and grabbed my waist before stepping over the threshold. At the exact same time. Once inside, he said, "Now Mommy, neither of us are the rotten egg cuz we bof came thwough the door at the same time!"

Over the weekend, someone dropped a glass on the tile floor, which sent glass shreds all over the kitchen. While cleaning up the mess, I stepped on a tiny piece of glass and it is still wedged up in the ball of my foot. I was complaining about it when Chay asked what happened. I explained, and he sat down on the couch, tapped the seat next to him and said, "Mommy, sit down. I'll get it out for you." He sat there, analyzed my foot, dug around (it tickled) and claimed he found it and saved my foot. The glass is still there, but its the thought that counts.

If he keeps this up, he's going to be a good man when he grows up.

Mother's Day on My Wrist

I received extra special Mother's Day presents from Ray and Chay; gorgeous and expensive bracelets with colorful jewels and meaningful charms that represent just how much they love me. I am a lucky woman.

OK, maybe not so fancy and expensive. And, not so gorgeous either. But truly made with love.

Ray walked me through every bead on her bracelet and explained to me what each one represents (her bracelet is the one closer to my hand). From right to left:

*A purple glass bead - She loves purple and it was the fanciest there was.

*A small silver rose - She's the baby rose.

*A gold bead - Because its GOLD, mommy, and really expensive!

*A big silver rose - I'm the mommy rose.

*A hot pink dolphin - Because its a dolphin and they are cute.

*A red heart - Because she loves me. Duh.

*A pink butterfly - They are pretty, just like us.

*A purple bow - Because she loves purple and hair bows. It just made sense.

*A silver flower - Flowers are pretty and I wear a lot of silver.

*A black bead - I also wear a lot of black and its one of my favorite colors (I do, in fact, wear a lot of black. But I never made a deal about it, so I'm impressed that she is working on her observation skills).

*A sparkly pink heart - Her teachers didn't have any diamonds, so this heart was the sparkliest thing she could find. And its pink.

I love the thought process that she went through as she put it together. I can just imagine her facial expressions and the conversation she had with CG while they made their bracelets.

I asked Chay to explain his bracelet to me kind of in the same way that Ray did. He said, "It has a dice on it," then walked away. So, I guess it represents that I like to gamble? Great! (I don't have a gambling issue. I swear.)

He came up to me last evening and told me he was happy I was wearing his bracelet. I said, "Of course, I'm wearing it. Its beautiful and its from you."

His response was, "Its beautiful just like you, Mommy," and gave me a kiss.

I truly am a lucky woman.

Playing the Tooth Fairy

A couple months ago, Ray was eating an apple and walked up to me and said, "Mommy, you know what hurts?"

"No, what hurts?"

"My tooth." She then started wiggling it.

Ack! She's only 5 1/2! Isn't that early? Did the apple knock it loose??? I'm not ready for this yet! I thought I had more time! All of these thoughts ran through my head at the same time.

As the weeks passed by, the tooth slowly became more loose and Ray was having fun showing me every day how much more it moves. And, I spent more time freaking out about how to play Tooth Fairy.

I polled all my friends on Facebook, in real life and on Momslikeme.com. The response was varied. One Facebook friend said that the Tooth Fairy gave her daughter $20 for the first tooth.

$20?!? Really?

Another friend said she gave $10 for the first tooth and $5 for the rest. That still seemed high to me.

And another friend told me that you can't be a cheap Tooth Fairy, because the kids compare. I said, "Who cares?"

And, one wise friend told me to remember that whatever you start with, you are stuck with, so don't over-achieve!

Ray's Godmother bought her a sweet book about the Tooth Fairy (which can be found here) to help calm her fears and a Tooth Fairy doll to store her tooth overnight. Ray was so excited and felt like such the big girl. Her friend, Em, didn't lose her first tooth until she was 6 1/2. She was going to be the first one of the kids in her class to lose a tooth! Fears? Non-existent.

On Superbowl Sunday, that tooth fell out.

I didn't know what to expect when it happened. Tears? Shouts of joy?

She spit it out into her hand, placed it gently on the table, and said she needed a bandaid because her mouth was bleeding. No fanfare. No jubilation. Just stating a fact that her mouth was bleeding and she needed it to stop so she could finish lunch.

Go figure.

In the end, the Tooth Fairy brought Ray two quarters and a personal note telling her how proud her Tooth Fairy was of her for being such a brave little girl.

I was worried about being a cheap Tooth Fairy, but like I expected, it wasn't about the money. Ray woke up, excited to see what the Tooth Fairy brought her. Ray latched on first to the note. "Look, Mommy, she wrote me a note!" The money was secondary. She enjoyed hearing the quarters clink into her piggy bank, and that was about it.

I was proud of my girl, all around. For being brave. For being proud. For enjoying the basic things in life and putting more value on a handwritten note than the money.

I like being the Tooth Fairy.

Some Battles Are Just Not Worth Fighting

While I was getting ready for the day the other morning, Chay came in waving a placemat at me. D'wha?

Chay: Not a pla'mat it a napkin!

Me: Uhm. Ok.

Chay: No, not OK!!!! It a napkin not a pla'mat!

Me: Baby, if you want to call the placemat a napkin, you go right ahead.

Chay: NOOOOOOO! It napkin not a pla'mat!

Me: Whatever, its a napkin.

Chay: Yeah. That's it.

She Continues to Break My Heart

I just finished putting Ray to bed. During the winding down phase, Ray and I had the following conversation:

Ray: Mommy, promise me something.

Me: What's that, Ray?

Ray: Promise me you won't go to work anymore.

Me: Oh, honey, I wish I could promise you that, but I just can't.

Ray: But, Mooooommmmyyyyyy, I have plenty of money in my piggy bank. Lots and lots and lots and lots of money. Please?

Me: I wish I could baby.

***
Oh, how I wish I could. But then I remember the really scared email I sent to G-mawie and realize that I just am not cut out for stay at home momdom.

I think it would be easier on her if she was back in school full time. For the last two weeks she's spent Monday and Tuesday at home with E. And, unfortunately for everyone, E has had a bad case of the gout which has rendered him crippled for a day and a half. While he's alone with the kids. Two days in a row. Poor thing is just bored!

E is always a great dad to the kids and finds all kinds of interesting ways to entertain them. But when he has the gout as badly as he has the past day and a half, he really just can't walk. Finally, last night I had to take him to the urgent care to get him meds so that he could just sleep, let alone walk.

Seriously, I can't wait until E gets a job and all is back to normal in our world!

Mommies Shouldn't Have to Work

E called me at work today to relay the following story:

While driving home from the grocery store, Ray asked E where I was. His response, "She's at work."

Ray: Daddy, Mommy needs to stop working.

E: Well, unfortunately she has to work so that she can make money to pay the bills.

Ray: But, Daddy, I miss her.

E: Yes, I miss her too. But just like Daddy, Mommy needs to work to make money so that we can have toys and yummy treats.

Ray: Daddy, I have lots of money in my piggy bank. I'll give it to her so that she doesn't have to work.


Doesn't she just make your heart melt?

Get Off Your A** and Parent!

After being home with my two children for about, oh, say... a day, I sent an email to my BFF, Jeanmarie (aka, G-Mawie):

What in the hell am I supposed to do with them all day? The daycare is reserving our spots for two weeks free of charge while we figure out what we're doing. But, until then, my dear children will be home with me ALL. DAY. I had Chay with me for a year and a half, but he was just a squishy baby that didn't require entertainment. So, as a pro stay at home mom, can you please provide tips for free and educational entertainment for my sanity?

So, yeah. Feel free to feel sorry for me. (Insert sarcasm here.)

But I've found my way. Nana and I went to the teacher store:

That standing art easel -- THE BEST PURCHASE EVER. Yes. It deserves all three -- CAPS, italics, and underlines. It has a chalkboard that they never stop playing with. I have attached a felt board, which they constantly play with. The painting can be a pain in the a**, because Ray needs help keeping Chay away (he wants to paint the furniture, which I can't allow). But the entire board provides all day entertainment, and I cannot recommend it enough.

I have also found that the local park fountains are good, and free, entertainment:

My Baby's Handprints (those are Chay's but Ray disagrees...)

Obviously, we are working hard to keep our children's lives normal. I don't honestly think that they notice a difference between us leaving for work or a normal weekend day.

I do know that they notice our stress.

And I am not sure how to deal with that. Any advice would be appreciated...