Happy Birthday Moni!

Happy Birthday Lady! You're the sister I never had (which is probably good since we never had to fight over clothes and boyfriends...) I hope you have a wonderful day!!

Other People's Kids

So one of the hot-topic debates amongst mommies today is how to deal with other people's children. Should you ever yell at a child who is not your own? Criticize? Redirect? There are some who argue that it is NEVER ok to do any of the above to a child who is not your own or under your direct care, and there are some who argue that it's fine.

I thought that I had a very solid idea of where I stood on this.

To me, if another child is in danger, or putting your child in danger (throwing, hitting etc), and their parent isn't speaking up, you are obligated to. Danger was the key word there.

Then I found myself getting involved with strange children who took my children's toys away - our neighborhood park seems to be a mecca for lazy moms who think that they can just drop off their 3 year-olds and sit on a bench NOT EVEN LOOKING while they talk on their cell phones. I mean seriously, what is THAT about?!?

Then I found myself chastising my child's playmates for acting out. In my defense, it was mostly because said child is a follower and I wanted to keep him in line. And it's wicked hard to yell at your kid for doing something when his friends are all doing it and not being yelled at.

But there's something about the holidays...

Apparently not only do the holidays turn people into awful nasty drivers, steamroller mall shoppers, restaurant rudies and grocery store grumps...me?...They turn me into Miss Manners, child behavioral expert.

Please, stifle your giggles that I, the mother of two often-less-than-stellarly-behaved boys, would be dispensing lessons.

Because that's EXACTLY what has happened!

I actually "mommed" a friends child into saying thank you to another mother today. As soon as I realized what I had done, I apologized to the mom (who thankfully didn't turn on me to point out how my son was stealing her daughters toys a few minutes earlier). Then I thought about it and realized I'd been doing it to everyone! I actually told a little girl at the mall who wasn't behaving while her mother was waiting in line at the Gap that Santa was watching her. WTF? I must be out of my mind. I mean, they could be Jewish!

I'm going to hope that it's just a weird holiday twitch that will pass along with 2008.

But in the meantime, if you're up in Valencia at Heritage Park and you see a crazy lady yelling at your kids, do say hello or I might out you for manners infractions too.

Christmas Lights

Oh, and we went to see some Christmas lights...

Hard to believe that people in this sunny clime go THAT crazy over Christmas...

And Yeah, It's Pink...

So things have been pretty uninteresting around here lately, but I was finally able to get away and get my hair done this weekend (It was BAD, like live in a hat BAD). I went to a new hairdresser who has done a friends hair for a long time and loves color and having fun with it. Worked out PERFECTLY since she's almost 75% less than my last hairdresser who apparently had a major auditory processing disorder. It didn't matter what I asked that chick, I'd leave with the same level of conservative mommy-highlights every time. And sometimes you just want something a little different. Like, say, pink highlights...

Yeah, That's Pink Alright.

Ok, I do have to go home for Christmas, so you know I couldn't do my WHOLE head that color. Instead we just did a little piece. There's that whole new trend where you wear a clip-in piece of hair that's a totally crazy color. Which makes me think that today's "Punk" kids are total sissies for not actually dying their hair. Plus I'm wayyy too lazy to clip something like that in (yes, I did even buy one in blue, used it once, wayyy too lazy). The result...I'm working on my self-portraiture - this is actually much darker than it should be (the pink and my hair are both lighter than they appear here). But I kindof like it. And I told her maybe next time we'd go for Blue. Fin wants to come with me...

A Sunrise

I know, I've been gone a few days. But Christmas planning has me tied up, I promise, I'll have something more interesting to say soon!

Twinkle, Twinkle, My Little Star

Last week Fin came home with the words to the song that his class will be performing in the Christmas Pageant in two weeks. It's basically a Christmas version of "Twinkle, Twinkle", which is smart because EVERY kid knows how that one goes. Unfortunately for me, Fin was more than a little irked that they had changed the words on him.

After putting the boys down for a nap, I stood in the kitchen staring at the lyrics weighing my options. I could pretend I'd never seen them and let the teacher teach the song. Or, I could help my kid learn it and be that parent who makes her kid sing it three times a day. Ultimately, I love the sound of my child singing way too much to pass up an opportunity to hear it more often.

It's been a week and Fin's mastered it. Last night I decided he should hold a concert for us. So I popped him up on his stage (our bed) and we found seats in the audience (on the floor) and Fin began. He got through the first verse and stopped.

"Hey, there are NO BABIES ALLOWED at MY SHOW!"

This was very clearly directed at Dash who was on my lap.

"But Fin, Dash would be sad if he missed your show."

Child looks at parents thoughtfully and continues on his song. Then again stops.

"Ok, get ready, this is the END!"

Parents try to control laughter through the last verse.

Then later, while in the tub, Fin looks at me, squints, and says:

"Ok, babies CAN come to my show, but only if they have clean diapers. I don't want any stinky wees or poopies at my show" (turns to Dash) "You hear me Dash, you can't have any poopies at my show so make sure mommy puts clean pants on you."

We can't wait.

Preschool Christmas

After much thought and polling, I decided to do Starbucks gift cards for Fin's Preschool teachers. To make them just a tad more personalized, I bought the photo tumblers and used Digital Scrapbooking supplies to do the fillers - a teacher friend told me that everyone enjoys a picture of their students so here's hoping that's true! In case anyone is interested, here are my favorite finds for digital scrapbooking supplies:

Digi-Free: http://digifree.blogspot.com/

Sweet Blossom Designs: http://sweetblossomdesigns.blogspot.com/

A Work in Progress: http://vicki20.blogspot.com/

Does Size Matter?

As we arrived home from our walk today, I was super excited to find a package waiting for us. I had won an awesome Ebay auction that was a 12 piece lot of new-with-tags Zutano duds for Dash. When I opened the box, the stuff looked big - it was supposed to be 18-24 mo, but most of it was straight up 24 month. And because Dash HATES being dressed, much less "trying things on", I decided to see if they fit Fin. And they did. The WHOLE lot of it.


My three year old can wear all 24 month stuff.


Now before anyone chimes in with a "it must run big", he's also still wearing pants from the Gap and Children's Place that are 24 month. And his friends TOWER over him. People look at me incredulously when he tells them how old he is. I actually had someone ask me last week if he was a preemie. (FYI, no he wasn't, he was born 7lbs and plenty long) And why do people think it's acceptable to say crap like that anyway. Even today some dude told me that his one-year-old was bigger. Is that supposed to be funny? I'm seriously considering redirecting him to tell people he's one.

And before you tell me that he'll have a growth spurt and I should quit worrying (and last time I checked, worrying was in the job description), know that I was once the same height as my classmates. I just stopped growing somewhere around 8. My brother was once taller than most of his classmates too, I think he stopped growing by 10. And in case you needed an exact figure, I'm 4"11...and a half. When Woob and I decided to get married, I joked with him that part of my husband selection process was adding some height to my gene pool. He's tall-ish. And it's not like my parents are particularly short, but there are a fair number of people in my fam that don't achieve 5'5.

Yes, I hope that I'm rereading this in ten years and laughing about how Fin's now a giant manchild, but for now I have to plan for other futures. I was reading a heated online debate recently on growth hormones. I was amazed at how many people felt like taking growth enhancers was messing with mother nature. And more so that the vast majority of those people were a)not short b)not the parents of short children and/or c)not the parents of short boys. And if taking hormones is messing with mother nature, then what about hearing aids? Glasses? Fertility treatments?

And yes, I made a distinction between boys and girls. I know what the suck factors are about being a short girl. Woob even integrated "cute" into our wedding vows just to irritate me (I HATE CUTE!). But, as my mother was always quick to point out, at least I could wear high heels and never have to worry about being taller than my date. For a man? Not so much. And when I worry about my boys being short, it's not like I'm worrying that they won't get to six foot. As a friend put it, I just want them to "blend."

Then there's the argument of "it builds character". To which I recall any other "aid" that might thwart mother nature - I can't imagine telling a deaf person that to restore their hearing would impede their character. Then again, my father's father was short but you never really noticed it - his personality was huge. When he spoke to you, you felt like the only person in the room and he could make you feel like the most beautiful woman on the planet with one complement. He was a great man. Would he have been different if he had been taller? Who knows?

Yes, he's only 3, but if the next three years go by as quickly as the first three, then we, our family and my child, will have some choices to make. Is it wrong to just want to make life as easy as possible for your kids? To want to smooth this one wrinkle (for which I feel more than a little responsible)? What do you think?

For Fin At Three...

My Dearest Fin,

I can't belive I'm already writing you a note for your third birthday. Where has the time gone?

We had a family celebration the night before your birthday. We had Jamie stay with Dash and Daddy and I took you to dinner at Kisho - you loved watching the "Ninja's" cook our dinner and they sang to you too. Afterwards we took you to Fin's Glowzone where they have blacklight miniature golf. When the nice lady manager found out that your name was Fin AND it was your Birthday she even gave you a free t-shirt!

Then today, on your actual birthday, we were supposed to have lunch at Johnny Rockets with all of your friends, but there's a terrible cold going around, so we're going to try again later in the week. Daddy has promised to come home early tonight so we can do something fun as a family. Tomorrow will be your birthday celebration at school and Monika is going to watch Dash so I can volunteer to help. I ordered mini cupcakes from Babe's Bakery and I hope everyone enjoys them!

School has changed our routines a bit. We still walk often with Monika and James, but on Tuesdays and Thursdays you spend your mornings at school! You've done great with the adjustment and you love your teachers. You're a tad of a discipline challenge, but I'd be a total liar if I said I didn't see that one coming. You love learning and you've made some great new friends. I'm very glad we started you when we did. Despite your behavior issues, your teachers say that you are extremely advanced verbally - which I think is code for you never shut up! You're working on writing your letters and recognizing all your numbers 1-20 (you've had 1-10 down for a while now). You're in big boy pants full time now - and you have been for a while - and you're totally accident free. I'm so proud of how well you've handled that transition!

You're incredibly inqusitive and you seem to mature more every day. Yesterday, when your father and I told you we were mad at you for misbehaving, you kept asking us every hour if we were still mad at you. It was almost funny (if you hadn't been so BAD I guess.) You're also working on cutting with scissors and you've become a pro at pedaling a bike. Dash watches you as you learn things every day and you're a wonderful big brother to him. You're extremely patient and loving and we all joke that he thinks that you two are the same age. You still love Star Wars in all it's forms. You have almost every set of the Galactic Heroes people and it's by far your favorite thing of all your toys.

Well, that's all I can think of now my darling. I love you so very much and I am so very proud of the little man you are growing into.

All my love,

Mom