Not so adventures of the St. Clair clan...

I didn't completely freak out today when I caught one of the girls sucking down toothpaste like it was a Go-Gurt . I think I'm growing up.  Or becoming desensitized to "gross."  It's not like she didn't already use her brother's toothbrush...which has spent half of it's life on the bathroom floor.  It's fine.  We've already had every sickness.  We are just working on rebuilding healthy immune systems. I'm not trying to raise filthy animals, but I'm not doing a very good job of not raising filthy animals.  We recently discovered a shocking lack of soap use by the boys.  We are now very  specific when we tell them to wash-up for meals.   "Boys, wash your hands, with soap and  water, and  dry them on a towel  before you come and eat."  Sometimes we have to repeat the details...twice, but we are getting there.   We are still working on the niceties' of using napkins instead of clothing and tissues instead of hands or sleeves. 

The boys have had a renewed interest in crafting this week.  Fischer broke out his Crafts for Kids book, popsicle sticks, pipe cleaners, and glue and went to town.  He made a picture frame, which broke immediately and a popsicle stick xylophone, which also broke.  We need to rethink our glue choice.  Next, Sawyer helped him work on a pipe cleaner and button necklace until they realized they would need more buttons.  Then, he landed on a magic wand.  It used a pencil, a pipe cleaner and cutout paper teeth - because he couldn't make a star.   The boys waited anxiously for the glue to dry so they could try it out.   "What magic are you going to try to do?" Sawyer asked.  "I don't know, maybe shrink myself," replied Fischer.  They recently watched Honey I Shrunk the Kids  for the first time.  But when the wand was ready for its test run, the first thing Fischer said was, "Abra cadabra, make a bunch of candy in our room!" "I wonder if it worked?&q

 I pretended I was asleep when Sawyer came in our room this morning.  Twice.  Is that the same thing as lying?  The third time, he gave up waiting for me to "wake-up" and just climbed onto the bed.  Two seconds later, Fischer popped onto the bed as well.  Quiet time was over.  Well, it hadn't actually been quiet.  The girls had been yelling my name through the wall for at least five minutes.  I was hoping they would change their minds and go back to sleep.  So far that has never worked.   Once we are up, we are full throttle ahead.  It doesn't matter what time of morning it is.  In fact, Sawyer had already woke me up at 1:30 in the morning because he was thirsty, and was as loud and chatty as if it was 1:30 in the afternoon.  I had to remind him that it was still the middle of the night and he would need to settle back into bed.  Thirty seconds later he was out like a rock.   When the girls get up, they both want to be held.  Exclusively by me.  If I happen to try sit

      Carter and Emerson were playing contentedly on the kitchen floor this evening.  That should have been my first clue that something was up.  Generally, when I'm prepping dinner, one is standing on my feet, hugging my legs while the other one is sitting on my heels.   It makes my job easy and efficient.   For that reason, I ignored the fact that they were very focused on the floor around the corner of the bar.  They finally caught my attention, however, when they started grunting like happy little piglets.  I took a closer look.     For Valentine's Day dessert, I made brownies and ice cream.  I remembered seeing a drip of ice cream hit the floor, but it was chaotic trying to get everyone their desserts, then clearing dishes, getting kids to bed, etc.  I forgot about the floors.  They are sticky everywhere all the time, so it didn't feel like a huge priority.  (Don't plan on taking your shoes off, if you ever come to visit.  Our floors will literally ruin your socks.

Names are funny.  They can say so much about a person.  Choosing names for our kids was a huge challenge.  I'm sure other families go through the same thing, but as two teachers, we tried to avoid using names of any students we had taught.  It ruled out a lot  of names.  Then there was the rhyme game.  If you can make it rhyme with anatomy or body functions - it's out.  Next you have to look at initials.  I'm B.S., which I think is hilarious, but we didn't want our kids to have to worry about their initials spelling something or standing for something off colored.  Plus, we wanted something that "fit" with our family, whatever that means.  It was exhausting, but when we landed on the right name, we knew.        About a year or so ago, Sawyer approached me out of the blue, "You can call me Beaver now." "What?" I asked.  "Beaver is my new name." "Interesting.  Can I ask why?" "Because Beavers are good at cutting trees

 Social skills weren't my strong suit leading up to COVID, and the limited social time during the last two years hasn't done me any favors.  Sorry general public, I'm not reading your social cues.  And I need to apologize for yesterday.   Yesterday, I dropped my son off in his classroom and a mom approached me.  I was surprised because I only know a couple of the other moms, and although I'd met this woman twice, I couldn't tell you her name.  She took me by surprise when she asked if my kids collected Pokémon cards.  I may have been a little too quick to answer with a definitive, "no!"  At that point she began to explain that she had just bought some for her kids, and they loved them.  She wanted to see if there was a group of kids at the school they could kind of hook up with.   Stop. At this point, I should have realized she was reaching out, trying to find a commonality for our kids, and that  she  bought the cards and started her kids' interest in

 "Sawyer won't let me use his blanket," Fischer complained at bedtime.  "Even if I put it on top of my other blankets.  He says I make it stink." Brother love.  Isn't it sweet?   We've been talking a little more about love as we approach Valentine's Day, but Fischer keeps confusing it with Thanksgiving.  I believe he has his heart set on all-you-can-eat turkey and carbs.  He might be a little disappointed with the box of conversation hearts I got him.   "No turkey, no rolls?!  This holiday is garbage!"   I'm not a huge fan either, kid.  Maybe I should make the Thanksgiving dinner... This Valentine's Day is stressing me out.  It's the first time, we've had a kid in school where Valentine's are exchanged.  I've been planning on having Sawyer make them.  Because I'm cheap.   Because it's more personal than store bought cards. (A nd I'm cheap.)  But tonight I found out that they used up all of their colored

I doubt I'm the only one staying awake far later than I should just to enjoy some uninterrupted thoughts of my own.   (And parents of small children everywhere said, "amen!")   It's a season of death to self by a thousand interruptions.  You literally have no head space of your own until the kids are tucked into bed for the night.  If you are an adult and you think your parents are crazy, it's probably true.  And you probably did it to them.  Sorry, Mom.  Sorry, Dad.  (They're only a little crazy though, and it was probably my siblings' fault.  I was the middle child, so I'm the favorite.  Haha!  I'm working on so many brownie points here. I'm going to get phone calls.) Quick, change the subject.      Last night, I lay awake thinking about all the garden mulch and horse manure I was going to get to move today. I’m told, normal people don’t get this excited about dirt. That’s too bad.   Now that we have a huge garden space, I get equally excited