Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Some Updates

The baby birds that have appeared here as eggs and then here at two weeks, are baby House Finches. They now have feathers and are starting to explore the area immediately outside of their nest. They will take flight soon, probably by the end of week. The parents are already looking to the future by checking out the real estate in the twin planter across the porch. Before long, there will be a new nest, new eggs and new babies. There doesn’t seem to be much sentimentality about this brood. There are no baby books, no recorded milestones, no sadness over lost babyhood. Just the simple cycle of life observed – babies born, babies grown, babies taking flight on their own.

Speaking of being sentimental, the lost notebook has been found. My husband pulled it out of the junk drawer where he had placed it for me. The fact that I have a junk drawer is just one of the many bits of evidence that prove I am turning into my mother.

And the friend who took advantage of my good nature and got her two minutes of fame in the blogosphere, returned the favor last week by hosting Dean for an eleven hour play date. He had a great time.

Thanks for all the supportive comments that you have left when I was in Mommy Meltdown mode. The last half of the past week and this week have felt more manageable due to play dates, babysitters and camp. I really did not want to have the boys over-scheduled this summer but then they ended up under-scheduled – which was no good for anyone. I felt awful for my lack of patience and the striking realization that I’m just not the type of mom who can have all three of her children home together for too many days in a row. And by too many, I mean three. Possibly four if a weekend is included. They really require more stimulation than what I am able to provide – I’m really just not that exciting.

Nor am I in control of my children or my emotions. I had just made peace with how much television my kids were watching until last night when Jess was helping me with dinner. He had just finished watching Fetch with Ruff Ruffman and if you are familiar with the show, you will get this reference. Last night, we were making pizza and I was feeling a bit frustrated with all my “help” and the fact that my husband was not home yet from work. We came up short on the cheese until I dug around the fridge and found more. “Yeah, “ Jess exclaims, “Mom, you get bonus points for finding the cheese even when you are crabby!” Well, at least I know I am appreciated for my great skill of finding things.

And a final thought to leave with you: Now that I have been blogging for a few months, this seems like a nice time to evaluate this blog’s direction. A few weeks ago, a friend and I were discussing what I should do with the rest of my life. She suggested I start a blog. I laughed a bit and confessed that I actually do have a blog right here in my secret corner of the blogosphere. She, pointing out my degree and expertise, recommended that I write more about parenting and child development. Laughable, I know, after those two aforementioned posts but still a possibility for the future. When two of my children are in the care of the public school system for more than six hours a day, I may feel like more of an “expert.” But until then, what sort of topics would you like to read more about from me?

3 comments:

Marty, a.k.a. canape said...

Well, I'm a sucker for a personal blog. I really enjoy hearing about what people might otherwise think is mundane. However, I can use all the child development help I can get, so I wouldn't stop reading if that is the direction you took.

In my old house, I had a house finch nest that stayed on top of the light fixture in the carport. Every year they came back and laid 3-5 clutches a year. I loved watching the baby birds grow up over and over again.

1blueshi1 said...

sweetie, whatevah you wanna write, I want to read!
also, if you want to come counsel my kids, that would be great, too. I have driven them from the room with my cranked up "When I Grow Up" by the Pussycat Dolls, and the amount of relief I feel is really completely indecent.
as is the puerile enjoyment I derive from singing, "When I grow up I wanna have boobies!!!"

Anonymous said...

Ditto--I like the personal stories. And I always love a mom whose kids are fans of Ruff Ruffman (my boys LOVE Fetch!).