A good mommy moment

I don't think I'm a bad mom. I manage to feed and clothe my children on most days. I occasionally bathe them. We read books. And play neighbor. (shoot me, please shoot me). But usually I don't feel like a great mom. I feel like I put them in front of the tv too much, or shoo them away too much. Sometimes I feel like I should really be on the floor with them just enjoying that crap out of them because this is such a fleeting time in their lives. Or at least my house should be cleaner if I'm not spending time with them.

Yesterday I had 2 good Mommy moments. That's when you do something and immediately think, "Wow. That was awesome. Good Mommy." I know. 2 in one day. I should just take early retirement and move to Florida now, because it ain't going to get better than this.

Mommy moment #1: I walked into the family room and found Lily elbow deep into my glass of ice water. I took it away from her, gently chiding her that we Do. Not. Play. In. People's. Drinks. (we are barely teetering on the edge of civilized society over here). She was, understandably, PISSED OFF. She was stomping and screaming and pulling out her hair and just generally in the throes of a huge tantrum. Rather than ignoring the tantrum (which I usually do), I got down on her level and looked in her eyes and said, "Are you mad? Are you mad at Mommy for taking your ice? Can you say, 'I am mad'?" And Lily nodded and paused her screaming and said, "I mad". I repeated my annoying sentence, and she really calmed down and said again, with more feeling, "I mad." And then I told her I had a book about being mad, and we dug out the Little Critter book, I Was So Mad, and we read it. By then end she was totally calm and using the new words, "I mad." It was a delightful way to end a tantrum and to teach her how to use words instead of screaming. Good Mommy.

Mommy moment #2: Andrew has really been bugging me to teach him how to read. Apparently there is a little girl in his preschool class that reads aloud to the class, and it has really inspired him. Of course, he thinks I just have to reach in the back of his mouth and turn on the "reading" switch. So knowing my easily frustrated boy, I've been trying to mentally prepare him that it will take a lot of work to learn to read. We got some sight words books to start with. We tried to read the first book ("I see cats. I see dogs." with big pictures of cats and then dogs...you get the idea). He immediately won't sound out the word see and throws a huge hissy fit. We put the books away. A few minutes later I asked him to show me how to do a "v" sit. He leans back on his arms and easily lifts his legs into the air. I cannot do this. I have no abdominal muscles. None. It's amazing that I can lift myself out of bed in the morning. So I get act a little frustrated. And I said, "It really bugs me that you can do this so easily but I can't even do it a little. This must be what you feel like when you try to read. I can do it so easily but its really hard for you." And Andrew said, "But the V-sit is so easy, you just do this." And he throws those legs up in the air. And I replied, "But reading is just so easy..." and I picked up a book and started to read. I literally saw the light bulb go off in his head. He then said, "How can you get better at the V-sit? Will you ever be able to do it?" So I explained again how everything takes practice and it just takes a while to build up to it. And he brought me his stack of reading books and asked to try again. And we got all the way to book 6 with him being very willing to sound stuff out. Good mommy.



In other updates...

Andrew has made his decision for the election. After took him to the polls with us for the primaries, he's been very interested. Especially because Jeff and I are registered with different parties. ("teams" as we've explained to Andrew). He's been putting a lot of thought into which candidate he likes better. We had to explain that Senator McCain and John McCain are the same person. We have yet to explain the House of Reps to him...we figure learning about Senate and presidency is enough for a 4 year old. Anyway, I know you're dying to know. Andrew is voting for John McCain. Because, "John is my middle name. So I'm voting for John McCain." I knew I should have pushed harder for Andrew Barack to be his name...

Michael is still not sleeping. I hate this.

Lily is seriously so cute I think I die a little each day dressing her. I love boy clothes...but I am really enjoying dressing Lily.

I have started to exercise. Because I'm having irregular heart murmurs at night. They scare me. But since I don't have a doctor (or time to go to the doctor), I'm going to exercise instead. I figure it will either solve the problem or kill me. Each option sounds appealing depending on the type of day I'm having.