The Talk

Sometimes when I put Noah to bed I like to lay down next to him and just chat for a minute. It's actually pretty special. I like to think we're building a bond that will help us through the difficult teenage years. Hopefully, even when he's fifteen and embarrassed by me, we'll still be able chit chat about nothing and talk about something. As soon as Clara's out of her crib, we'll be able to have these talks too and build our own special bond.

You never know what a five year old is going to say, which is what makes talking to them so much fun. You're always in for a laugh. Tonight, of course, our conversation turned to baby brother. No, I'm not pregnant, but Noah for months has been talking about how "soon" he's going to have a baby brother. Tonight it went further than that. He said he wanted two brothers and two sisters, and my eyes got real big.

"You want me to have 4 babies in my tummy?" I asked.

"No, six," he corrected.

"Six? Six babies in my tummy?" I hear stories of young kids saying things to their parents about future children that they end up being spot on about. That worries me a little when he talks like this.

Then we started talking about twins and how his Grandma (my Mom) is a twin, and the baby talk continued some more after that, until we came to the question all parents hope to avoid for as long as possible.

Noah talked about how babies come down from heaven and into their Mommy's tummy, but then he got confused. "How do the babies get into Mommy's tummy?" he asked.

I gave him the easy, safe answer. "When a Mommy and a Daddy love each other very much, they make a baby."

I thought that was a good answer myself. But did it satisfy this thoughtful five year old? No.

"But how do they make a baby?"

I thought maybe he didn't hear me the first time, you know kids are. So, I gave him my first answer again, adding a little inflection to my voice, kind of like when people always yell when speaking to people of a different language. Surely that helps them understand better, right?

It didn't with Noah. "But..." sounding more confused and determined to understand, "how do they make a baby?"

At this point I just stared at him, totally without a clue of how to respond. Then I started to laugh at the awkwardness and the shock that I'm already facing this issue. Luckily, Noah is easily distracted by laughter. We both lied there laughing, and I was grateful for the convenient way the topic was pushed under the rug. Beneath my giggles, I told Noah we'd talk about it more when he was older.

Can you believe he's already asking this? He's too darn smart, seeing past my veiled and sprinkled with hearts answer. His father must be consulted on this, and I'm more than half tempted to turn it all over to him. I definitely think he's too young to know everything, but he's obviously not convinced a Mom and Dad fall in love and POOF a baby appears inside Mom. Sheesh!

What do I say if and when it comes up again?

Solving the Winter Time, Cheapskate Blues

Here's some more honesty. I'm not really a cheapskate, but I'd like to be one. Frankly, I'm lousy with the whole money managing thing, but unfortunately, it's largely my responsibility. Since I don't want our family in financial ruin thanks to me, I'm determined to figure things out and overcome my weaknesses. To do this, I came up with a list of cheap/free activities to do with my kids. These winter months can be unbearable, especially when the need to be cheap binds you to your home. But there must be some things you can do outside the home during winter time that don't cost a million dollars? Well, my brainstorming told me there are. Plus, it's so easy to forget the simple but fun things to do at home to brake the monotony, and my brainstorming reminded me of those as well. Here's what I came up with:

1. Library (my goal is to keep this free by not getting any more late fees!)
2. Make something using things already in the house
3. Explore the house, finding lost things; look for specific things, like the sounds different objects make when tapped with a stick, etc.
4. Go to the FREE zoo (the pet store)
5. Dance
6. Sledding (we're so lucky to live right next to an awesome sledding hill!)
7. Make a fun snack or treat
8. Play games
9. Have a friend/cousin over
10. Visit Grandma/cousins
11. Have a picnic in the living room
12. Build a fort
13. Have a read-a-thon
14. Write letters to people
15. Visit Dad at work
16. Write your own book by taking pictures of things in the house and making a story out of it
17. Write an "All By Myself" book using your kids as the main characters (i.e. "I can brush my teeth...I can make my bed...etc.)

What are some things you could add to this list? Where else could you go to get out of the house in the winter time without spending a ton of money, hopefully spending none? What else did my itty-bitty brain fail to come up with?

The Invisible Woman.

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My Real Intent

I have to be honest: I've been avoiding this blog. I've barely looked at it since my last post. Maybe that's because I see the date of that post and realize it's about dang time I posted something new. But then I feel the gnawing at my stomach reminding me that I have no clue what to post next, or ever, for that matter.

This blog has become something I didn't intend for it to be: something that glorifies my mothering skills, gives the impression that I am full of wisdom, and that I am benevolent enough to share it with the masses. I feel so much pressure with each post to give you all something amazing, inspiring, enlightening (go ahead and throw in your own positive adjective), when really, I have no wisdom. And when I pretend that I do, I feel like a fraud. Let's face it, rarely do I have a completely original idea or suggestion. And why does the Mom who didn't start swearing until she had kids think she can give others advice? Yes, it's true. I admit it. Perhaps that was TMI, but I'm sure I just made you feel a lot better about yourself, didn't I?

Now, let me clarify. I am not writing this as a "poor me" post. Rather, I want you all to understand who I really am. I don't have all the answers. Every minute of every day at our house is not sunshine and flowers, and I hope I have not given the impression to the contrary. Sometime I feel really stupid that I even have a parenting blog.

So, why did I start this blog anyway? Frankly, I can't really remember my exact reasons, but I think I mostly wanted a blog where Mom's could share their good ideas, their wisdom, their ups and downs, etc. Notice that Mom is plural. I really did not intend for me to be the sole contributor on this blog (ahem...all you other contributors- you know who you are), but it looks like that's the way it's gonna be. So, since that's the case, you need to understand some things:

1. Posts will be as frequent as my good ideas and thoughts come. Don't ask for more than that.
2. I'm changing the name of my blog.

Let's talk about that last one. Just the title of my blog, "Teaching My Kids: How will they know unless we teach them so," intimidates me. It intimates that I actually know how to teach my kids. But the truth is, I'm just learning as I go.

That's what I want this blog to be about, which is why the new name is- "Learning As I Go." At least, that's part of the new name. I still want to incorporate the original title so that it goes along with my blog address. I'd love to change that too, but that would be a pain. I'm not quite sure how to work in the new title with the old one. Here are a couple ideas:

Learning As I Go On How to Teach My Kids: How will they...

or

Teaching My Kids and Learning as I Go: How will they...

Those are my two ideas. What do you like better? Or do you hate them both? Leave a comment and let me know.

I hope this post makes sense and that you understand me a little better. Sometimes I really do feel embarrassed posting things that make me look like a perfect mother. My neighbors on the other side of my walls know that's not true. But I'm working on it, and one day I will be a perfect mother. It will just take a lot of tries, a lot of ups and downs, and a whole lot of learning as I go.