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.

Stress dreams

Growing up, my nightmares/stress dreams seemed to revolve around school.  They usual involved my showing up at school and not being able to remember my locker combination, forgetting what class was next on my schedule, or having to take a test in a class where I hadn't attended all year.  Of course, there was the random show up to school naked dream, but really it was mostly not remembering something I should have remembered.

When I finished college and moved on to the working world, I would still occasionally have the school stress dream.  However, I also started having spy dreams.  I'm pretty sure this has something to do with watching to much "Alias", but I seemed to do a lot of running from people that were trying to shoot or kill me.  I was a pretty good spy, though, so I usually was fairly indestructible in a Sydney Bristow/Jack Bauer fashion.

When I left my overtime-working accounting job, I went to work substituting at the elementary schools, along with other things.  My stress dreams during this time period usually involved having to substitute for a sixth grade class of hellions, or the dreams had something to do with showing up at my old accounting job to work part-time or just for tax season.  I always knew, waking up from one of these dreams, that I must be stressed about something.

Enter parenthood.  Rarely do I have the locker/school dreams any more.  It's been a long time since I've had a spy dream. I kind of miss those. I don't usually dream about my old jobs anymore, either.  My dreams not revolve around my family.  But not always in a happy way.  They usually have to do with children waking up at 5 am and trashing the house; or extended family members descending upon my house at 6 am looking for food.  Or having a child get lost or drowning in the bathtub.  Apparently these are the things I now stress about subconsciously.

How about you? What are your stress dreams? Do they in any way reflect your true life and stresses?

Every morning is Christmas

We have a tradition in our family, that on Christmas morning all the children come into our room when they wake up.  They wait there until everyone is awake, and then we all go downstairs together to the front room to see what Santa has brought. Apparently this tradition has stuck because our children, when they wake up in the morning, on any day, come immediately into our room and don't seem to want to go downstairs until everyone is awake and ready to go down for breakfast.

We'll have 5 children rolling around on our bed or our floor, asking us over and over again "Can we go down and have breakfast now?" It doesn't matter how often we tell them "You can go downstairs anytime you want.  You don't have to wait for us." They seem to treat it like Christmas, where they can't go downstairs until everyone is ready and Mom and Dad say it's okay.

I have no doubt this is one of those things that when they are older I will miss.  Knowing that my children want to see me first thing when they wake up in the morning and that they want to be together.  It would be nice if they would occasionally wake up on a morning when I finally get to sleep in, and decide "I think I will go downstairs and play quietly by myself rather than waking Mom and Dad up and staying in their room until everyone is here." I have my doubts about whether this will ever happen, and I guess I'll miss it when it finally does.

Early to bed...

Benjamin Franklin has the following quote attributed to him: "Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise". Besides health, wealth, and wisdom, I can think of many reasons why I should go to bed earlier at night. Here are some of them:

I can wake up earlier.
I'm more likely to exercise.
I have time to read my scriptures before the day begins.
It's not as hot when I'm running outside.
I get to see the sunrise as I run.
There aren't as many cars on the road when I'm biking.
I'm up before my children and have a little bit of quiet time.
I feel more rested.
I have more patience with my children and everyone else.
I'm more productive.
My brain functions more clearly.
I have lunches made on time.
I'm not late for morning appointments.
I get my morning chores done.
I don't feel like falling asleep at 4 pm.
I'm happier.

You'd think with a list like that, I'd be completely motivated to go to bed early. And yet, I have a hard time stopping at night in time so that I do go to bed early.  Maybe I need to hang this list up somewhere and review it every night after the kids go to bed, to remind myself to go to bed early. It's kind of like eating healthy. You know you should do it, and you know you feel better when you do it, and yet somehow, it doesn't always usually happen. Maybe I need help from some of you that do go to bed early.  I'm pretty sure someone must go to bed early or at a reasonable time. How do you do it? Set an alarm? Rewards for going to bed early? A more comfortable bed? Any tips?

Overscheduled kids

I always hear stories about how kids are overscheduled these days.  Too many lessons, practices, and other activities and not enough free time to just play, and lots of time spent driving around in the car.  This week I experienced it, and hope to not experience it again.  At least not for a looong time.  As part of a plan to not overschedule my kids during the school year, I let each child choose one activity to sign up for this summer.  My 5 year old chose a city sports camp where they go for 1 hour each day for 4 days and learn a different sport each day (soccer, baseball, basketball, and football).  My girls each chose a dance camp put on by the local theater, that was 2 hours each day for 5 days with a little performance on the last day.

I thought I was being clever by having both girls sign up for the same week.  Even though one would go in the morning and the other in the afternoon, I thought it would be better to have the girls go one week, and my boy go a few weeks later.  Ugggh.  What this really meant was that 4 times a day I was driving to the theater to drop off or pick up.  While hauling 4 other children around with me.  We went at 9:30, 11:30, 12:30 and 2:30.  I hated it and my kids hated it as well.  The first day, my 5 year old started throwing a fit at the last pick up.  "I don't want to go! I hate this!"  I had to agree with him.  After that first day, I decided we weren't going to do "school" for the week or worry about practicing piano.  I wanted them to be able to have time to play. 

I still am glad my girls went to the camp.  They had a blast! And I'm still glad we chose to do one week of dance camp rather than worrying about every week taking them to a practice during the school year (and paying for it every month).  But, wow, I'm recommitted to not overscheduling my kids as they get older.  If nothing else, there's no way I want to spend that much time in the car.  I can think of much more enjoyable and productive uses of my time.

Remember when...

Remember when...

You thought it was difficult to take your one child in a car seat to the grocery store
You could sit and quietly read as you constantly fed your first baby
Your child's pants didn't yet have holes in the knees
The nurses and doctors in the delivery room didn't quite respect your opinions
You worried when your baby got a runny nose
You made sure to keep the entire house quiet when the baby was taking a nap
You could fit other people in your car with your family
Your child watched Baby Einstein videos instead of Superhero Squad
You took 10 minute videos of your child breathing/smiling/giggling
You didn't have a routine
You could stay home all day when your child was sick
You wondered who really bought applesauce or bread or milk in bulk
You made sure your child's hands and face were always clean
When a toy/bottle/pacifier dropped on the ground, you took it home and sterilized it
Your crib didn't have teeth marks on the railings
Your stroller/high chair/exersaucer didn't have any stains/spills on it
You could own a white couch
You could sleep in if the baby had a rough night
Your house was quiet at times
You thought your sister's children were loud
You didn't understand the magical quiet of library day
You had time to iron and owned clothes that needed ironing
You could follow the advice of napping when your baby napped
People didn't even really notice when you walked into a store
You had time to completely fill out a baby book and document everything
You had a cute scrapbook for your baby instead of unprinted pictures on the computer

Remember when you didn't understand that the more children you have, the crazier life gets, but the more love that fills your heart and your house?

This motherhood stuff can be hard work

So, I came to a realization this week that this motherhood stuff can be hard work. Not that it always is, but it certainly can be.  I know. 5 children later and I'm just realizing this?

School got out for the summer this week. Really that means my 7 year old is now home all day with her 4 younger siblings.  Not that much of a change really. I decided I didn't want her to forget everything she's learned in 1st grade (although I'm pretty doubtful that could really happen, especially since she loves to read), so I decided to do "summer school" for all the kids. After quiet time each day (have I mentioned how much I love quiet time?), the kids get out their "journals". My 7 year old's is lined paper where she just has to write 4 sentences or so. The 5 year old draws a picture and tries to write about the picture.  The 4 year old draws a picture and I write what she tells me about it. The 2 year old scribbles all over a blank page and throws the crayons all over the place. I'm giving the 4 month old a reprieve from school. After journals, we do one activity for the day and the 2 older ones then practice their piano.  Monday we did handwriting/practicing letters, Tuesday was a math worksheet for each one, Wednesday we did an art project, Thursday we did a science experiment, and Friday we talked about a "social studies" topic.

We really only spend maybe 30 minutes tops on all of this, but man, it was hard work.  I'm a wimp, I know.  I gained even greater respect for my friends and family who homeschool their children.  I understand that usually they have a pre-set curriculum they follow, and their kids are probably a little bit older, but still.  Hard work.

One of the things I realized as I do this, is that I don't take very much time to be "actively involved" in my childrens' learning.  That doesn't mean I'm not teaching them.  I am.  But I don't think very much about what I want to teach them and how I should teach them.  I think I've been missing out a little bit.  I'm pretty good at letting them just play (which I think is also pretty darn important), and hoping I can get something done, like maybe sweep the floor, while everyone is occupied and getting along.  Managing the chaos can be hard, but it's not a purposefully difficult task.  It can be pretty easy to just let my children manage their own learning or let someone else teach them.  I'm not sure that's really want I want, though.  I've realized I need to spend some time deciding "What things do I want my children to learn and know" and then plan on what I'm going to do to help them learn this. Hard work. But so worth it.