Mr. Miyagi

This morning Grayson changed up his routine a little. Instead of requesting that I take pictures of him and Lucy he wanted to teach Lucy how to throw a ball. Grayson is big on showing Lu the essentials in this world. Grayson is a patient and persistent teacher, even when Lu is a not-so-eager student.

Teaching Lu the basics of what a ball is. 

Trying to show Lu how to hold a ball by forcing her hand on the ball.

Grayson then started his demonstration of how to throw a ball. 

Lu was intrigued by the demonstration. Grayson was eager for Lu to throw the ball to him. 

Even though Lu did not attempt anything, Grayson was proud. 

Leap!

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It's Leap Day! Since I am terrible at annual holidays, I've decided that Leap Day will be the special holiday that I do up big for the kids. I can handle every four years, right? All bets are off on Leap Day; anything can happen. I have uncharacteristically painted my nails yellow for this special day. I think we are going to head to Atlanta today and see where the wind takes us. I am debating whether or not Grayson is too young to really enjoy the Atlanta Children's Museum...

At any rate, Happy Leap Day! Do something fun!

We Got Away

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A couple of weekends ago John and I dropped the kids off at the grandparents' house and headed to Asheville. We had been looking forward to our getaway for weeks. We spent only about 35 hours in Asheville, but it was 35 hours of the highest quality. What made our time so nice was the ability to saunter around town, do whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted. 

Our children - like most children - have a time limit. Whenever we go places with our children we know that we have a limited amount of time to enjoy ourselves. If I take the kids shopping with me I have to strategically plan my shopping so as to get in and out of the store as quickly as possible. I make a mental map of the any shopping experience, for efficiency. There is no time for browsing, resting, or people-watching with children in tow. On our getaway I so much enjoyed the relaxation of sitting in restaurants with John, enjoying the sights around us. When the kids are with me I tend to have tunnel vision and I neglect all the interesting goings-on around me. I loved the opportunity to wander around with John and gaze at all the crazy things people do. 

Here are some highlights. . . 

Simply Speaking

Recently I chatted with a 15-year-old who is having a tough time getting older. She is enjoying high school but she admitted missing her younger years, when things were a little simpler, when she was more naive to the world. It was endearing to listen to this young girl talk about missing her childhood. I could relate to so much of what she said. I think what I miss most about childhood is the anticipation for all that could happen. I have already covered the major milestones I daydreamed about as a child: high school, college, my wedding, having kids. Now I am in a phase of life that does not allow for much daydreaming and idle time. So much of the anticipation I felt as a child is gone.

This past weekend my mom and I took Grayson swimming. While we were in the pool I thought about how much I loved spending time in swimming pools as a child. I loved the feel of the water. I loved diving under the water, swimming around. I can't remember the last time I played in a pool. I can't remember the last time I rode a bike just for the ride. I can't remember the last time I watched TV at a friend's house, with nothing else I needed to do. I want to bring back some of the simplicity of childhood. Adulthood is not bad; it's just different from childhood. John and I always remind each other to appreciate the phase of life we are in now, because we know a couple of decades from now we will look back longingly at how simple - albeit chaotic - this time was.

To childhood simplicity!

What were your favorite childhood simplicities?

Photos from Pinterest

Frivolous Friday

This week has seemed abnormally difficult. Our getaway last weekend was fantastic, but reentry was very hard. The kids were out of sync, we were out of sync; our family unit felt like it was running in irritating circles. During the middle of the week John and I exchanged texts, trying to figure out why this week seemed harder than usual. It felt like someone turned up the treadmill without our permission.

This week my goal was to focus on the positive moments and to find some frivolous things to laugh at.

Here are some of the positives.

Here are some of my frivolous finds.

Tents that are designed to look like more than just tents. 

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Yarn bombing. What do these folks do that allows them so much spare time?

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Seriously?

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Grandma went crazy. 

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Let the Games Begin!

Next month is a big month. John and I bought our tickets for the midnight showing of The Hunger Games. I love opening nights! I love the crowd dynamics, the buzz in the air. I am trying to figure out if/how I should dress up.

Here is a fun map of the possible geography of Panem.

Thought-Provoking Thursday: It's Okay to be an American Mom

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Parenting is a great mystery to me. It can be an overwhelming mystery. I think all the information women are bombarded with while they are pregnant is just the introduction into the sensory overload that comes as a parent. I find myself purposefully avoiding parenting conversations. I overhear women discussing parenting and I cringe. Just the thought of chatting it up about parenting practices wears me out enough to lock myself in the nearest bathroom stall. Don't even get me started on the blog posts about parenting... ironic, I know, being that this is one of those posts.

It's not the actual act of parenting that gets me so overwhelmed and wound up, but it's the chaos of opinions that tends to surround it. Grayson will be two years old next month. I have spent the past two years trying to get a sense of my son. What works for him, what does not. What is a standard developmental phase and attitude, and what is actually his personality. What are his strengths, what are his weaknesses. Getting to know a little human being, one who is completely raw and void of social masking, is a major task. For every observation we have made about Grayson,  John and I have given thought to our parenting style.

I wish parenting was simply figuring out your child and doing what is best for him or her. It's not that simple though. All the various thoughts and opinions on parenting make the job even tougher. Not only do you have to figure out your child, but you also have to sift through all the advice that circles around. One of the noises about parenting I have had to block out is the notion that American moms are lesser than other moms. There has been a surge in the media lately about the virtues of Asian and French mothers. At the risk of sounding like an obtuse American, I am perfectly pleased with being an American parent. I don't want to be a Tiger Mom and I don't need to be a French woman to raise my children well. Yes, our culture has some flat sides, and some of our children are not always up to par in certain situations, and there are absurd American parents out there, but I very much like being an American parent and I don't want to fix my parenting style to one that does not fit my children or our culture.

I was more than pleased, and I was extremely validated, when I read this article in the New York Times (and further discussed on Motherlode). Can you believe that the New York Times printed that it's okay to be an American mother? This is remarkable! Granted, it was an opinion column, but I'll take it. Not only did this article validate my ability to raise descent human beings, but it highlighted just how American I am. I am very American. I have known this about myself for a long time, but it is interesting to see that my nationality bleeds into my parenting as well. I have repeatedly joked that what I care about most for Grayson is that he exhibits social awareness. John and I turned down the opportunity for Lucy to go to a new state-of-the-art daycare facility because we felt like it focused too much on academia and not as much on independence and  socialization. It's not that I don't care about academia - our children are being raised by parents with a laundry list of degrees - but as a parent I feel like the academics will come in its own time. In effort to quickly excuse myself from conversations about education philosophies, I have made the statement that what I value most for my children is that enjoy what they are doing and have good social skills. In the past this statement has quickly ended the education conversation because it appears to be a completely different topic, but now I have come to find out it is just a method of American parenting.

Yes, our country has its faults and we are continually facing the facts of how we do not measure us to different parts of the world anymore, but at the end of the day I am very happy to be an American parent. My children may not be ever be world-ranked in anything, but hopefully they will be productive members of society and enjoy whatever it is that they do. If this is a weak form of parenting, oh well.