Things That Made Me Smile Today

A routine Monday at home means lots of cleaning and planning/strategizing for the week. It also means lots of time and conversation with the littlest Nielsons. In which they say all kinds of things that make me smile.

In regards to our local historical museum being closed on Monday, my two year old may say:

"Jesus is opening the museum so we can go pet the baby sheep because they are SOOOO cute!!!"

My four year old Sweetest P may demand my attention so I can watch her newest talent:

"MOM, watch me hip-scotch!" (Hop scotch? That looks an awful lot like skipping?) Either way, I may have asked her a dozen times what it was she was doing just so I could hear her say "hip-scotch" one more time!

Car Conversations

C: "HONK-shoo, HONK-shoo, HONK-shoo." (Great snoring impressions for a just two year old, I might add. I wish you had the audio…)

Mom: "Oh, are you taking a nice little rest until we get home?"

C: "No. I honk-shooing."

P: "Oh, I thought you were snore-shooing."

"On a Line"

A conversation with my 8 year old in the car on the way home might go something like this.

I was explaining to her how my school, a Montessori school, works, and what the environment is like. I was telling her that very rarely are all the kids in the classroom doing exactly the same thing at the same time.

She asks, "So if it were a line, like 10-1, what would it be?"

I missed the "line" part of the question, and am thinking she means something about time, from 10am to 1 pm. But I'm still lost, so I dig deeper to understand her question.

"You know, if it were a line. Like 10-1, would it be like a 9?"

I hear the line part of the question this time. And her example- a 9. And it all makes sense. She's asking, in her 8 year old way, if it were a 1-10 scale, would it be at a 9 (with all the kids doing different things)?

Love the way her mind works!

Carseats. It's about time.

With your first kid, you are oh so eager for each milestone. Including carseats. (Who knew that was a milestone?) You begrudgingly pay for the convertible carseat after what seems such a short time in the infant carseat just because you are eager to turn that kid around and see what it is they do in the car all the time.

The second kid isn't in quite such a rush because that means the purchase of yet another carseat. But alas, you can only squeeze them into that infant carseat for so long.

By the time the third kid comes around, the first infant carseat is kind of trashed and the whole carseat system has been overhauled since your first baby. (Turns out carseats are updated and outdated about as fast as computers these days.) So you find yourself buying a whole spanking new carseat for this third baby who you are determined deserves some new things of their very own. And that new and improved carseat lasts longer than previous models. So this kid gets almost double the time in infant carseat. But, inevitably, the older kids are beginning to outgrow their seats and move into boosters, so you buy some more, spare yourself from totaling how many carseats you've purchased at this point, and shift everyone around.

The fourth kid? Yikes. More than two years later, you find yourself in the midst of this mess:

If you count carefully, that's four carseats in various stages of disassembly and disarray. And by now, shifting everyone around, cleaning, reassembly and installation ends up being an all day affair!

After a week of temps reminiscent of our days in the frozen tundra, resulting heavy bulky coats that make it nearly impossible to buckle a kid in a carseat, our 8th carseat of our parenting career finally arrived on our doorstep. Which means, at 2 years, 1 month and 3 days, it's finally time to move this cutie out of her "baby seat" and turn her around!

And just in time to make room for that puffy coat!

The Most Wonderful Time of Year

(Except for Summer. Let that be clear!)

Baby, it's cold outside! No joke.

And I am doing my best to not complain about it. No one likes a complainer. And you can only read so many Facebook posts about the weather before it gets old. AND, I'm from Minnesota. And proud of it. And therefore immune to cold because after all, no one knows cold like Minnesotans, right? As natives of the frozen tundra, we scoff at the top news stories proclaiming record breaking temps of -13 degrees. Coloradans still don't know real cold.

But as I keep reminding people, there is a reason I left Minnie.

But truth be told, there was something good for my soul in shoveling the driveway this morning in the magical winter wonderland. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! The light snow, cool air, the monotony of the shovel motions and the clang of the metal blade on the concrete, followed by hot chocolate and Christmas carols invigorated me, gave me cause to believe Christmas really is just around the corner, and most importantly transported me across decades and nearly a thousand miles like none other.

LOVE living in Colorado, but my heart still calls Minnesota home!

Things I Never Thought I'd Say

#4572:
"Did you just wipe your toothbrush on her bottom?"

So thankful the answer to that one was no. I don't always get so lucky.

Toilet Paper. Like it. Awesome!!!

Potty training MUST be easier by the 4th time around, right? I would like to say I am an expert at this subject by now, but the truth is that I suck at potty training. Thankfully, my kids have all learned to use the bathroom in spite of me.

It appears the 4th one will be no different. I think she's teaching herself, actually. I pulled the little potty out several months ago, just so she could warm up to it. But I've never been so presumptuous (ambitious) as to say, "We're potty training." And yet, several times a day she tells me, "Go potty. BADLY!" Usually as I'm herding all the cats kids out the door. Or when we're in the middle of the grocery store. And when she's first learning, I can't tell her no, can I? Even if I know there's only about a 10% chance she'll actually go?

In any case, she loves to sit on the potty. Whether it produces results or not. And her motivation to go? Toilet paper. And washing her hands. Really, I thought all kids were motivated by candy or other treats. Not this one. She just really wants the toilet paper. Ranking right near the top of "Things I Never Thought I'd Say" is my latest mantra: "You can have the toilet paper as soon as you go potty. No toilet paper until you go pee or poop." To which my little OCD hygienist responds, "WANT IT!! Toilet paper. Like it. AWESOME!! Wash hands!!!" In varying decibel levels.

Good thing she's cute!