Motherhood…Unprepared

Went to the zoo yesterday! I always love going when my husband can go, too. I can’t take the stroller into a lot of the exhibits - like the monkey house - so it gets to be a pain. It was very fun. The best part was Henry seeing the giraffes up close. He just kept calling to them - “Raff! Raff!” and one of them seemed to actually stop and acknowledge him. Looked right at him, bowed a little bit, even. It was cool.

We went to this cool section they added a couple years ago called the Hamill Family Play Zoo. Inside is a bunch of stuff that the kids can interact with. They’ve got a mock veterinary clinic where the kids can “treat” pretend animals. A section for plants and growing things. Small animals that the kids can pet & learn about. A big craft area. All sorts of stuff. Maggie & Steven love to do the face painting. They have the face paint crayons & they can turn into animals. Steven became an “alien” from the planet “Xalax”:

Isn’t that great? Maggie’s usually some type of large cat. I got a great picture outside:

Before we left, we rode the carousel. Well, Maggie & Steven did. While they were waiting in line, I noticed a dad with a beautiful little girl who has Down Syndrome. She had fine blonde hair and the brightest blue eyes with that diamond sparkle that I’ve seen on a lot of kids with Down Syndrome. She & her daddy chose a giraffe to ride on. Every time they came around, I couldn’t help but smile like a big goon. She went between happy & smiling and being afraid and and grabbing her daddy’s neck. Her dad looked at me a couple times and he must have thought I was insane or something. But it was beautiful.

As we were leaving, a bunch of couples were coming in for a wedding. They recently built a big pavilion and now they rent the zoo out for parties and weddings. It was quite incongruous to see women in gorgeous dresses & sequins/beads with high heels and men in suits mingling outside the Bear Grotto. I bet it was a beautiful wedding, though. I wonder if they get to mingle around and visit the animals during the reception? If the peacocks roam around during the ceremony. How cool would it be to hear the lions roar or the elephants trumpet during the ceremony? Right?

My little girl is growing up. And I don’t like it. They don’t tell you when you enter into the whole parenting “thing” how hard it is to give them those small increments of independence. That they’re someday going to want to do things by themselves. Like riding to the library on their bikes. All alone.

What’s funny is that back when I was a kid, there was no thought otherwise about this stuff. We left the house in the morning and we were expected back before dark. Our moms simply asked where we were going or whose house we’d be at. Then we’d ride our bikes around or go to the pool or go exploring or go fishing or whatever it is that kids do. Nowadays, however, we’re terrified of letting our kids out of our sight. At least I am.

Anyway, Maggie’s been pestering me to allow her to ride her bike to the library by herself. I’ve been putting it off and putting it off. Even my mom said I should let her do it. Well, last week, we all walked to the library together. Or, rather, I pushed Henry in the stroller while Maggie rode her bike & Steven rode his scooter. It went well. Maggie even took off on the way back & made it back about 10 minutes before us. So she had made it through all 8 of her books in 2 days. I didn’t want to go back to the library again so soon, so I took a risk. I let her go. She took my cellphone and I told her she had to call when she got to the library and when she was leaving, so I’d know when to expect her back.

She did it. Of course. I don’t know why I thought otherwise, but I was worried. The best part was how proud she was of herself. She felt so accomplished and independent which was really cool to see. SO cool and independent, in fact, that she did it again the next day. I feel more confident with her having that phone. She told me that she felt a need to hurry at the library because I’d be worried, so I told her that wasn’t necessary. I mean, if anybody bugs her at the library, she just has to be loud or go ask a librarian for help. I trust that she’s safe once she’s in the building. It’s the to & from that worry me. So I know if she’s not home within 10 minutes of her call, I should go find her.

I’m encouraged. And a little sad. It’s hard to let them go, even a little bit.

Okay, after my last complainy post, now I’m going to give my Thankful Thursday post.

1. I am so thankful that school starts in 4 days. All 3 kids need it and I need the break. For this, I am thankful.

2. I am thankful that we have a decent library where I, so far, have been able to keep myself & my daughter in books. I love it there.

3. I am thankful that my husband’s new job seems to be going well so far. He’s finishing up the first week of teaching in a new school. I pray it will continue well and become a blessing to him.

4. I am very, very thankful to have a delicious bed in which to sleep. And off to it I go.

Today was our 6 month family dental visit. I cannot express how much I hate the dentist, because there are not enough words for it. Back in the day, I had the first 6 teeth (3 on each side) of my upper jaw crowned. In a series of dental visits, I had six teeth ground down to little vampiric points and then had caps cemented on. This was in 1987-88. It was the most horrible experience ever in the world, ever. Now, every time I have to go to the dentist, I tense up and get nauseous. Maybe I’m just a wimp, because I’ve never even had a cavity, but after dealing with all the filing down - the high-pitched whine, the smell of burning TEETH, the blood - just the smell of the office makes me cringe.

Luckily, 2 of my 3 kids don’t mind the dentist too much. They don’t really complain, they’ve never had a cavity. They don’t love it and don’t want to go, but they just do it. Henry, on the other hand, does not much care for the dentist. People coming close to his mouth make him crazy. If you’ve ever seen mink mate…..yeah. His body kinda does that. So, I go in with him and I’m kneeling by the chair just talking to him calmly, trying to restrain his arms and baby is NOT having it. The hygenist can’t even really see in his mouth. They’ve never really cleaned his teeth, just looked at them & counted them and that. But he wants nothing to do with anybody at all today. Finally, I decide to have him sit on me. So, I get in the chair, and wrap my legs around his legs like a sloth on a branch, use my left hand to restrain his hands & arms and use my right hand to hold his head steady. It’s literally taking all my strength and patience. The whole time, he is CRYING and saying, “Let me go” in Henry-speak. Snot’s running down his face, he sounds like he’s choking on his own saliva and my inner thighs are majorly peeved.

Thankfully, the doctor came in quickly & checked him and then let us go. He was a complete mess. His face was splotchy red with snot everywhere and he’s looking at everyone in the room and, if we could have understood him, he totally would have been swearing at us. I took him back out to the waiting room where we found his favorite book in the world  - “Brown Bear, Brown Bear”  and read it 4 times before it was my turn. My mom was there & decided to take him back to my house while I and the other 2 finished up.

No cavities, praise the Lord, for anybody. Steven needs sealants next month, but otherwise, we’re good for 6 more months. I’m going to need that time to recover. Sheesh.

At this blog, I’m totally going to focus on parenthood. I talk about that plus scrapbooking and reviews and all sorts of other stuff at my main blog, Motherhood…Unscripted, but I think I’m going to talk exclusively about the whole “mommy” thing.

So here we go. School starts for us on Tuesday and I do NOT feel prepared. At all. But I’m not sure why. I’ve got the supply shopping done. Their uniforms are ready to go. All I feel that I really need to do is make sure I’ve got stuff for lunches, but I feel like I’m forgetting something really important.

You know one thing I really want to do? Create schedules for Maggie & Steven. Steven has Asperger’s Syndrome and he really benefits from having a schedule to follow. He gets easily distracted by what he WANTS to do and then gets very upset and freaks out when he has to stop doing that and do what he’s supposed to be doing. I’ve found in the past that if I make it clear to him what he has to get done before he can do what he wants, he does better with it. Plus, if I do this, I don’t have to worry about his not being ready on time or forgetting something important.

I also want to make schedules for them for after-school. Making sure they have their homework done, have time to decompress and play, get baths/showers and still get to bed no later than 8:30. I’m going to look online and see if there’s anything easy I can download & laminate.