Go the @*?! to sleep

On Saturday we had a lovely family day. It started out with a nice breakfast, then we went to the local library where the kids got prizes for reading books. After that we went to our farmers' market and got the most delicious strawberry popsicles ever. We came home for a nice lunch, and drove into town to do a couple errands. Back home again, we played outside and generally had fun.

Next came a dinner out for a community dinner with Grandma and Grandpa, a little more play, bathtime, teeth brushing, reading books and then lights out. 

We are in the habit of laying down with the kids until they fall asleep. It's a habit I would like to break, nevertheless it is what we do. That night the kids were not buying it. Maybe it was just because it's summer or maybe it was the sugary, sweet strawberry shortcake they had at a community dinner, but they were talking. They were wiggling. They were not @*?! sleeping! 

I got fed up. I did not want to waste my time laying next to Lil Sis pretending to sleep--especially when she was no where near sleep. My husband was falling asleep as he snuggled with a sleepless Big Bro.

I made a decision.

"Alright," I announced. "I'm turning on the light. You guys can read books or play in your room, but daddy and I are going to go to mommy and daddy things by ourselves. Stay in your room."

Daddy looked up groggily, but followed me out of the room.

The kids took it surprisingly well. Often when we threaten to leave the room they cry and insist that they will be good. "Okay, mommy." they said calmly and sweetly.

My husband and I retreated to our room. The kids stayed in their room for a while, but then started coming out to ask questions to do whatever they could think of to get attention. Each time we would calmly tell them to go back to their room. And surprisingly, they did!

Eventually they were getting more intrusive, coming in and out more frequently. We decided to let them go into the playroom as well. Just as long as they didn't bother us!

Still, they were running in and out of the playroom and our room, up and down the hall. We took to ignoring them. They did look darn cute running around in their underwear and diaper respectively since it was a warm summer night.

Then they invented a game: be sneaky and dump toys in mommy and daddy's bedroom. They thought they were so quiet and sneaky. They thought they were hilarious! We pretended not to notice until the pile got prettybig.

We feigned surprise and laughed with them.  Finally, I asked Big Bro to get a basket from the playroom so they could put all the toys back in it. They obliged, and I carried the loaded basket back to the playroom.

Then it was really time for bed. They still protested. Loudly. They still fought sleep. But finally, by 9 PM, they were both out.

Gateway to Summer: Strawberry Season

Okay, okay, I know I said I was done with blogging for the summer, but we had such fun today I just felt like writing about it.

Mmm! Strawberries.

Yesterday was the last day of school. Today, Grandma asked if we wanted to go pick some strawberries. We decided it was a perfect day to do it, the weather was beyond perfect. We climbed into the van: Big Bro, Lil Sis, me, Grandma and Grandpa, and drove to Pomykala Farm. Grandpa reminisced how he used to go strawberry picking with his mother once school was out and she would make strawberry jam. Well, history tends to repeat itself, and in this case it's in a good way.

At Pomykala Farm we were warmly greeted by our friends, the owners of the farm. We also saw some friends from playgroup and got to ride in the golf cart out to the part of the field with the best picking. Lil Sis ended up loving the ride, though she was tentative at first. She's getting braver.

Big Bro "driving" the cart

We picked 10 pounds of strawberries to bring home. Big Bro picked his very own basket, Lil Sis picked her own basket. She probably picked two baskets worth but ate one of them on the job. 

Lil Sis working hard picking

Next came making homemade strawberry jam. A first for me!

Note: Big Bro is wearing a red shirt so that he won't get his Wild Kratts clothes stained with strawberry juice.

The kids went to play at Grandma's house so I hulled the strawberries, smashed them with a potato masher, then added lemon juice and brought them to a rolling boil.

Mashing berries

Next I poured in seven, yes count 'em, 7 cups of sugar! I'm just following the recipe. When that was once again at a rolling boil I added the pectin and was able to spoon it into nine jelly jars, and part of a tenth jar.

Look at all that sugar--2 bowls worth!

I think I will have to make another batch tomorrow. Maybe that will get us through a years worth of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. There's always other jellies to make with other seasonal fruits too. This is just the beginning of a beautiful season.

The partial jar of jam

Last day of school/blog

Today is Big Bro's last day of preschool. He could not be happier. He's grown so much this year and I'm so proud of him for going to school even though I know many mornings he would have rather stayed home.

9/4/13 First day of preschool, 3 yo

6/18/14 Last day of preschool until fall, 4 yo

I have been writing this Mama of Ma'at blog five days a week since last August. Similar to Big Bro, today is going to be my last official blogging day for the summer. Over Christmas vacation I took a break from writing this blog because I wanted to be on vacation with my family without any extra distractions. I have decided I am also going to take the summer off to focus on family fun. Plus who wants to be chained to their computer in a non-air-conditioned house during summer if it's not required?

Over the summer I will still be blogging for the Burlington Mom's Blog twice a month. I will also do the occasional entry on Mama of Ma'at if something really strikes me and I feel I just have to write about it. I may re-share posts from my archives too.

I hope you all have a great summer! Thanks for reading!

A Childhood Obsession

Ever since his fourth birthday party, which had a Wild Kratts theme, Big Bro has been wearing his green Wild Kratts t-shirt non-stop.

It got to the point where he got super upset if he got a trace of any dirt or food on it. I was washing it overnight so he could wear it the next day. We decided we better buy him another one. This time we got the blue Wild Kratts shirt. The blue one was upgraded to the best one. He would wear it and alternate with the green one for messier activities.

All those pictures were taken on different days even though Big Bro looks exactly the same in each one.

This past Wednesday his preschool had a "water day." The kids showed up to school in their bathing suits and had to bring clean dry clothes to change into. I sneakily put a pair jean shorts and a red shirt in his backpack. He had no choice but to wear them! When I picked him up at school and saw him in something other than a Wild Kratts shirt, it was like a breath of fresh air.

I gushed over how handsome he looked, but he changed back into his green Wild Kratts shirt as soon as we got home--which is why I made sure to snap the picture while I could.

If I mention this phase to my mom, she just likes to point out that I wore my Toto (the dog from the Wizard of Oz) halloween costume everyday for ages.

Well, I better go do some laundry. These Wild Kratts shirts (and matching cargo shorts) don't wash themselves!

Happy Father's Day

My kids are so lucky. 

They have a dad who sits on the floor and plays Legos with them.

They have a dad who reads to them daily and makes up stories about their adventures in Candyland.

They have a dad who made it a standing date to take them out to the library each evening that I have a planning commission meeting.

They have a dad who wrestles and rough houses with them.

They have a dad who bakes scones with them on weekend mornings (and lets me sleep in!)

They have a dad who shows them where to pick wild blackberries in the yard.

They have a dad who will fetch them the best apple he can find on our apple trees.

They have a dad who is always eager to help them learn.

They have a dad who will always hug and cuddle them.

They have a dad who is active in their lives.

They have a dad who loves them to the sun and back.

We are lucky to have him!

Happy Father's Day!

TBT: a drive cross country

It's hard to imagine, but 10 years ago I moved to Los Angeles with my husband (then boyfriend). We loaded whatever would fit into our 2000 Honda Civic and went. I still remember the trip vividly. Here is my travel log:

August 1, 2004: move to LA what a day! Vermont to Niagara Falls, Buffalo New York. 3:00 car broke down in Mohawk New York.  Exhaust pipe dragging on the highway. "Mark" helped us temporarily fix car in a Walmart parking lot with metal wire. Sunday, no mechanics around. Traffic jam at 7:20 PM. Made it to Niagara! Fireworks over the falls.

August 2, 2014: 8:30 AM car fixed, Hooray! Niagara Falls, Maid of the Mist, fun and wet. 

Lunch at Hard Rock Cafe. Drove through New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, started into Indiana.

August 3, 2004: had breakfast in Elkhart, Indiana. Drove all day no lunch stop. Went to Indiana, Illinois, Iowa. Would have made it into Nebraska severe thunderstorms. Met travelers in glass gas station from West Coast and bound for Chicago and Vermont. Everyone stuck because of rain. 

August 4, 2004: spent last night in seedy motel in Underwood, Iowa. Got up early. Drove through Nebraska, on to Denver, Colorado. Arrive before dark for once! Now in mountain time. Was flat at first after entering Colorado. Rocky Mountains suddenly appeared. Went to downtown. All hotels booked due to convention. Had dinner at Jax, went to Rockies Cubs game at Coors Field. Pretty sunset in Stadium. Cubs won, we left early and searched for hotel. Stayed at Mountain High Inn.

August 5, 2014: woke up, had breakfast. Drove on I-70 W through Rockies. SCARY, big down hills. Stopped in Vail for gas $2.25! Went through gorgeous canyon by Colorado River. Lots of tunnels the mountains, highway flatter now, mountains farther in distance. Utah, Arches National Park - beautiful! thunderstorm on our way out, luckily it went east not west with us. Drove through 100 miles of nowhere. Dark, felt anxious, low on gas. Finally hit civilization again around 10 PM.

August 6, 2004:  9 more hours to Santa Monica. Drove 30 miles through twisted, burnt canyons in Arizona, then California desert.  Drove through Las Vegas, didn't stop. Huge scary freeways in LA! Got to Santa Monica, weather was cool. Hotels booked, stayed at Santa Monica motel. Our new home in California!

*****

I think it's funny how $2.25 gas in Colorado seemed really expensive at the time.

Our picture taking was more limited because we only had a camera that used film. The "modern" drop-in kind! We did have a flip cell phone.

We lived at the Santa Monica motel for a week before finding an apartment. I worked for a year before going to grad school my husband started right away at law school.

"Corporations are the world"

My car needed servicing so I dropped it off at the dealer then a nice shuttle driver drove me where I wanted to go while I wait.

"Can drop me off at Trader Joe's?," I asked.

"Sure, are you going to the mall after? Should I pick you up there later?" he asked.

"No, I will be at the University of Vermont. Can you pick me up there?"

"Sure, but it will be a different driver. What are you doing over there?"

"Well, I am going to table for Citizens Climate Lobby." I didn't add that we were tabling because it was the press event for the release of the Vermont Climate Assessment report. I was trying to keep it simple.

"What's that? What do you do?" he asked.

So I started talking about the carbon fee and dividend. It was very quickly clear that I was talking with a climate change denier--a very pleasant denier, but a denier none the less.

"I just don't think we should tax corporations." He answered. "Oil and gas have done so much for us we can't punish them for that. I just hate taxing corporations. If we tax corporations they will get sick of us and they will go away. Just look at IBM. Corporations are the world!"

That seemed like a fear-based comment to me after thinking about it. Yes, corporations make a lot of stuff happen in our world, but that shouldn't mean that we can't demand they act ethically. Not causing destruction on a global scale is good ethics.

He made other comments such as: the science is debatable on climate change. He didn't believe that we are having more extreme weather, or that winters are getting milder. He said even if the climate is changing he didn't think it was because of fossil fuels. The Japan earthquake shifted the Earth on its axis. Doesn't that have anything to do with it? The scientist haven't taken that into consideration.

I acknowledged that yes oil and gas has done a lot for civilization, however we now know that using it is killing our planet. Since we know better so it's time to change the business model. I assured him that yes, the scientists have taken into consideration factors such as the natural wobbles of the earth's axis and even that earthquake event that shifted the earth.

I told him how the carbon fee and dividend would put money in his pocket. I told him how it would spur development and investment in fossil fuel alternatives. Maybe he can't afford an electric car now, but after a few years of a carbon tax he probably can because prices will come down.

We even ended up talking about how the climate was different when dinosaurs were on the earth but it was fine for them. I explained how yes, the death of the dinosaurs and the sequestration of their bodies and plant matter at the time allowed the carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere to decrease to a level that made the planet safe for humans. Dinosaurs turned into fossil fuels, and by unlocking that carbon dioxide from the earth we have thrown the atmosphere, that we humans have enjoyed so much, out of balance. Even if we keep burning fossil fuels some form of life will exist on earth, it just won't be humans.

Still, the only thing that seem to get through to him was the explanation that scientists have determined that the "safe" level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is 350 ppm. We recently exceeded 400 ppm and are adding 2 ppm each year. He used to serve on an Air Resources Board in New York so that was something he could appreciate. A small win!

Despite feeling overwhelmed at his denial and unprepared on where to even start in responding to his denial during a 10 minute car ride, it was still a fine conversation.

"Why do you bother with those people?" my husband asked when I told him about it back at home.

Because it keeps me on my toes. And, we need to convert some of those people we are to win this climate fight.