Sunday, January 30, 2011

contrasts and realizations

Sometimes I wonder how much Galen understands about anything. In many ways he like a 7 year old in maturity, a 14 year old in understanding math, and in a body undergoing puberty and growing nearly 2” per month.

At church today we (bishop and parents) decided that he was not ready yet for the priesthood or his patriarchal blessing. In some ways it was a relief- to realize that there is a real lack of understanding and readiness for this developmental phase yet. It helped me to understand that he truly doesn’t understand many things that others his age and size do.

It was truly interesting to contrast this with Ian’s baptismal interview today. Ian gave clear and precise answers and had questions. Even though he started out rubbing his eyes and playing with his shirt he soon matched the bishop’s physical positions and actions.

Where as Galen refused to say a word and never once made eye contact. I think this is where is uphill battle is going to be in the coming months with schools and courts is to help them to understand that in that big body and active brain lays a little child- who is probably only accountable as a little child- but yet has the body and hormones of a teenager and needs that he can not voice that somehow going to school violates.

In some ways he is very much a cross between Calvin (from Calvin and Hobbes) and Mo- the third grader who shaves.

Thursday, January 27, 2011

boots and balls

There is something I probably should have considered when I bought my knee high- winter boots this year.

I didn't consider the amount of work they would be to put on when your pregnant belly reaches your toes. yeah- I have to lift my legs high enough to slide them into the boots. That is no longer as easy as it was a few months ago.

In fact my chances of successfully getting my boots on now increase greatly if I do my prenatal y0ga first- at least then I am less likely to pull a muscle in the contortions it takes to lift my legs above my belly while in a seated position.

If you would like to understand the challenge first hand I suggest you place several cannon balls in your hip cradle and makes sure at least one of these sits directly in your vagina, pressing on the cervix and wiggles of it's own accord (this position should also place all the weight on your bladder). Then add a 30 gallon garbage bag full of water tied to the outside of your abdomen- this should also become hard at irregular intervals and stick painful bony points out at different times.

Now after spending a month with the cannon balls and bag of water attached to you- try to get the boots on.

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Busy Bee

Today I kept myself busy.
I made pancakes !- i LOVE pancakes
and then I organized all the clothes I have for Shannon to grow in to- sizes 4- 12 an finally put them away. I made Shannon's bed.

Then I changed laundry, and scrubbed out the fridge and reorganized it. After that I took a nap- because I wanted to do a lot more this evening. So after the nap I made a huge stirfry, had dinner, then used the stirfry in egg rolls- made 30 of them. Followed by banana muffins for breakfast tomorrow.

I still probably have to help Ian make his bed. Sigh- and why can't kids go the sleep the first 100 times you ask?

Friday, January 21, 2011

The great Unknown

I have only been a parent for 12 years,
and as such, I know absolutely nothing about teenagers. I may have already accumulated 37 years of child rearing experience, but none of that prepares me for the tasks that lie ahead.

I feel this especially strong as I did my best to skip over my own teenage-hood in search of a real life. I wanted to take responsibility and do real world things and my parents let me. I went to college at 16, opened my first business at 17. When I was 12 I started doing a lot of the cooking, meal planning and grocery shopping. I had no interest in driving a car until we moved 20 miles out of town and I needed the transportation. I had no interests in parties. I just wanted to study, dance and stay up late holding real conversations with my dad.

If anything I wasn't so much a teenager as an Adult in Training.

I really wasn't interested in the milestones of growing up, prom, graduation or first date never inticsed me to dreams or actions, cars were nothing more then dangerous tools to be used with care.

I never felt a bone of rebellion until I attended a dance camp in Canada where one of the main teachers was hypocritical. And in this state of rebellion, I colored my pointe shoes as the American Flag and wore them to class. I still remembered her face when she saw them- utter shock at such insolence- In her high shrieks at such a dastardly deed, I was thrown out of class. I never had to say a word.

Early teenage hood, I think was much harder then later. I had a new body and new hormones, and weren't quite sure how to handle either one. I remember my mom's frustration at how easily I broke into tears, and the confusion of what clothes I could wear vs what clothes I should wear . It was way to easy to draw attention to myself in all the wrong ways. My saving grace was that I really didn't care about guys yet or what they thought about me. In fact, in my memory there is really nothing more turn-offish then the stupidity and crassness of the 6th and 7th grade boys.

The problem is that I now have a 6th grade boy. One with a constantly changing body and a certain kind of stupidity that reminds me about what I hated most about middle school. I can't go home to escape from him or have my brother answer the phone when he calls me for the 100th time in the night.

I find that my oldest child is always the hardest. He is the one always making me blaze the new parental trails in my life. I had some idea what to do for my second and third and was giving advice to our pediatrician by the 4th (he asked me because he just had a new baby). I now feel very experienced in babies, toddlers, preschoolers, and even elementary schoolers- but teenage-hood??

If I allowed my self to be scared of the future- it is not peak oil that makes my heart beat harder- it is the unknown of parenting a household of teenagers- for the next 20 years!!!

Maybe I should have considered all the responsibility I wanted as an "Adult in Training "- because having 6 kid- this is the fate I caused myself.

It is probably a good thing birth control isn't retroactive.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Eternally Pregnant

this is the phase of pregnancy that the feeling of being eternally pregnant kicks in. Pregnancy started so long ago, the belly has been huge forever, only now its so huge that you can't eat, sleep, breath or walk, and there is no end in sight.

The value of room service, bell hops and valet parking finally make the expensive hotels seem worth their money.... only you don't want anything they have on their menus. All you want is a simple peanut butter and jelly sandwich. And that is why is spend even more money to get the executive level is for that there is a staff person there who tries to cater to your every need, and you can get your pb&j unless she has gone off duty at 11pm, after stuffing you with fresh baked cookies and milk. sigh

And now I am home again- after playing my own bell hop- not so fun when it involves waddling up and down 3 flights of stairs with several toddlers. And I miss the cookies and milk, but most of all housekeeping.

But at least at home when I waddle to the bathroom every hour all night long, I can take a nice big drink of the water from the sink. It may keep me peeing, but it also keeps me from being one dried out pea pod in the morning. I shouldn't rattle when you shake me.