How to get a child to morning kindergarten by 8:00.

First, you must be a morning person by nature. Or else your child is doomed to be late at least a few times.

Then you must wake up quite a bit before all the rest of the members of your household, shower, dress, and do whatever it takes to gather all of your wits about you. On the days I skip this step, those are the days I'm running back into the house gathering up the 20 things we forgot.

You wake up your kindergartener who jumps out of bed and starts telling you the story of the dreams he had for the last 10 hours in detail.

Then you wake up your 4 year old who whines incessantly about everything for the next 3 hours because she is not a morning person. She will insist upon being carried down the stairs. With her big blanket. And her little one. And 3 stuffed animals. And oh no! We lost Polly Pocket's shoes- tragedy has struck. So you will now be digging around in a toddler bed in your work clothing working up a sweat before the day has begun.

Provide cups of milk and television refreshment.

Check the clock while you get yourself ready, the dog ready, the house ready, and breakfast ready for the kids and pack a lunch for myself.

7:15: hand your kindergartener breakfast. Put it on a kid's chair so he can eat on the family room floor in comfort and not spill.

7:18: run upstairs to grab clothing for both kids and at least 2 outfit selections for the fickle 4 year old.

7:20: show kids clothing. Give kindergartener breakfast #2 as the dog has eaten breakfast #1. Shove the dog outside and run upstairs to get another outfit as the kindergartener now only wears "skinny jeans and size 6 shirts."

7:22: Try to get the 4 year old dressed in vain. Plug ears to the drama that ensues. Threaten preschooler that she will stay at the house alone if she does not get dressed. Get 4-year-old dressed.

7:24: After third trip upstairs, and 4th trip up and down family rm. stairs, let dog back in, finish getting ready for work. Make sure all weather-appropriate outerwear is by the back door for 3 family member and the backpack is ready to go.

7:35: Tell kids to get coats and shoes on.
7:37: Tell kids to get coats and shoes on.
7:40: Tell kids to get coats and shoes on. Turn tv off. Listen to whining kids.
7:42: Tell kids to get coats and shoes on.

7:42 Blockade the couch so the dog doesn't sleep on and ruin the cushions all day long.

7:45: Tell kindergartener and preschooler to please hush for just a moment so mommy can think and make sure we have everything.Try to remember everything, listen to the kids freaking out about who is first and who gets to press the garage door opener. Sigh and be happy that you all made it out the door.

7:49: Get the kids out of the car. Do a daily check of "How many degrees is it today?" Remind kindergartener 4 times to grab his backpack. Take forever to walk to the school, and across the playground to the line. Listen to both kids complain if it's too hot, wet, stinky, snowy, cold, etc. End up carrying the preschooler half of the time. Smile knowingly at the other moms ushering their kindergarteners into school carrying their whining preschool girls. Another busy morning under your belt. Go to work. Go to bed. Start all over in the morning. Mornings were 10 times more difficult when the kids were babies, but some days it's the incessant banter that makes it feel more like climbing a mountain to get out the door.

Bilingual Dog?

Me: (playing with the dog) "Abby, why are you licking your paw? Is is a worry spot? Are you worried about Jorge being gone. He's coming back, it's okay Abby."

(Sylvie looks concerned) Me: "It's okay Sylvie, I'm just telling Abby that daddy will come back in a happy voice because she doesn't speak english so she doesn't know when I'm telling you how many days til he gets back."

Logan: "Abby speaks spanish?"

The naming of a plush toy

Conversation at the checkout line at IKEA. Both kids were purchasing a stuffed hampster

Logan:"Mine is named Hampster-y"
Sylvie:"Mine is named Hampster"
(2 minutes)
Sylvie:"Hampster-y is a girl."
Logan crying and whining
Me:"Sylvie, do you mean your hampster is a girl? Logan's can still be a boy?"
Sylvie: "I mean, mine isn't named Hampster-y anymore. I am naming him 'Uno.'"
Me: "That's such a fun name Sylvie."
Sylvie: "No, I am changing his name. His name is Yellow-y."
(5 minutes pass, we get in the car)
Me: "Sylvie, maybe your hampster fits inside the new i-carly purse from McDonalds"
Sylvie: "My hampster is a girl and her name is I-Carly. And she does NOT want to be inside my purse."

Update:
Logan:"Sylvie, get I-Carly off of Hampster-y's house."
Sylvie of course does not
Logan: "Grrr! I-Carly! You are in a time- out!"

Parti-Party

Sometimes I forget. I forget that once Parti was pronounced "Par-Tea". Way back when, as in, my pre-kids life. As in, when there was no client and my brain was on fire trying to further my own ideas to the max. Back when I got less sleep than a new mom. Back when I met Jorge and our lives were ablaze with sheer determination, drive, and willingness to redo and redesign towards perfection. Where ink pens were refilled in expensive doses and models were constructed one small piece at a time, and I listened to cd's. On a "portable cd player" with huge headphones. All night long to meet that 8 am deadline.

A Parti or Parti pris ^[1] / from the French Prendre parti meaning " to make a decision " ^[2], often referred to as the big idea ^[3] , is the chief organizing thought or decision behind an Architect's design presented in the form of a basic diagram and / or a simple statement.

In school we did a few projects where we drew the floor plan emphasizing the main axis, the main ideas, the main gestures, with bolder lines. The diagram if you wish. But Parti sounded way cooler.

This week my friend is interviewing off in Seattle. I wish her luck. I saw the website for the firm she is interviewing and it brought back a flood of emotions. About what design was like in the great Pacific Northwest where you work hard to make your imprint on the earth small. . Where you color your house bright so it brings a smile to your face on even the dreariest of days. Reading the website reminded me of design in the school setting. About ideas and concepts, about parti's and perfection. Not that my current firm who does not strive for this, I guess in a way it's the nature of home additions and remodels. We work hard to fit into what is existing. And what is existing is suburban Chicago. And while plumbing fixtures bring their own sense of intrigue and satisfaction, there is no wow factor involved. Not to mention the day to day of correspondence, selections, permits, office politics. You know, the other side of what it takes to get something built.

I know there are a lot of unemployed architects right now. And more that are "settling" for projects and jobs. I guess I'm just not ready to drop the idealism that 7 years of college afforded me. After all, I'm still paying for school, why should that chapter be over? In a way I'm happy I haven't found that ideal job yet, it's a recession, the really amazing projects are only a glimmer in someone's eye. I'm just going to wait patiently until the economy turns for real, and I'll be the first in line ready and eager with my idealistic shoulders held high and my inspiration binder at my side.

A childcare center

A multi-family housing unit in Chicago's bulldozed Washington Park

An elevated train station. Wouldn't you like to start your morning commute with something fun and inspiring to look at?

A kiosk for information for architecture students.

A sculpture with one name "Contact" to be placed in a local body of water.

Small gestures sometimes can be wonderful moments of inspiration.

New Vocabulary words

Sylvie learned a new vocabulary word which she shared with us this evening. "Brain."
Sylvie: "Knock knock."
Logan: "Who's there?"
Sylvie: "Brain."
Logan: "Brain who?"
Sylvie: "Aaah! My brain fell out of my head!"

Logan's new word involves a human body part and starts with a W and ends with an -einer. You can imagine the line of knock knock jokes that had to be stopped once that word got involved. Ah, parenhood, never a dull moment.

Logan's "First" Dinner

Yesterday was one of those days where Logan just could not get enough food to stay satisfied. He wasn't eating too much all morning, just often. And then we got home and I made cornbread. I'm sure the yummy smell and long wait while it cooked aided in the hunger factor just a bit.

He's sitting eating hot dog (no bun) #2 and has already eaten a huge hunk of cornbread and he says:
"Mom, can this be my first dinner?" and I ask "What would you like for your second dinner?" He says "I need to think about it......" and then later he says "Mom! We forgot to eat lunch!" No Logan, you ate lunch, breakfast, 3 snacks, dinner and then a late evening snack- good grief!

Lunchtime Banter

Ever one for attention Sylvie was chattering away about anything and everything.....

"Mom, if our ceiling had a hole in it, we would have air inside. And we could see the sky and the roof. And that would not be good."

"Mom there is this guy, and he's scary and he comes into our room and takes stuff. I had a dream about him and he came into your room and took your things mom!" She's been telling me some version of this story every few hours for days now. Turns out today, when we were in Trader Joe's and they were hanging shamrocks, and discussed St. Patrick's Day, we found the culprit. Apparently at preschool they have a song about a leprechaun and this has morphed into this dreadful little man who comes and moves our things about in her head. Needless to say, we won't be introducing leprechaun shenanigans into our home this year!

Giving Project

This morning we had Amvets scheduled to come pick up some bags of donations. I warned the kids about an upcoming donation project and set them down with a few of the bags of toys that have been hiding in the basement since Christmas. I gave them each one brown bag and let them sort through the toys to decide what to give. I also got them to okay giving away a few larger toys. It was a great experience and they did really well with it.

Nickjr.com

Thank you television for all of the hours of distraction and intrigue you provide my children. Thank you Kai-Lan for allowing Logan to think he is trilingual and speaks fluent Chinese. I hopped on their website for a simple and fun project. Sylvie made a Dora diorama and Logan made one for Kai-Lan. Here is Logan's. It was a lot of fun and required quite a bit of cutting. I was impressed that Sylvie did so well and it motivated Logan (who usually does not want to cut a lot of paper).

Impromptu Tent

Sylvie has a bit of time with just mom on Fridays while Logan is in kindergarten. This past Friday she decided to make a tent and it was the topic of discussion and a welcome distraction for many hours. She decided how to build it, I just provided the manpower and tying skills.

Sylvie's Play Phone Conversation

Overheard by my mom and scribbled on a post-it for posterity:
Sylvie speaking into a play phone (a one-sided pretend conversation)
"Hello?"
"Yes."
"No Way."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"No, No Way."
"I love you Logan. You're the best friend I have."
"What the heck?"
"You got all Princess Toys?"
"Thank you Logan! Thank you!"

So I'm guessing in Sylvie's imagination somehow Logan scored a bunch of girl toys and in his ever present generosity he is giving them all to Sylvie. I like how this girl thinks. Sylvie, dream up some new perfume for mommy will you? Mine is all gone.

Why Not?

Logan has been really into Lego's lately. Like obsessively obsessing over when the next new lego will enter his life. As a mom I'm pretty stern with the word "No" and if I say no, I don't cave in. I've set limits like "Mom doesn't buy toys except from the dollar section at Target. And if you want something you see in the dollar section, awesome. If you don't like anything, you get nothing and let's move on with our day." I have been the mom of the 2,3,4, 5 and 6 year old dragging a screaming child from a store on a bad day wanting something, anything, I had already said no to. And I stick to it.

And yet, this little 6 year old has been on my case to get a lego. A new one. So I bought one. But I'm not his only target, he's been obsessing to everyone about the legos. So instead of just punishing this sensitive cheeky monkey, I'm attempting re-direction. Right now we're in the heart of Lent and heading towards Easter. It's not too far for a child to comprehend, so we're working on some Lenten projects to take his mind off the next lego and onto our new thing... "Giving Projects." I'm not even sure what we'll do but I know it'll be a good bonding time for all of us if we follow through.

Wish me luck!

Self Portrait

Sylvie has been drawing a slew of these types of images. She says they are "Me as a jellyfish" and "Ariel as a jellyfish." We got a new book called 'Mermaid Sister' and the concept of a mermaid sister who likes jellyfish has sunk in apparently.

Independants

Conversation overheard while driving....

"Maybe we could go to Disney again..."
"And when we go to Disney, can we ride the Pirates ride?"
"Yeah! Will you go with me?"
"Yeah, maybe we can go just you and me."
"All by ourselves?"
"Sure, I'm a big boy!"

The other day when Tio came walking in .....
Logan: "Hey Tio, Long time no see!"

The other day getting into the car
Sylvie: "This sure is a friggin' cold winter."
Hehehe. That took a bit of explaining that just because mommy says it every time we go out in the cold doesn't mean she should repeat what I say. Still darn funny. Not to mention true.

Overheard while I was unloading groceries:

Logan: "Sylvie, when you are bigger and you are Tiana (Frog Princess) when you grow up, then we can have our real wedding with flowers and music and a church." Sylvie: "For real?" Logan: "Yeah."

And did I mention Jorge is on his bazillionth trip to Vegas as Snowstorm #2 is about to drop 10 inches on us during the work week. Again!?! He's a better predictor of bad weather than the groundhog!

First Book "Read"

My mom ordered some sight word books from Scholastic books. There are 2 sight words and you "read" a simple story. That kind of worked for attempt #1. But after that Logan decided to memorize the book and read it back to us over and over.

One side of me wants to correct him because he's doing it wrong and he's supposed to at least attempt to match up words on the page with words he says. But oh what the heck. Whatever, he's interested in reading and has now sat and "read" me his first memorized book. That's a huge accomplishment in itself. Yeah for Logan!

And Yeah for Sylvie because darn if she didn't take her turn next and read the entire darn book just as well as Logan with appropriate page turns and everything. Cheeky Monkey:)

I love these kids. At whatever pace they run, they keep moving forward and surprising me at every turn.

Sweet Nothings.....

Logan: "Sylvie, how much do you love me?"

Sylvie: "I love you to Disney World and to the moon and back to our house."

Sunday Morning Architecture

Logan was Mr. Inspired this morning and we all made a mess of the kitchen creating architecture. Logan decided we have 3 architects because Sylvie scribbles and architects don't scribble. Then Sylvie surprised him by drawing real window shapes on her creation and Logan officially inducted her into the family of architects. First he made a "Blueprint" where he drew an elevation of what he wanted to build. Then he cut up the Blueprint and made a "Model" (the one with the frog in it). Then he built the real thing. What a smart little boy! Sylvie wanted a house for Snow White so I folded and she windowed and we made a little home.

Addition, Not Subtraction

Logan has been into the idea of math. So I have been writing equations for him most mornings, he gets all excited. I think he understands the concept as well. I'm pretty into taking things a step further and trying something new, and I always have to remember to ask him first. This is the boy who took a whole year writing his name with the lightest pencil weight barely visible until he felt like he had mastered his name, and then we could move onto new letters and words.

So anyway, after I wrote an addition equation for him, he handed me the paper and asked me to write another. I wrote a subtraction equation for him and he was very upset. First he thought I messed up, which is really good that he knew I had written the wrong answer! Then I showed him with my fingers about subtraction, and he totally understood what I was saying and kind of gulped and sulked and thought on it.

Then I got a nice lecture on how this was unacceptable and all equations should be addition today. So I erased the answer, made the subtraction symbol an addition symbol and revised the result. What a kid. He's got his own way of thinking, doing and understanding. I can't wait to see how he does through school.

And speaking of school he's doing well! He's starting to get his sight words and patterning under his belt and doing well with capital letters. He needs a bit of extra help with lower case letters and recognizing some of the larger numbers in written form. His social and motor skills are all excellent:)

Logan's Soul

is so sweet. And my mom and I were discussing that I needed to write this down for posterity. Right now, at age 6, the absolute worst thing that can happen in Logan's world is for his sister to cry and be really upset. 90% of the time he ends up giving her something she has coveted all day and then goes off to corner to mourn whatever he gave away.

This little boy has to be living a second life, his soul is so sweet and he feels like he has the wisdom of 1000 years. Such a sweet, sweet boy.

Grocery Lists

Mom's Grocery List
milk
butter
sugar
cereal
oatmeal
(+50 additional foods)

Logan's Grocery List
(that he asked me to make)
uvas/grapes
bananas
apples
(What can I say, the boy is a health nut at times!)

Sylvie's Grocery List
(that she asked me to make)
chocolate chips
cookies

Oh wait. Logan just came over and asked me to add something to his list.
"Something from the Dollar Store."
Gotta love it. Logan may eat healthy but he is my toy-aholic. Sylvie may eat junk, but she does not ask for toys as often. No, when she wants toys, she throws herself to the floor and screams like a banshee.