Gone Hunting

 

Fifteen days ago, Handy Man left for a once and a life time hunting trip in Alaska. Seventeen days camping and floating down an Alaskan mountain river in search of a mighty moose. Seventeen days in the wilderness. Nature. Wildlife. Cooking by camp fire. No Showers. Squatting in the bushes... no thank you.

To my Handy Man Mountain Man this was a dream come true.

In the meantime, in reality, I have been balancing life at home.

Before Handy Man left, my business was on the slow side. I decided to take an intense continuing education course. I figured it would be a perfect opportunity to better my business while I was slow. I also signed our Brown Eyed Girl up for swimming lessons. It would be something fun we could do, to keep us busy.

I anticipated snuggle nights, play dates, swimming lessons and fun while Daddy was away.

Reality Check!

In the last fifteen days, Colorado was plagued with rain and flooding, I have sold two houses, struggled to schedule appointments, I have been showing houses to two new clients, went on a listing appointment, we started swimming lessons, my grandma came to visit, had to judge a horse show, the alternator went out in my suburban, daughter spent a couple days in Red and I got our first call from the Principal, Mr Blue Eyes decided it was better late than never to jump on the terrible-two's band wagon while cutting two new teeth, I tried to paint our new shed, balance nightly, and lengthy, homework assignments from my class, keep the grass mowed after a week of rain, remember to feed the fish, the dog, the horses....

I have realized in the last fifteen days that playing single mom sucks. Being a single mom is tough. And that I really need this t-shirt for the future.

About 8 days ago when I was really feeling overwhelmed, on the verge of tears, I was cleaning the house and I found this laying on the floor...

A glove.
A camo glove.
A warm, snugly mitten/glove.
With awesome features like the ability to flip back the mitten part to expose your trigger fingers to take a more accurate shot.

Quite an awesome glove.
But just one glove.

I placed the glove on the counter and I couldn't help but smile for a minute.

For you see while I was feeling overwhelmed by swimming lessons, temper tantrums, clients, business appointments, classes, homework, dishes piling up, laundry, bath time, running kids around, lining up babysitters, trying to fit in my morning runs, emails, phone calls, preschool Principals, negotiations and self medicating every night with four a glass of wine, there was a man in the Alaskan wilderness rummaging though his luggage and supplies in search of one glove. Probably cussing wildly and colorfully. Possibly some innocent camo items were thrown. Suitcase lid slammed shut repeatedly. Very colorful expressions.

Somewhere there was a man in the Alaskan wilderness who had to pack so conservatively that his poor hand was now chilly. Maybe even cold. And not just any hand, his right hand. His trigger finger.
Would he end up having to play Macgyver and use a wool sock?
Maybe...

Poor Handy Man.

I have left his glove on the counter all week. And every time I am feeling overwhelmed, I take a sip of my wine and smile. Maybe chuckle just a little.

And when that just wasn't cutting the cake four days ago...

I knew a little retail therapy would brighten my day and alleviate the stress! And in the spirit of hunting, I found this perfect dark, olive green, little purchase!!

Sea Horse

I am not a fan of parents that over-schedule their tots. There I said it! 

Having formerly spent 6+ years of my life working with an elite group over achievers - who I still love dearly - it always boggled my mind how they coped. How their parents coped. How they maintained 4.0 GPA's while playing the flute, running track, being president of the yearbook committee, playing varsity volleyball, church choir, volunteering at animal rescue facilities on Saturdays, showing lambs in 4-H and showing horses competitively around the country while applying to Stanford and Harvard with a smile networking on Facebook and blogging regularly every day. I admired them. I secretly looked up to them - I'm lucky if I can manage answering all of my emails in a single day. Every day. Consistently.

I feel like our kids are so over-scheduled. But that's me.

I struggle with how I feel about really young kids playing soccer and t-ball and the likes of other team sports at such a young age. There are a lot of working parts in team sports. A lot to know about the game. My Brown Eyed Girl finds it frustrating just changing her Barbie's dress by herself and she dresses herself everyday.

I have always been a competitive person. I hope my kids are competitive in life. Setting goals, working hard and obtaining their dreams. I think a little healthy competition is good for the soul. I hope they play sports like I did. Like Handy Man did. But I question if they can handle the pressure of winning and performing - at 4.

A lot of my Brown Eyed Girl's friends are enrolled in extracurricular activities and have been since last year. Some of them participate in several different activities. Dance on Mondays, Soccer on Tuesdays, Swimming on Thursdays... and they are FOUR!


The kids talk about their activities. The parents talk about what they do or don't have their their kids involved in. Every time I find my self getting pulled into the conversation, "We just signed Billy up for t-ball and Sally is in dance and tumbling every week." I find my self asking a lot of questions and feeling like I need to validate why my Brown Eyed Girl has not been enrolled in dance since she could walk and Spanish classes every Tuesday for the last 6 months. 

I feel like I have to validate why she's not... and every time I over analyze that word - validate - I wonder if in reality the parents are validating themselves. Through their over-scheduled children.

Regardless, my Brown Eyed Girl as started asking about "lessons."
Specifically, swimming lessons.

While I hedge on jumping on the extracurricular band wagon, of all the activities for her to deeply and passionately dream about doing, swimming lessons, is actually the most sense-able. It's a life skill. It is a skill that saves lives. It makes sense.

So after a little dialogue with Handy Man we both agreed that swimming lessons was a smart, reasonable activity for our Brown Eyed Girl to try.

So we signed her up for "lessons."

The swimming facility offered her a free assessment to place her in a class that was right for her.I thought that was brilliant (que insecure first time mother personality)

Meet her state of the art swimming facility...

Heated.
Indoor.

Salt water pool. 


Little waiting room for parents and siblings and a large glass window for viewing.

Amazing

My Brown Eyed Girl's excitement quickly changed to nervous jitters as her name was called and she had her assessment day.

Within a few minutes she was warming up and showing off her skills. Top notch skills obtained from 45 minutes in a chilly bath where mom or dad forgot she was still in the tub while watching tv and unwinding after dinner let her play a little longer.

I proudly watched, snapping pictures for the baby book, smiling ear to ear as I watched her swim with the teacher one-on-one. No need for the shirt folks, you can spot this first milestone mom from a mile away.

Her best demonstration of skill...

Jumping in the Pool!!!

In fifteen minutes, my Brown Eyed Girl was done and she was told she was able to skip level one, Goldfish, and move right on to being a Sea Horse!

Whoooo call an Olympic coach and lets get this girl signed up for 5 day a week private lessons. Handy Man rev up the tractor we are putting in a pool!

She loved her assessment and was very excited to start lessons. Every Tuesday for 30 minutes this little sea horse is learning to swim! She is learning to float and survival swim. Because swimming is a life skill. It saves lives. And it's fun.

And someday she will be an Olympic swimmer.

Future Farmer

Being a farmer is a lot of work. Day in and day out mending fences, tending to livestock, growing crops. It's a good thing a farmer has such great resources like tools and tractors and trailers to make their work easier.

One day your car is running great to and from town.

And the next... a broke down hunk of metal. 

But since you are a Farmer, you can just hook up the old tractor and trailer, load up the car and trailer it closer to your shop for repairs. If you can't fix it, off to town you can take it with no trouble.

Before you know it it's up and running again. 

The best part about having dependable vehicles, tractors and tools comes in to play when you are checking livestock. Every once in a while you might come across a down or sick cow that needs veterinarian attention right away.

But as a Farmer, you have the tractor and the trailer to get your prized milk cow to the vet safely. 

When you live in the country, it can be a long drive to town and the vet's office.

There there Bessy.

It's good to be a Farmer and have a reliable tractor and trailer to make life easier. 

Glad you are better Bessy. Just sit back and enjoy the ride home. 

Red, Yellow, Green

My Brown Eyed Girl's new Pre-K classroom uses the Red Light, Yellow Light, Green Light behavior chart each day. A completely foreign system to this first-time-having-a-school-aged-child mom that I am. The nuts and bolts of program is that each child starts the day on Green. Green is when a student demonstrates appropriate behavior and follows the expectations of the classroom and school.

Then, based on the days behavior and how she handles herself in different situations she can either remain in Green or sink to Yellow or Red. Yellow is a warning level. It is when a student begins to forget to follow the expectations of the classroom and school or demonstrates and minor infraction.

Red on the other hand is when a student repeatedly demonstrates inappropriate behavior and repeatedly forgets to follow the expectations. It can also include when a student demonstrates a major infraction.

Major infractions... like lying, negative physical behavior, stealing...

The concept keeps the kids accountable for their actions and how they interact with their peers. A student can always work their way back to green if they make mistakes throughout the day. It is important for them to recognize their mistakes and change for the better.

The very first day that the teacher's implemented the program, our Brown Eyed Girl came home and was on yellow. First day?!?! We are off to a good start... Actually, all but three of the kids in her class ended up on yellow that first day. 

My Brown Eyed Girl is very competitive.

She was not happy to be on yellow the first day. For the next week or two, she came home from school eager to tell us how good was and that she ended up each day on Green.

Well until THIS week.

Monday, I get a call from the sitter to ask me if the school had called me yet. Oh great! did she get hurt? I was informed that my Brown Eyed Girl ended up getting RED! RED?!? She got RED?

Apparently, she was in the bathroom and drank water out of the sink - thank you Handy Man - and then spit it at a classmate. When confronted, she seemed to suffer from temporary amnesia. So when she lied, automatic Red.

Handy Man and I spent that night explaining that we are to never spit at people. More importantly we talked about telling the truth. I told her that when she is not nice, she will still get in trouble. But when she lies about it, she gets in even more trouble. She said she would never spit again.

The next day, her teacher emailed and said that each day was a new day. Wednesday my Brown Eyed Girl would start the day fresh and on Green. She was excited about the news and smiled assuring me she would have a great day.

About 1:30 pm on Wednesday, I get a call from the Principal to inform me that my Brown Eyed Girl had been sent to the office. The little s&%$ kicked a boy on the playground and went strait to RED and was sent to the office. The Principal went over what had happened and talked with my Brown Eyed Girl on how to be a good friend.

After hanging up with the Principal, I had a lot if inner turmoil as a mom.

I felt angry. Why can't she just be sweet and nice and keep her hands to herself? I am going to kick her fanny.

I felt embarrassed. The teachers probably think she is a brat. She is the "one" they have to watch. The bad kid in class. I am the mom of the trouble maker in class.

And then I felt ashamed for feeling embarrassed. It's not about me. I need to not be embarrassed but focus on fixing the problem. She needs some consequences.

Wednesday was going to be her very first swimming lesson and she was so excited. The angry, iron-fist part of me was screaming, "She ain't go'en!" The weak, push-over part of me was muttering over and over, "We already paid for the lesson. It's her first one. She has been looking forward to this for so long. I do not want to make that call and cancel the very first lesson..."

I just didn't know what to do. I mean I knew what I should probably do but I just couldn't do it.

After picking her up from school and on the drive home we were discussing the event.  I decided that with out a doubt she needed to lose out on something that truly meant a lot to her. I did not want anymore Red days. She really needed to feel the consequences. She needed to learn. I wanted to give her a choice and let her pick her punishment. Place the responsibility in her hands. Lord knows I didn't want to hear a 'you don't love me' from her.

I thought of the things that would leave the most impact on her. I gave her a choice. Miss your swimming lesson or lose all of your dress-up stuff until you can get back on Green.

When I presented her with her choice she cried. She cried real, torn tears. It was hard to bear. After some more talking, she made her choice to lose her beloved dress-up wardrobe until she could get back on Green. We got home and through more tears packed all of her dress-up clothes into a plastic bag and stored them in my closet.

As I watched her that night swimming at her very first lesson I was so happy. I was happy that I was able to handle the situation reasonable and as non-emotional as possible and let her have a part in choosing the punishment. I feel like there was less wining (if that is actually possible) and because she chose, she knew it was non negotiable.

On Friday, she was back on Green.

Who Ya Gonna Call

Ghostbusters!

When we were kids, this movie and these guys were cool!

If someone said, "Who ya gonna call?" Everyone around you would chime, "Ghostbusters!!" A special effects comedy that greatly impacted the 80's generation.  

Against my better judgement, Handy Man has been letting our Brown Eyed Girl and Mr Blue Eyes watch Ghostbusters. And just recently I realized ha had recorded both movies because my Brown Eyed Girl requested to watch it while she played the other day. It is her number one request for snuggle time movie each night. I. Just. Don't. Get. It...

She is obsessed with Ghostbusters.

So much in fact that yesterday in the car she informed me that she wanted to be a Ghostbuster for Halloween.

A what?!?!

Ghostbuster. Not a princess. Not a cowgirl. Not a Barbie. A GHOSTBUSTER!

Do they even still make Ghostbuster costumes? I mean Ghostbusters came out 30 years ago! Holy Chit friends - I AM GETTING OLD!

At nap time, I went searching for Ghostbuster costumes expecting to pay a fortune considering they must be vintage, right?!?!

Surprisingly enough, Target among several other costume sites sell Ghostbuster costumes for around $30. Also surprisingly, they sell a boy and a girl version of the costume. Even better right?!

Boy version...

Tan little jumper, inflatable back pack and ghost gun looking thingy... perfect, just like I imagined.

Girl version...

 

Well there was this one with a cute little tan dress jumper and ball cap.

Or this one. Although the skirt is a little skimpy. Those have to be her own boots. But not too bad. 

But am I missing something? Cause those girl costumes don't appear to have the same inflatable ghost backpack - sorry Proton Pack - as the boy costumes do. What the heck? Well that's dumb. 

Keep on searching, there has to be a girl costume with a Proton Pack...
Oh wait here are some!

Are you KIDDING me? So in order to get the Proton Pack (minus the laser wand thingy) I have to get the cheap (and I am not talking price) "adult" girl version. Uggggg

What about the little girls?

Even the dog costume gets a cool Proton Pack

 Ohhhh Pinterest?

Hmmmm maybe not, but I could make her a trap thingy out of a shoe box, some black electrical tape and such. Making a mental note.

Hey! Oh Mr Blue Eyes!!! Want to be Slimer? Oh the beauty of coordinating outfits!

Boji the Ghost?

A Ghostbuster...

Why can't she just want to be Wonder Woman?

Cause she ain't afraid of no ghost!