Summer Parenting
John David is now 1 whole month old!! He has grown enough to way make up for being born the smallest brother. The boy really is 23 1/2 inches long. He must be. His 0/3 month sleepers are getting too short. Can you believe that?
Summer is going full force. I suppose it has been for a while….only I am just now noticing it. Another crazy thing to blame on my postpartum state.
Parenting during the summer is a very different thing than parenting during the school year.
During the school year we get a lot of, “Can we go to the park?”
“Did you drive to pick us up, or do we have to walk……aw man!!!”
” I hate homework. Homework is just the dumbest thing ever.”
In the summer, we get a lot of:
“Can I play the computer?” No. (I’m tired of them running my battery down. Plus it has access to the internet and therefore must be watched closely).
“Can I play on your iPad?” No. (same as computer)
“Can I play the PSP?” Sure. (That’s Alan’s old handheld playstation. It’s very out of date, but it does have a Toy Story game which Caleb loves).
“Can I watch t.v.?”
“Can we go swimming?”
“You never let us do anything fun.”
“Can we go to the toy store?”
“Can I hold John David? Why does he sleep all the time?”
Ah summer……now who wouldn’t love that? Life was simpler before the ipads or the PSP. I would call foul and swipe all the electronics for an “unplugged week”, but my parents are coming with their ipads this week…..so it’s not a good time for it. Next week though. Next week I’m shutting those nagging questions down!
the babies
…..Then there are the babies: Dan and Bobby.
These two are seriously holding Joshua and Caleb back in the “summer fun” department.
“Can we go to the pool?” No, Mommy’s still recovering, but what is hard to explain to them is that I literally cannot handle all four of them at the pool because Dan requires adult assistance in the water, and JD requires adult supervision in and out of the water. I just can’t do both.
We also aren’t taking any major vacations because…..we have a new baby. This is just a quiet season of life for us. That’s okay with Alan and me, but the boys are definitely feeling restless. This week was so hot, they couldn’t even play outside.
I will say this for the boys though, they never blame the babies or get angry with them. They still adore Daniel and Bobby, even if they are holding them back, fun-wise.
We have heard a few amusing things from the boys this week. Let’s see how many I can actually remember!
**Caleb: Toy Story 1 was one crazy movie.
Joshua: Yeah.
(Caleb went on to say more, but Alan and I were chuckling, and I just don’t remember the rest.)
**Night Prayers:
Joshua: ….and thank you so much for letting me live with this family
(Now you don’t get any sweeter than that!)
**Caleb: Mom, is tomorrow garbage day?
Me: Huh? Oh, uh, yeah. Tomorrow’s garbage day.
Caleb: Really!!?? Tomorrow is garbage day?
Me: Yes. Tomorrow the garbage truck comes to our house. Why, Caleb?”
Caleb: Um, can I have a box, and put some toys in the attic and some toys in the garbage?
Joshua: *big sigh* He’s just trying to be like in Toy Story 3.
Caleb: NO! NO, I am not!! I’m just trying to be like Andy!
**Me: Joshua, why are you wearing pants instead of shorts? Why? You’re going to burn up. I don’t understand. We should just give these shorts to Caleb if you don’t like them.
Joshua: No, I really like these shorts, but I just can’t wear them with these shirts because these shirts are long, and then it won’t look like I’m wearing any pants!!
…..Joshua was probably the only kid at VBS wearing pants all week long.
“Joshua was probably the only kid at VBS wearing pants all week long”
“If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music he hears, however measured or far away.”
― Henry David Thoreau
~Daddy-O