This week I joined the ranks of women who enter and leave the YMCA without children running ahead of them, bickering over who gets to open the door, needing to arrive 10 minutes before class starts to check them into the KidZone, and then fielding requests for a snack from the vending machine as we head home.
This week marks the first time in seven years that my day-to-day includes alone time. As an introvert, its remarkable to note that I actually physically feel different. It's like my body is more open and absorbent, somehow. I find myself thinking about making plans with friends. Like, I want to get together with people. It's crazy!
With two children in school all day, I've realized several things:
1. Regular showers are now necessary for my girls. Before this week I would unashamedly tell anyone that my kids were bathed every 8 days. Now, they come home sweaty and happy and sending them to bed with the day's adventures caked on their skin is no longer an option.
2. Hot lunches are the best. We have to pack Maia's lunch every day because of her refined taste buds (read: sarcasm), but Ruby is willing to try the school lunch and it's amazing! My meal prep time has cut down by half with everyone gone all day.
3. The hours between arriving home from school and bedtime are intense and go too quickly. There's piano practicing, ballet, homework, dinner, and showers to fit in. Not to mention time to play and decompress after a day of sitting still and being quiet. Everyday this week my kids have gotten off the bus and do not stop talking until I've tucked them into bed. It's as if they've stored up all the words during school and have to get them out once they come home. It's actually kind of incredible.
4. I've been very busy for the past 7 years. Realizing that this week has been incredibly healthy and validating for me. When we became parents, Aleks and I made a conscious effort to minimize the impact on our kids with both of us working (him: full time, me: part time). For us that meant planning my work schedule around their preschool schedules or coordinating our work schedules so that we could trade off being with the kids. I'm really grateful we were able to do that, but it was quite draining and stressful. It often meant that Aleks and I would only see each other as we passed off the kids from one car to the other while he headed home from work as I headed in. It also meant that I was always working: either as a mom or as a teacher, sometimes I'd have to do both at the same time. It's no wonder I haven't had any energy for anything else.
5. I like working. Quitting my job at WSU was the absolute best decision for me. I am 100% happier. In complete honesty, WSU's first day of school was hard for me. I was sad not to see the students whom I have come to love. But then I heard about some of the shenanigans going on and just felt relieved that I was free from the all the disfunction. I've got some new work-related things lined up and the most time consuming one doesn't start until after Labor Day, so basically I'm a stay at home mom for two weeks. It's been great going to the gym each day and getting stuff done around the house, but I'm also really grateful that I have the opportunity to work and contribute to my community.
This week I set out to repair some holes in the girls' bathroom. An old towel rack kept falling down and when we went to put new ones up, it left unsightly holes in the wall. This was over 6 months ago. I looked up a tutorial on YouTube and got to work. It all went fairly smoothly (well actually, there were quite a few hiccoughs along the way) until it came time to touch up the paint. I had saved the paint color, but had to get a new can. I'm sure you can all see where this is going, but of course, when I got home and put it on the wall, it didn't quite match. So yesterday I had to repaint the entire bathroom. Which is fine, but I just wasn't planning on investing that much time into the whole thing. However, it's done now and looks good and the girls are thrilled.
The girls are loving school. Ruby especially is just radiating happiness every day. I am so incredibly grateful to have two girls who enjoy school. I will never take that for granted.
They also learned to ride bikes this weekend and after seeing Maia's bruised knees (from hitting the handlebars as she was riding) we decided to get them new bikes. Ruby has picked it up very quickly while Maia is still a bit cautious and nervous. With cooler temperatures on the way, I'm sure we'll get lots of bike riding practice in.
It's been a big couple of weeks for our little family. Maybe it's just my new-found alone time, but I'm filled to the gills with gratitude. For health, happiness, family, new beginnings, work, strength, money to buy groceries. All of it.
Friday, August 26, 2016
Saturday, August 13, 2016
Pierced Ears!
Yesterday Ruby got her ears pierced. Today she pulled her hair in a ponytail, a rarity, and her little fingers kept finding their way to her ears, fingering the sweet "ruby" studs she chose. Maia is also quite taken with this new development. I overheard Maia say to Ruby "Let me see those darling earrings of yours."
Ruby has been thinking about doing it for awhile. She loves to pick out earrings for me and would often ask to wear a pair of pearl clip-ons. I think the tipping point was a conversation with our 9 year old neighbor across the street who got her ears pierced when she was 5. Ruby proudly told her "My mom and dad said I can get them done whenever I want."
During the few days leading up to the big event, Ruby kept asking "Does it hurt?"
Aleks and I sort of hemmed and hawed about it, trying to avoid giving a straight answer. Because, in all honesty, it does hurt and I guess I just didn't want Ruby to make a decision based in fear.
In the chair, as the Claire store manager got her gloves on, Ruby asked again "Does it hurt?" And still, us adults didn't want to give a firm answer. I was suddenly struck with the disservice we were all doing her and just said, "Yes. But it's not that bad and people do it all the time. If it hurt that badly, people wouldn't keep doing it."
The anticipation kept her hyped up and silly.
And then, thankfully, they offered to do both ears at the same time and she was surrounded by two Claire employees with plastic gloves, holding those plastic piercing "guns" up to her ears. Ruby was gripping my hand and as she started to close her eyes I said look at me and her eyes met mine just as the new earrings went into her ears. No tears, just a brave girl who said "ow" with a heartbeat I could see throbbing in her neck.
It hurt for a bit afterward, but by the time she was unwrapping the lollipop they gave her, all pain was forgotten. Maia said she was going to let Ruby do it first and if it didn't hurt, then she would get her ears pieced too. Needless to say, Maia asked if I could buy her the clip-on Eiffel Tower earrings she saw at the store.
Pierced ears this week, kindergarten next.
Ruby has been thinking about doing it for awhile. She loves to pick out earrings for me and would often ask to wear a pair of pearl clip-ons. I think the tipping point was a conversation with our 9 year old neighbor across the street who got her ears pierced when she was 5. Ruby proudly told her "My mom and dad said I can get them done whenever I want."
During the few days leading up to the big event, Ruby kept asking "Does it hurt?"
Aleks and I sort of hemmed and hawed about it, trying to avoid giving a straight answer. Because, in all honesty, it does hurt and I guess I just didn't want Ruby to make a decision based in fear.
In the chair, as the Claire store manager got her gloves on, Ruby asked again "Does it hurt?" And still, us adults didn't want to give a firm answer. I was suddenly struck with the disservice we were all doing her and just said, "Yes. But it's not that bad and people do it all the time. If it hurt that badly, people wouldn't keep doing it."
The anticipation kept her hyped up and silly.
And then, thankfully, they offered to do both ears at the same time and she was surrounded by two Claire employees with plastic gloves, holding those plastic piercing "guns" up to her ears. Ruby was gripping my hand and as she started to close her eyes I said look at me and her eyes met mine just as the new earrings went into her ears. No tears, just a brave girl who said "ow" with a heartbeat I could see throbbing in her neck.
It hurt for a bit afterward, but by the time she was unwrapping the lollipop they gave her, all pain was forgotten. Maia said she was going to let Ruby do it first and if it didn't hurt, then she would get her ears pieced too. Needless to say, Maia asked if I could buy her the clip-on Eiffel Tower earrings she saw at the store.
Pierced ears this week, kindergarten next.
Wednesday, August 10, 2016
Final YMCA Pool Rankings
Today the girls and I headed to the downtown YMCA; the last destination on our YMCA pool summer checklist. During dinner I asked the girls to rank the facilities.
There are seven YMCA locations in the the greater Wichita area. Here's a quick breakdown of their offerings:
Andover- Our local Y. Has a large outdoor pool with water slides, lily pads, and a lazy river.
East- Indoor pool only, but has an indoor water slide that both girls are tall enough to use.
Northwest- Large outdoor water park with water slides and a lazy river, indoor water slide as well, but Ruby is not tall enough to use it.
West- Indoor pool only, water slide that both girls could use and is bigger than the east water slide
Southwest- Large outdoor waterpark that has water slides, but also a diving board and an in-pool rock climbing wall.
North- Medium outdoor water park with water slides and here's the best part: every 20 minutes the pool turns into a wave pool.
Downtown- Indoor pool only. Nothing special, but wins for largest tv in the midwest (well, I made that up, but it's really big)
Honestly, if you asked my kids which pool was their favorite, they'd probably just say whichever one they swam in that day. However, here are their rankings.
Maia:
1. Southwest
2. Northwest
3. North
4. West
5. Andover
6. East
7. Downtown
Southwest was her favorite because the water slide was cool and the lazy river was fun. When I asked why she didn't like the downtown Y she said "oh! I love it! but there's no water slide."
Ruby:
1. Andover
2. Downtown
3. East
4. North
5. West
6. Northwest
7. Southwest
Poor Ruby is just about 47 1/2 inches tall and you have to be 48 inches to go down all the water slides. Next summer will be more fun for her. She loved the Andover Y because this year she was finally tall enough to do the lily pads, which are floating pads with a rope net extended above. She didn't like the southwest y because she wasn't tall enough to do the diving board and she wasn't very good at the rock wall.
Aleks:
1. Andover
2. North
3. East
4. Southwest
5. West
(He didn't go to the Downtown or Northwest)
Emily:
1. North
2. Andover
3. East
4. Northwest
5. Southwest
6. Downtown
(I didn't go to the West location)
Maia said once we went to all the indoor and outdoor pools, summer could be over. On Friday we find out the kids' teachers and then Maia starts school next Thursday (the Kindergarteners have a slightly different schedule). We're hoping to squeeze in a few more adventures before the fall schedule kicks into gear.
It's been a great summer. It's going to be a great fall.
There are seven YMCA locations in the the greater Wichita area. Here's a quick breakdown of their offerings:
Andover- Our local Y. Has a large outdoor pool with water slides, lily pads, and a lazy river.
East- Indoor pool only, but has an indoor water slide that both girls are tall enough to use.
Northwest- Large outdoor water park with water slides and a lazy river, indoor water slide as well, but Ruby is not tall enough to use it.
West- Indoor pool only, water slide that both girls could use and is bigger than the east water slide
Southwest- Large outdoor waterpark that has water slides, but also a diving board and an in-pool rock climbing wall.
North- Medium outdoor water park with water slides and here's the best part: every 20 minutes the pool turns into a wave pool.
Downtown- Indoor pool only. Nothing special, but wins for largest tv in the midwest (well, I made that up, but it's really big)
Honestly, if you asked my kids which pool was their favorite, they'd probably just say whichever one they swam in that day. However, here are their rankings.
Maia:
1. Southwest
2. Northwest
3. North
4. West
5. Andover
6. East
7. Downtown
Southwest was her favorite because the water slide was cool and the lazy river was fun. When I asked why she didn't like the downtown Y she said "oh! I love it! but there's no water slide."
Ruby:
1. Andover
2. Downtown
3. East
4. North
5. West
6. Northwest
7. Southwest
Poor Ruby is just about 47 1/2 inches tall and you have to be 48 inches to go down all the water slides. Next summer will be more fun for her. She loved the Andover Y because this year she was finally tall enough to do the lily pads, which are floating pads with a rope net extended above. She didn't like the southwest y because she wasn't tall enough to do the diving board and she wasn't very good at the rock wall.
Aleks:
1. Andover
2. North
3. East
4. Southwest
5. West
(He didn't go to the Downtown or Northwest)
Emily:
1. North
2. Andover
3. East
4. Northwest
5. Southwest
6. Downtown
(I didn't go to the West location)
Maia said once we went to all the indoor and outdoor pools, summer could be over. On Friday we find out the kids' teachers and then Maia starts school next Thursday (the Kindergarteners have a slightly different schedule). We're hoping to squeeze in a few more adventures before the fall schedule kicks into gear.
It's been a great summer. It's going to be a great fall.
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