Recording

On Sunday, I launched a cleaning mission.

I went into the girls room to change the sheets, but before I could do that, they had to pick up the 200 toys on their bedroom floor. Then oNe and twoK had to take the 40+ stuffed animals off their beds. They weren't happy--in fact, I made oNe and twoK cry. I told them they could no longer sleep with that many stuffed animals. Three-a sleeps with 5 or so toys/animals. Five seems like a LOT to me, but it's a lot less than 40 (and I am not exaggerating here), so she didn't have to give up anything. Three-a thought it was a good day as now she gets more room in her bed (she and twoK share a double bed)*.

I'm sorry, call me cold and heartless, but I'm not going to feel bad when you are crying because you can't sleep with all 40 of your favorite stuffed animals. Nor will I give in if you cry for 15 minutes. Your father, smart MWH, grabbed the camera and recorded the antics as I'm sure that video will come in handy for blackmailing you in the future--I'm looking at you, oNe.

I should have never let it get so crazy with so many animals in bed, but sometimes, it's easier to choose your battles and how many stuffed animals were in bed with the girls didn't seem like a big deal**. Now, it does.

Talk to me, am I cruel and cold hearted?


*Here's a picture of the girls' bed. Three-a and twoK have the double on the bottom and oNe has the twin bunk on top.

**I should have put my foot down when oNe had the quote of the day saying, "It gets a little crazy in my bed, sometimes."

boring...

After looking through old posts yesterday, I decided to blog more because I loved reading about what our life used to be like, but as we went through today, it didn't seem like we had any "blog worthy" moments. I'm sure there will be days when things are just happening but today seemed a little light on things I should record for posterity.

Today
First, the girls played a lot on their own this morning. They started playing the moment they got up, around 8 am. I heard them get up and then I rolled over to snuggle with MWH. I thought I'd only dozed a little, but the next thing I knew, it was 9:25. Ahhhhh, lovely sleep! The girls were totally playing well this morning and they didn't have any sisterly screaming until past 11 am--more than three hours of playing without screaming is shocking, in fact, I have to reconsider, that is pretty blog worthy.

(Tonight, on the other hand, non-stop sisterly screaming from 7-8 pm....oNe was hungry and when she's hungry, she is angry. She gets so hungry that she won't eat; she says she's not hungry and I tell her she's just past the point of hunger and that she needs to eat. It's just no fun at all when she's like that. She gets very grumpy and yell-y. When she's like that, I have to yell to get her to eat. UGH. Seriously, she isn't rational, but as soon as I yell, she eats--what's a Mom to do?)

This afternoon, we went to a birthday party. It was for a little girl in twoK's class, but all 3 went to the place since the party was held at a public (well, you pay to get in) indoor playground. After that party, we went to our neighborhood block party. Okay, YAWN.....

A little less boring
One thing, kind of fun, oNe has decided she and her sisters should have a secret club with secret nicknames. They whispered in the back of the car and came up with secret names--no one but they could know. Within about five minutes of being home, oNe told me hers. I will share it here because, someday, she may read the blog and she may have forgotten about her secret name. Her secret name is Hermione. (She's a big Harry Potter fan. She made it through the first 4 books this summer and then I kind of wanted her to wait to read book 5.)

Three-a's secret name is either Lanie or Dandelion, they won't tell me for sure, although I'm sure I could get it out of oNe if I asked. twoK won't tell her secret name. She's a pretty good secret keeper; oNe really isn't. The secrets burst forth from oNe pretty easily. Heh.

What else... I'm not feeling the writing mood right now. I think I'm going to have to practice blogging more about them again. I'll try again tomorrow. We're planning on cleaning the house and doing Three-a's homework*. The fun NEVER ends around here.


*Yes, kindergartners get homework after the first full week of school. Our school is a little intense.

Holy Mackerel

I missed my 5th blogoversary! I just realized it.

I was going back through posts to find one I knew I'd written; as I was doing so I was thinking about how much has changed since starting to blog 5 years ago, and I realized just how happy I am that I took the time to write this blog. I've been blogging less and less as the girls get older, but taking this trip down memory lane has inspired me to blog a bit more again.

I found this post about T aka Three-a and her nose; I had completely forgotten about this. I am so glad I wrote it--priceless. Even if NO ONE ELSE ever reads this blog, it's served its purpose.

In reflection style, I want to (someday) talk about how different my life is now, 5 years later, than it was then.

Totally different
Nutrition
Exercise
Bad Back
No babies any more

Of course, some things are...

Still the same
My stress it's always self-inflicted
My ability to research something (not always write about it)
My absopolutely bestest colleague, ever... I wish our former boss were still here too.
My wonderful husband

And then, of course, over the years, I've...

Learned a lot
About having little girls
About teaching
Nutrition
Being a tiny bit more zen in my approach to motherhood (thanks a lot to Nino, my role model.)

A new goal is to write in detail about each topic, but I don't know when that will happen, but I will make sure to blog more. Wish me a happy blogoversary if you still read, I used to have a few commenters, but I haven't heard from them over the years. I did really enjoy your thoughts and comments.

Thanks! xoxo.

Groove

The beginning of school always makes me feel as if I am totally incompetent. This year has been no exception. I have already whined about how overwhelmed I am because of deciding to not have our nanny any more. (It's such a good thing though.) I am thankful that I have found someone to help a little, but I've already documented all that. I also told you about my brother's two-week visit. While it was fun, it was also overwhelming and I'm still reeling from it.

Today, I worked at home and didn't go to volunteer at the girls' school or do Zumba*. I sat and focused on one project for most of the day (by the time kid-drop offs were done I only ended up with ~5 hours). It was good, I think. I made good progress on the writing and I feel a little more like a half-way competent person.

I now need to spend an hour on another project and tomorrow, I need to devote a LARGE CHUNK OF TIME (~4 hours) to thinking about the SB Workshop.

On another subject entirely, I need to get to T*rget and get notebooks for storing the girls' worksheets and art for the year. If I start now, perhaps I won't end up with a HUGE PILE of papers in a month to go through. I also need to buy cards to welcome the new babies in our family! (Yes, that's right, we have two new babies in our family and I am so excited. We'll probably see them at Thanksgiving.)


*Yes, I need to write about why I skipped Zumba today, and why I'll be taking a different Zumba class tonight.

No nanny

I don't have a nanny any more. Woo!

N3nny was super, but I was so ready to not pay all of my net salary, plus some more, to have child care. I could have had fewer nanny hours last year, but N3nny needed a certain number of hours to keep working for us, so we paid. We thought N3nny was worth it.

She was, but by the end, I was just tired of paying so much. I was also tired of some of the little things N3nny did that drove me CRAZY. I could list them, but I won't here. I tried sharing N3nny with another family, but the woman I shared with didn't always need N3nny at the same time I did so consequently, the sharing didn't reduce my costs that much (and it made it a BIG pain sometimes). So anyway, moving on...

Do I miss having a nanny? Not yet.

I'm still very much enjoying hanging with the girls, taking them to dance, doing homework while cooking dinner, and being more around. It's only been a week though--ask me again in 3 months. I'm sure I'll still enjoy it, but I may be more stressed. Right now, we're still in the honeymoon phase.

I did find someone to help on Mondays and Thursday afternoons. I will have 9 hours of nanny time a week (maybe not every week), and Three-a goes to before school care 6 hours a week. I think the cost for these two things keeps daycare less than 1/4 of the cost each week. The girls are now taking dance lessons and that adds up a bit, but adding in dance lessons for the girls only makes the total cost ~30% of what it used to be.

One thing, I'm going to be doing lots more kid-laundry. N3nny used to almost all of it. I didn't necessarily love how she did it, but I didn't complain (much), because, hey, someone was doing the laundry and it wasn't me. Clothes got stained and she'd dry things that weren't supposed to be dried.... I'd leave explicit instructions and they wouldn't get followed... (Okay, enough complaining.) It sounds silly to say, but I am excited to do their laundry (MY WAY!). I don't like putting laundry away, but the new person who will help with the girls after school will do some of the putting away, so yippee!

The one thing I'm not sure about is if I'm going to get enough hours at work with this new schedule. I'm probably going to have to either work an hour or two a night or some on the weekends to keep up. I may change my WHOLE schedule and do Zumba with a different teacher at a different time, but that's a subject for another post.... (Yea, it's shocking that I'm considering changing teachers!)

On the list

Teaching the girls more about money has been on our "list of things to do" for a while. I just read this post and really liked it. I'll also paste it below in case the web changes and it disappears. (All credit is given to the author and the web site originally publishing it. (Thanks Mamapedia and Erin Lozano http://www.mamapedia.com/voices/paying-your-child-here-are-six-ways-to-do-it)


How do you pay your child allowance? Do you have a system? Do you make the kid work? It’s time to start teaching my five year old about how money works, so the inquiry is in many of my conversations. I’ve heard good ideas and crazy ideas, and those that are well meaning but that propagate the very credit mess the world is in now. Here are a few tips I’ve compiled from the journey. If you have your own, please add them to the comments!

1. Free Money Sets Up Future Disaster
A friend of mine has a generous allowance system for her six year-old: he does chores that add up to certain sums, and at the end of the week, she matches what he earned dollar for dollar. Rewarding system, yes. But that method alarms me. Young kids are “wanters.” They want, mommy and daddy provide, want fulfilled. If children learn from the start that “earned income” equals “work” plus “free money,” they develop the credit card experience: “I want” plus “I can get free money for not doing anything,” and then, “Oh look, I used my credit card, so they are giving me even more money now to do and get what I want.”

2. Chores Pay
When you tie the allowance to chores, your child gets to experience the reward of working for something and getting it. Rather than offering a set amount per week, make a list of which chores earn what amount–i.e., sweep the porch = $1, wash mom’s car = $5, etc. This will help them to develop a financial goal and work toward it. If they want a new toy or to save vacation money for souvenirs for friends, they can calculate how many chores, and which ones, they can complete to meet their goal.

3. Income Covers Expenses
My parents have a letter I wrote them when I was “13-and-three-quarters years-old.” It was a pitch titled “Erin’s Expenses and Life Story.” I wanted $52 a month, an increase in my allowance at the time, because my parents system included me paying for my own expenses–things like clothing, shampoo and conditioner, teenage incidentals. I had to learn to balance my own income and outflow. If I wanted a new sweater, I wouldn’t be able to buy the shampoo and conditioner I liked. At 13 & 3/4, I discerned that I needed more to handle my expenses and itemized my proof. This method is great for older children. An incrementally increasing responsibility can be a really great element to add to a child’s allowance as he or she gets older, and begins to get a sense of what the world costs to live in it.

4. Saving Is Cool
Six to ten year-olds are not going to be buying their own shampoo. But they can learn to save the moment they start earning allowance. Teach them the practice of putting ten cents of every dollar they earn every week into a piggy bank. When they do, they get to see what is left over of their earnings (subtly training their early experience to income after expenses). They also get the joy of watching their savings grow, and to begin to understand the association of money to income isn’t solely: “I want,” thus, “I get money,” then, “I spend money.” But, rather, they learn, “I work, so I get money for trade, and part of the system is putting money into my savings account.”

5. Money Is Outside Me
Allowance can teach about so much more than just money. It can offer children the opportunity to evolve their “I-want” into a community experience. If your children are too young to work around the house to earn an allowance, consider the jar system to teach the flow of money. Label them as “Savings,” “Fun,” “Gifts for friends + Charity.” Two of these jars are directing their money outside themselves. Rather than receiving money and spending it all on their immediate desires, kids get to see how their money affects their community. Let a child choose the amount he or she puts in each jar each week, and watch the amounts shift over time, as her awareness expands.

6. Charity Feels Good
Teach your kids the intrinsic joy of what it feels like to give money away. When their charity jar is full, take them to a local mission and let them hand it to their recipient. Let them experience that moment, and ask them about it. Do they say, “I loved giving that money to a homeless family. Next time I want to give even more”? Do they find other charity interests that started from the experience of the first one? Getting kids actively saving for charity teaches them concepts of sharing, community, and lets them feel the impact their generosity–and their earning power–has on those around them.

Erin Lozano is co-founder and COO of GreenSherpa and is dedicated to inspiring women to live and spend authentically.

Transitions

twoK is screaming a lot. She LOVES first grade, but apparently it's causing her a great deal of difficulty in adjusting. She's fine at school, but the last two nights and all morning today she's been very banshee-like and really difficult. I'm guessing all will be better in another week or two, but we all have to survive it. Unfortunately, I don't think there's anything I can do except let her sort it out internally. If you have any ideas, let me know.

oNe is being rougher with her sisters and yelling lots; Three-a is very tired. This morning, they woke us up at 8 am as they were wanting to go to school. I wish I could have sent them off for the day. On the positive side of things, 8 am is later than 7:30. We're heading out to visit a museum in a little bit. Hopefully that will keep them occupied enough.

How's the start of school for any one else experiencing it? Any screaming with your kids? Misery loves company. :-)

Potential

I just met with the potential new babysitter for the girls for afterschool just one day a week. She's young and sweet! Yippee. We'll do a trial day on Monday. I'll be with the kids and her, but working (in my room) on Monday afternoon. If it works out okay, then I'll be able to let her pick them up one day a week. This will be SUPER helpful.

If it all works, I'll tell you the story of how I met her and tell you why social capital is oh so important!

Fingers are crossed.

Lacking

I'm lacking a good title here.

I'm also lacking time; since I have no time, I figured I should blog--that'll help.

I should be working, but I have three things I need to be working on and I'm not sure which one to start with today.

1. TI:RN (Need to spend about 3 hours on it this weekend--preferably in large chunks of time--feeling behind on this one)

2. AS* (Need about 3 hours on it, but am not behind on it yet, but we just had a phone call so it's fresh in my mind)

3. SB* Workshop (Just need to spend another couple of hours on this to feel all caught up)

Seriously, I can't decide which one to work on.

Did I tell you my brother is visiting? He's been here for about 2 weeks. He's very easy to have around, but it is one more thing. It's always just one little thing... Just a teeny thing... But they add up.

I've been figuring out afterschool and before school care for the girls and it's almost settled. For the final decision, I'm trying to decide if I look for someone to help me by picking up the girls and watching them at home one night a week or if I want to do the afterschool program 1 night a week. With three kids, it's less expensive to have someone pick the girls up than to use the VERY reasonably priced afterschool program. It's CRAZY to me that it is cheaper to have one's own employee, but it is. I am interviewing someone this afternoon. If she doesn't work out, I'll probably just go with the afterschool program, at least for now.

Next up, sometime after next week, figuring out Thanksgiving vacation. (I think we'll go back and visit my family. We haven't done this at holiday time since having children. We don't like to travel. We really don't like to at holidays, but EVERYONE, including two new babies, could be there and I think it might be time to go. Also, the girls get the whole week off at Thanksgiving, so we could travel on non-peak days.

Okay.... Enough of this for now. I think I'll go wok on AS* since it is fresh in my mind. I'll catch up on the other two later.

Not in Zumba

I am not in Zumba; it is currently class time, but last night, twoK (accidentally) kicked me in the head while she was doing a handstand. It was one of those accidents that really shouldn't have happened. She should have known better than to do a handstand when I was sitting on the floor right next to her; I should have known better than sit on the floor when I was talking to N3nny and sort of distracted while the girls were around and spazzing out.

But alas, the accident occurred, and now my head REALLY hurts. I didn't go to the doctor, it could be mild concussion, but I don't think it really warranted a doctor visit...but damn, it hurt. A colleague of mine asked if twoK felt bad enough for injuring me and my very prompt response was NO. The colleague said, "Oh, it was that bad, eh?"

Anyway, that is why I'm not in Zumba. It sounds like I can't go back until the headache is gone, at minimum. Bleh.

Instead, I'm trying to make a schedule for me and the girls for this fall that will 1) accommodate my needs for working out, 2) give me enough time to get work done and 3) keep us from going stir crazy.

Oh, yea, today is N3nny's last official day with us. She will do weekends occasionally, and I know we'll miss her, but right now I am ready to not have a nanny. I'll post more about that later, not know.

Without N3nny, I'll be giving up 2 workouts a week, however the possibilities for making these two workouts are actually pretty good. If I don't like any of the new possibilities, I could potentially find someone to help me out with the girls at those class times, but right now, the idea of finding someone new isn't high on my list of things I want to do.

Here's some things I have to keep in mind for the next two weeks.... I KNOW IT WILL BE CRAZY busy and MAJOR BIG ADJUSTMENT and that I will want to cry for some of the times, but it will be okay... It will get better.

Here's what I need to keep in mind as we go into this new adventure...

1) I don't want a nanny anymore
2) I get to spend more time with the girls and I get to take them to dance classes!
3) They are super fun, and at dance class time, I'll have one-on-one time with the girl not in class. Bonus.
4) I can always temporarily change my status at work to work less if need be
5) There is afterschool care at school, but the way I've scheduled things (dance classes and gymnastics), the only afternoons for it are Monday and Thursday. I am guessing I'll need to use Mondays for sure.
6) I will actually make money at work. For the last few years, I've not made as much as my nanny for my net pay. My gross was more, but not net. While I knew I was investing in myself, it was still frustrating to not make as much net as I paid out.

Okay, the end for now. My head hurts.

I didn't forget you

Oh, blog, I didn't forget you. It's been BUSY this week.

1. N3nny was on 3 days of vacation.

2. The girls had gymnastics camp. We love it now. We didn't love it so much when we started doing it, but now they are organized and the girls are older and it works! We can't wait until next year.

All three girls did really well. twoK did SUPER. She's usually hesitant to perform, but they did a little show to share what they learned that week. She smiled and did everything GREAT. I was so proud. oNe did really well too, but she has a lot more desire to perform and be in front of an audience in her than twoK.

Three-a is looking forward to being in elementary camp, like her sisters, instead of preschool camp. She definitely is ready to be BIG like them... MY BABY!!!!! YIKES!

3. I had to engage in a cleaning and organizing frenzy.

4. My brother arrived. He'll be visiting for 2-3 weeks. I had to dig out the guest room. (When the girls outgrow clothes and when I clean my closet it all goes there and sits until I get my act together.) Approximately 11 shopping bags full were taken to Goodwill.

5. N3nny is in her last couple of weeks with us. I have several posts started to discuss her leaving (it's my doing); I can't quite get my feelings to come out right so I wait to write the post to explain things. (Not knowing how to say what I want to say is part of what's been keeping me from posting.)

5b. With N3nny leaving, I have to figure out my whole schedule for work, the girls, and workouts. I'm throwing everything up in the air and hoping I can make it all work. The girls may go to the afterschool care program 1 or 2 days a week. We'll see what happens.

6. I've made some progress on the cleaning and organizing front, but I still need to work on the upstairs area so we can start to use it someday. It is still full of boxes. MWH wants to get a dumpster, but I want to go through it all, recycle what should be recycled and organize what I want to save. It'll be a huge project. Dumpster or organize, you vote.

7. Remind me to tell you about what NOT to include in a birth announcement... Okay, I'll tell you now. Granted, it was only an email birth announcement, but PLEASE DO NOT tell us how you got zero stretch marks, or how you only gained 25 pounds. Um, YEA. (If someone wants to know about your stretch marks, they will ask. Wait for it.)

8. I am figuring out eating so my blood sugar stays good. Woo. It involves less carbs and more protein (and I do have to eat eggs and salmon). (Getting older SUCKS!)

Okay... I'll try to post at least twice this week. We'll see if I can make it happen.