Wednesday, February 10, 2010

sometimes it's fun being a mom



i must have been in a really good mood this week because i thought that everything my kids did was super funny. for example, we were eating dinner and gretchen told us a story about when her primary teacher didn't obey her mom and she got hurt. i said something like "uh oh, i hope she learned to obey her mom after that." this is the conversation we had after that:
gretchen: "yep. like when i ran away."
me: "oh, when did you run away?"
g: "when i was 4. we lived in virginia. i still had my dora bike."
me: "did you run away on the dora bike?"
g: "yep"
me: "where was i when you ran away?"
g: "gone. daddy was home."
liesel: "i used to run away all the time."
me: "oh really?"
liesel: "yep. i kept a little bag packed."

this conversation struck me as so funny. it seems as if there's a lot of running away in my family that i had no idea about.

here's what the rest of the week looked like. nothing spectacular. i just like my kids.

pace is still in guitar-man mode. this morning as soon as the kids left for school he asked me to turn on music so he could jam. he specified which song he wanted, then said "oh, this song's cool. it's rock n' roll." did i teach him about rock n' roll? no. i did not. he has his very own guitar pick that he insists on using. sometimes he plays the guitar with one hand and a drum with the other. when loren gets home from work, he and pace jam together for a few minutes. it makes me swoon with love for my two boys. today pace asked me to jam with him. that's something i'd never been asked to do before. i took it as a great compliment.


gretchen gave the family a "how to be fancy" lesson.






i caught the kids playing play-do together. i love it.

gwyneth drafted a list of rules that she posted on the fridge:

THE RULES

WEEKDAYS

1. Get out of bed when Gwyneth wakes you up.

2. Come down only with your shoes and clothes on with your backpack.

3. Eat if the oatmeal is ready too eat, eat it. If the oatmeal is not ready to eat, help Gwyneth or Liesel with your lunch or with the dishwasher.

4. As soon as you’re done eating, you can drink your smoothie, brush your teeth, and brush your hair.

5. When everyone is done with everything then we will say prayers and leave for school.

6. Remember homework and such.

OTHER RULES

1. No yelling at pace or making him yell.

2. Pick up five things in the playroom if you hit someone on purpose.

3. Practice piano.

JOBS

WEEKDAYS

Gwyneth:

Get up, take a shower, get dressed, go down stairs, make oatmeal, make Madeline’s, Gretchen’s, and my lunch, eat the Oatmeal, then drink my smoothie, brush teeth and hair, get backpack ready for school (See rules 4 and 5).

Liesel:

Get out of bed, take a shower, get dressed, go downstairs, do the dishwasher, make lunch, make the smoothie, and eat oatmeal.

After that, brush your hair and teeth, and then get your backpack ready for school.

Madeline:

Get out of bed, get dressed (see rule 2), come down stairs (see rule 3), (see rules 4 and 5). Get your backpack ready.

Gretchen:

Get up, get dressed (see rule 2), come down stairs (see rule 3), (see rules 4and 5).

MOST IMPORTINTLY HURRY UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


this was gretchen's response:

thak you geyneth I love you I will get up before you wake me up I love you varry much I will moneday

8 comments:

Rebekah said...

love the rules list!

Marian said...

laur, your kids are too much. i love that rules list, and paces guitar jammin, and gretchen's fancy nancy pictures. the one with her hand on her hip is the best.

Diane said...

I found out about 5 years ago that Debby used to run away on a regular basis. She would go hide at the entrance to our housing division, and come home after no one came looking. She said she was disgusted that I never even knew she was gone.

Oh well. I guess that's as good an indication of my mothering as anything!

Poppy said...

Can they come to my house...we need some good rules...or running away, that might work, too! We could also use a good jam session or some fancy lessons. Funny kids!

Ellie said...

Your kids are so great! I love Gretchen's display of the plain things and the fancy things. We could use her assistance (that's a fancy word for help) getting a little fancier at our house. And I love Gwyneth's rules. My kids are getting off way too easy.

On being amused by your kids: Yesterday Sarah was sent to her room for a little break. Through the door I heard her muttering "I'm not the one that needs a time out. Mom and Emily and Elizabeth need a time out. My mom is a stupid old lady." I just sat there giggling at her little rant.

Penny said...

Your girls used to crack me up with their antics when they were little. Now, this really cracks me up. Move over Laura - you might not be needed anymore!

Super funny!

Love Ellie's comments too.

Joanne said...

Oh, man, there is just too much goodness in this post! I love that Gretchen threw in the Dora bike detail in her runaway account, and how Liesel packed a bag! I wonder when that little gem would have come out if Gretchen hadn't said anything.

Pace is awesome with his guitar. I love that he and Loren have jam sessions - lucky you to get invited to be a jam partner, too.

I'm dying over Gretchen's Fancy Nancy demonstration! I will have to show my girls - they LOVE when Nancy teaches her family. Were Gretchen's lessons "easy, fun, and free"?

I am also dying over Gwyneth's rules! I need her to come make some for my family. Some of my favorite parts are the "homework and such" and also all the referring back to earlier rules ("see rules 4 and 5", etc.)

Anyway, you have a great group of kids. I love seeing them all play together, too.

Annette said...

I love the rules! Sounds like they run a tight ship.