Mapping Unchartered Territory

With school back in swing, I have a small sense of being adrift in unfamiliar waters. Getting up early and getting the kids to school is something I know how to do and am good at.  But that time between dropping them off and picking them up is unchartered territory for me.

Of course I still have two jobs; split between working at church and tutoring, and once I show up for one I know what to do.  It's the little details that have me confused.

How do I get to work?

For the past several years my school routine has been drop off at school followed by the trek down Hulen to get to church to take Paul to preschool.  Monday I didn't need to go to church but found myself driving there anyway.  I can take a more direct route to school but was mixed up on how to get there.

When I was a teacher, I learned that voicing your thoughts ( called thinking aloud) was a strategy that helped children develop their own thought processes.  I am so used to "thinking aloud" that I have forgotten how to "think silently."  I find myself in the car saying, "I'm going to need to turn right when I see the green sign."  On Monday I took a wrong turn and felt like cursing but kept it under my breath.  The empty car just might get offended.

Yesterday as I finished my church work I kept waiting for the little knock on my office door.  Paul didn't come to tell me preschool was over for the day and I kept on working.  I discussed to an empty car whether or not I would have time to buy a frozen pizza at Kroger before school let out.  I did and the car agreed.

We are all so happy to have school back in session.  Both children adore their teachers and Adam and I are thrilled.  Adam's routine remains the same.  Mama, however, has to relearn how to think and arrive at locations without children.

Back to School!

Yesterday Paul kept asking me, "Why do you keep hugging me and saying, 'My little kindergartener'?" I told him, "Not too long ago you were a baby wearing diapers and learning to crawl.  Now you can read books and you're going to kindergarten!"  He replied, "I can crawl now, too."

Today was the first day of school for Claire and Paul and it's 2 p.m. and I'm sitting at the kitchen table sipping coffee and eating Trader Joe's trail mix.  It has been a good day.

We all mostly got up on time.  The kids excitedly put on their new clothes.  I took them to pick out school shoes a month ago and we've been  holding them for the first day of school.  Paul strapped his on and announced they were too small.  His feet grew a size in a month!  Thankfully the shoes haven't been worn and I have my receipt.  We'll be stopping by Academy today to get some new ones.

Both kids entered their classroom without fanfare and we took photos and left with no tears from anyone.  I had anticipated that I might cry, but I was so excited I was able to hold it together.  I can't wait for 3:00 to see how the day went!

Claire was ready to pose, but Paul had to stop and inspect a bug before he got in position.

In front of the Little Free Library.

Loaded town with supplies and teacher gifts, we headed to school.

Adam and the kids in front of the school.

Evil kids or silly ones; you decide.

Claire got to sit by one of her best friends, all the way since Kindergarten!

Paul at his table.

Mia, on the left, is our neighbor from down the street.  Now she's Paul's neighbor in class, too!

Adam offering last words of advice before Paul gets to class.

End of Summer Thanks

Today is Saturday, two days before school starts and I am so, so, so content and excited and hopeful and thankful for the end of summer and the beginning of routines.  Paul will be in kindergarten this year and he will have the same teacher Claire had, which is fabulous because we all love her and her teaching excellence is unparalleled.  She was able to connect the dots for Claire in a way that I wasn't able to and got her on the right track of loving education and school.  Of course we do all that at home, too, but it is such a gift to have a teacher that reinforces what you teach at home.
I think of Claire as a toy top and her kindergarten teacher the one that started her spinning.  She is still spinning on the momentum started at home and in kindergarten and her thirst for knowledge is unquenchable. Paul is at the same level (if not higher) that Claire was when she started Kindergarten and I'm so anxious to watch him develop his own momentum.  Of his own volition, he has started reading this summer. The first time he brought me a book and announced he was going to read it, I settled in for what I assumed to be an imaginary recreation of the events based on the pictures.  No, that boy can actually read the words! I am so proud of him.
So today the Boyette family is so thankful. Here's a few items that are close to my heart this day:

1. Time
I am so excited/hopeful/dreaming about the window of time between when I drop the kids off and when I have to report to work.  Of course the window is small but in my imagination, I have worked out, brewed a cup of tea, read the Bible, swam laps in the pool, read a book, written a book, cleaned the house, and planned dinner all in that 30 minutes.

2.  Routine
We all behave better and work more cooperatively when we've got a routine in place.  Summer has been free of routines and we have all gotten up/gone to bed/completed our tasks in a willy-nilly fashion.  It will be nice to get back to the routine of the school week.

3.  Education
When Claire gets home from school, it usually takes her 30 minutes to unwind and finish telling me every detail of her day and what she learned/experienced.  I can't wait to have two kids with that much enthusiasm for learning.

4.  Lunch box love
By the end of the school year, I know I will be throwing whatever's in the fridge into the lunch boxes.  But at the beginning of the year, I spend time mapping out the best and most creative ways to pack the kids lunches.  I research simple facts to include in their lunch notes and different foods.

5.  Family walks
The walk to and from school is always a time for appreciating nature and talking together.  Hopping, skipping, jogging, and riding scooters to school is always a blast.

6.  Early bedtimes
All summer we've been without assigned bedtimes, so I've been going to bed at the same time as the kids.  Now hopefully we'll get them to bed on time and then have an hour or two of adult time before I have to turn in.  Woohoo!  Adult conversations!

7.  Companions
My Bible study group is about to start up.  I've missed our Monday night discussions which keep me focused and life in perspective.  Also, it's a designated time once a week where Adam is assigned to the kids and I get to escape.

8.  Teaching
On the first day of school I will return to my school, Western Hills Elementary, where I'm a tutor/jack of all trades.  I am excited to see all my teacher friends and help out with a community that I'm not a part of otherwise.

9.  Office hours
All through the month of August, I've been working from home and dragging the kids to my office on Thursdays.  For the next nine months, I get to go to work by myself!

10.  Music of my choosing
When the kids are in the car, their favorite thing to do is choose music to play on my Ipod.  Granted, I like all that music, but the kids have a special talent for playing the same songs over and over and killing my love for them.  I can't wait to pick my own music in my own car.  It's the little things, you know?

Chicken Little and Me

Early this morning, I took Captain Midnight Sugar Dot Express for a walk.  For seemingly the first time this summer, I was able to stare at the stars.  The moon was hiding behind clouds, which were illuminated in a magical, movie-style fashion.  I kept looking at the moon and appreciating it and thinking.  I walked an extra block so I could keep facing it.  Then I had to turn and I was so disappointed I had to stop my moon-gazing. I considered walking backward but knew I would trip and fall.  Reluctantly, I turned.
When I turned I realized that the sky had been lightening when I wasn't looking and there had been a beautiful sunrise at my back.  I didn't see it at first because my eyes were focused on a small part of the sky instead of the sky's beauty as a whole.
In Chicken Little, a popular children's story, Chicken Little gets hit on the head when a squirrel drops an acorn.  He couldn't see the source of the acorn so he believed that the sky was falling.  It was just a little acorn, but since Chicken Little couldn't see the whole picture, he assumed the whole picture was that the sky was falling.
Everyone has brief bouts of Chicken Little-ness in life.  Whenever my world seems small the acorns are magnified.  Once I see the whole picture, though, everything shrinks to its normal perspective. I just have to remember to look at the whole sky and not just what's directly in front of me.

The Circus and Resourceful Kids

Last night we went to the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus.  We hadn't been since the kids were very small and unfortunately they couldn't remember it.  I'm hopeful that they are just old enough to remember a sliver of the fun we had last night.
Paul ended up in Adam's lap watching and observant Claire sat next to me and talked the entire time.  It was difficult to watch what was going on in front of me while simultaneously answering questions on everything from the type of cloth used in costumes to the reality of the exhibit in front of her.  Yes, that was distracting, but how can I argue with a girl who has such an appreciation for every detail of the show, right down to the clown's shoemaker?  I answered every question to the best of my ability.
Adam's parents had a long-standing tradition of taking us to the circus every year but due to health issues and other reasons, they haven't been able to go in years.  It didn't seem quite the same without our family parade of two wheelchairs, three children, and four walking adults.  We used to be like Moses parting the crowd like the Red Sea.
If you arrive early enough, you can always see a pre-show.  We used to go see all the animals beforehand but yesterday we voted on seeing the clowns first instead.  We were all so glad we did.
Below are some photos from our night.  Claire did a google image search at home before we left so she could see what the costumes looked like.  She dressed up as a close facsimile to one of the acrobats.  Paul wore his T-shirt cape.

Claire and Paul danced with a clown.

Yes, my children were the only ones I saw in costume.  Maybe that's why this clown loved them so.

Clown hug!

Claire wouldn't even take her eyes away from the stage long enough to smile at me.  Here she is wearing the hat that came with our $14 cotton candy.  

 We shared the hat.

Yes, this is my handsome husband.

Motorcycles!

As we walked through the concourse of course the kids saw all the toys and souvenirs for sale.  Needless to say, we spent $100 on tickets and $14 on one giant bag of cotton candy, so we opted not to buy anything else.  In come our resourceful children.  First, Paul found a spare clown nose on the ground and held it up with pride.  "Now I have two!" he shouted.  He was so proud of that nose.

After the show, Claire scoured the seats and came up with one clown mug, one tiger cup with moving lid and a crown.  We couldn't believe it.  Free souvenirs!  The kids and Adam kept scanning the seats until a security guard asked us to leave.

I was so proud of my children and their resourcefulness.  By the end of the night, the experience was worth every penny and then some.

Hamburger Helper, Rain, and Perspective

It's almost the end of summer and although I see school coming and know that time is slipping, slipping away, I can't seem to step out of the fast lane.  Since next week is the last week of summer and I have no childcare during work hours this week or next, I am getting up earlier and earlier to get a jump on my tasks.
I am rolling out of bed sometime between 5 and 5:30 a.m. and immediately turning on the laptop to start working.  It's much easier for me to get work done when there is not a child literally sitting on my shoulders, and I have been productive, but I am constantly trying to remind myself that I do have limits and am not superhuman and that it's a good thing.
Yesterday I was productive, but by 10 a.m. I realized I wasn't going to finish what needed to be done and the kids needed to be doing something besides watching the Muppet movie.  I used to be vehemently opposed to television for children, but this summer have let up a little and I let my kids watch about an hour or so a day while I try to breathe or get something done.
We needed to do something fun and silly and fast, or there was a danger I would start taking myself too seriously.
Here's what we did:

We took our Hamburger Helper foam hand puppet to the zoo. We all brainstormed and struggled to find anything that was not awesome about taking Hamburger Helper to the zoo and we couldn't find anything.  "The thing about Hamburger Helper," Claire said thoughtfully.  "Is that he rocks."  Paul said, "Yeah, Hamburger Helper is totally awesome."  These are definitely my children.

Hamburger helper loves giraffes!

This was so cute we left Hamburger Helper out of it.  It's the new baby elephant, Belle.

Claire suggested we put Hamburger Helper on the elephant's trunk.

Hamburger Helper visiting ducks.

Hamburger Helper wearing a Burger King crown while waiting for the zoo train.

Awww!  Look!  No arms!  Hamburger Helper rode the zoo train.

Every time I start feeling sad and guilty that my human powers aren't super; that they are just normal, then I get some perspective.  I was feeling guilty about letting the kids watch a movie in the morning instead of forcing them to play.  Oh the humanity!  Television in the morning!  Obviously the kids would be scarred for life from that.  But then I saw a family at the zoo who put their child on a leash.  Not a cutesy kid leash like I had to use for Claire when Paul was an infant and she was a fast two year old at the zoo.  No, they used a retractable dog leash attached to the poor kid's pants.  The father sported a tattoo on his arm that said "100% rebel." He was trying, he really was, but I wanted to pull him over and give him some mercy.  I wanted to suggest that maybe he remove the leash while the kid was climbing in the rope playground but I couldn't.  I was intimidated and all I could do was pray for him to be able to calm down and let go just a little.  So I sat on my bench and said a prayer for him and within 30 seconds saw him relax.  He stopped yelling and did let go a bit.  He didn't take the leash off the kid (I'm afraid it was reinforced with duct tape.) but he stopped his angry rant.  I was so glad because I didn't think I could sit there another minute without crying for his child.

Then while Claire climbed across the rope tunnel close to the ceiling she shouted down to me, "You are the best Mommy ever! And I know other moms can hear this and are disappointed!"  That made my day.  She wasn't on a leash and apparently watching the Muppet Movie didn't scar her or make her a terrible person.  It was going to be okay.

We followed our trip to the zoo with a trip to Central Library downtown.  We went last week and all the librarians remembered us and not because we were disruptive.  They remembered us because we are sometimes awesome.

The library has a program where you can check out a stuffed animal cow called Maggie. You are supposed to take pictures of Maggie all over Fort Worth and put them on Social Media.  

Paul built Maggie a tower.

Maggie in Sundance Square.

Maggie at the Water Gardens.

Kids splashing and running in the Water Gardens.

We played at the Water Gardens until a torrential downpour arrived.  We were soaked and Claire was very upset that Maggie was wet, too.  We had to run back to the car in the rain that was coming down so hard that I had to take off my glasses to see.  We also passed a beautiful lady standing on the curb trying to stay dry.  A man approached her from the hotel across the street and then it hit me that she was a prostitute. What can I do but offer her a prayer at that point?  

So by the time we got home, I had about three inches of my body that were dry, and that was where my purse had hung.  I was cold, wet, and humbled.  How heart breaking to see a poor family using a dog leash on a kid and a beautiful lady selling her body in the same day.  As the rain covered my entire body, all my stress was washed away and I was filled with compassion and perspective instead.

The Magic of Museums

On Monday I took the kids on an adventure.  We drove to Dallas and went to the Perot Museum.  I absolutely love taking my children to museums and this day was no different.  We all are on equal footing at a museum; all learning something new.  We carry a sense of wonder with us all day long on days like that.
My biggest takeaway from that museum was learning the difference between bison and buffalo.  I went to Haltom High School and proudly wore T-shirts emblazoned with buffaloes.  I stood on the sidelines during football games next to the buffalo mascot shouting "B-U-F-F-A-L-O!"  I know what a buffalo looks like; or so I thought.  I directed the kids to the buffalo at the museum and was just about to bust out a speech about buffaloes when I realized that the sign said bison.  I had to ask an employee.
"Excuse me, why does this say bison?  It's a buffalo."
Here's what I learned.
Bison live in North America.  Buffaloes live in Africa.


Notice the horns are different as well.  So when I was in high school, apparently I should have been leading the crowd in cheering "B-I-S-O-N!"  Kind of embarrassing.

Besides exploring and learning together, I also love that museums have no laundry to fold or dishes to wash.  My job is to be present as a tour guide.  There are few distractions and I can observe the kids interacting with others and learning.  I love that we weren't pressed for time like most people there.  Every parent/daycare escort seemed to be tugging on the children's hands:  "We've got to go see other stuff.  We want you to see everything and we've only got a little time left!"  Not my kids.  If they were interested in something, we stayed there until they became disinterested.

I especially enjoyed watching the kids play on the kid construction area; a replica of the Dallas skyline.  Paul chose to build towers by himself and stayed focused for 20 minutes doing that.  Claire decided to create a community.  She went to each child at the area and asked if they wanted to be on her "team."  She had them organized and gave them different roles of sorting and carrying blocks.  She was directing without being rudely bossy and she was super-excited about her team.  When we needed to move to a different exhibit she ran to inform each child of where we were going so they could follow us.  She was a motivational leader and great organizer and delegator.  Paul was focused on the task at hand and stuck with it until he was done.  I cannot wait to watch them grow up and develop their skills.

At lunchtime we ate outside in the shade.  We started feeding the pigeons our bread crusts and Paul was delighted that a little chickadee was able to nab a piece that he had thrown.  All throughout our lunch other children approached the birds stomping or waving their arms wildly.  My kids kept saying, "Why are they doing that?  They're being mean to the birds!"  I loved to see the compassion they had for animals that are often ignored or even disdained.

Museums are the places where I feel like the best mom I can be and where I am immeasurably proud of my children.  We should go more often.

Here's some photos of our adventure that day:

 The kids raced to see who could complete a dinosaur puzzle first.

Flying like a 3D bird.

 Paul's impression of an eagle.

Digging for fossils.

Craft time!

Racing a T-Rex