Slice of Life: Washing Dishes

It's a good thing I have a double-sink because I don't know what else I would do.  Each time I turn on the tap to wash dishes, I hear a thud and tiny heavy feet trotting in my direction.  It's a sound that's usually accompanied by the sound of a plastic blue chair being dragged in my direction as well.

You set your place beside me and play with the running water through you tiny fingers.  You grab plastic cups (just washed and drying on the dish rack beside you) and fill them up.  I fill a big salad bowl with water and place it it your sink while I usurp the faucet and 2nd sink for menial, domestic activities.  You play so contently with the water, and if a little bit of Mama's dish soap falls in your bowl, well - you really get a kick out of the bubbles.

I started off trying to wash dishes while you napped or trying to be all quiet and stealth with my dish-washing skills.  Each time I heard the heavy little feet coming in my direction, I felt defeated.  Oh no, here he comes again.  Man!  I really need to get these dishes done.

But at some point, I accepted it and realized that one day you won't do this anymore.  And I'll remember when you used to be my dish-washing buddy.  And I'll miss it.  I only really need one sink anyway.  In fact, I didn't really have a double-sink before until this house.

We've got a good setup now.  Let's keep it going for awhile.

-Shirley (Mama-Ruff)

Lethargic Pumpkins

Pumpkins make Qori lethargic.  He's being held at bay!

The Pink Section

When I found out Tater was a boy, I texted my sis that it would now be up to her to provide the estrogen in the family.  I was DONE having babies!  I didn't want a girl THAT BAD anymore.  True enough, my sister had her first baby - a girl - a few weeks ago. 

I realize now, that although I originally wanted a girl, I was not meant for one.  The pink section in Target is SO alluring, but now I realize it's better that I shop there for someone else's baby.  I realize now that baby girls mean cute outfits and hairdo's  -- oh the hairdo's.  My boys are lucky enough if I wet down their cowlick/bedheads in the morning before shuffling them off to Abuelito's.  I can't imagine trying to braid or Topsy-tail someone's hair every morning!  I know I'd forget to add a headband or cute bow, I just know it.  And outfits?  I've tried cute hats, suspenders, or other accessories on my boys but they are about as T-shirt and Jean as you can get.  And that's SO much more easy, let me tell ya.  I'd feel sorry for my daughter if I had one.  I'd fail at being a femme enough Mama now.  I've been re-conditioned by the Ruffians.

And how would I keep a girl's clothes on if she ever wanted to be Jane Tarzan?!!!    No idea.

This new setup I've got going on is perfect now.  Anytime I need an estrogen dose, I'll just visit my sister.   I'll comb hair and play with pink my little ponies, and when I'm over it I always know that I can call on T-Wax the dino to "take out" my little pony. 

It's perfect....

-Shirley (Mama Aunty Ruff)

For Love of Pumpkins

I underestimated this kid's love of pumpkins.  He practically attacked the speech therapy intern for the whole bag of pumpkin candies instead of the one candy he was being offered!  I experienced a classic mommy-fail moment and gave in to the tantrum and bartered with him.

If you stop crying, I will buy you your own bag.  Deal?

Deal....

I thought he'd grab anything in the candy aisle, or maybe go for the biggest bag,  but he was very specific.

"Halloween," he kept saying.

Until I found the bag of pumpkins.   He turned into a kid in a candy store...... literally.




His speech therapy intern has always given him lollipops and other candies, and yet he's never had a tantrum like this before for the WHOLE bag!  After a day of giving it some thought, it all started to come together: 

• How happy he is talking about pumpkins.  
• How he talked about an Angry Bird pumpkin  (how does a 3 year old remember pumpkins from the previous year?!).  
• How excited he was picking his pumpkins last year.  More excited than I saw him at Disneyworld!  I mean, I never heard him say "I want to go home" at the pumpkin patch.  
• How he nearly tackled his speech therapy intern for a bag of pumpkin candies.

 It's a good thing we're going to the pumpkin patch tomorrow!

-Shirley (Mama-Ruff)

T-Wax Ruff

 

I inherited a new Ruffian into our pack.  His name is 'T-Wax" and he joined our family during our vacation after Diego got the shit scared out of him on a dino ride that he was not mentally prepared for.  That's one of the drawbacks when your 3-yr old son is above the 90th percentile in height.  He can get onto rides he probably shouldn't actually be on.  The other drawback is people unfairly expect him to act more mature, which means less-to-no tantrums.......  Yeah... that's NOT gonna happen!

So T-Wax came along to cheer Diego up for the surprisingly low adoption fee of $17 at the Animal Kingdom!  And man! Those two are inseparable. Don't worry about Tater, he got a toy too.... well - actually he picked out a mean dino BOOK. <---------------He's the scholar of the family.   ;)


T-Wax is the size of a small dog and will eat your pet gerbil.  DD & and T-W do everything together like sleep and eat Epcot Center, the Eiffel Tower, and the Hilton.  

I introduce you to T-Wax Ruff...  He's very loving, cuddly, and HUNGRY!

 

A short monologue of how DD got T-Wax:

"I go on dinosaur ride

Now I scared

I was crying

Now Dada get me my dino!" 

Flight to Disney World

It was only a couple years ago that I had a traumatic experience on an airplane flight with my first born toddler.  It was a 9-hr flight to the Bahamas and it was HELL!  He did NOT want to stay still or quiet during the red-eye flight unless I walked up and down the aisle with him THE.......WHOLE..... FLIGHT.

I made an unrealistic vow at that moment I would never fly with AGAIN with toddlers!

Enter toddler #2 and a few flights later, and the trauma remains although it's not as bad as before.  Tater ( toddler #2) is completely different than my first.  He stays in his seat, or the vicinity, and take-off seems to miraculously put him to sleep instantly!  Hallelujah! 

Prior to choosing a 5-hr flight to DisneyWorld, I stalled and stalled on planning this vacation because Hubby was making long-ass destination suggestions like Fiji, Italy, or the Galapagos.  Um---- HELL no!  I was pushing for a 5-hr flight to Hawaii, personally.  I honestly gave up on my stall tactics near the end of our vacation planning.

I told my husband that if he really wanted to, I could do a trip to Jamaica but I wouldn't be able to handle any flights longer than that.  I thought my Hubs would instantly logon and book something.  Instead he stared at me semi-vacuously and said, "Plan B - let's go to DisneyWorld."

I guess at that moment my hubs realized that a trip to Jamaica would NOT be the paradise he was expecting with our two kids -- the most vocal kid of which HATES water.  What's that Mama?  Water you say?  Fuck no!

All the stress was 80% gone in my mind.  5-hrs on a plane?  I could do that!

So we packed 3 fully-charged iPads and a Kindle Fire and ZERO airplane toys.  (I learned that toys are catapulted onto other airplane passengers during previous flights).   My sister suggested a new dinosaur toy for the plane...  I told her a new dinosaur APP, maybe.   To save money, Tater sat on my lap for the flight - I wouldn't recommend it, and we booked our tickets too late to sit together as a family.  But the flight attendant helped us move passengers around so we could sit together in the end.  He even helped me down the aisle to my new seat.  My hands were full with bags, so I tried to make Tater walk to his dad at the new seat but Tater wasn't budging.  The flight-attendant took the iPad, and said, "Here baby, baby.... Follow the shiny iPad!...."  The passengers laughed, but it worked.  "You've done this before."  I said jokingly.

Sure, we had a couple tantrums, especially in the security line, and a passenger asked us to control Diego's seat-kicking on the return flight, but it was not the WORST I've lived through when it came to airplane flights. I've survived another flight with the Ruffians!!!  And they invaded Disney World.

July Recap... Damn it's been a Month!

I didn't mean to go missing from this blog for so long.  Damn it!  It bugs me that I can't keep my blog posts going at a steady rate.  I'm going to regret it 15 years later when the kids are off to college.  Each time I have one of my lulls in blogging, I hear my middle school science teacher's voice saying, "Shirley, you have so much potential, but your inconsistent." - blah, blah, blah.  Screw you Mr. X, for being right!!!!

Anyway I had a good reason for being away (at least for July).  I hosted my sister's baby shower at the end of July.  I had to make my first neice's celebration extremely special.  Not only because of my neice, but because my sister is extremely picky. LOL!  Anyway, most everything was hand-made for the party, and so every waking minute that I had, I worked on this damn baby shower.  For the ENTIRE MONTH.....
I'm serious guys.  Dishes took longer to get washed, laundry heaps got larger, and vacuuming?  No time for vaccuuming.  My area rug may as well been made out of Golden Retriever fur.  Luckily, I had some shower help from 3 of my sister's friends, my sister herself, and my new Cricut machine.  I had been needing an excuse to get one, and MAN!  Do I LOVE that machine!

And yes with my Cricut machine, I went a little crazy with the shower planning, but wouldn't you?   I complained about how there wasn't enough time for this shower, and yet at the last minute I took on a crazy project of personally etching stainless steel bottle openers with some MacGuyver sh!t I found on YouTube.  I could've died.  It was awesome. (Pic with the nail polish party favors below)

Throw in a national holiday, a bridal shower, and Folks - you got yourself my month of July!  How was yours???

-Shirley (Mama Ruff)

P.S.  July Recap video in ~30 seconds