Margels, Bugs, and Rainbow Ladybug

It's definitely spring skiing when your entire party stops for lunch (all two of us) because you have bugs up your noses.  Bugs and skiing don't go together.

It was a good day today, warm, sunny, still snow to ski on and FFM kept asking to ski blue runs and margels.  "Where are the margels, Mommy?  I want some margels!"

Huh?   Turns out margels = MOGULS.  We finally found some and he was a happy camper.

FFM bailing on skis has been a pain in my patootie all season.  Getting up unassisted is the last hurdle he has to overcome before graduating to the next level in ski school.  Clever ski school calls it the "Rainbow Ladybug."  See, you make a nice arc from your fallen body to the tip of your ski (rainbow) and you walk your hands along it to get your body up off the ground (lovely ladybug walking along it).  Goes along with other cool skills like banana monkey/gorilla and duck walk.  We've begged, pleaded, bribed, coerced, and sung rainbow ladybug.  No go.  Suddenly last week something clicked and in typical FFM style he went from zero to total skill domination in 20 minutes.  On our first run today FFM fell and I was in front of him and didn't notice.  He's supposed to holler like mad so I'll stop, but today, not a peep.  I had gone over a rise and *gasp* I COULDN'T EVEN SEE HIM!!! ARGH!!!!  I started hiking back up the hill, hoping he hadn't gone over the side, crashed into a tree, or crashed into another skiier.  I'd taken about five steps when he popped over the rise with a giant grin on his face.

"Mommy!  I crashed and a girl asked if I needed help but I told her no because yesterday I remembered how to do Rainbow Ladybug all on my own!"

After I breathed my big sigh of relief and sorted out 4yr old syntax, we had a refresher about how to holler to stop even though he remembers how to get up on his own now.  Who knows what that poor girl thinks Rainbow Ladybug is.

Faces

The camera happened to be sitting at the kitchen table one day while we were having lunch...

His Very First Brand New Bike

Not his first bike, mind you, his first new one.  Great Big Box toy store had a bike trade in event.  We attended, and traded in the used bike that I found at a consignment sale last year.  FFM was never very enthusiastic about his gently used bike, perhaps because he didn't get to pick it out.  He DID get to pick out his new bike, and is VERY enthusiastic about it.  He and Travis put it together this weekend.

The new bike seems HUGE!  The coolest parts?  It's got a name (Rodger Dodger), orange striped tires, and a rev handle that you crank and make engine revving sounds.  Who knows if it's a decent bike or not but it has one 4.5 year old begging to ride.

Spring's First Backyard Bubble Party

Last week brought longer days and warm temperatures to the front range.  With both of those our back doorbell started getting a lot more use and FFM's buddy Emma came over nearly every afternoon after school to play.

Last year I needed to get these two out of my hair one afternoon so I invented The Bubble Party.  I dumped every bubble making toy I could find onto the deck, filled everything that needed to be filled with bubble juice to the tippy top, turned on the bubble octopus, and let 'em rip.  Who knew it would be such a success that it would become the most requested outdoor game of all time?  

The first day the air smelled warm FFM requested a bubble party and wouldn't you know it, Emma showed up at our back door as soon as school let out wondering the same... 

St Paddy's Ski Day

Tis nearing the end of ski season here, it was warm warm warm today for the wearing of the green. Our wee Irish lad donned as much green ski gear as he could and then asked for a green beer at the end of the day. What?! Where on earth did he learn about green beer?

Mean Moms Rule

We're still working on adjusting FFM's school behavior.  To do this we're ditching "Mean F" and bringing back "Nice F" who we all like better.  It's creepy how fast he can switch back and forth once he's made aware he's being mean.  Of course Travis and I chatted about what "official parenting adjustments" we should make (i.e. tell him when he's being mean), and wouldn't you know it, one of my regular weekly email newsletters directed me to this link:

Forget the Niceties

7 reasons why Mean Moms rule

by Denise Schipani

I joke sometimes that I am a Mean Mom.  Everyone has different parenting styles, as they should.  Each family shuffles around its various personalities and figures out what works best for their dynamic.  What seems like eons ago Travis and I decided what our family goals were and how we wanted to parent, and Mean Mom it is for me.  A lot of days I feel pretty harsh.  I expect a lot from FFM, I don't put up with much, and I have a pretty short fuse for misbehavior.  Since he's an only child (no similarly aged siblings to compare behavior to) I do want to make sure that I am in check, too and not expecting too much from the little bugger.

I read the article.  I read excerpts to Travis.  I am not the only Mean Mom out there!  Our parenting style is legitimized by an internet article,  Yeah!  Ok, whatever.  It was fun to read.  More fun to watch Travis practicing his "enigmatic smile fixed on the middle distance".  

Big Meanie

I'm in a bit of a tizzie today.  I was THAT parent after preschool today, the one that got pulled aside and got the CHAT from the teacher.  Apparently my child is being mean.  And has been being mean to the other kids for weeks.  WEEKS?!?!  MEAN?!?!  OK, says I, what can I do to help?  The teacher, who for the two years she's know FFM has always been brimming with kind words about him, suggested a chat at home.  I'm not sold that a chat at home on Tuesday is going to stick long enough to help when he goes back on Thursday.  And I'm not sure he'll remember on Thursday what happened on Tuesday, so our chat about not doing the "mean stuff" may not have much of an impact.  

I wish the teacher had told me sooner (and been more specific, I did ask) so we could have nipped this in the bud. Meanness is pretty out of character for FFM so  I'm guessing she let it slide.  That's what I probably would have done - waiting to see if he was just out of sorts for a day or two.  He has been cranky, even at home, and it's partnered with lots and lots of sleep,an enormous appetite and all his pants getting another inch too short. Still, that's no excuse for knocking down kids and stealing toys.

So, we'll chat.  As we have been doing.  Any suggestions from my parenting audience on ways to get a 4.5 year old to remember to be kind and thoughtful to his peers?  Like the location of the magic switch?  I know it's there somewhere...

Hailing the Advent of Spring

I am hailing the advent of spring.  In my front yard.  The backyard?  We'll hail that in a few weeks after the snow melts.  Our front yard faces south, and it gets warm and toasty when the sun shines upon it.

 Our backyard is still celebrating full on winter.  There are generous snow piles,  no green sprouts to be seen at all, but there are some patches of grass peeking through in the spots where the winter sun is starting to gain a foothold.  Best news, the path between our house and Emma's house across the greenbelt is now passable by hearty young adventurers.

All three of us embarked upon a new gardening adventure last fall.  We were enticed by the lovely displays of bulbs at our local big box hardware store and succumbed.  Grown ups dug holes, FFM plinked and plonked bulbs.

Payoff this week, our first crocus shot through a skiff of snow which has since melted, and are now blooming.  Now I understand why gardeners love bulbs, what a payoff after dreary winter!  We had snow and sleet yesterday and they remain undeterred.  Tulips and daffodils are on their way, F and I check their progress and it seems we can watch them grow.  Flowers in early March are certainly well worth the backaches we all had back in October.

QOTD

Riding in the car listening to F go on and on...fondly remembering the days when we were worried because he was so slow to have any words....

F, "Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.  Chatter, chatter, chatter, chatter, chatter, chatter, chatter, chatter, chatter, chatter, chatter. Babble, blabble, babble, babble, babble, babble, babble, babble, babble, babble, babble, babble, babble, babble, babble, babble, babble, babble, babble, babble, babble, babble. Yak, yak, yak, yak, yak, yak, yak, yak, yak, yak, yak, yak, yak, yak, yak, yak, yak, yak, yak, yak,  yak, yak, yak, yak, yak, yak, yak, yak, yak. Jabber, jabber, jabber, jabber, jabber, jabber, jabber, jabber, jabber, jabber, jabber, jabber, jabber, jabber, jabber.  Right Mommy?"

Me, "F, why don't you slow down and take a breath?"

F, "I don't need to Mommy.  I took a breath this morning."

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