Spring cleaning/midwestern sanity?

Unlike the perpetual drizzle in the Seattle area, the Midwest gets cold...cold and dirty. When it snows, there is not only snow, but snow, salt, sand and grit. It gets onto your car, your clothes, your garage and your home. The gray dirt gets everywhere.

By February you can almost hear the collective cry: "Uncle!" Everyone is ready to get rid of the gray and trade it in for some green (the real green...not the environmental craze). I digress again!

Anyhoo -- getting rid of the grit, also entails getting rid of the dirt and grim that has snuck into your home while you were warming your hands. The dirt -- once the daylight lingers-- is highlighted in all the dark little areas that have been harboring dust bunnies and gross fluffs of dog hair.

On Thursday, I cried "Uncle". I had enough of the Midwestern grit and dirt. I armored myself with a mop, my vacuum, Lysol, a duster and a few hundred garbage bags and went to town. I had prepared myself for a morning of bible study, but Charlie went down for an early nap. Knowing that I only had a short amount of time I tackled the clutter and dirt methodically. It felt great. It was better than prescription drugs! This de-cluttering had me on a euphoric high! With an evil little laugh cackling in my head I dumped broken toys, old papers, and a myriad of out-dated clothes. Wa ha ha ha! (that's the evil laugh). I dusted, vacuumed, mopped and even cleaned out my fridge! The joy!!!!!! A clean house. -- temporary, but clean!

The cleaning continued after picking up Jackson from school. I popped Charlie and Jackson in the tub together to clean them both. Dirty nails and hair for Jackson and spit up remnants for Charlie. What I didn't expect with my cleaning frenzy was the shear joy I'd derive from watching my two boys play together in the tub together.

It was the end of a long and productive day and I was spent. I had hoped to clean the boys much like I'd cleaned the rest of the house. However, once the two boys were in the tub I had to sit down and watch. They were so cute. Jackson is the best older brother, protecting and cuddling Charlie. Charlie, on the other hand, is experiencing everything. He smiles at Jackson, shrieks with delight and splashes his hands in the water. Even though five years separate the two of them, they know innately that they are brothers and they smile that knowing family smile at each other. It reminded me of a time when I got to bathe with my older sister (6 years older). We sat in the tub and relaxed with some bubble bath and bubble gum. My parents still have the picture and it still warms my heart to think of those innocent times.

I love seeing life through the eyes of my boys. I know that while I have other "duties" to tend to...the sneak peak of brotherly delight through their eyes is a god-given treat. I'm sure that in a blink of an eye I will wake up one day and they will be grown and out the door. Memories of bath time will soon be forgotten, or at minimum, replaced (by them, not me).

So today I cleaned out the clutter to make room for the important things: Two boys in a tub. Enjoying life and enjoying being brothers.

I'm so blessed.

An attorney in the making -- conversations with Jackson

A Day in the Life of a Former Attorney turned Stay at Home Mom:


Jackson loves to talk and he's quite good at it. I have no question the boy's verbal skills are exceptional. What troubles me (and sometimes makes me secretly proud) is his reasoning and logic. There is no doubt that my legal skills are being used to parent this child.

Because Jackson loves to talk, he finds himself in trouble at school. As a result, his teacher keeps a running "tally" of the number of times Jackson gets into trouble. On great days, he receives a sticker. Sticker days are the best. He gets to play Wii with dad, read a special book with me, and usually stay up a bit past bed time.

Today was not a sticker day. Today was a rough day.

I should have known school wouldn't go smoothly after this morning. Charlie was in his highchair nibbling on a cracker, while I rushed upstairs to throw on my clothes. Jackson normally uses this time to "entertain" Charlie with some song and dance routines or maybe even a puppet act. Really, this time is more for Jackson. He has a captive audience. But Charlie seems to like it, so why not?

By the time I reached the top of the stairs Charlie started bawling. Jackson was unusually quiet. I asked him what happened and he replied: "I forgot". Sneaky little guy. A little too much like Bill Clinton. I couldn't have been more surprised if he asked to take the 5th, or define "happened". Regardless, discussions on not hurting Charlie and being honest with mommy ensued. I thought the lesson was learned.

However...after school at pick up, I knew something wasn't right. Jackson walked towards me, head hung low and shoulders slumped. I waited until we got in the car before asking. In the car, Jackson informed me he got a note sent home. A note is worse than a check mark worse than having your number turned upside down, and worse than getting sent to the office.

These "notes" inform the parents of the bad behavior and have a signature line, so they no doubt can file it away in your kid's permanent records. I read the note. "Jackson threw a rock today at recess and then lied to the first grade teacher who saw him throw the rock." Nice. Proud moment. So I geared up for some parenting lessons.

In my best mommy voice I asked: "Jackson, why did you lie to the teacher about throwing rocks?" Jackson quickly replied, "well...she asked me why I was throwing rocks at people and I wasn't. I was throwing the rock in the air." (emphasis added by Jackson). Stump #1.

Technically, he didn't lie, because if the teacher did actually ask him if he was throwing rocks at people and he wasn't, then he wasn't lying. However, I pressed on and said: "You know you aren't suppose to throw rocks at people or at things right?" Without skipping a beat he retorted: "I told you...I wasn't throwing rocks...I threw a rock." Doh! Stump #2.

This kid is killing the adults with technicalities. I paused, took a moment and rephrased my question: "You know you aren't suppose to throw a rock or rocks...correct?" This question only elicited an "mmm um."

Sensing he was losing footing Jackson continued: "Well...I was just helping. There was this boy who wanted to throw the rock really high and asked me if I could help him." I sighed, redirected the witness...er Jackson, and countered: "You just admitted that you know throwing a rock or rocks is not right."

What transpired next was truly brilliant from a litigator's point of view. Jackson made an empassioned plea for sympathy. He composed his face into a small little smile and softly said: "I was just trying to help...like God." The God trump card! What jury wouldn't love this kid? No one can argue with someone trying to be like God.

In an effort to reinforce helping others, but point out the flaw in his argument, I told him that he was right that God helps people, but "God does not help people do things they know are not right. It's good to help people out, but we can't use that as an excuse for doing what we know is wrong." Brilliant finale by mom if I say so myself!

With the argument over, Jackson moved onto negotiating punishment terms.

On days like today, I have no doubt that I'm using my legal skills more with raising my son than with members of the bar. I'm mentally exhausted and we haven't even started homework.

The Windy City - Spring Tease

Chicago February 2009

The winters are long and cold here in Peoria. The news keeps reporting that we've had "below normal" temps for the past few years, however, I'm beginning to think they need to redefine "normal". With all this talk about global warming...I'm sure not feeling it in Peoria.

With the stress of the economy etc. Brian and I decided to cash in on a free night's stay at the Intercontinental Hotel in Chicago, IL. We've been a guest at that hotel many times, so we've acquired enough points for a free night. We also have gotten quite good at finding on-line coupons for places to eat and museums. If you do your research, it is amazing how much you can save.

We drove up on Friday. It was cold when we left, so I made sure the boys were bundled up and ready to stroll along the Magnificent Mile. When we arrived, our room wasn't quite ready, so we decided to walk up and down the Mile. As a testament to our current economy, the street was virtually empty. We passed some of the high-end stores, but noticed clearance and sale signs in almost every window. Some of my favorite stores were no longer there. One entire Mall was empty. It originally housed 200 stores. Jackson and I use to ride the escalators up and down in that mall and now it is empty.

However, some stores are still there. We ducked into the Hershey store to escape the wind on Friday. Jackson loved it in there and was begging for some chocolate. He also hammed it up by putting huge Hershey kisses on his head.



We decided to hit the top of the Hancock Tower. Although we've been up to the restaurant and bar, we've never been to the observation deck. Just getting into the Hancock building was a challenge. They make it very difficult for someone with a stroller. Anyway, once we were in we ventured to the 94th floor. The view was amazing. Luckily we were there on a sunny day. I would advise any tourist to bypass the Hancock observatory unless you are there on a sunny day. Otherwise you waste a lot of money. Once at the top, we listened to a audio tour of the city, and learned about the great fire and other interesting facts about Chicago. Charlie enjoyed the ride, and Jackson ran around like a lunatic.



That night, we hit a Chicago hot spot: Gino's East. The walls are covered with graffiti from visitors coming to enjoy the famous deep dish pizza. We made sure Jackson was entertained during the 40 minute wait by bringing his leapster.



The next day we were surprised by warm weather! It was very warm -- almost 70 degrees, so we decided to walk from the hotel to the Shedd Aquarium (about 5 miles). The Chicago River had frozen over, so we stopped to watch the huge chunks of ice break apart and a crew team "walk on water" across portions of the river to get out to Lake Michigan. We also posed for a few pictures.



We walked through Millennium Park, where there were having a winter fest. They had free ice skating, ice mazes, bean bag toss and ice carvings! Jackson had a ball, and Charlie seemed to enjoy soaking up the sun. After playing for a bit, we forged forward towards the Shedd Aquarium. Thank goodness we had Charlie with us. The "stroller" line was much shorter. We probably saved ourselves an hour's wait in line.

Once inside we had a fantastic time. The aquarium is quite nice and they have a lot of interactive exhibits for the kids. Jackson really got into it all and would look for certain fish.

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After the aquarium, we took a quick trip to the Navy Pier. We walked around some more basking in the rare February sun. I think we actually sat on the steps there for 20 minutes just people watching and warming ourselves. I tried to enjoy every moment, knowing that this spring tease was just that -- a tease. We are in for another 6 weeks of winter!

That night I started to feel sick. We watched the February firework display from our hotel room and then got dinner.

The next day we did some last minute sightseeing on the Mile and then packed it up to head back to Peoria. I was still feeling sick.

That night, after everything was unpacked and put away...I really started to feel sick. Brian and I were up all night with the flu. It was so bad that we both were down all day Monday. Hopefully the boys will not get sick!

Although we feel a little bit better today, I still feel sick. Brian went back to work, and I tried to force myself outside with Charlie for a quick walk. This "spring tease" will not last long. They are predicting snow by Valentine's Day.

Cheers!

So Long January!

I can't believe it is already February! What is even more distressing is that we finally took down our Christmas tree this past weekend.

It's amazing how time slips by. And while January is now in the past, I'd like to share some memorable moments of the cold frigid January 2009.

Jackson's still talking and talking. He talks so much that he finds himself in trouble A LOT at school. We just learned that he's been removed from the big table at school and given his own special seat and desk so he doesn't disturb the other children. He wondered out loud on the way to school: "I wonder how I get myself in such a mess." Hmmmm...talking? He's showing off for the girls every day. In fact, at the SVdP Chili Supper, Jackson was flirting with Danielle the entire night. On his way out the door that evening he looked back and yelled: "I love you Danielle -- there! I said it!". Pretty cute -- at 5. Just not looking forward to 16.

Jackson also encountered his first smashed thumb this month. He slammed his thumb in the door of the car as we were getting ready to go to swim team. Despite being annoyed that I had gotten everything in the car, loaded up both boys and had driven 1/2 hour, I felt badly for Jackson. He was clearly in pain -- but not enough pain to stop talking. We took him to Prompt care and the doctor used a "gizmo" to puncture a hole in his nail to let the pressure and excess blood out. Jackson informed the doctor that it was "a cool gizmo".

Charlie had a month of firsts too! He now has two small teeth on the bottom and one on the top. He still charms all the ladies at River City with his big dark eyes and long lashes. His smile is infectious and keeps me going during the long winter days. We are so blessed that he is a good sleeper. Like Jackson, Charlie LOVES the blanket my mom made for him. He sighs with relief when we put him in his crib and he snuggles with his blanket.

Chili is apparently a big thing in January in the Midwest. The Easter Seals Auxiliary group had a chili competition and beer tasting night. I tried very hard to win with my spicy white chicken chili...but alas the Chili Queen crown went to another white chili -- this one with tequila marinaded chicken. I've already pinpointed a new recipe for next year.

We also had some amazing photos taken with Nellie. She's the best photographer I know and such a wonderful person. I can't wait to see all the pictures!