Musings of a Mom

Jack and Jill are school age and I tend to spend a lot of time volunteering at their school. Last year I volunteered even more than my usual and found that by the time March rolled around I was already looking forward to the start of summer and some “down time.” For some crazy reason I was having delusions of the kids playing happily together and the whole family enjoying the summer break. Hubby thought I had lost my mind but I assured him that all was well.

Then the last day of school arrived.

Being a wise mother, back in the spring I had registered the kids for swim lessons and other activities which, of course, started on the last day of school and ran daily for three weeks. The kids had a great time while I taxied them from one place to the next trying to be on time and make sure they were fed and nothing was forgotten. I wasn’t always successful but it all worked out. Thank goodness I have a habit of keeping towels in the car.

In addition to the kids’ activities, I had agreed to start and oversee a new program at their school so I was very busy trying to take care of a vast amount of details. Luckily some of the people I needed to work with had swim team practice at the same pool as our lessons. A little multi-tasking never hurts, right?

Once July started we were home quite a bit yet somehow we were still busy. While I worked and tried to relax, the kids found their new favorite pastime. Bickering.  Constantly. They would play together and after a short period they would start to argue. Sometimes they disagreed over the fact that they had agreed on something. Other times they would be in separate rooms yet still find a way to argue. My tolerance level was diminishing. I told myself, “we have only a few more weeks of summer left. Enjoy them.”

August came and I had to start putting more time in on the new program before the beginning of the new school year. The fact that I was a bit busier seemed to tell the kids, “Fight. Fight more often and much louder. Make it count.” I started counting down the days until school started. Hubby just sighed knowing that he’d predicted this scenario but he’s much too smart to say, “I told you so.”

Now school has started and the kids are back to getting along fairly well. I should say that they get along, they just won’t admit it. I’m really busy with work and volunteer duties and I’m looking forward to the next holiday break.

Hubby thinks I’m nuts.

When I was a kid my family used to go camping a lot. Many times they were spur-of-the-moment trips with things left behind (like the tent pole, some of the sleeping bags and various other items.) As time went by sleeping in tents evolved into sleeping in a trailer and now my parents opt to rough it by renting cabins.

Early on in our relationship my husband informed me that when he is on vacation he does not want to work, therefore we would stay in hotels versus camping because camping is work. I was quick to jump on board with that way of thinking. Ironically, many a vacation has been spent working on our house.

Last week my parents informed us that they were going camping and were taking Jill with them (they take her every year) and asked if Jack and Hubby and I would like to join them for the weekend. Hubby and I decided we would do this for the kids and so we packed up the van and off we went.

The campsite is a three-hour drive from our home and so every few minutes Jack asked, “Are we there yet?” or “When will we be there?” Jack still doesn’t have a good understanding of time so we had to explain in terms he could grasp, “We’ll be there in 12 Sponge Bobs.” “Six more Sponge Bobs to go!” We had plenty of things available to entertain him but he was anxious to get there. He was excited about fishing with grandpa for the first time.

As we approached the campgrounds, Jack started yelling, “Look at the nature! It’s nature!  Look!” On one side of the road was a lake and on the other side was a water treatment plant. Of course, while Jack was yelling about nature, he was looking at the trees surrounding the water treatment plant. When we explained that we were in the forest, he just said, “Really?” 

Jack was so excited about being in nature that the first thing he wanted to do was go swim in the pool. Yes, this campground has a pool so that you don’t swim in the lake, at least that’s my theory. He did eventually go in a row boat on the lake and then came back and threw up. He never did go fishing. He did, however, spend some time collecting rocks in the “hall” behind our cabin. 

The kids had a great time and want to go back. If Jack was that excited over this version of camping imagine what he’d be like sleeping in a tent in the middle of nowhere!

This is an exciting and hectic week. We’ve just launched our website and blog, sent the next newsletter off to the printers and my family is sick. Yes, in this very busy week both of my kids and my husband are ill. Luckily my husband is not a big baby when he’s sick - that role is mine. But my children are needy; well, more so than usual, and I am trying to avoid catching whatever it is they have. 

My husband is not a “germophobe” BUT he has trained our daughter well. Our son is another story. My husband has trained our daughter to take precautions such as avoiding touching door handles in public (they are experts at opening doors with their feet) and using a paper towel to open the door in a public bathroom (she’s a bit stumped when there’s only an air hand dryer available though). So my daughter has done well to avoid touching things around the house and gets mad when her little brother is sick and gets too close to her, but again, he’s another story.

My son does not care if he will get sick. He’s mad when he comes down with something but he doesn’t care enough to take precautions. He happily wanders through the store and touches door handles, drags his hand along the same wall that a thousand other kids have touched and continues to use his sleeve to wipe his nose.

A few months ago, my husband and I took the kids on a trip to Legoland and the San Diego Zoo. While it was a family vacation, we were also celebrating my son’s birthday.  He loves pandas so we knew we would be devoting some time at the panda exhibit. The day we went happened to be a slow day at the zoo so we were able to see the pandas twice without dealing with long lines. 

During our second visit, the pandas were eating and active so the line was a moving slowly. I was actually quite proud of my kids as they patiently waited to see the pandas.  Patience is especially important at this exhibit because noise disturbs pandas and apparently throws off their mating possibilities which only happen like once or twice a year. So you MUST be quiet around them. There are many signs posted to remind you to sshhhh.

We waited for our turn and just as we reached a prime area to get pictures of the kids with the pandas in the background my daughter starts shrieking, “EW! STOP! THAT’S GROSS! MAKE HIM STOP!” My first thought, of course, is the panda’s but they act as if nothing is happening. So the next place to look is naturally…my son. He is absentmindedly dragging his tongue along the handrail that thousands of dirty, germ-covered hands have touched. My dear, sweet son has tried to take in the panda experience the best way he can, by leaving the rest of us with a disturbing image seared into our brains. 

Amazingly, my son didn’t get sick after that although we watched him for weeks afterwards for signs of the plague or bubonic fever. The rest of us, however, still get queasy just thinking about it.