A Day with the Kids

With Dorothy out with the flu, I was charged with watching the kids.

Up and At'em - wake up the two older ones for school and go take a shower...out of shower and washed, but kids are still on bed (Ethan) or in bed (Naomi)...play "throw the clothes" with kids to motivate them to get dressed...Ethan out to eat a quick breakfast of cereal, milk and breakfast bar...Naomi joins the breakfast roundtable
quick wash up and brush up...get vitamins on the way out the door...Ryan wakes to catch us leaving; I take him crying to Mom...arrive by foot at school; we talk about the phrase "friend or foe"...hug goodbye with kids; Naomi and Ethan hug each other too...back home again

Ryan's Tumbling Class - class of about a dozen kids...Ryan's in the parent participation class...actually that's a good name for the class since I think I participated more in the warm ups than did Ryan (his idea of stretching is to bounce around like a pinball)...teacher says, "why is it that the kids perform better when the dads are around?"...I ask him if he wants his snack (a granola bar); his answer is "no"

Shopping for Printer Cartridges - we make a Staples stop...Ryan asks, "why are we here?" about every 2 minutes...we buy our cartridges and leave...when in the car, Ryan asks for the granola bar and asks, "why are we leaving?"...anyway, I learned that Ryan's favorite word is "why?"

Pick Up Ethan at School - we take the stroller to pick up Ethan before lunch...before we head out Ryan manages to grab a rice cracker snack to take with him...I tell him that he has to share with Ethan...we arrive at the school and Ryan asks, "where's Ethan?"...I tell him that we're a little early...actally we're the only ones in the courtyard area wich surprises me; I thought there would be a few parents milling about, but not a soul and it's only 10 minutes early...we go and sit on the bench by the giant pine tree...Ryan surprises me with this zinger, "Dada, why is there poo-poo in the tree?"...I had no idea what he meant until I look up... the tree has large dark brown, cylindrical pine cones in clusters...oh, what must go through the mind of a nearly 3-year old...Ethan comes out with his class, gives his teacher a leg hug and runs to us... we walk home with Ryan holding onto his rice crackers (he does share them with Ethan when we get home)

Make Lunch for the Kids - play with the kids...check work email and phone messages at work and make some phone calls...make lunch from leftovers...continue to play with kids and keep each other occupied

Pick Up Naomi at School - Take Ryan to school hoping that he falls asleep...success, he nods off in the stroller just as we're arriving at the school...Naomi turns the corner walking with Katrina just like the last time I picked her up (they must be best friends)...this time she spots me and seems to say something like, "there's my dad over there" as she shoots me a sideways glance...Naomi is very chatty talking about the gross boys...we arrive home and Ethan and mom are playing Labyrinth

Take Naomi to Choir Practice - Ethan and I take Naomi to choir practice...we get there right on time, but again I realize that "on time" is actually early...Ethan and I wait in the car for the 75 minutes...I do some work and read about 25 pages of "Totto-chan" by Testuko Kuroyanagi...Ethan works on homework that is due on Friday (he gets to where he is about two-thirds complete)

Shop and Pick Up Dinner on the Way Home - we get take-out at a Chinese restaurant that we've never visited before...we also shop for milk and ham as requested by Dorothy and on impluse buy jello, salami and a couple other items...stand in the 15 or less items behind someone who has well over 30 items (I think they were counting the 10 yogurts as one item)...finally we're home for dinner, washing up, baths and bed time to get ready for a new day