a cure for the grown up grumpies

The other morning the boys were up and at 'em when daddy got up for work. This is very early in my book. I lack the gift of being a morning person. I'm a person who needs a slow wind-up to the day. Hitting the ground running is difficult. I realize that I am quickly approaching the end of my season for slow wind-up mornings. Next year J will start Kindergarten, B will be in morning preschool and I will start working. Needless to say, I'm trying to milk my slow mornings for all their worth.

Back to the other morning. Waking up at 5:30 is painful. It normally results in mommy becoming very short and grumpy. So this particular morning I was ready for some real grumping. I hadn't even had time to fix my coffee before the boys were running into the living room excited for the day to start. They weren't even remotely grumpy...instead they were full of life! I was dragging through my cloud of funk, feeling sorry for myself and wondering if I could put cartoons on and climb back between the sheets when something broke through the cobwebs.

"Mommy!" yelled J, the sky is dark blue and I can see the moon like it's nightime!" Both boys ran outside to stand in the unfamiliar "light" of dawn. I followed them outside into the crisp air which quickly began to clear my funk. We stood outside and compaired the shades of blue, yellow and pink as the sun began to rise. We stood in wonder at the bright North star that shone even as the sun rose. We watched until the moon began to fade and the coolness of dawn moved into the warmth of morning.

I stopped to laugh at myself and my "whining". As always the excitement and wonder of my children's new experience has reached in and changed the posture of my heart. I was struck with the thought that when adult grumpiness overtakes me....I simply need to stop and look at the world around me through the eyes of child.

stuff

I was sweating the small stuff today for a moment. Gazing around the house at the cars, legos, tools, playdough, cardboard boxes, etc. that make up the boys playthings. Tonight I was reminded that I started this blog to celebrate the things for which I am thankful. Tonight I am thankful that my boys can play...that they can squish playdough with strong hands, build cities and roads with blocks, run to chase frogs and each other and even when their voices are raised at each other in the middle of conflict....I am thankful that those voices are there...loud and clear, articualte in thought..easily heard and understood.

Ah yes, the toys underfoot, well, I remind myself today that it is only for a season. Soon enough the "toys" will be too big to be underfoot...more than likely they will require some sort of fuel and have to be parked outside the house! So for today I will pick playdough off the seat of my pants and put a band-aid on my foot for a lego-induced wound and smile and think, "Don't blink...it will be gone faster than you know it! It's just stuff"

B with his "robot" hand

J driving his sidewalk chalk race car!

I love imaginations!

A and I sat outside tonight and watched J fight imaginary bad guys with his sword (sprinkler head). The bad guys only seemed to prevail once as we noticed J sprawled flat on the grass clutching his stomach. Not for long...he was up again and fighting fiercely to defend his honor. B meanwhile sat and sought out bad guys with his toy transformer in the deep, dark forest (glade of flowering weeds!)

I recently read a book about the developmental stages of boys. It helped me continue to relax as I parent two very active, creative and dramatic boys. They are going to slay dragons, shoot canons, guns, bows and arrows. They will continue to crash cars, bikes, skateboards and each other. I know a day will come when I will be sitting on the sidelines of a racetrack while a son of mine races some sort of motorized something...biting my nails and praying for God's protection. I will do so with not only fear in my heart but joy, knowing that they never lost that zest for life!

Dear J and B, may you never lose your passionate imaginations!

we've been having fun!

I guess we just had too much fun for mommy to stop and blog during Spring Break! (I do hope all our future Spring Breaks will be as fun...we have many ahead!) The highlight for the week was definately the Orlando Science Center. A great mecca for the 3 to 7 year old crowd! Their kids section was a great hands on experience as you can see:

They also were hosting a "Robot" exhibit (centered around the movie). J has definately inherited the gadget bug from his daddy. He was all over the building your own robot. Of course he wanted to go in and help the highschoolers who were building their bots for the battle of the robot event that is happening in a week. The center had set up a live workshop within the exhibit and J was ready to run right under the caution tape and get working! He was highly disappointed that they weren't letting everyone come in and build. The big boys bots look quite a bit more interesting than the plastic gadgets he had just assembled. In fact they looked like they were made out of many objects he's seen around daddy's shop and mommy's art room (we'd better watch out!)

School is back in swing and before you know it...summer will be here. I'm definately trying to savour the gentle rythm of this time before we step into elementary school next year.