Last night, the kids got to stay up for an extra hour. Why, you may ask? I will happily share. Dillon, our 10 year old, was reading out loud to all of us. I have a few things to say about this. First, this is one of those times in your life that you take a mental snap shot and hold it in your heart. John was over in the big chair, and kids and I were sprawled on the sofa, comfortably sharing our space. All the kids were ready for bed, and out of the blue, Dillon sits down, opens his book and just starts reading. That hour flew by before I knew it, and we all sat there listening raptly to him reading this story. Which leads us to my second thought: if you have kids in this age bracket, I highly recommend Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw, or any of this series, this was just the one Dillon happened to be reading to us. From Caleb at 6 to John and myself at 30, we all listened with very few interruptions and laughed out loud frequently. The writing is superb. It's like a really great blog, from a kid's point of view. It is written in such a way that you believe you are peeking into the thought process of a youth, but a very witty one, with some crazy, clever ideas, and a million ways to make trouble for himself that seem to make great sense to him. And my third thought on this topic: wow, just wow. Any of you who have the opportunity to listen to Dillon read out loud should sieze it with both hands. I know, I know, I admit to being totally biased, and that's fine, but don't let that prevent you from experiencing this event. Many of you know Dillon is a voracious reader (what? I have no idea where he gets that!), and he has always read beyond his age level, and unbelievably fast. But last night, listening to him, was a whole new revelation. He was able to come across AS Gregory, the boy in the book keeping the diary. When Gregory was incredulous, Dillon's voice portrayed incredulous. When Gregory was excited, Dillon shared excitement. No matter the emotion coming across, Dillon managed to bring it out with tone and inflection, all while rarely stumbling or hesitating. You know how some people read aloud and it's like droning and you just want to beg them to stop? Yeah, not him. Nope, I am pretty sure we all could have happily sat there and listened to him read us the entire book. As it was, we hit about 70 pages before I remembered that a good mom makes sure her kiddles get enough sleep. I can't wait for tonight's reading.
On October 20th, Caleb lost his first baby tooth. Can I just tell you that caused me heart pain? I mean, he's in school now, and when he hugs me, his head nestles on my tummy, and he can read and write, and now, gosh darn it, even his teeth are telling me he's not a baby anymore! Enough already, I get it! Talk about rubbing it in. When we decided Caleb was going to be our last baby, we had so many well-reasoned arguments why that was the right choice. They all still hold, and I have Aiden to borrow to fill the baby void, but sometimes when I see them all getting bigger and bigger, it makes me yearn. The moms know what I mean. I just wanted to share that sadness.
OK, my baby sister turned 18 the day after Caleb lost his tooth. This makes me feel old. I changed her diapers and rocked her to sleep, cleaned the sleepies from her eyes and held her on my hip while I made dinner. And now she is a young adult. Which reminds me of just how grown up I now am. Odd as it seems, I sometimes forget. I know, that's silly, right? But sometimes I still feel young and insecure and lost. Then I am reminded by something like my baby sister hitting a milestone birthday, or Dillon wearing a shoe as big as mine, or someone calling me Ma'am....oh my gosh, I am an adult! No worries, I am sure I will adjust. Eventually.
Can I just tell you that it drives me crazy when we feed the pets, and immediately after eating, they walk around with their noses to the floor, licking up every little crumb they can find. You just ate! Stop that, dang it!
When the kids were little, I got to manage their Halloween costumes. I miss that phase. It went by too fast. Now we have to discuss and compromise. I'm the mom, I don't want to compromise. Too bad I care about making them happy though. Compromise it is. This year, Talia wanted to be a young Cleopatra. I think it was because she thought the picture in the catalogue was pretty. I told her we'd see what we could find. Caleb and Dillon wanted to be Star Wars characters. I lovingly pointed out that last year, despite my preferences, they were all super heros, and maybe this year we could settle on something that made us all happy. Since they like for me to be happy as well (occassionally), they agreed. Caleb saw a picture in the catalogue of the UPS guy and decided that was what he wanted. I was fully amenable to this request. These are my favorite kinds of costumes. Dillon didn't make up his mind for a long time. As time was drawing to a close on the decision making time frame, I asked him, "Dillon, have you got any thoughts on your costume yet?" "Nope." "Well, times runnin' out, bud. Might wanna get to thinkin'." "A BMX racer." "Hmmm, we'll see." That was our conversation. Well, we then had a difference of perspective. Because for me, we hadn't settled on anything yet, but for him, it was a set and approved idea. So he went to his aunt's house, and made arrangements for his costume without me. It broke my mommy heart. It was like he didn't need me anymore. I am not ready for him to not need me anymore. I mean, I know the time is coming. Just like I know that time is running out on being "Mommy" and I will turn into just plain, old "Mom". But I need more time! Well, I let him be what he wanted to be. But, since I like our kids to know that parents are people too, and we have feelings, I let him know that I was a little sad and hurt to be left out of all the planning, and that I enjoy being a part of the costume creating process. Then I told him I loved him and he could wear what he wanted. When we went costume hunting for Ta and Caleb, we found a Dorothy dress. Who has seen Ta? Perfect costume for her, right? After a nice discussion, we settled on Dorothy for her, and she was adorable. So, here I go trying to post a picture for your enjoyment.
Here's Dorothy. This was the best picture, so you can't see the basket and pup. We used a small picnic basket that is actually from the bathroom and holds extra toilet paper. And the puppy, while not quite a Toto look-alike, barked and whined.
Here is our BMX (sort of more motocross)racer. His helmet, boots and shirt are all courtesy of his cousin Brett. I think that might have been the most exciting part for him.
And finally, UPS guy. His trick or treat bucket was a box wrapped like a package that said "What can Brown do for you?" And I would like to point out his fabulous UPS badges. Hand-made out of felt, with love by Mommy. Do they look amazing, or do they look amazing?! Please note, there was only one option.
Okay, so that was a terrible experience. Next time, one picture per blog. Anyhow, that made me so frustrated, I can no longer be clever. More random ramblings to come. And for those who fussed about the lack of blogs, I refuse to promise any time-frame, but I will try to be more frequent. Ahhh, people who want to know my thoughts.....what's the world coming to?
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