Time-Out Kids

When last I posted, Jack had lost 17 toys in the Flasher Wars. He now has zero toys left in his room. That's right - zero. My patience is wearing thin. Jack challenges me with every passing moment. He doesn't care one bit that his toys get taken away, or that he doesn't get to sleep with Blue Blanket when he misbehaves. And honestly, it's pretty frustrating. I have a premonition that he will be the Time-Out kid at preschool.

Ethan self-imposed a time out on the weekend. Jack was in trouble for throwing a ball in the house and hitting me hard in the head, so he was occupying the Naughty Mat for 3 minutes. Ethan decided that since he had WANTED to be the one who hit me with the ball, he'd better sit there and think about what he COULD have done. He found his own Naughty Corner and used his 4 minutes to create a song. It goes a-little somethin' like this:

"I am so Naugh-TEE,
Oh, I am so Naugh-TEE,
I am so Naugh-TEE,
Yeah I am SO Naughty."

Maybe that's the trick with Jack. Maybe I should just wait for him to decide when he needs a time out??? Yeah. Pfthht.

I think he's too smart for his own good. The other day, Jack slammed Ethan's door, which caused the baby gate behind Jack's door to crash down and jam Jack's door shut. We were all on the "good" side of the door, but still I had no idea how I was going to get in there. After trying for some time I figured I would have to crawl out Ethan's window and in through Jack's. The dilemma here is that if the children witnessed me in this cat burglar manoeuver they may take it upon themselves to try it sometime. So I thought again, and eventually by using a long twisted thin stick and sacrificing the skin on most of my fingers, I wedged and levered the baby gate out of the way enough to get my hand in there and get the door open. Well, later that night when Jack and I were fighting again, he decided the way to keep me out was to wedge the baby gate against his door. So he did. I did what any sane mother would do - I broke his door down. Well, the handle anyway. And the baby gate now resides in the garage.

We had my company picnic last weekend, and although it was raining, the kids and I had a great time. We mini-golfed a million times, took part in the relay races (egg & spoon, bean bag toss, ring toss, and sack race), and had great BBQ food. Also, I got to see a bunch of people I hadn't seen in ages, so all in all it was a lot of fun.

On Friday night I dropped the kids at Grandma Sugar's for a sleepover and I went to the movies. I saw Stardust, which I LOVED! It reminded me of Princess Bride - funny, sweet, magical. I had taken the kids to Susan's because I was volunteering at the Crescent Beach Triathlon. It was a good race, and I got experience body marking, crowd and car control, directing athletes as they came out of transition, and last but not least transition security to ensure nobody walked off with one of the athlete's bikes. I was happy to help out in all areas, as I am trying to build my sport volunteer portfolio in preparation for the Olympics. The more I volunteer, the better my chances at getting a good gig during the 2010 Winter Olympics. I will need more winter events, but I can get in on some hockey tournaments this winter and hopefully some other sports too.

Wow, I just thought ahead about how I will be AWOL as a mom for 2 weeks at least during the Olympics. Ethan will be 7-1/2 and Jack almost 6. I think I just shocked myself silly. Anytime I think ahead like that I can't even imagine what life will be like. Before I had kids, I always heard people say "they grow up so fast" but honestly it has really hit home for me now that I'm a mom myself. I guess I should be more positive. I have good kids and although I am frustrated (a lot lately) every difficulty proves itself to be just a stage.

Yours humbly until next week,
Tamsin