No.

Stop that.

Don't touch. 

Get that out of your mouth. 

It seems like these days I am more of a referee and a fun blocker than anything else.   I have those days where I feel like I have not said or done anything except give my children boundaries, boundaries that they need to be drawn ever so close and hard these days.  

This weekend as we were away from home with my parents, I did get a chance to shift my perspective.   Although these boundaries are important, so is letting your children fly, and telling them that they can.   They need us to set limits and rules, but we also need to give them the confidence to challenge, and dare I say it, break the rules.  

So as they sit in my arms for a entire two seconds, before they are off to jump off the furniture or open the drawers, or throw things off the loft, let me whisper in their little ears, "You can do anything"  "I love you so much it hurts"  "You are so special"  "You have the world by the tail"  

I pray they have the confidence to break the rules....but let them wait until tomorrow....(it is Dad's day to watch them on Wednesdays)

A Day at the Beach

Steve and I took the boys down to a beach on Lake Michigan one lazy Sunday afternoon.   It was sunny and warm.  The water was cool and calm.    The boys had so much fun throwing rocks into the water.    They even enjoyed splashing their little toes in the cold cold waves.   I enjoyed sitting with my hubby on the beach watching the waves, and listening to the giggles of the boys as they played.   

       The best part was people had brought their dogs to play, and the boys got tons of wet doggie kisses.    One man brought his Irish Wolfhound, which even as a young pup stood about 4 foot tall on all fours.  Nathan kept saying "Horse, I see horse"

Job Preferences.

Little sticky hands. 

Little runny noses.  

Hair that won't lay down. 

Goldfish by the pound. 

Dirty floors.

Bikes inside.

Sandbox with no sand. 

Matchbox cars. 

They never ask about these preference's  on the "What job should you have?" questionnaires.

I just ventured up to peek at my sleeping babies....and Adam was fast asleep on the floor next to the door. Nathan was all tucked in his bed.   I heard heaven in each inhale and exhale.   

Say it

Scene:  A play date.

Nathan crying with his hands up. 

Mom:  "Nathan use your words.  Say something."

Nathan (ever so sweetly with a s-h-i-*-*-y grin)  "Something"

Much wiser Mom Friend: "You deserved that"

Mom picks up child in defeat.

Words Worth More Than a Million...

Big Boy Beds and Peeing in the Potty

We converted the cribs to toddler beds.   They crawl up into their little beds as we read stories of moons, rabbits, and various other tales.  As we close the door we hear whispers of little voices, surely exchanging stories of the day.   

Stories of toys lost or broken.  Stories of the amazing feat of peeing in the potty that has been accomplished.   Stories of silly mommy trying to keep the house clean and noses wiped.    

Hold on tight to the bottles and the midnight feedings.  Hold on tight to sleepless nights spent with crabby babies.   Hold on tight to diapers and footed sleepers.  

I am holding on tight, but boy are they squirming. 

  

Girls and Cars (Hot Pink Barbie Cars)

A moment I will treasure forever  was watching Adam driving with his cousin Kaya.   Kaya had been giving Adam a ride in her hot pink Barbie car.    She had  wandered off to better things,  so Adam decided to take a stab at driving.   He did very well for his first time, although steering was an afterthought to how hard he could stomp on the gas peddle.   

So there he was cruising in his pink Barbie car....when the charm came.   He stopped right by Kaya, opened the passenger door, and patted the seat.....She climbed in and Adam smiled his little Adam smile, and off they drove into the sunset....well okay off they went in circles.   

Are you kidding me?   He is already learning to pick up chicks?    I picture him in a red convertible mustang with a blond bombshell beside him   Oh Adam.