17 July 2010

All over the place tonight....


First, let's start off with a few Milo quotes:

Regarding a frozen chicken in Trader Joe's: Hey - why does this dude have bone feet?

Regarding a potato bug on the sidewalk: I poked him and stepped on him; now he's sleeping.

Milo, Milo, Milo :-) - and I mean BIG smile here.

So ... Enzo wanted to make roast turkey today, but... we had to settle for chicken (another big smile). No matter... he helped me season and prep it. We chopped potatoes and veggies then... I had to take a break - from my sweet kiddies. I've been yelling a bit lately. Nothing dramatic, but... got mad at Milo yesterday, and he drew a picture for me and crawled up onto my lap all smiles in apology for being so cheeky earlier. I felt bad. Lil has picked up a sad little saying from being around too many dramatic teenagers - "You HATE me, Mommy" (said if I don't look down right away at her ballet tutu or her funny face - similarly, her siblings also "hate" her if they don't listen to her right away. Drama queen. Still - it's sad.). Anyway, Enzo wanted to talk... and talk and talk and talk. And... I wanted to listen, so I knew I needed time away then ... I could focus (on rainy days, it can be tricky to remember to be nice all day long - this goes for all of us). And I did (once de-stressed ;-) - as we sat at dinner - as he helped me get everything ready for the family - proud of his role - I listened and offered praise and hugs.

My helpful Olivia put the fire under the potatoes AND removed the foil tent from our bird WHILE I was at the gym texting and calling her during my workout (my brief, much-needed time away). And, for the record, I am SORE today, having pushed it the day before with the free weights (In fact - the photo today is a before photo of my nonexistent tricep. Self-portrait, obviously. My hubby downloaded them and asked why I took so many "naughty" photos of myself - coupled with so many dork photos (WHAATTT?!?!). I will post more dork photos later. They are pretty funny if you don't know what I'm doing ;-). Thank you, Olivia. AND... thank you for watching my friend's kiddos so we could hit that sale at Nordstrom I warned / told you all about the other day. Shoes, make-up and one cool jacket later (oh - and cheesecake), we are both a little more rested and focused, I think - me and friend, that is - again, thanks to Olivia :-) - cuz we rolled in well after 11pm.

Take a look at this post at my Free Range blog (see that list of mine again). My response is below. I get a little tired of the division between what is good - what is bad- what is free range - what is not. As is the case with any cause, belief, group - whatever - the tendency to get very single-minded - very fixated on a righteous tunnel vision at times - always looms. Anyway, my response is below (you'll see it if you read - think about responding yourselves - the different life perspectives are necessary here):

Isn’t there value in having outside and inside experiences? I have fond memories of collecting leaves to press inside at my Montessori school. I find waterplay indoors extremely fun; my kids wear their swim goggles in the bathtub – I join them in the waterplay at our local children’s museum. I was a gymnast and trained hard in what was basically an advanced large muscle room. I also ran barefoot and hiked and played in the mud outside, but… I wouldn’t trade my experience inside for anything. Why put restrictions on “free range”? Why deem one activity OK and another not OK? Just my two cents… I don’t think we should be so guarded, and I think we need to be careful not to tell our kids what is appropriately “free range” and what is not (i.e. steer clear of saying what you SHOULD be doing….).

In closing, hope you all have a great weekend. Maybe give this artist's market a look at Southside Works :-). I think we're going to.

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