Dating Mom

Today it was Tucker's turn.  He's been looking forward all week long to his special time with Mom.  So excited, in fact, that I've been feeling really guilty about not doing this before.  Sure enough, the first thing he asked me at lunch was "why didn't I get to have special time with you when we lived in Indiana?"  We had a blast though.

He wanted to have shrimp and we wound up at Red Lobster.  I had forgotten what their kid menu was like though, so next time, I'll try some place different.  He had a good time pointing out the fish on the wall, the fish on the fabrics, and "Oh, Mom, LOOK, My finger is wet."

"Well, I wonder how that happened?"

"It happened when I stuck it in the tank with the lobsters."

After lunch we wound up in .... the bookstore.    Is anyone surprised?  He picked out a book for himself and one for Michael.  We found a birthday card for a friend.  And I listened to dozens of samples from Rod Stewart CD's trying to find the one song that's been stuck in my head for months, only I can't remember the words or the title.  It's NOT Sailing, but it has something about sailing in the chorus, I need to go talk to SpecificOcean don't I?  Anyway, we are home now and he's happily telling his brother and cousins all about his treat. 

He told them that he's learning about "women and dating".  o_O  Truly, though, I think that's a really cool idea.  Going out with Mom is teaching him things like holding the door, being attentive to your companion and other little things that will make him appreciated by that woman out there (I know, right now she's a tiny little girl with no idea how important she's going to be in my future) that I'll be handing him over to some day. 

I hope your weekend is going as well and that you're getting in some important dating time whether its with your sweetheart, your child, or your Mom.

Nope - still won't let me upload a picture ... rats ... I survived the first day of school.  Kept very busy unpacking and organizing my books.  The boys were excited to go and had a good day.  Before he left yesterday, Tucker asked me, "Mom, are you prepared for me to come home this afternoon?"  He was checking out the fancy after school snacks in the new Family Fun magazine. 

It wasn't one of the featured snacks, but I stopped in at the grocery and picked up ingredients to make "dirt" cups.  He loves gummy worms so he was thrilled.  I got hugged and kissed and told that I'm the best Mom ever.  I'm a happy little clam. 

So today ...

Michael: "Mom!  It's 8:19"

"Yes, I know, Honey, but you don't have to be there for 20 minutes.  Here's your backpack."

Tucker: "Mom!  It's 8:20!"

"Wow, you're doing so WELL with telling time.  I'm proud of you, Baby.  Did you eat anything yet?"

Together:  "MOM!"

"All right, all right, let me find my keys ..."

I looked up to see Tucker dangling my keys from his finger, Michael holding my purse, and the two of them standing by the open door with looks of long-suffering tolerance on their little faces.  Made me just want to SMACK 'EM with great big red lip-sticky lips. 

"MOM!!  Ewwwww! it's 8:21 already, we don't have time for this kissy stuff."

The pleasures of parenthood kept me laughing for an hour after I dropped them off.  The school is SO crowded.  The front page story of yesterday's Gazette is that our district (which is practically BRAND NEW) has already outgrown the facilities.  Voters last year defeated a measure that would have provided money to build more or add on.  Well, I registered to vote yesterday.  But in the meantime, the kids are loving it. 

Now if I can just figure out how to get there without getting turned around.  The neighborhood has these winding streets that twist around until you don't know whether you are heading north, south, east or west.  As the crow flies, that school can't be more than a half mile from our front door, but the best I've been able to do finding my way there and back is to go out to the main road and drive a mile around this development to come in from the back (exactly a mile).  The path through the neighborhood is 1.6 miles.  o_0

Yeah, I'm a geek.  I drove the routes three times yesterday trying to figure out the shortest and easiest.  And as I stood outside the school with the other parents, I spent my time  thinking of all the ways that the design of the facility could be improved.  First on my list is that the bus lanes need to be moved.  They are way at the end past the area where parents pick up kids.  SO when the teachers brought the kids out there was this massive crowd of parents milling around.  The teachers had to try to herd their charges through all the adults and get the bus riders out the other side.  It was scary seeing how little control they had and how easy it would have been for a kid to leave with the wrong person.  No one would know until it was way too late.

For Dirt Cups ...

Buy the cheapo clear plastic cups
put dark fudge pudding in each cup
sprinkle with Oreo cookie crumbs
place gummy worms in each cup so that it looks like the worms are coming up out of the ground

keep a tight grip on yours or some kid will have "seconds"

Okay - I don't know what the deal is, I would LIKE to post some pictures, Xanga isn't letting me.  The kids start school tomorrow.  I met their teachers last night and it's looking good for the upcoming year. 

When the summer begain, I worried what I was going to do with my kids for those long weeks, now I'm worried what I'm going to do without them.  (Maybe find more time to write?)  We are a little team.  The guys and I consult and work it out and do everything together.  They support me as much as I mother them.  They aren't babies anymore and relating to each other differently these days. 

I am so proud of them for the effort they are putting into creating our new life.  They aren't allowing anything to happen to them, they are full participants.