In just a few months Elise will start preschool. I will miss my constant companion. She rarely misbehaves when we are out running errands. In fact, I think she enjoys a trip to Target almost as much as I do. Maybe she loves errands because when she is sitting in the cart facing me she has my full attention. She jabbers on about this and that and I talk to her about the virtues of Greek yogurt over the ones with the cartoon packaging. We give and take, her and I. I will miss her but I am also so excited for her to start school. She loves to be around people even though she can be quite shy. She is always asking to go to drop in care at the Y, “Play with friends at Kids Stuff?!”
Bittersweet is this whole raising children thing.
Yesterday Michael chose a career path and Patrick was invited to a birthday party. They grow up so quick. All three of them pissed me off to the point of giving me a stress migraine at swim lessons last night but after dinner (which they didn’t like so they went to bed with only a few cherries in their bellies) Michael helped clean up toys without a complaint. Patrick scrubbed the kitchen table and chairs clean, which is helpful for me and fun for him because he gets to use the coveted squirt bottle. He was even kind and generous enough to let Elise work alongside him. Although at one point he said, “I know! How about I squirt and Elise scrubs!” Tim and I both replied “No.” in unison from the kitchen sink where we were finishing up the dishes.
They grow up so quickly.
So today, while looking over the following photos, I am making a pledge to myself. I will do my best to keep perspective about how fleeting this time with them is. Yes they can be little shits but they are our little shits and I want to soak up as much time with them as I can before they realize that I am just a Mom who blogs instead of doing laundry and I am not the all-knowing, Super Woman they think I am. Also… I am going to make myself take even more photos because I seriously don’t want to forget the day that Elise and I bought flowers for the front yard while wearing a hand-me-down sweatshirt from her brothers.
I also don’t want to forget that she chose a $2 watering can that was pink with purple stars on it as a reward for being such a patient helper while I loaded bags and bags of rock onto a flat-bed. Or how clever she thought she was when she learned how to use the rain barrel I installed.
And boy was she mad when she tried to carry the over flowing watering can over to her newly potted flowers and all the water kept spilling out.
She was concentrating so hard, and was so frustrated that she gave me the stink eye when she saw that I was documenting her trials and tribulations.
In the end there was enough water in the can to get this shot.
But by the time I moved around to the other side of her, the watering can was empty.
She filled her can, frustratingly carried it the 5 feet from the rain barrel to the flower-pot a dozen more times before she was content that her flowers were sufficiently hydrated before she would come inside for lunch.
Yeah. More photo taking, more time with kids because they grow so quick.
