Everyone has a morning bathroom routine. For some, things take a few minutes. Others allow their activities to fill whatever time they have. It occurred to me this morning as I looked at a pile of unraveled toilet paper, that I should document Graeme's routine. Because he enjoys his time in the bathroom, he repeats this routine in whole and part throughout the day as time and supervision (or lack thereof) allow.
This is what happens upon my saying, "Graeme go potty!"
Step 1: Go potty.
Step 2: Play with related anatomy.
Step 3: Get off potty and hop the length of bathroom with pants around ankles.
Step 4: Hop back to tissue and pull up pants. Maybe.
Step 5: Unravel tissue, but save a few squares on the roll in case it is needed.
Step 6: Wash hands.
Step 7: Pick up soap and draw road with fingernail.
Step 8: Replace soap and rinse hands.
Step 9: Fill cup of water.
Step 10: Take sip. Dump rest in sink.
Step 11: Repeat step 10 as necessary.
Step 12: Draw roads on counter with water spilt.
Step 13: Dry counter with hand towel.
Step 14: Give hand towel a bath.
Step 15: Dry hands on clean towels on shelf.
You'd be surprised at how remarkably quick most of these steps can happen. And, if you happen to come over for a visit, you'll know why the soap looks chewed on.
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Looking Forward
Even though it is raining, I'm still thinking about Spring.
The boys and I have been in the garden working in the compost and planting some early crops. (Saying "crops" makes me feel like a farmer.) We all were very pleased with this year's compost. Though still not perfect, it looked WAY better than last year and the boys loved playing with all the worms. Gross, I know. (They did wash their hands after.)
With any luck, the seeds we planted last week - carrots, lettuce, spinach, radishes, and beets - will enjoy this wacky rain/sun weather we have and produce yummy salad fixings. Craig laughed at me when I thought I should water before we left for the weekend; I just consider myself ever hopeful that our weather will warm up.
Thanks to our neighbor who loaned us her greenhouse, we have quite the grow-op indoors as well. We have four types of cucumbers, six kinds of tomatoes, assorted flowers, basil, and a few peppers growing. They are all tiny, but hopefully they will survive their laundry room life to transplant in April or May. I am very excited for the garden, some sunshine, and the enthusiasm of my well meaning helpers.
We ventured to Flower World in Maltby yesterday to buy some plants for the front yard as well. Once everything is planted, I'll post pictures so you can see what one of my paychecks buys. Hee, hee.
The boys and I have been in the garden working in the compost and planting some early crops. (Saying "crops" makes me feel like a farmer.) We all were very pleased with this year's compost. Though still not perfect, it looked WAY better than last year and the boys loved playing with all the worms. Gross, I know. (They did wash their hands after.)
With any luck, the seeds we planted last week - carrots, lettuce, spinach, radishes, and beets - will enjoy this wacky rain/sun weather we have and produce yummy salad fixings. Craig laughed at me when I thought I should water before we left for the weekend; I just consider myself ever hopeful that our weather will warm up.
Thanks to our neighbor who loaned us her greenhouse, we have quite the grow-op indoors as well. We have four types of cucumbers, six kinds of tomatoes, assorted flowers, basil, and a few peppers growing. They are all tiny, but hopefully they will survive their laundry room life to transplant in April or May. I am very excited for the garden, some sunshine, and the enthusiasm of my well meaning helpers.
We ventured to Flower World in Maltby yesterday to buy some plants for the front yard as well. Once everything is planted, I'll post pictures so you can see what one of my paychecks buys. Hee, hee.
Monday, March 26, 2012
Growing Appreciation
Tonight, I've had a revelation of sorts and had to share. You see, I'm a person that likes things to be fairly tidy and put together. In a perfect world, my home and car would always be clean and clutter-free. Not so, however, day-to-day. But I have come across a secret that I think, in my younger days, I may have dismissed as cheating or a less than optimal solution to one's problems.
We had people coming over last week and, in an effort to create a more cozy environment, I ran around cleaning up spots that had attracted piles of books and papers of various importance. I knew what was in the piles, for the most part - no bills or anything. My secret? I put the pile, with all the guilt it embodies, in the back room! Out of sight to be dealt with later.
Yes, I know this really isn't a secret as everyone does sometimes with things they mean to do when they have time. But you know what? I like it! I'm growing to appreciate the virtues of well played procrastination. Not that I'll make it a new habit or anything, as things get out of hand quickly. My psyche, however, now approves of the quick fix. No longer do I need to stare at the pile every night knowing I "should" be taking care of it. It'll get done eventually.
Totally acceptable.
We had people coming over last week and, in an effort to create a more cozy environment, I ran around cleaning up spots that had attracted piles of books and papers of various importance. I knew what was in the piles, for the most part - no bills or anything. My secret? I put the pile, with all the guilt it embodies, in the back room! Out of sight to be dealt with later.
Yes, I know this really isn't a secret as everyone does sometimes with things they mean to do when they have time. But you know what? I like it! I'm growing to appreciate the virtues of well played procrastination. Not that I'll make it a new habit or anything, as things get out of hand quickly. My psyche, however, now approves of the quick fix. No longer do I need to stare at the pile every night knowing I "should" be taking care of it. It'll get done eventually.
Totally acceptable.
Monday, March 5, 2012
Mischief Brewing
My parents have introduced Gavin and Graeme to their new role models: Calvin and Hobbes. Since I mentioned that Gavin had taken interest in some comic type books at the library, they sent along a few collections of Calvin adventures for Gavin to read. He's hooked. This is great in the sense that he's reading something he enjoys and gets exposed to some pretty hard vocabulary. There is, however, a down side in that they get introduced to a lot of other words that they quite enjoy: "World Class Poophead" and the like.
It's not that they haven't heard things like this before, and I'm choosing to see it as an opportunity for conversations now rather than when they hear the words from kids at school in the Fall. Most of all though, they stay entertained while I'm making dinner. Can't beat that. And I hear this laughter frequently, which also makes the heart smile:
They've also been busy still playing with words. They'll make up "word search games" and recently I was surprised to see them playing a game called "find the letter". For a little background, usually when I'm taking a shower, the boys get into everything they aren't supposed to... well, snacks and craft supplies. (Graeme in particular enjoyed making "snow" from some Styrofoam balls that were in the craft bag. Ugh.) This day, unlike others, I found them playing in the school room and having a great time. The game consisted of scribbling on the chalk board as crazy as they could, then the other child would try to find a letter (or something that resembled a letter) in the mess. Then they'd write it up top and make a word out of it (like "pig, "cat", etc.). I was impressed. And now I can see that Gavin REALLY needs kindergarten. He might just teach the class; he does quite well with Graeme as his student.
Tonight they were quiet again and, though I wondered what they were up to, I didn't dare disturb them. After about 20 minutes (enough time for me to read a magazine and have a glass of wine - good mummy), they emerged with these:
.JPG)
This is, according to Graeme, a diesel electric #1 engine. You can see the "#1" even though the shape is somewhat questionable. Gavin cut this out for him, but he drew it... not too shabby.
.JPG)
Gavin came out with Harvey, who is the crane engine on the Thomas the Train series. He's written Harvey, minus the "e", and has a cute little hook and everything. I was impressed again. Then they made little beds for their trains and put them to bed in their rooms. I'm sure they'll want cereal in the morning too. Trains and cars are still quite hungry around here.
It's not that they haven't heard things like this before, and I'm choosing to see it as an opportunity for conversations now rather than when they hear the words from kids at school in the Fall. Most of all though, they stay entertained while I'm making dinner. Can't beat that. And I hear this laughter frequently, which also makes the heart smile:
They've also been busy still playing with words. They'll make up "word search games" and recently I was surprised to see them playing a game called "find the letter". For a little background, usually when I'm taking a shower, the boys get into everything they aren't supposed to... well, snacks and craft supplies. (Graeme in particular enjoyed making "snow" from some Styrofoam balls that were in the craft bag. Ugh.) This day, unlike others, I found them playing in the school room and having a great time. The game consisted of scribbling on the chalk board as crazy as they could, then the other child would try to find a letter (or something that resembled a letter) in the mess. Then they'd write it up top and make a word out of it (like "pig, "cat", etc.). I was impressed. And now I can see that Gavin REALLY needs kindergarten. He might just teach the class; he does quite well with Graeme as his student.
Tonight they were quiet again and, though I wondered what they were up to, I didn't dare disturb them. After about 20 minutes (enough time for me to read a magazine and have a glass of wine - good mummy), they emerged with these:
.JPG)
This is, according to Graeme, a diesel electric #1 engine. You can see the "#1" even though the shape is somewhat questionable. Gavin cut this out for him, but he drew it... not too shabby.
.JPG)
Gavin came out with Harvey, who is the crane engine on the Thomas the Train series. He's written Harvey, minus the "e", and has a cute little hook and everything. I was impressed again. Then they made little beds for their trains and put them to bed in their rooms. I'm sure they'll want cereal in the morning too. Trains and cars are still quite hungry around here.
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