Responsibilities for the Girls

We have been having trouble lately with the kids sort of slacking on their chores. Truth be told, we have been slacking on the enforcing of responsibilities. We just have so much fun playing and going on adventures that we got lazy. All of us. I tried going back to the way it was before the slacking, but that was a hard sell. To all of us. I decided I needed to shake things up a bit so I devised a plan. I went to Target and bought each girl a 16" by 16" colorful, magnetic, dry erase board. Then I went to the craft store and bought cardboard scrap booking decorations from the dollar bin and some magnets. I attached the magnets to the decorations to make pretty magnets. I then broke down the day into three parts; before school, after school, and after dinner. Each girl has different things to do listed in each part of her day. For Maya and Allie who don't read yet, there are pictures to describe the chores mixed in with the words. After each chore is completed, they get to use a dry erase marker and check off the chore for the day. This is something they love to do, so it works well. It looks like a lot of things, but they are things like, put your lunch box in your backpack and carry your backpack to the car. At the end of the day if everything is checked off, they earn a magnet. After they earn 10 magnets, they get to have special time doing the activity of their choice with the grown up of their choice. Nana is the chosen one so far. This method has worked so well, I wish I had thought of it sooner. It really helps with the cleaning of the playroom, too. I gave each girl a few specific jobs in there, so now once her specific job is done, even if the room is still messy because the others have not done their jobs, that girl can walk away and know she has done her part. Lilly is a lot happier, too because she doesn't end up doing the whole thing anymore when her sisters are slacking. All I have to say to them is, "your job is ________ " and they get right to it. I wish I had thought of it sooner.

The Ocean Has Sparkles

Oh happy, joyous, sunny day! Finally! It is fifty degrees here today! It has been so cold for so long, that fifty feels like summer. We played outside for two hours without coats. It is the best day. The sun actually feels hot, and there are no clouds in the sky. We were driving Allie to school and Maya looked out the window and said, "Momma, the ocean has sparkles today" it really did, too. the sun was so strong that the water actually sparkled. It has been a long winter.

Misinterpreted

We always tell the girls when they are doing something dangerous, like standing on the arm of the couch poised to jump off, that they have to be careful or they will "crack their heads open". I don't really know when or why that started, but it is what we say. Now Lilly and Allie will say that to each other and to Maya. Maya also says it, but sometimes gets it a little wrong. Today she told me, "my baby has to be careful or she be a crack head" I struggled to keep it together. I mean really, a crack head? I needed that laugh.

Maya's Love for Dogs

This girl loves dogs. She walks around all day hugging them, lying down with them, playing with them, and sneaking them treats. Sully actually lets Maya use her as a pillow when she watches television on the floor. This is why I wanted dogs. Dogs are amazing to be around. They get us to exercise and bring us lots of laughter. I wish there was something I could give them to prevent the insane amounts of hair that they leave behind. Seriously, I could build a whole new dog with just the hair they shed. It is totally worth it, though. I just wonder if I could invent a car that runs on dog hair...then I would be rich!

All My Loves

All of my truly crazy, bizarre, unendingly entertaining loves.

Again.

At least they are happy about it. Spring cannot come soon enough!

Testing Our Patience

My dear sweet Lilly, why is losing a tooth such a hard thing for you?

We have been trying to get this tooth out for weeks. Seriously. Weeks. Wiggling is not allowed, pulling is not even an option. Trying to get in that mouth is next to impossible. It might as well be a bank vault for all the access we are allowed. For some reason, teeth do not leave her head. Tonight, we decided that since the other tooth had grown in completely behind the loose one, it had to come out. The new big tooth wasn't able to be brushed properly, and was getting crowded out, and really, I don't want to even think about braces, so...
It lasted about an hour. Wiggling, crying, not letting us wiggle, letting us wiggle but just a little, the dental floss trick which she changed her mind about at the last minute, and then a moment of brilliance from Will. Lilly is so afraid that something might hurt, that her rational self checks out and she becomes completely, totally, irrational and unreasonable. We have to talk her through it and push her a little farther than she likes to go, but it becomes necessary. Will decided to just tell her that he was going to use the flosser (the plastic thing with the floss attached) to "clean" around the edges. This tooth was so loose that we could actually see the bottom of the tooth where the hole is. He was able to just put the edge of the flosser under it and push it up and out. He caught it and palmed it. She didn't even know it came out. He told her to push her tooth one more time with her tongue and then we would be done. She pushed on the spot where the tooth had been (the place where there was only the big tooth now) and said that she didn't feel it, just as Will dropped the tooth into the bowl she was holding under her chin. She immediately stopped freaking out, and was amazed that that's all there is to getting a tooth out. Thank You to my dear, sweet, genius of husband who with some trickery and sweetness got us through Lilly's second loose tooth. She is all tucked in bed and waiting for the Tooth Fairy to bring her a surprise.