The Wonderwheel

Hey, you all!  There are already new posts up at the new Wonderwheel site - don’t miss ‘em!

Come on over - and update your bookmarks and RSS feeds!

You know how sometimes you start to clean out one closet and, before you know it, one project has led to another and by the end of the day the contents of all of your closets and the basement storage are spilled out all over the house to be reorganized?

I think that may have happened with my blogs this weekend. A weekend which started out with one blog, for the record.

After talking to a web designer about how and where to host the new Communication Therapy blog I am creating, it was decided that hosting it away from my website, over at WordPress, was the best way to go. I use WordPress for The Wonderwheel, but I host it externally at a server I paid for.  However, when I set up my professional blog at the WordPress site (free, if you’re interested), my jaw dropped to the ground and remained there for an hour.  It is so much easier to use than the site I am hosting externally, and since I don’t need a whole lot of customization, it’s kind of silly to do the extra work and pay for it.

After another day of working with the new blog over there, I began to create the new Wondermama 2.0 blog, a project I had started and then temporarily lost interest in; however, I had received the illustrated header yesterday, so I went ahead and got that going since it was so simple to do.  Once I had seen the ease with which I could access both blogs from the same dashboard, I could think of nothing else but to move The Wonderwheel over there, too.

And so, Wonderfriends, you will find that this blog has moved, in its entirety, to this new home.   I can now work on The Wonderwheel, Wondermama 2.0, and the soon-to-be-released Communication Therapy Blog all in one place.

All new posts will be there, so please, please update your RSS feeds!  My apologies for the inconvenience.

See you on the other side!

xoxo

I am in the midst of a project to separate some of the content on The Wonderwheel.  Most exciting to me is the new professional blog that I am creating right now, and that will be unveiled after my fantastic design team has worked its magic over there.

But for tonight, I will share a very small spin-off blog called Wondermama 2.0, where I will post technology-related information for the busy mom.  For now there is old content from this blog up there, just to get it started.  It won’t be as active as the other two, but I hope to post a little something now and again over there.

(And I really like the new header!)

Enjoy!

Matt says his head is too big to model, but I look at these and think we’re missing out - Lyle’s face could be the ticket to all of our financial challenges!!

The temptation to vent the horrendousness of the past 5 straight hours here is overwhelming right now.  However, I have decided to forgo the emotional dump in favor of turning the hell into something positive.  Lemons into lemonade, if you will - and I know you will.  Humor me here, I think it’ll help:

- I am grateful to have two healthy children.

- I am grateful that when one of my sons needs extra help, I have access to one of the best OTs you’ll ever find, and although she is expensive I get a bit of a discount at her practice thanks to our professional connection.   It doesn’t matter what time of day the appointment is, we’re just lucky to have it and to see the improvements.

- I am grateful to have a warm house to come home to when it is very, very cold outside, and cozy blankets to wrap my sleepy kids in while I make dinner.

- I am grateful to have a refrigerator full of fresh food at my disposal when I return home, and enough knowledge to throw together something healthy for myself at 9pm rather than junk food.

- I am grateful that an ounce or two of wine is yummy enough to give me a sense of relaxation without desiring a whole glass.

- I am grateful that I can get through a stressful afternoon and evening without even thinking about chocolate, or anything sweet, for that matter.

- I am grateful for Pandora.com, which - when on the “Jordan” station - manages to consistently play my favorite songs of all time interspersed with songs I’ve never heard but love immediately. This always improves my mood.  Pandora is truly impressive.

- I am grateful that I have a job in these times that keeps me very busy; it doesn’t matter what time of day I have to get that work done.

- I am grateful that Matt has a job; it doesn’t matter if his meetings are here or in another state.

- I am grateful that I have a fun and successful way to work out in my own home when the weather is bad or Matt is out of town, as a replacement for an early morning trip to the gym.

- I’m lucky to have a roof over my head, a bed to sleep in, clothes for my family, and a car that is (somehow, and only by the grace of God) still running. I can buy food and put gas in my car without worrying about money.

In light of the above, a little hissy fit about a small series of inconveniences is beyond ludicrous.

What are you grateful for tonight?

Baxter and Lyle are sitting on a chair together in the living room, facing the TV.  Baxter is playing his new Pokemon video game; Lyle likes to watch all the battles.  [This is probably where I should insert a formal apology to his preschool teachers.]  He never asks to play, and doesn’t seem to care to, but he loves to watch and discuss what moves Baxter’s making.

Baxter just asked Lyle, “Want to see me do a hard battle?  One that I’ll lose?”

Lyle, a little too quickly: “Yes!”

Baxter, incredulous: “Are you SURE?  One that I’ll LOSE??”

Lyle, equally fast: “YES!”

Could there be a greater pleasure for a younger sibling?

I schedule work during my home days very, very rarely. I’ve really improved in my separation of work and home.  However, due to the pressing nature of a particular meeting, I suggested that I could do it today, during those two hours when both boys were in school.  Therefore, it goes without saying that Baxter immediately fell ill and had to stay home from school today, does it not?  Yes, strep throat does require a doctor’s visit, and so off we went.

After the doctor’s office and the requisite trip to Walgreen’s for Amoxicillin, Baxter was looking tired.  While we hung out at home afterwards, I had to figure out what to do with him when I went to pick up Lyle from preschool.  Although it’s just a few minutes away, I hated to take him out in the cold all over again for such a short jaunt.   A friend who knew Baxter was sick actually called and offered to get Lyle and bring him home for me when she picked up her daughter, but I hated to ask her to do that when she had done the afternoon carpool in my absence and will have to drive her son down to school tomorrow in my place, due to Baxter’s continued recovery.

And so I did it.  I left him home alone.

Now, before anyone freaks out, let me point out that my neighbor across the hall - a mere 5 steps away - was home and more than happy to be available if he needed anything in the half hour that I’d be gone.   There were also three locked doors in our condo building between him and the outside world.  But I wasn’t worried; I was actually really excited about it.

You see, I’ve been wanting to find ways to give Baxter more freedom and responsibility.  I believe strongly that as a nation we have built a culture around fear that has pervaded our parenting norms in a very bizarre way, much of which is driven by the media (which is one reason I don’t watch TV news), and that we are seriously over-protecting our kids much of the time.  I feel that we need to make wise decisions about their safety, of course, but sometimes we also need to step back and ask ourselves, “Is there an actual danger here?”  One blog that I particularly enjoy reading on this topic is Free Range Kids and here is a good introductory post (go check it out, there’s major food for thought in that post!).  And so I felt there was no actual danger in leaving my competent 8-year old at home, for goodness’ sake - he can use the phone (I left my cell phone number and the phone next to him), he knows not to answer the door or phone when I’m not available (thanks to lots of practice when I’m showering), and he’s just a great kid.  He deserves to be treated in ways that make him feel trusted and, well, older.  Because he is, but by not treating him that way, I can’t expect him to develop the qualities I’d like to see in him as he grows up.

It is a rare occasion when Baxter would be here without Lyle, and of course Lyle is too young to be home without supervision, a fact no one would refute. So I jumped at it.  It was clearly more monumental to me than to my child, who - although he flashed me an appreciative grin when I said good-bye and reviewed the rules - spent the half hour watching the end of “The Incredibles” and was probably so wrapped up in it that he forgot he was home on his own. No biggie.  Utterly forgettable.

I always tell the boys that the way they behave guides the way we treat them; that the more mature and responsible they act, the more leeway we’ll give them.  It makes me incredibly happy as a mother that one of my kids is able to handle this and that I saw the opportunity when it arose.  Such a small thing in many ways, but a huge one in his step towards indepedence from us.

And as far as I’m concerned, ultimately, that’s my job.

Last year at this time, I resolved to get more sleep in 2008.  Not quite remembering how much sleep I was getting in 2007 (probably because of the tired, blurry haze surrounding it) I am not altogether sure that I achieved it.  However, I don’t feel that I’m lacking sleep in particular, so let’s say I improved upon it - that, or I simply got used to the sleep that seemed unsatisfactory in 2007, which is also a distinct possibility.

There are a few things on my resolutions list this year.  I’ll share them here so that in a year I can come back and not remember if I’ve achieved those, either:

1.  Thank you notes - I am a very grateful person.  I swear this to you.  But I cannot seem to get a thank you note out the door to save my life.  At this point, there aren’t too many that I feel I need to send as an adult when I can make a call or send a special email note to thank people, but I do feel that I need to teach the kids to do them.  I almost got them out after Lyle’s birthday party - I even had him write the word “THANKS” on a piece of paper, scanned it in and made cards out of the pages, enough for all of his gifts.  And then did I find the time again to sit down and write them?  No. I finally gave up on them around the time of Baxter’s birthday, three months later.  I managed to work with Baxter to send a few critical ones before we ran into the holidays.  If you have a good solution to kids’ thank you notes, I’m all ears.

2. Call My Grandparents - As I have mentioned, I am fortunate enough to still have all of my grandparents  living on their own.  Some of them even love to talk on the phone.  I am well aware that as soon as I lose one of them, I will be acutely aware of how infrequently I managed to call them to say hello and chat.  It can be tricky with some on the East Coast and one on the West Coast but I should be able to work around the time zones, it’s just not that hard.

3. Health and Well-Being - I was determined to improve this before the holidays and now I’m desperate to do so.  I’ve already used my Wii My Fitness Coach program four times this week, getting up early in the morning to do a seriously challenging aerobics workout in my living room.  I love it!  I was already going to the gym very early in the morning, so I don’t mind setting my alarm and getting up to exercise; what’s amazing for me is just walking into the living room instead of going out into the cold, dark morning to drive to the gym.   I’ll still go to the gym for Tuesday yoga and to do a weekly cardio work out with my friend, but I can add the home workout on the off-days and be quite happy.  Further, Matt and I have cleared the cookies and pie out of the kitchen and are embarking on a hard-core food plan tomorrow.  I don’t plan to report on this here, but if you want to know what we’re doing and how it’s going, feel free to email me.  Suffice it to say, our fridge is seriously packed with produce.

So there you have it: the Big Three.  What’s on your list this year?

It seems that after such a picture-perfect Christmas, it would have been impossible for our New Year’s to have been equally full of fabulousness, doesn’t it?  And yet it was.

We invited some really good friends (an old college friend who lives here in Chicago and her husband and two boys) to come spend New Year’s Eve with us and to sleep over.  Wonderfriends, I cannot recommend the family sleepover on New Year’s Eve (or any old time, really!) enough.   Our four kids always have a fantastic time together and were off and running for hours and hours, and the sleepover part of the deal works because no one has to pack up and drive home out on the roads with all the crazy party people.  And the house party can just go on for hours!

So here’s the rundown -  after lots of snacks and Wii game time with the kids, we made homemade pizzas for dinner (and Shirley Temples for the kids), serving dinner at a very late 8pm.

The kids took off and played some more, and around 10pm we started Horton Hears a Who downstairs with the idea that we’d go chat upstairs, but the adults ended up watching most of the movie with the kids because it’s a great one and the kids looked so absolutely adorable that we couldn’t tear ourselves away.

We had hopes of putting the kids to bed at 11pm if they were still up, but suddenly realized we hadn’t served the dessert we had promised.  So 11pm actually found us plying the four kids with brownie sundaes, complete with chocolate sauce, whipped cream, and M&Ms (thanks, Cara!).

What we did not realize until last night is that an 11pm dessert-fest might result in the spectacle of four boys standing on their dining room table bench, shaking their little booties, while their parents laughed uproariously.  (And this would be a really good time to clarify that there was really very little drinking last night and definitely no inebriation.  Just sugar highs and a fun-loving attitude on the part of all four parents.)  There is a video of this show and I will try to share it with you when I receive it - it’s priceless.

Once the kiddos were asleep, we convened in the living room to enjoy a borrowed Wii American Idol game.  Matt got us started in a most theatrical manner (which should surprise no one).  Each of us hit Platinum at least once; we had Paula, Simon, and Randy eating out of the palms of our hands.  Again, there were a lot of hysterics.

Although we were up far beyond our bedtimes, the kids deemed it necessary to wake up at their normal hour.  However, we pulled it together to make a big breakfast of eggs, fruit salad, biscuits, sausages, and mimosas.  Oh, and a lot of coffee.  Our friends ended up staying until late in the afternoon today, at which point the boys took naps.  It was a wonderful time.

Happy New Year, everyone!  [Tomorrow: Resolutions!]