I was doing so well posting at the beginning of the month, and then…
Life.
That’s a good thing, though. This living life.
Eating yummy food. Exercising. Doing lessons. Watching the boys swim. Chasing Lola around. Playing cards with friends.
Speaking of Lola. Heaven help me. She has officially hit the ‘can’t let her out of my sight’ phase. I mean, she always has been there to an extent, but she has taken it to a whole new level lately.
After three crazy, curious, loud, active boys, I was hoping to get a bit of a reprieve this time around. Yeah…no.
She gets into everything in a split second. And she goes for the good stuff. Medicine. Permanent markers. The fish tank.
She loves writing…on furniture. I have not a speck of house not decorated with Lola’s signature. She got the lid off the Benedryl a couple days ago. (I don’t think we ever called poison control on the boys. We have for her—a few times.) I found a pair of scissors and two trains in the boys’ fish tank. The list goes on and on.
She strips her clothes. She opens the deadbolt.
I have the bathroom door, school room door, and our bedroom door locked. There is a gate into the kitchen. The boys have to come ask me to use the bathroom. I’ve run into the bedroom door while in a hurry to put laundry away or some such errand.
And still she gets into mischief.
Combined with a son who cannot seem to do any school work independently and yet is distracted by peeling paint—we have a situation.
No, she doesn’t sit in her highchair. Yes, she climbs out of a playpen.
Anything I give her that is interesting enough to keep her attention also steals the boys’ attention (in fact it is extraordinarily difficult to keep her attention and a very simple thing to distract the boys). And I have to parent/teach them all in the same room.
This is a season. This is a season. This is a season. This is a season. This is a season. (Have I convinced myself yet?)
In other life news, the boys had a swim meet. Russ, Levi, and Luke competed. I realized that it might not be too long before we have five family members competing for the team. (I will content myself with being a swim mom. Someone has to keep track of the heat sheet.) Lola is ready for that time to be NOW. She kept saying “fwim” and moving her arms.
Here is Luke doing the 25 Back (he’s in lane 3, no swim cap):
And here is Levi doing the 50 Breast:
Luke was sick. Then Lola. Then Leif. And now I’m fighting something off. I’d just like to crawl under my electric blanket and stay there for the rest of January.
It has been so cold and gray around here. I feel like I’m living in a gothic novel. I’d like a day above 35 degrees, but least we aren’t shoveling snow.
What’s the weather like where you live?
What’s the view out your window?
How is your January going?
