Full Hands, Full Heart

I don't understand why people think I'm crazy because I have more then 1.2 kids. Any day I take the kids out in public, I'm sure to hear the phrase "You have your hands full!" I always reply with "and my heart too!" People usually smile and tell me my kids are cute. Unless, like the lady at the grocery store yesterday, they run off in a disgusted huff before I can respond. Really? I wish I could ask people like her a few questions. Like: Why is my having 3 kids who actually know how to behave in public such an inconvenience to you? What about my kids disturbs you so much? When you were a kid, did you dislike children as much as you do now?
I value my children. I see their worth. I know that they are fully human, now at their present age. They contribute to my life and bring me joy. The inevitable sleepless nights and frustrated afternoons that come with having 3 boys under 5 is a small part of the overall blessing of being their mother. I think a lot of the problems we face in our current culture could be solved if Motherhood was respected and children were valued.

Start Again

They boys sing a song for the days of the week that goes "Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and then we start again!"
I am hoping to pick myself up a bit and do as the songs says - start again. I have been trying, it seems in vain at times, to follow my Mother's Rule of Life. Most days I do alright. The past few months have been better then the beginning of the year. But then its really easy to be better then awful! I have a few new ideas on how to work my Home Management Notebook. I think I am going to do as one blog suggested and have certain pages that I use over and over again laminated and have the whole thing spiral bound. I wish I could remember the site. I'd share it. Not to mention, I'd like to look at it again. Oh well! Hopefully I can recall enough useful information to put some of it into practice. I really do a lot better taking care of my kids, the house and the dog, not to mention myself, when I keep to my routines. With 3 small kids in the house routines are necessary. Its the only way anyone ever gets to wear clean underwear. Which reminds me I need to go throw my sheets in the wash and finish making the bed. Clean is comfortable!

Smarty Pants

The picture of Joseph counting was taken almost a year ago. He can now count to 100 independently and is quickly picking up the pattern to count over 100. He also recently started reading. All the sight word and phonics work of the past 4 years has really paid off. I actually saw the moment when reading clicked for him! It was amazing! He was looking at a book that we have read a thousand times (wish I could remember the exact book, I was to excited about the moment to remember that detail) and he was going along half reading, half repeating the memorized story when he came to a word he wasn't sure about. He stopped, looked at it, and then sounded it out. He looked up at me for approval, I gave it, and he smiled a huge wonderful smile that told me how proud he was of himself in that moment. Then his reading became slower as he thoughtfully looked at each word as if for the first time. Saying them slowly. Looking at each letter and word come together to form a new world. At only 4 years old, he is an independent reader who can take almost any book of his shelf and happily read it to himself. He has even advanced to the point of being able to read silently to himself! Simply amazing!
Leo isn't too far behind. While Joseph is extremely determined and focused once something has grabbed his attention, Leo is a creative dreamer. He likes to look at the pictures of a book and make up his own stories, or variations on the current story. The perfect example of the difference in their personalities came during basic math last fall. The was 1 green worm and 1 blue worm. I asked the boys how many worms there were. Joseph quickly said "1 green worm and 1 blue worm is 2 worms!" and then Leo replied "The green worm is the mommy worm and the blue worm is the daddy worm. On Sunday they take their little worm baby and put him in his little worm car seat and get in their little worm car and go to little worm church!" I said I really liked his story and asked him how many worms their were. He said "3! The mommy worm, the daddy worm, and the baby worm!" I've told Leo he needs to work on writing his letters and words so he can write down his stories so other people can read them. He liked that idea a lot.

Smarty Pants

Motherhood Monday

Matthew 25:36-40

"Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me, I was in prison, and you came to me. Then the righteous will answer Him 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe you? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You? The King will answer and say to them "Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me."

I haven't felt like the world's greatest mom lately. In fact, I've felt quite inadequate. This bit of scripture was a big wake-up call though. What I do to my children (the least of them) I do to Christ. I do not think He would have appreciated being, well, yelled at this afternoon. I was tired, the children were overtired (thank-you day light savings time) and they were not following The Nite-Nite Rules.
1. Lay down the right way (no head hanging off the bed - half on the floor kinda thing)
2. Be silent (no screaming, no talking, no noises, no singing)
3. No playing (snuggle your stuffed animal, don't make him to the Hokey-Pokey)
4. Go Nite-Nite.

Seems simple enough, but not simple enough for 2 three years olds (or their Mommy. I didn't do such a good job following rule number 3). After having a Mommy Time-Out (going into the kitchen and crying) I returned to the twins room, apologized for yelling and told them why I was so upset. They both apologized for yelling at me and for being mean. I was proud at that moment because their apologizes were completely unsolicited. They both took a couple of deep breaths, as did I, we went over the rules again, and I said night-night to them. They followed the rules exactly, fell asleep on their own, and took a good nap. Mommy and baby brother snuggled together and took a nap as well. Its amazing what a little cry and a good nap can do to improve your day.

As soon as they woke-up, I made sure to thank them for doing such a great job following the rules. We talked about how we could have followed the rules without the screaming, and made plans to do a better job next time. I think, event though I had a bit of a tantrum, that eventually I handled the situation fairly well. We shall see how tomorrow goes!

WIP

Me. I am a work-in-progress. My Motherhood is a work-in-progress. Some days I think I've got it all figured out; I'm Super Mom! Other days, I call my husband at work for moral support because everything has gone horribly wrong. The kids are all crying. I'm crying. All I can think is that God must have gotten it horribly wrong. Me a mom? Seriously? 3 kids? 3 young kids? But then I take it to Mary in prayer. When I doubt my own ability and the Father's plan for my Motherhood only the Mother of God can console me. And she does it such beautiful ways.

A couple of weeks ago, on one of those horrible days, Leo grabbed a book off the table. I yelled as he pulled out my bookmark and threw it on the floor. I shoved the bookmark into the book and hauled Mr. Grabbyhands off to time-out. Later, after I had calmed down and said a few prayers to the Virgin Mother, I opened the book to the page I had so hastily shoved my bookmark, a page that brought my little tantrum to a screeching halt. It talked about the philosophies that Maria Montessori and Edith Stein had about children and the formation of the human person. Nothing like the Father smacking you upside the head with a 2x4 to make you stop and think.

I must remember that my children are a gift from God. Even the bad days are worth every moment. How I handle things models to my children how they should handle themselves. No matter how many times I tell them to take a deep breath and use polite word in a polite, calm voice they will not listen if I do not use my own polite, calm voice. If I do not respect the dignity of my children and treat them with respect, how can I expect them to do the same?

I need to work on my consistency. Set rules and do a better job of enforcing them. I need to spend a little more time taking care of myself. Running after the dog (Jack Russel Terriers just don't listen) does not count as exercise. Leaning over the sink while I drain the pasta does not count as a facial. Eating the leftovers from the twin's lunch does not count as portion control. I need to keep working at what promises to be a life long process. Motherhood is wonderful, but a lot of work. A lot of work and a lot of wonderful reward!

Motherhood Monday

Some days I question God's sanity. This may sound like a very strange thing to say, but if it does, then you don't have twins. The idea of twins, let alone identical twin boys must have come to the Father on the same day He created the platypus. Just after He created hallucinogenic plants. My identical twin boys are 3 1/2 and so these thoughts cross my mind.