Category Archives: Management

About doing and coordinating

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Hand-washing

We have a whole routine now, and even Melody does a good enough job I don’t have to re-do hers.

We start with sleeves up and water in the sink. The girls get their hands wet and are alloted soap by a grown-up (many incidents have reinforced this is the way to go). Soap is placed out of reach if children are left alone to finish, most of the time now.

The girls rub as fast as they can, “to make bubbles” everywhere. Maybe when they’re older we’ll introduce a song for length, but this works for now. Then they rinse in the sink again.

There’s usually still bubbles on their hands, so they’ll often get a second rinse, but either way this system uses less water (by my uneducated calculations) and gets the girls doing their own washing up (formerly one of my least-favorite activities, for whatever reason). Both useful features.

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We’ve found perfection– until we make it better

Do you like Wendy’s Frosties?

What about them do you like? The cold? The texture? The chocolate? (Grandma asked more than once if we could “talk to Dave” about making a vanilla Frosty. She didn’t like the chocolate so much).

But if you like choc, and have an ice cream maker, try out this recipe:

2 1/2 cups milk,
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup sugar

Mix and dump into your maker of choice (ours is the kind with tumblers you put in the freezer, and only hold about a quart. We used to have the gallon-size kind you use with ice and rock salt, but we wore out two of those in, hmmm… 1, 1½ years. Seems they weren’t actually made for regular use).

Let it run until the ice cream is firm, and then just eat it (as opposed to letting it “ripen” in the freezer). Wonderful smooth texture, minimal work and wait and still no guilt about potentially poisoning your guests/friends/loved-ones.

Cook books emphasize the importance of cooking the eggs into a custard before using them in ice cream. This effectively doubles the prep time. No such thing as spontaneous ice cream there. And more dishes to wash. And I still have never managed a custard w/o scrambling the eggs.

This is much better.

I’m still playing with the ratios and whether or not to include vanilla, but I am eating this one right now and it is veeeeery good.

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Thank Yous

Tomorrow morning, I’m going planning to spend at least half an hour writing thank-you notes.

Would you believe I haven’t written any clear back through Christmas (of course you’d believe it– You haven’t seen any have you)?

*Sigh*

I hope you know I was (am) grateful. And more for you than what you actually give us.

That’s meant as a complement.

Anyway, I think I’m just going to have to write off Christmas with it being so long ago, and just try to jump back in with Baby stuff.

~~~

So here’s 3 1/2 months with three kids.

I’m finally getting into the swing of this. And if I can trust my memory at all, I’m doing better this adjustment than I was with shifting to two.

For example: After Melody was born, Grandma spent much of many days at my home with me. Grandpa had died two weeks before Melody was born, and I think she appreciated having something to do. Often she just held the baby (kept her happy) while I worked. But Melody was 3-months old before I cleaned the house on my own.

I remember this, b/c we had music practice that night and we were each asked to share a praise. That was mine: I’d finally gotten my house back, on my own.

This time I had a similar feeling before three-months, and less-frequent help. Though I have had help. Two different women have come over and washed my dishes and folded my baskets of wrinkly laundry.

The week before Grandma died, I woke up to my sloppy house and didn’t know whether to scream or cry. Of course I did neither. I called my mom so I could talk and figure out what to do.

Half the time I think it’s simply the process of talking that helps me figure out a solution, but she gives good advice too, and on her suggestion I called the two ladies who had offered their help. One came over that same day and the next. The other came over two days after Grandma died, and cleaned my kitchen and bathroom while I wrote the obituary (and told-off that political caller).

~~~

I am convinced that Elisha’s easy sleep personality was divine provision for the timing of Grandma’s departure. I think I would have been a much more anxious/disappointed person if I hadn’t been able to spend as much focused time with her as I did in the hospital. (I have a longer list in process I will eventually post, listing the many ways God provided during this time.)

I’ve said it many times when people ask me about Grandma’s death, but it’s the best description I have: It wasn’t good, but it was as good as it could have been; and I’m thankful for the way God brought all the details together. The great orchestrator…

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Learning Contentment

Jay and I (you may know) have been “window shopping” for a bigger house. Specifically, one that is a little out of town with some land. And now we’ve officially stopped.

Between Jay’s latest step-increase and the (temporarily?) reduced cost of health insurance we have “loose” money for the first time since I can’t remember when, and Jay pointed out that getting a different (bigger/more expensive) house would eliminate that pretty quick. And we both enjoy the idea of a little cushion, so we decided we can decide to be settled here.

It is an interesting mindset (one we have rotated through periodically) of making this house the focus of our planning/future. Expecting to be here long-term. Long-term being defined as, “until the house is paid off.” (Boy, that makes me think of A Series of Unfortunate Events and all their specialized definitions.)

Anyway, we’re back to our initial plans of reflooring the front room and building an entryway on the front of the house. Jay would also like to build a shed for storing stuff currently in the garage (so he’d actually have “workshop” room), and I would like to add a gate and stretch of fence to our back-strip (being too small to be a backyard) to have a dog yard.

I told this to Jay and he said, “Why would you need a dog yard? You don’t have a dog.”

“I’d like one,” was my natural response.

That’s still under negotiation.

The dog-yard would be a must. The front yard (that we put in last summer) is looking gorgeous. Jay and Grandma were comparing notes all summer, and ours is really starting to look as good as hers. We are enjoying it.

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Change

I’ve begun to understand why those who have experienced a loss are told to not make any major decisions for X-amount of time. It’s only natural that one will not be thinking clearly for a time.

For example (this is a scenario we’ve talked about but placed it far down the road), I was imagining starting to look for property out-of-town, that we could buy, and build a totally different lifestyle than we have now (we’ve talked about someday getting a milk-goat and a couple of chickens for family use).

It’s ridiculous, of course. I’m just keeping my head above water as it is, and there’s no way I would enjoy moving and/or taking on new responsibilities at this time. But I realized that the reason I wanted this was to have a change I was in control of; because right now I am looking at a change I have no control over at all.

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Potty-training, revisited

Both my husband and my mother-in-law (my mom too) have made it clear they think it is past time for Natasha (3 1/2) to be potty-trained.

Jay said, “If she can change her own diaper, she can use the toilet.” And Teena said, “If she quit getting away with it [being able to wear/use diapers] she’d learn pretty quick.”

What this did was stick me in the middle: between the “It’s time” crowd and my child (and her will). I’m pretty strong-willed myself, and I prefer to pick my battles.

My take on the changing her own diaper thing was: “Great! one less kid for me to change.”

I responded–I think I refrained from actually snapping– with three points (Why I feel a need to defend myself when it’s her potty habits, I’m not sure…):

  1. If somebody wants to move in for a while and clean-up after piddles, that’s fine by me, but I’m not going to do it.
  2. I’ve never heard of a kid who trained before s/he was ready.
  3. Many of us have heard potty-training is training the parent as much as the child; I’m not ready to be trained yet.

So, by way of compromise we have moved her back into Cloth during the day. Disposies are still (Much!) better for night, but in an effort to make everybody happy (Even though I’m someone who warns against such futile efforts) I’m taking on the extra laundry for at least a few days, and we’ll see if it makes any difference.

Jay’s theory is that if Natasha is more uncomfortable, she’ll be more motivated. I won’t argue with the possibility, it’s reasonable enough, but I’ll believe it when I see it.

And I’m putting Melody in cloth too. At this point one more really doesn’t make that much of a difference. And it precludes arguments (that I know would ensue) over who gets a disposable.

Let me tell you, bed time was exciting last night: “I get my jammies and a sposable diaper now, right?!”

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Making Progress on the clothes

Compressed the multiple boxes of not-wearing-now kid clothes to four.

They’re sitting in the living room now, and will go under the house once the current batch of laundry is folded (I think it’s one of my pet-peeves to find something after a box is taped and under the house).

Another batch of stuff is supposed to be taken to Salvation Army, and a couple of extra carriers to CareNet (pregnancy center).

Starting to get stuff thinned out. I’m excited.

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Friday’s well-child check-ups

Our kids apparently have skin issues. We are going to have to figure out some routine to get their ears (especially) greased regularly, to prevent cracks and possible infection.

*sigh*

This responsible-grown-up gig gets old sometimes.

And you’ll be able to see the next time we update our pix that Melody had a bad run-in Thursday morning with something little that bites. It got her right over her left eyebrow, and sometime after midnight it stopped responding to the Benedryl and her eye swelled shut.

It didn’t open again until Friday night. Continue reading →

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Bedtime

Moonlight

I’d like to see Rabbits under the moon
Dancing in winter, dancing in June
Dancing around while twilight lingers
and blinky-eyed stars
look down through their fingers.

I’d like to see rabbits under the moon
but I always,
always
have to go to bed too soon.
~~

I can’t remember who wrote it, but it’s one of the girls’ favorites. They both say it with me as eagerly as they sing “Row row boat.” Continue reading →

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Help me. Please.

Do I sound pathetic yet?

I’ve got to say one of my biggest parenting struggles/challenges right now (don’t laugh– it’s right up there with tantrums) is maintaining/cycling clothes so the right amount of the right size is in the drawer/available for three kids at once.

Organizing was never my strong point, so boxes and boxes of clothes: Ugh. Continue reading →