Saturday Morning

We woke at 6 am to the sound of a barking seal. Annika had about two weeks of health between her strep throat and her current “upper respiratory infection.” (Diagnosis brought to you courtesy of a 50-euro doctor visit, brought on by a low-ish fever on the Friday before a German three-day weekend.)

Soon Katrina was up, as well, and by 6:30 the three of us were downstairs, leaving hubby to sleep in. (I get to sleep in tomorrow, yay!) Annika demanded MELMO! as she has every morning, noon, and night—or any time she catches sight of the TV—for the past few weeks. But I had promised Katrina she could watch the end of “Escape to Witch Mountain,” which she started before bedtime last night. This classic Disney flick has held up pretty well. I loved it as a child, and still thought it was pretty good. Katrina gave it her seal of approval, which was more than she gave the recent remake we watched last month. When did the Disney oeuvre include straight-up action flicks starring The Rock?

Annika got her MELMO fix while I started breakfast, but even Elmo did not prevent her from deciding it was time to change her diaper. And SHE was just the one to do it. So she stripped off her sleeper and diaper. And then decided that I was not to touch the new diaper…she would put it on herself. Or, you know, clutch it against her yelling NO everytime I reached for it. I managed to get the new diaper on—and her sleeper—and went back to cooking bacon and making coffee. Not five minutes later, she walked into the kitchen totally naked. This time, there would be NO diaper, Mama. So we had our first Naked Temper Tantrum. It was both frustrating and amusing.

About this time, hubby got up (wonder why? the house was so quiet) and managed to get a Pull-Up on her while I attempted to rescue the burning bacon (eh. not too bad).

So. a lovely start to the day.

BUT! It is sunny and warm for the first time since, oh, April. So I got myself and the girls dressed and ready. The goal---the strawberry-and-asparagus stand at the bottom of our hill, followed by the little farmer’s market in the town square.  Katrina glided on her scooter while I pulled Annika in the wagon. The strawberries looked a little pale, but they were sweet and fresh. We also got a few veggies at the farmer’s market, and a bouquet.

And here’s what happens when you put open containers of strawberries in the wagon with a toddler.

That is not a rash on her face; it’s strawberry juice. One of the berries was as big as her little hand. It looked like she was eating an apple. I tried to get a close-up, but she was too interested in grabbing the camera, so this is the best I got.

And here is our bounty from our walk.

See those berry containers? They used to be full.

So, a good morning, despite the barking cough and the Tantrum. It occurred to me that I have absorbed some German attitudes…like, “oh, the baby’s sick? some fresh air will do her good!”

But on a day like this, no one wants to be inside.

Unless, of course, MELMO is on.

The Lazy Mom’s Guide to Parenting

I was talking with another mom last week and she said that she makes three dinners sometimes, one for her, one for her husband, and one for her three-year-old. And all I could think of was how much work that is. Most nights, I make one dinner. Now, I could make the argument that it teaches my kids that the world does not revolve around them, or that it helps expand their palates, but really, it’s because some nights I can barely get one meal on the table, much less individual plates tailored to each person’s tastes. So who better than I to let other moms in on my secrets? I give you the lazy mom’s parenting guide.

1. Dinner is dinner. Eat it or don’t eat it. Now, I will cop to letting Katrina eat hot dogs when we have chili or goulash, mostly because she truly hates bell peppers and spicy food. But if she just doesn’t want, say, baked chicken, tough. She’s eaten before, she can eat it again. Or not. There are bananas on the kitchen counter if she’s still hungry.

2. Plan your meals. I plan dinners for the week and make a shopping list. Then I go to the store. Once a week. That’s it. And as a stay-at-home mom I can go at 9 am on a weekday. Taking grumpy hungry kids to a grocery store full of other grumpy hungry kids (and adults!) in the late afternoon on the weekdays is too much work. As is going more than once a week.

OK, I may stop and get some more milk or orange juice at some point during the week. But only if I forget to ask hubby to do it for me.

3. Children will be in their beds by 8:30 pm. Earlier, if possible. Look, us lazy moms need our TV/computer/sit on the couch time. That means, children need to go to bed. Also, it’s much easier for me the next day if I don’t have droopy, grumpy children.

4. Children will learn to take their own baths/showers as soon as possible. One quirk of mine is that I hate giving baths to the little ones. Hubby takes that responsibility on for the baby, and Katrina takes a shower herself. Sometimes she needs help with tangly hair, but that’s all.

5. Do one load of laundry each day. Doesn’t seem so lazy, but the longer I let the laundry go, the more intimidating it is. And we have a German washer/dryer, which has far less capacity than the American ones. One load a day, washed, dried, folded, put away.

Yeah, I’m not doing that at the moment. Baby came and threw the house into disarray, and nearly two years later I still am not back on the laundry track. Most days I do some laundry, which is then added to the ever-growing “needs folded” pile. If it gets big enough or I have to send Katrina rummaging through it to find clothes in the morning, I fold it (or sometimes hubby does. Score!).

5. Hire a cleaning lady, if you can at all afford it. I told you I was lazy.

7. If children are not in the house, they cannot mess up the house. Therefore, scout out your area for playgrounds, playgroups, indoor play places, and malls. Other people’s homes are also ideal.

8. If children are not in the house, you don’t have to figure out how to occupy them. Maybe your kids aren’t as easily bored as mine. Maybe your kids are close enough in age to play with each other. I’m raising essentially two only children (6-year age difference). The playground is good for both of them. Also, outdoors in the back yard or the scooter (for Katrina) and the play car (Annika) in the street outside. All I have to do is follow Annika around. Much easier than trying to keep her from climbing on chairs and ripping apart the tea bags.

9. Elmo is your friend. Annika just discovered TV—or, rather, she discovered Elmo. Elmo buys me time to put in a load of laundry or start dinner or even go to the bathroom by myself without a screaming child clutching at my knees. Elmo is my friend.

10. Sometimes cooking is less work than eating out. If your children are older than, say, 5, eating out might be easier. If you have a toddler or preschooler, keeping them happy and occupied during dinner in a restaurant may be more stressful than just cooking and eating at home. Take-out is the easiest, of course, but the demands of my gluten-free diet make even take-out a big pain.

11. Naps are your friend. Yay for naps! For the children, that is. Well, and me too. But then when would I have time to write quality advice like this?

One Thing After Another

Let’s see…on Saturday afternoon, Katrina said, “My throat kind of hurts.” By bedtime, the “kind of” was gone and we dosed her with Children’s Tylenol. At 3 am, she was up crying, so we gave her some more Children’s Tylenol. Then, she couldn’t get back to sleep. For about an hour or so.

Sunday morning, a friend posted that Children’s Tylenol had been recalled. Yes, the very bottle I had used the previous night. Also, our unopened bottle of Children’s Motrin. Katrina’s throat still hurt, and she was going through cough drops at an alarming rate. Hubby went to the base to get some non-recalled something. Ended up with the Exchange brand (store brand)…the shelves were bare.

Also Sunday morning, I came close to taking off the tip of my finger trying to cut through half-frozen bulk sausage. A nasty cut (partially through the nail, ew) but seems to be healing well.

Monday morning, off to the doctor with both children. Annika’s had a cold for about a week, so I thought it wouldn’t do any harm to check her out as well as Katrina’s throat. The longer we waited (a total of 45 minutes—doc office on Monday is always crowded), the healthier they both looked. “Does your throat still hurt?” I asked Katrina.

“A little bit, once in a while,” she said. Great. Two colds, and a waste of time.

But no. “They both have strep,” the doc proclaimed. “Annika’s is worse, but Katrina has it, too.”

Then I felt bad. Annika has not been sleeping well, but I chalked it up to her stuffed up sinuses. Poor thing doesn’t have the vocabulary to tell us her throat hurts.

“They’ll still be contagious until Wednesday, so no school on Tuesday,” the doc said. Okey-dokey.

So now it’s Tuesday, and through the miracles of antibiotics, Katrina feels perfectly fine. But no school till tomorrow. I did take them both grocery shopping and to the post office with me (and really hoped Annika did not give her strep to the nice older man who always gives her high-fives when we get our cart).

Oh, and then there’s this.

 

See that gap there? Yeah, we’re not sure that can be fixed. What’s it been? Two weeks? I’ll take it back to the optical shop tomorrow and see. If it can’t be fixed, the child will just have to get the ugly rubber frames that won’t crack.

The eye doctor said as a last resort that he’d give us eye drops to dilate her eyes so that she literally couldn’t see without the glasses. I hate, hate, hate that idea, but we’re getting desperate here. It’s not just that she can’t see very well without them; it’s that if she doesn’t wear them, we have no chance of correcting the vision problem. Also, her eyes will probably cross, bringing on a whole other set of problems.

So that was our week. And it’s only Tuesday.

 

All right, I can’t leave you all (or me) with such a downer. Here, a typical Saturday morning:

Hubby often makes popcorn for the two of us on Fridays or Saturdays after the kids are in bed, and we save some for the kiddos. It never lasts until breakfast. My children are growing up associating popcorn with Saturday morning. Hey, get rid of the salt and add milk, and you have corn flakes, right?

Uh-huh.

New Looks

Katrina got her hair cut yesterday, and she wanted it short. Shorter than she’s ever had it, if I recall correctly. And suddenly, there she was, all grown up.

Well, if you disregard the cute monkeys on her nightgown. This was after she washed and I blow-dried it. You know that advice that hairdressers give? “I layered it just a little bit on the ends so that it will curl under. Just blow dry it using a round brush, and it will go under.” That NEVER works for me. My hair has just enough of a mind of its own that it flips up on one side no matter what. I was beginning to think that the “blow-dry with a round brush” thing was a hoax perpetrated on innocent salon customers by deceptive hairdressers. BUT look at this!

Curled under with a round brush! Once again, it’s just me.

 

Also? Annika finally got her new glasses. We picked them up on Sunday. On Tuesday, I took them back in because Annika had already bent them. They were fixable, though, and she’s actually tolerating them a bit better than the last pair. Fingers crossed.

The plus side is, no matter what she’s doing, it all looks very important.

Catching Up: Easter

Katrina’s two-week spring break has ended; back to school tomorrow. Oh, yeah, and, uh, I turned 40. But enough about me…let’s see pictures of my adorable, YOUNG children.

In their Easter dresses on a pretty but windy, cool day.

We invited friends over for Easter dinner. And we offered stellar entertainment: a game of Uno, followed by Go Fish and then quality time on the couch with my two little button-pushers.

 

E., do you have a….dinosaur?

Katrina playing a game with our friend J. (and Annika). Each one on their own electronic device…in the same room. Who needs board games when you have smart phones?

Annika learning a key skill in today’s world: pointing her finger.

It was a lovely day, wind and all.

Next up, maybe tomorrow: our trip to Holland.

The Joy of Spring

We walked through the smallish bit of woods behind our house. I saw beer bottles, blackberry brambles, and power lines. Katrina collected bits of bark and smooth stones for a fairy house and said, “That was an adventure! Can we have another adventure tomorrow?”

Welcome, fairies!

"Walk unsteadily and carry a big stick."

It's a Miracle!

Updated: And the winner is Aunt Wendy! This is the first time in 4 years that Katrina has voluntarily worn anything denim. With a belt, even (a SILVER belt, which was part of the draw). It's too loose around her waist, of course, and she did not allow me to tighten the belt enough, but baby steps, baby steps. Not wearing jeans is not a big deal in the abstract...who cares? Let her be comfortable. But casual clothes for her age? Jeans and T-shirts. And jeans, and more jeans. So, yay!


All righty, folks, let's see who can spot the miracle in this picture. The first correct commenter wins...um, a book from one of the many boxes of books residing in our attic? Yeah, that's it! Please comment below this entry and not on Facebook. Let the fierce competition between all five of my readers begin!

Annika’s Vocabulary (20 months old)

Hieeeee!= Hi!

Hawwo = Hallo/Hello

Hiya! = Hiya!  (once in a while…this is her “third” language, British English from the Mums and Tots playgroup we attend)

Mama

MommEEE = Mama, you better pay attention NOW!

Papa

Deeeeda = Katrina

Djoooo! = Juice, water, or anything in a bottle or cup

DjOOooo (sing-song) = Tschuess! (Bye in German)

Boo! = Peek-a-boo

Bup = Up

Da = Down

Cwackuh = Cracker (or any snack she sees and wants)

Cooooookee = Cookie

Day-doo = Thank you

Da-ga = Danke (She says one, then the other, every time.)

Ee-yow = Meow

Eye-eeee = eye

Ow-ah = Auge (German for eye)

Doh = Nose

Haaaah = Hair/Haare

Ha = Head

Hah (whispered) =  hot/heiss

EE-yews = Ears

Teee = Teeth

Bla-la-la-la (tongue in and out) = tongue (that totally counts!)

Ga-ga = glasses

Bye-Bye

Nigh-Nigh = Night-night

Bap = Nap

Gock = sock

Mo pees = More, please (when prompted)

Aw-dun, aw-dun, aw-dun = All done

Baby (refers to any baby or small child, even those older than her)

Jeh-too = Gentle (while stroking dog or baby)

 

Stranger save of the week (day?)

In the commissary, Annika is strapped into the seat on the cart. I am turned away, toward Katrina and the row of candy she is lobbying to buy. Suddenly, I hear a woman say “Uh, oh, no, no!” I turn to see the (wonderful! kind!) woman gently taking my now-open dozen of eggs out of Annika’s hands. Another few seconds and they would h ave been on the floor—thrown, not dropped, I expect. Yay for kind, alert strangers in the store!

 

Boo!

Setting Up the Pins and Knocking Them Down

I know the daily round of children and school and laundry and naps and meals and driving to and fro and, and, and, is getting to me when I start fantasizing about getting just sick enough to languish in bed for a day. Or two.

Now’s the time of year when the routine starts getting to me—when the weather is “always winter and never Christmas.” Now’s about the age (19 months) when child care becomes most relentless. Take your eyes off Annika for an instant and risk destruction of property or injury to her person. She also has a winner of a case of separation anxiety (STILL), which means me cooking dinner, running upstairs to get something, or otherwise leaving her sight is unacceptable. She can walk away from me, mind you, and does so on a regular basis (particularly in public). But I cannot walk away from her without risking my hearing and nerves.

I’ve been listening to Sara Grove’s most recent CD, and one song in particular struck a chord with me. Unfortunately, I cannot find it online to share it with you, but it’s a bouncy country-ish song called “Setting Up the Pins.” The liner notes say she wrote it while washing the dishes (which—yeah, I’m not so productive as writing while doing housework). It’s about that daily routine and how we all try to get out of it. “Let’s get rich find a way around setting up the pins for knocking ‘em down.”

The lyric that knocks me down is:

my grandmother had a working song
hummed it low all day long
sing for the beauty that's to be found
in setting up the pins for knocking em down

In a flash I see an older woman, scrubbing clothes by hand, humming and peaceful. Purposeful, even. And I wonder how to find that. To see the routine as meaningful. To take joy in washing the dishes again, in ironing the same white shirts, in cooking dinner, in packing a lunch five days a week. I know it’s possible, but in these grey winter mornings, it’s hard to see it.

And then I realize at the school gate that I haven’t really looked at my children that morning. They have been small mouths to feed and bodies to dress. I’ve been prodding my older one to brush her teeth and get her coat on and WILL YOU GET IN THE CAR OR WE’LL BE LATE. And just before I say good-bye I look into her eyes and her cold-flushed face and hug her and tell her I love her and to have a good day. And she is healthy and beautiful and bigger than life. And then the little one pulls on my hand and we amble down the driveway at toddler speed. And I remember. Oh, yeah. That’s why.

 

P.S. Do you see what we’re dealing with here?

   Yes, she then stood up and looked at us in triumph.

 And then there’s what happens when I get something in the laundry room/pantry. She got up there ALL by herself, and then started taking things off the shelf. Knocking the pins down, indeed…

7 Quick Takes, or, Hiya! We’re Still Here!

1. Yes, yes, blogging has been sparse lately…again. I basically have about an hour and a half to myself during the day, during Annika’s nap. Since we returned from the States, Annika has slept through the night maybe two or three times. Last night, she cried briefly at 1 am and settled back to sleep before I got to her room. Score!

Then Katrina woke up at 4 am after having a nightmare (which is pretty rare for her). I swear,the children plot with each other to give the parents maximum sleep deprivation. And no sleep = no brain power to write blog entries.

2. Katrina didn’t tell me what her nightmare was about, but I shouldn’t have been surprised. Yesterday it was announced at school that the mother and sister of a former student (who rode on Katrina’s bus last year) had been killed in a car accident. I didn’t really know the family except to wave at the bus stop, but I couldn’t stop thinking about this lovely little girl, about 10 years old, who is now without a mother and little sister. Katrina said that they would be writing letters later in the week. She composed some thoughts out loud in the car: “Dear J., I’m sad your mum and sister died. I hope that you can feel better about that.” And isn’t that exactly the sentiment that adults try to express, but more indirectly and with prettier words? Please keep this family in your prayers. I think it will be a very long time before anyone “feels better".”

3. I’ve been a bit addicted to Hillbuzz, a political Web site run by five gay guys from Chicago. They supported Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primaries and were so upset at the way she was treated by the Dems that they jumped ship to work for the McCain/Palin campaign. They don’t like Obama or the health-care bill. I don’t always agree with them, but they tell it like they see it, the writing is good, and they often have interesting ideas as well as stories about their lives.

4. Annika is walking…and climbing. Katrina wasn’t a climber, so imagine my surprise to look over and see my baby on top of the open dishwasher door…standing on the biggest dining room chair…kneeling on the top step of the step stool…

5. She also likes to “help” Mama by pulling utensils out of the dishwasher and handing them to me to put away. It is a fun way to start the morning. Unfortunately, she also wants to help in this way anytime the dishwasher is open. I have not yet made her understand that we take out utensils only after they’re clean.

6. After living in Germany for four years, I’ve gotten used to many little cultural differences. But I still cannot get used to random (to me) people knocking on my door and coming in to check stuff. Today, a guy in a car with a chimney sweep logo on his car showed up at the door to check the flue from the wood fireplace. I questioned him a bit, because we had had no fireplace at our old house. The gas people show up out of the blue once or twice a year (the meters are inside the house), but this was the first chimney sweep I’d seen. I wasn’t sure if he was official or just trying to drum up business. But he explained that it was a state law that the flue had to be checked each year. Alrighty then.

It sounds like the beginning of a MacGruff the Crime Dog PSA. But the guy came in, went up to the third floor, checked what he needed to check, and left. There you go.

7. “Glee” has finally started here. I saw the pilot on Hulu over the summer (Hulu does not work outside of the States, by the way. Curses!) and have been eagerly awaiting it’s arrival here. Love it…or at least the pilot and the first episode. After all, I was in show choir for four years in high school. The surprise is that my mostly nonmusical husband likes it, too. Although? Singing a song perfectly, the first time you see the sheet music? I don’t think so.

And I’m waiting for the all-day choreography session. Jazz hands!

For more Quick Takes, see Conversion Diary.

Snow and Sand and Sun and Snow

Our Christmas vacation was nothing if not exciting. We arrived the night before the Big Snow started on the East Coast…perfect timing, since most flights were cancelled the next day, and the one we would have taken was diverted to Chicago. In a parallel world where we were responsible parents and didn’t pull our kid out of school a day early, we would have spent who-knows-how-long at O’Hare trying to get to DC. So yay us for being irresponsible!

A few days later, we drove out of snow-packed Northern Virginia four hours southeast to Virginia Beach to spend a week with my side of the family in a gorgeous beach house. It was fun to see all of the cousins together, especially since we hadn’t seen my brother’s family since before Annika was born. It was noisy chaos much of the time, what with six children and eight adults, plus various folks popping in and out to see us.

The beach was absolutely beautiful and freezing cold most of the week.

View from the front porch, about 7 am. What, you thought vacation was for sleeping in? You must not have little kids.

Notice my mom and the baby and I, all bundled up. It was about 30 degrees F and windy. 

And then there is Katrina. “No, Mom, I am NOT cold. I don’t WANT my jacket zipped.”

Christmas was, as one might expect, joyful and loud, but not as chaotic as one would think. The cousins took turns pretty amiably, considering their ages. Guess who’s kids were awake first?

 

No, wait, girls, the grown-ups need to get their coffee/tea first…

 Yes, we’re SO excited to pose for another photo while the PRESENTS are RIGHT THERE! Come ON!

Joy. Very LOUD joy. I suspect my brother’s video of the kiddos opening presents is full of Katrina’s LOUD rejoicing and my voice telling her to keep it down. Hope he didn’t want to hear his OWN kids. Ah, well.

The most notable event of the week for us, though, was Annika deciding it was time to walk. Maybe the peer pressure from her nearly two-year-old cousin finally gave her the confidence she needed.

 I cannot get over those wee ponytails. Cutest. Ever.

And she’s off! 

The cousins had a blast together, with a minimum of fighting.

 

The oldest and the youngest, early Christmas morning. Annika did not want any adult but me to pick her up, but 14-year-old C. was an instant hit. We tried to bring her home with us, but she has this irrational desire to stay with her own family. My sister and I will be lobbying her to come to the DC area for college. And take care of our kids. :)

 The California girls’ first walk on the beach in 30 degrees and VERY windy. Even Katrina zipped up her coat that day.

Sisters. Aw.

Oh, and yes, all the cousins are girls. Wheeee!

The day after Christmas, we headed back to Northern Virginia for a week with hubby’s parents. A bit more low-key, but packed full of activity just the same.

 Visiting college friends…the kids bonded over their brand new gaming system. And ice cream cones.

Playing piano and singing with Grandma

 Look over there, Mama, while I climb the stairs! NO, wait, want to CLIMB! Dagnabbit, foiled again!

Then it was time to come back home, where we collapsed in a screaming puddle of jet lag for a few days. We got back last Sunday, and Katrina’s first day of school was Wednesday. Yeah, those mornings got a bit ugly. But snow started falling Friday night, so good fun was had by all yesterday.

 

And so the old year ended and another year begins.