Thursday, October 25, 2012

Life Without TV and randomness

I just got done mopping part of my floor...with a toothbrush...for real.  I didn't realize how bad our floor had gotten until Jaron started crawling all over it.  He spends most of his time in the kitchen with me, so I was down there mopping and was appalled at what I discovered due to my negligence. (I hate sweeping and mopping...no reason, just do)  Enough was enough though and this week I have taken one section at a time that I do on my hands and knees with the toothbrush to get all the nooks and crannies in the vinyl.  I just pick a section a day and that task hasn't been too daunting.  Morgan is also teaching tonight and won't be home until really really late, so it was nice to just listen to music while I cleaned and all the kids were in bed.
 On another totally random subject, I've been trying to come up with fun ways to do a ponytail.  My hair is getting super long and when it's down the kids are always grabbing at it, and when I do it in a bun or have it all up when it's a wet-do, it's so heavy that halfway through the day I have a headache, so, this was my latest and Morgan said it was probably his favorite that I've done so far.
 I just need to have the patience to grow my hair about another 4 inches and then it will be long enough to donate without going super short again.  I've really liked having long hair again, but I also like the variety, so I'll probably just keep going back and forth.
 Morgan had a Halloween party with his Young Men this week and they had to dress up or wear a costume that the girls brought (his teachers combined with the mia maids).  He searched and searched and searched and finally found a decent one that could get here in time.  Good ol' Robin Hood.  I decided to join the holiday spirit too now that are kids have more fun with holidays and I got me a "maid marian" costume although it can double as a lot of things over the years.
 We had some gold chocolate coins left over, so he put them in his pouch and if anybody asked who he was he said he stole from the rich and gave to the poor and handed them a coin.  :)  I think they youth had fun with that, I know our kids did.
 Oddly, the whole costume thing has actually got me looking forward to Halloween.  Logan has been counting down the days that he can finally wear his Blockhead costume.  His excitement has spilled over to me too and I love it.
Morgan had some rockin' boots to go with the costume too, it made it complete.

And jumping to another random subject...the TV.  I haven't ever really had any major issues with the TV, the kids generally don't fight about what to watch and it's not like they really just sit there in front of the TV like zombies either, maybe for a show or a movie, but then they are up playing again. 

Well, earlier this week, I think on Monday we had our first major battle with the TV.  I generally let Tragon watch TV while I'm helping Logan and Damon get chores and school stuff done as well as getting ready for the day.  For some reason Curious George was more important than getting dressed or getting the dishwasher unloaded...etc even though we've seen that episode a million times.  So, I said okay, we'll just turn off the TV until the chores are done and you're dressed.  WOW major fit from both Damon and Logan.  It just kept going on and on, so I said okay, no more TV before school, ever!  Then they both blew another gasket, so in the heat of the moment I said no more TV until after Halloween.

Looking back I'm not sure if I was punishing them or myself, but after two days I'm actually glad that I did it.  It has forced me to pay more attention to them and play with them, I can't just say, go down and watch a show while I finish this.  I've actually been going down, get them started with something, say build a train track, or build a few towers with blocks and then I have some time to get things down until they get bored or start fighting.  And I've noticed too that a lot of my "projects" can be done with them around.

They have actually been playing together better with one another and I feel like I'm getting to know my boys a little better.  I've been struggling with what to get them for Christmas and in just the last couple days I have a lot of ideas of things they might really like or be ready for vs just random shopping.

Their new favorite activity lately has been the giant whiteboard.  We put it on the floor and it's a good 3'X3' board, so there is plenty of room for everyone.   Logan has been doing his "homework" on it practicing writing and numbers and such.  We'll draw roads and drive the cars until the giant monster Jaron crawls on top and erases everything as he scoots around, the boys have learned a lot of patience through that.  Their favorite pictures to draw are motor homes with all these crazy bells and whistles.  One of Logan's teacher's suggestions at Parent Teacher conference was to help Logan with his creativity and provide opportunities for him to create.  We've tried in the past and he hasn't really like to draw or color, but lately he has loved the whiteboard.  Yay for mom.

There are definitely times during the day where I want to just give in and say go watch TV (like today when I know I probably won't see Morgan until I wake up in the morning).  Most days when I know that I'll have the kids all to myself and be putting them to bed they'll get to watch something before bed so I can handle them one at a time, but tonight it was actually really nice to read stories and play.  They were all patient as I had to get one fussy baby in bed, then a very tired toddler.  It's really nice that Logan can read because he can either read by himself and not tease his brothers or he can read to his brothers.

I love my boys and I love the moments we've had lately and I really felt like I needed to write it down so on those days when I do get a little crazy and frustrated with everything I can remember more how awesome it really is to have four great little boys full of fun and personality.  Until next time...

1 comment:

heidijogoody said...

Love the hair. I like the white board idea sounds fun