"When I grow up, I don't want to be a mom"

"When I grow up, I don't want to be a mom". My 7 year old has said this to me several times.  It always makes me a little sad.  I figured I wasn't letting her know how much I love being a mom.  Maybe I complain too much about the not so fun parts of being a mom, like changing diapers and dealing with whining children.  I think I'm extra sensitive to the comment also because when I was growing up, if you asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I would say "A mom".  The mom guilt was setting in every time my daughter made this comment.

Well, last night at dinner I finally discovered the source for the comment.  I was asking my children what they wanted to do for a job when they grew up. These answers are constantly varying from Lego designer to rockstar dressmaker.  Here was my 7 year old's response.

7 yr old: "I don't want to be a mom when I grow up."

Me: "Why not? I love being a mom.  It's the best thing ever."

7 yr old: "Does every mom have to do taxes? I don't want to do taxes."

I can now breathe a sigh of relief.  Apparently it's not that she doesn't want to be a Mom when she grows up.  She doesn't want to be a CPA and do taxes for clients like her mom does.  She thought that because her mom works from home and does taxes, that every mom has to do that.  That's it's just part of being a mom.  After much laughter, we explained to her that no, not every mom does taxes.  She can be a mom and still do something else.  I love getting rid of mommy guilt.

Counting kids

I find myself constantly counting kids these days.  And it's not just to make sure all of them are there.  Really, it's more to make sure the correct number of kids are there at the right time.

Going to church: 5 kids all here?
Picking up from kindergarten: 5 kids - 1 still in school + 2 extra ones to take home = 4 kids
Taking to preschool: 5 kids - 2 at school = 3 kids
Picking up from preschool: 5 kids - 2 at school - 1 at preschool = 2 kids
Coming home from mommy mingle at the park: 5 kids - 1 at school = 4 kids

It's no wonder I get confused sometimes. During the summer, it's easy to always do a roll call in the car and have 5. We do almost everything together.  School has started, and I'm pretty sure it's only a matter of time before I forget a child. Or two.  I used to think counting kids was just a sign that maybe you should have another child (which is a post for another day). Now I realize it's a matter of making sure you have the right kids.

Caught in a lie

We've been a having a little honesty problem around our house lately.  Nothing big.  Just little white lies.
"Go brush your teeth."
"I did."
I feel the toothbrush, and it's completely dry.  No teeth have been brushed.
Well, the other day, we have actual video/camera evidence of a lie. It was a little embarrassing for the kids.
I was out running/going to the grocery store early on a Saturday morning.  Dad slept in a little, which means the kids were left to their own devices. When I came home, the 7 and 5 year old promptly tell me that the 4 year old has been eating candy.
"She stole some candy!"
"What?"
"She stole some candy and was eating it downstairs!"
"What candy?"
"Dad's candy bars. [For his lunches]. She had a Crunch bar. And a 100 Grand."
"Where are the wrappers?"
"They're downstairs."
Meanwhile, the 4 year old is protesting, "I did not! They ate some too!"
While the 5 and 7 year old are strongly denying eating any.
It sounds so neat when you write it down like that, but really, it involves 3 children yelling, accusing, and denying simultaneously.  I wish I could have taped the chaos to truly describe it. They bring up wrappers for 2 Crunch bars, a half eaten Crunch bar, a partially eaten 100 Grand, an open bag of peanut M&Ms and a bag of chocolate covered caramels. Needless to say, the treats have now been hidden and the 4 year old doesn't get any treats for the rest of the week.

Later that day, we found the camera hidden under the bed in our room.  The 7 year old just recently learned that she can take pictures and video by herself. Here's what we found in reviewing the tape:

By the way, this is the 5 year old, not the 4 year old.  One who vehemently denied eating any of the candy and blamed it on his 4 year old sister.  Obviously, the thought that Mom and Dad may actually look at the pictures never entered his mind.  It's actually a great shot taken by the 7 year old.

And there's more. Like I said, the 7 year old also learned how to take videos on the camera. Kind of.

Needless to say, I don't think there will be so much playing with the camera.  Certainly not when kids are doing something they shouldn't. As for the lying, I'm not sure this will stop that.

Repetitive phrases

There are certain repetitive phrases from my childhood that I still hear in my head. To this day, if I'm running around in my socks, I'll hear in my head "Either put your shoes on, or take your socks off". When my children ask "What's for dinner?" I respond as my mom did by saying "Pickled pigs feet and sauerkraut." There are other phrases I repeat to my children, that I wonder if 40 years down the road, they'll still hear in their heads. Phrases like the following:

"Shoes and coats!" "Hair and teeth!" "Wipe, flush, wash your hands."

Or these:

To my 7 year old: "Coat, shoes, backpack away." "Feet down." "Stop shoveling your food."

To my 5 year old: "Sit on your bum. No perching." "Don't throw a fit. Just ask for help."

To my 4 year old: "Just be patient." "Do you have any underwear on?" [Really. I say this one quite a lot.]

To my 2 year old: "Don't throw [insert an object here]." "Where are your pants?"

To my baby: "Read a book, sing a song, take a nap." "Double duty diaper duty!" [This is when I'm changing two kids at once. Which happens frequently."

Most importantly, though, I hope that 40 years down the road they still hear in their heads "I love you!"

The smiles make it all worthwhile

I love it when my babies finally start smiling and laughing.  It makes it all worthwhile.  I feel like I must be doing something right, because my child is happy.  Here's a little something to share that makes me happy.

How can you not smile at such a thing? This is one of those things I'll return to periodically and watch just when I want to smile.

Sleep-peeing

My almost 5 year old son is completely potty-trained except at night.  He's such a sound sleeper that he'll wake up in the morning with a completely soaked bed that he has slept on that way for half the night. My husband and I have started waking him up about 10:30pm and having him use the toilet then having him go back to sleep.  I say "my husband and I", but really my husband does it.  And when I say "waking him up", really it means carrying him to the dark bathroom, helping him do his business, and carrying him right back to his bed.  I'm pretty sure he's not really awake, especially because usually he has no idea the next morning that he did this.

Last night I took a turn taking my son to the bathroom.  I carried him into the dark bathroom, stood him next to the toilet, and helped him get his pants down. But apparently peeing in your sleep does not equate to aiming in your sleep.  Needless to say, there was some cleanup required after I had carried him back to his bed. Perhaps I should continue to leave this job up to his dad.

Kid Musings #1

My children are fascinated by this sign on the wall outside the library elevator.

Not being able to read themselves, they always ask me to read the sign for them.  Their next question: "If there's a fire on the stairs, why do you want to use the stairs instead of the elevator?"
Good question.

Easily amused

My children are easily amused.  I wish you could better hear the sound in this video.  Did you know that if you attempt to inflate your belly button with a bike pump it makes a fart sound? How do they think of these things?

 I love this link http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2011/01/the-5-best-toys-of-all-time/ that really explains how easily children are entertained. Once again, who needs video games or TV?

Words of the week

The current words of the week in my home are "naked bum" and "chicken hawk".  Use these words around my children and you will invoke instant laughter.  If you can use these words in the same sentence, you will really be their hero.  Who needs video games for entertainment?

Time to change the diaper?

Oops. Perhaps I should have changed the diaper a little earlier.

Nap math

This post is to go right along with my sleep deprivation math post.  I decided that one night of bad sleep equals 2 nights of good sleep to make up for it.  I'm wondering why 15 minutes of napping equals a bedtime that occurs one hour later.  You would think if my older toddlers took a 15 minute nap, perhaps they would go to sleep 15 minutes later, but that never seems to happen.  Their energy seems to grow exponentially.  What I'm really wondering, though, is why 15 minutes of napping for me doesn't seem to equal an hour more of energy at bedtime.  Anyone want to figure the math for me there?

Norrises on parade

My family outings have turned into parades.  Apparently with 4 kids, you instantly become the subject of comments like "Are they all yours?" "How old are all of them?" "Where do you think they got that red hair?"

I wish I could capture in photo what it looks like as we walk from our car to the grocery store, across the parking lot.  Unfortunately, my hands are too full to do so.  I'll try to describe it for you. The baby's not big enough to even sit up, so he still has to be carried in his car seat.  So, I have to lug the car seat into the store to get a cart.  The 2 year old is a little too wild to wander through the parking lot by herself, so her 5 year old sister and 3 year old brother have been assigned the job to hold her hands and keep her safe.  So, the parade begins through the parking lot with the 5 year old in front, leading the 2 year old by the hand, followed by the 3 year old holding her other hand, Sometimes they want to hold my hand as well, so that we have a parade of 5 going through the parking lot.  It almost looks more like a game of Red Rover. 

Who needs to go to crowded, hot parades during the summer when you can just watch the Norris family wander through parking lots.

Forgetfulness

I always thought being pregnant made you forgetful.  I think having 4 children has the same effect, even if you're not pregnant.  I can't even really blame it on sleep deprivation, as my baby sleeps from 8:15 pm until 5:30-6:30am. 

Someone looked at my baby the other day and asked me "What's your little boy's name?" My automatic reaction was "David".  Then I thought a second and said, "Wait. No it's not.  His name's John".  Besides not being used to telling people my baby's name, he's my "baby", not my "little boy".  My "little boy" is 3 years old.

I also now find myself counting children when I'm out and about.  I'm pretty sure it's just a matter of time before I leave one of them somewhere.  We've started having a roll call when we get in the car, to make sure they're all there.

So, if you ask me a question sometime and I just give you a blank stare, know that I've just forgotten whatever the answer is, or even that you just asked me a question.  Catch up with me in another 20 years or so, and I may start remembering things then.

Emergency plan = sleepovers?

We were having a family home evening lesson this week about emergency preparedness.  We talked to the kids about being prepared for emergencies what to do in case of a fire, earthquake, tornado, etc.  We made sure they knew they could find a police officer if they were lost and practiced telling their name, phone number, parents name, and street address.  We asked them what we could do if there was a problem at our home, where we could go nearby that was safe, and they suggested we go to our friends' house that is just behind ours.  Our 5 year old then said rather excitedly, "If you and Dad both died, we could go over to their house and have lots of sleepovers!"

Um, yeah.  I guess we succeeded in not making our lesson too scary.  Hopefully we prepared them a little bit still. 

Envy

The following conversation occurred between my 3 yr old son and me while I was changing his new baby brother's diaper:

3 yr old: "What's that under his privates?"
Me: "You have that too."
3 yr old: "His is bigger than mine."

I had no real response to that. Oh, the joy of little boys.

Rowdy stuffed animals

The stuffed animals are getting kind of rowdy tonight.  I had to go in and tell my 4 yr old at 9 pm that it was 5 minutes until lights out. (She's been in bed since before 8 pm).  She said the animals were laughing and bouncing all over the place.  Apparently they're the ones being loud tonight and not her, so I had to tell them it was bedtime as well.

I love having an imaginative child.  I love that each of her stuffed animals has a name, and we all know them - Ariel, Punch, Jello, Tutu, Goofy, Donald, etc.  I love hearing her carry on full conversations with them, with each of them speaking in a different voice.  And I love that her little brother can be sound asleep in the bunk bed below her while this is going on (with his one stuffed animal - a dog named "Puppy").  Here's hoping she never stifles that creative side and finds a great outlet for it as she gets older!

Foreign languages

Here's a conversation I had with my 4 year old tonight:
"How do you say hello in Spanish?"
"Hola."
"How do you say hello in Tongan?"
"Malo e lelei."
"How do you say it in French?"
"Bonjour."
"How do you say it in English?"
"Hello."
"How do you say it in Texas?"
"Howdy." (I was unaware they spoke a foreign language in Texas. Now I know.)