First Day of School...

Yesterday was an emotional day around here, for everyone involved. There was excitement, anticipation, anxiousness, worry, joy, fear, sadness, happiness and everything in between. We dropped off a 6th grader for his first day of middle school, full of excitement. He couldn't wait! We dropped off a 4th grader who now feels like big man on campus and ran away from us as fast as he could. I got this! And we dropped off my baby, my little companion for his first day of kindergarten. He had been so excited the whole summer and then the week before turned terrified. He has hugged me more the past week than his whole life put together. But he woke up with a smile on his face and after putting his backpack in his cubby walked right in like a big boy. See ya mom.

As a mom, you almost want them to cry, to miss you, to think they can't live without you. But our goal is to raise them to be independent of you, to want to do things on their own. Such a hard thing to watch. I did shed a tear as I left the school. I probably would have bawled had my hubby not been with me. I didn't want him to make fun of me blubbering like one of those moms who is attached to her kid, because I'm really not. But for my baby to go to school means a new start for me. Its been 11 years of having someone at home with me, someone I'm supposed to be pouring into, and as a preschool teacher I preach about the importance of this foundational time, that is now over. I'm so proud of how each of my boys is growing into a man who can go out into the world and conquer it, who is learning how to handle himself with grace and patience and maturity. And now maybe my house will be a little cleaner!

The boys comforting/celebratory breakfast.

Middle school, here we come!

My comforting/celebratory breakfast!

Tips from the trenches...

These are tips that I have personally done and they work! One or two I have mentioned other places, but I wanted them in one place.

1. You can use peanut butter (creamy) to buff out scratches on CD's and DVD's.

2. To get crayon marks off of hard surfaces, simply put a hair dryer on it for a few seconds and wipe it right off!

3. For those yellow baby poop stains, wash with stain stick and regular detergent, but before drying, lay the garment out in the sun and the stain will vanish like magic!

I think I would like to make this a series of blogs, so send me your tips too!

Observations of a 3rd child

My older boys and hubby were away at children's camp last week, so it was just me and the little one for 5 days. I was dreading it because he can get under my skin quicker than anyone. But we really had a great time together. We had two play dates, went to the park and fed ducks, played at McDonalds, library, and had the added joy of dog sitting for our friend Terri while she was on a mission trip, so we had Gracie as a distraction. I let him sleep with me at night, and I think I slept better with him in bed with me, minus the kicking.

I realized at the end of our time together that he had been an angel for the most part. He hadn't whined, complained, pitched any fits, argued or been disrespectful. He got himself dressed, put on his own shoes and when I asked him to do something, he did it. Amazing! He was really enjoyable. And then... the brothers returned, and all the bad qualities that drive me nuts returned. Revelation! Either he acts that way because they get on his nerves, or more likely, he feels like he has to fight for attention. He no longer can get himself dressed or brush his own teeth or eat his dinner. And while Monday morning he walked right into his class at church, this morning, he pitched a walleyed fit! So embarrassing.

We had some sweet friends over today and she kept commenting how much Campbell reminded her of her third child, so apparently its not just mine. But I need to figure out how to fix it. Hopefully when school starts in a few weeks he will get in a routine and some of this will wear off, but I guess I need to pay more attention to him so he doesn't have to fight for it? But I feel like he is all I pay attention to already. I don't know how to pay more attention to him! I do think a routine will help immensely. I hope! Or maybe when he turns 5 in two days, some magic change will over take him.