I have found a sure-fire bad combination for me, yet am unsure of which to get rid of.
Frustration on the Tennis Court + Watching "The Wire" (questionable language)= Jenn mouthing inappropriate phrases that Ryan can decipher all the way across court.
Friday, August 26, 2011
10 years and counting
My sister Bethany is 10 years younger than me, and was married a week after my 10 year wedding anniversary.
It seemed oddly fitting that our 10 year wedding celebration was a 20 hour (one way) trip to Virginia with the products of our 10 year union, followed by 6 nights in 6 different beds with again the increased number of 6 Swapp's in the same room, followed by a 20 hour return trip to Minnesota. How different from our honeymoon 10 years ago. Our wedding suites had more space, luxury and rest to share between us than the space we divided between our kids, taking what was left-over for ourselves. On our honeymoon, we only had to mediate between how much time we spent reading, eating, and enjoying the beach, all pleasurable options. This trip was fraught with intense negotiations about how many times one could reasonably watch I Love Toy Trains without yelling, and how we could approach a non-violent response to the unnamed person who killed the batteries on the Leapster 2 right after we had stopped at the gas station, ensuring there would be no more Leapster 2 until the next stop 5 hours in the next state. (Just so as to not appear cruel, we brought Max's old potty chair in case someone needed to go:).
Nevertheless, the company was bar none. Ironically, we spent two of the nights with two separate friends we had known since before we were married. They both now have a plethora of children themselves, and the kids were in hog heaven (as my dad would say). Madeline and Ella had their first sleep-over with friends their own age. Max shared a tricycle with a flaxen-haired beauty(the beauty part must account for something, because with his brother it's apparent he is not developmentally ready for sharing). We went swimming and jumped on the trampoline, played with kittens and watched the kids run. We ate Indian food and Pizza and stayed up until all hours of the nights, talking about things we talked about many years ago, as well as some things that we had learned about in the past 10 years. Our kids were interchangeable, they belonged to the collective group of four, and we all took care of them. Despite the drop in luxury, the increase in the amount of work, the lack of personal space or time, we had so much fun together.
Some might say that it was in part due to some added flexibility I've developed. I spent hours planning food and entertainment for the 40+ hours in the car. Initially I tried to figure out how I could incorporate spinach and onions into our diet, and how to make the car ride a substitute for school education. I thought of quizzes and educational books on CD. I thought of boiled eggs and whole wheat bread for breakfast. But instead, I bought a Leapster 2, I checked out 25 pure entertainment videos from the library (with 4 historical fiction), and (and here you must use your imagination), I bought chocolate covered donuts for breakfast, and sugar cereal for snacks. I was able to overcome fears instilled in me as a child that sugar makes kids jump through through the roof, and take a chance that we might survive a trip with movie watching as the primary use of time.
Yes, my sisters will all admit this is a change in behavior, a far cry from the threats they made when I was married about how deprived my children would be of toys for the sake of something other than education. So, there we see, 10 ten years has brought good changes!!! And for entertainments sake, Ryan and I spent several hours of the long trip talking about the ways we would love to celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary. We talked about a tennis and spa vacation, we talked about an Eastern European trip back to Croatia, Slovenia and Hungary (the one place we really wish we had gone when we lived there in 2003). We never managed to get to far into the planning with reality setting in, but I have wonderful pictures in my mind. This trip, probably more than any luxurious trip we might have taken, made me realize how much fun we've had together over the past 10 years, and how much we have created together.
It seemed oddly fitting that our 10 year wedding celebration was a 20 hour (one way) trip to Virginia with the products of our 10 year union, followed by 6 nights in 6 different beds with again the increased number of 6 Swapp's in the same room, followed by a 20 hour return trip to Minnesota. How different from our honeymoon 10 years ago. Our wedding suites had more space, luxury and rest to share between us than the space we divided between our kids, taking what was left-over for ourselves. On our honeymoon, we only had to mediate between how much time we spent reading, eating, and enjoying the beach, all pleasurable options. This trip was fraught with intense negotiations about how many times one could reasonably watch I Love Toy Trains without yelling, and how we could approach a non-violent response to the unnamed person who killed the batteries on the Leapster 2 right after we had stopped at the gas station, ensuring there would be no more Leapster 2 until the next stop 5 hours in the next state. (Just so as to not appear cruel, we brought Max's old potty chair in case someone needed to go:).
Nevertheless, the company was bar none. Ironically, we spent two of the nights with two separate friends we had known since before we were married. They both now have a plethora of children themselves, and the kids were in hog heaven (as my dad would say). Madeline and Ella had their first sleep-over with friends their own age. Max shared a tricycle with a flaxen-haired beauty(the beauty part must account for something, because with his brother it's apparent he is not developmentally ready for sharing). We went swimming and jumped on the trampoline, played with kittens and watched the kids run. We ate Indian food and Pizza and stayed up until all hours of the nights, talking about things we talked about many years ago, as well as some things that we had learned about in the past 10 years. Our kids were interchangeable, they belonged to the collective group of four, and we all took care of them. Despite the drop in luxury, the increase in the amount of work, the lack of personal space or time, we had so much fun together.
Some might say that it was in part due to some added flexibility I've developed. I spent hours planning food and entertainment for the 40+ hours in the car. Initially I tried to figure out how I could incorporate spinach and onions into our diet, and how to make the car ride a substitute for school education. I thought of quizzes and educational books on CD. I thought of boiled eggs and whole wheat bread for breakfast. But instead, I bought a Leapster 2, I checked out 25 pure entertainment videos from the library (with 4 historical fiction), and (and here you must use your imagination), I bought chocolate covered donuts for breakfast, and sugar cereal for snacks. I was able to overcome fears instilled in me as a child that sugar makes kids jump through through the roof, and take a chance that we might survive a trip with movie watching as the primary use of time.
Yes, my sisters will all admit this is a change in behavior, a far cry from the threats they made when I was married about how deprived my children would be of toys for the sake of something other than education. So, there we see, 10 ten years has brought good changes!!! And for entertainments sake, Ryan and I spent several hours of the long trip talking about the ways we would love to celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary. We talked about a tennis and spa vacation, we talked about an Eastern European trip back to Croatia, Slovenia and Hungary (the one place we really wish we had gone when we lived there in 2003). We never managed to get to far into the planning with reality setting in, but I have wonderful pictures in my mind. This trip, probably more than any luxurious trip we might have taken, made me realize how much fun we've had together over the past 10 years, and how much we have created together.
Max, Cannon, and Madison share Graeter's Ice Cream ( must have when traveling through Ohio)
Madeline and Ashley share a secret over Ice Cream
Max and his Flaxen haired beauty
Fun visiting the Ownby's. Madeline and Ella were friends with their triplets when we all lived in Richmond. Now they live in Indianapolis with two more boys and a baby girl.
The girls bounced the boys
Cookies on the trampoline. We traded them one cookie for each 15 minutes they spent outside playing. We had to cap it off at two cookies when Ella stuffed her pockets full and decided to spend the night outside.
Monday, August 22, 2011
Max wants to marry............
Recently, we went shopping for school supplies, after I had tennis league. I couldn't figure out why Madeline and Ella became enthusiastic about my tennis league when just a couple weeks ago they complained about the death of brain cells from boredom that resulted from spending an hour and a half there. This time, I noticed they brought their purses, and learned that they discovered the gumball machine upstairs.
Since they had their purses, they were ready for school shopping. After the first store, I explained to them that we were only going to focus on what was on the list, and that I needed to concentrate so I could find what was on sale. In short, I asserted that we would buy nothing unless it was on the list. To which Ella promptly informed me, "Well, then, I might have to run away, since you won't ever let me buy anything". I informed her she was welcome to buy her school supplies. To which she replied, "She would maybe drop out of school, because she was interested in more things than school supplies".
We did get to the other store after stopping at my friends house. Maybe I was feeling bad or worried, but her grandkids were having a lemonade stand, and I bought each child lemonade and a cookie. They were in better spirits while we finished up school shopping.
I was watching a cartoon with the kids, and had the following conversation with Max:
Max: "Mom, those guys are getting married" (big smile)
Me: "yes, they are getting married. Do you like that?"
Max: "yes"
Max: "I am going to marry you, Mommy" (big smile).
Me: "you want to marry me"? (big smile)
Max: " yes, I marry you".
4th of July- Max and Ava swimming on the sandbar at the Zumbro river.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)