Spring fever has brought out the crazy in you both. I have been at my wits end trying to get through our days without any shouting or breakdowns. Maybe it's because we are so busy with year-end activities. Maybe it's because you are going through growth spurts. Whatever the cause, you were both girl-with-a-curl HORRID. If we had a Whip Man and Whip Woman to call, they would be top of my speed dial! Or maybe I'd just invite them to move in.
Enter, the marble jar.
A marble moves from "trouble" into the "happy family on earth" jar (you named them both at our family meeting) when wonderful behavior is noticed by me or dad. When the happy jar is full, we decide on an activity or treat to enjoy together.
This has worked very well and this week we got through another set of marbles so we could go to Swirl for frozen yogurt. The only problem here is that Lucy has the habit of eating slowly and enjoying her sweets (VERY GOOD!) and Henry has the habit of snarfing through his dessert like Fabulous Mr. Fox and then proceeding to steal bites from Lucy's when she isn't looking (VERY BAD!).
We decided to turn the tables on him tonight and instead of leaving a dish of delicious ice cream for him to plunder, Lucy was carrying about a veritable mix of allum, milk, mayo, and jam ("edible" items that together, looked like ice cream but were obviously going to TASTE TERRIBLE). It didn't take long for the scene to play out. We know this kid.
He went off with a face not far from Sylvester's allum-related pucker.
It reminded me of Lynda's story about giving Jarrod the ice cream cone topped with a scoop of crisco on top after he had skipped to the front of the line and demanded to be first at treats one too many times. BOOM! Wise as Yoda, Lynda is a jedi master or parenting trickery. I am still in training.
Over the past month, just keeping up with schedules and messes has left us a bit ragged. And last week, some violent throwing up and diarrhea pushed us from barely coping (code orange) straight into surviving by sheer luck (code red - abort! abort!). Anyone watching may have discovered us acting a bit off our rockers, pretty much constantly. Here are just a few of such moments...
Lucy is trying to cure the hiccups by drinking out of the wrong side of the bowl. Daddy told her about this trick.
Henry is practicing his Batman moves on the street. And on the furniture. And on Lucy. And on Mom and Dad. And...well, you get the idea.
Mom is trying to hide from the kids. Shhh, they'll never find me in this disguise.
Daddy is racing away. Sadly, not nearly fast enough to actually escape.
Hopefully a bit of relaxation next week (all fingers and toes crossed!!) will prevent us from progressing to straight jackets and padded rooms.
Although, I'm not sure a padded rooms sound so bad...
Jeremy always thinks of his mother when he smells this:
I always think of my mom when I smell this:
And my smell. Well, I've got Chanel N°5 on the dresser. And I do wear it occasionally.
But if you ever really miss me, just put your face into a jar of this and you will surely think of me. It's either on my breath or smeared on my clothes at least 90% of the time. Mmmm.
We are happy to show up for our shift from 7 am - 8 pm. But beyond those hours, PLEASE stay in bed and go to sleep. Your workers have a serious need to recuperate.
