The Nathan Chronicles, part 1

I figure if you can't beat them (ok I don't really mean BEAT I am not beating my children!) laugh about them right?

So, Nathan is by far the most trying of my children. On a daily basis he sweeps through the house emptying bookshelves, dumping out toy bins, chasing his brothers with pins (yes, pins.. from my sewing pincushions. Didn't you know they're little tiny swords?!?!) dumping his drinks on the table, throwing his food on the floor.. it never ends.

So I thought I'd chronicle his latest tricks. I know one day, a long long time from now, I'll look back and laugh-- right?

Lucky for me I have a built in alarm system, which we affectionately call "Hunter". The Hunter is always on the look out for foul play. He is quick to sound his alert when he finds something awry--'MAMA! MAMA! Look what Nathan is doing!' is generally the warning call.

So I am sitting here (on the computer, shame shame on me) and I hear the Hunter go off, something about eggs. EGGS! I stop everything and make a RUN for the kitchen. Sure enough, Nathan has found something more fun than hosing down his brothers with the toilet diaper sprayer-- EGGS! They're like water balloons with a crunch! He is throwing eggs all over the kitchen floor. I just about lost it. I didn't know what to say. I just kept asking him "What are you doing?!?!?!?!" And his reply? "I'm throwing eggs on the floor"
Shouldn't that be perfectly obvious Mom?


So I have him clean up the shells and then tell him to go play in his room. What could I do? If I had him clean up the eggs themselves he probably would have had more fun smearing them all over the kitchen floor than he did smashing them there in the first place.

I just can't wait for Jeremy to start causing mischief.

Letter to my family

My dear, dear, sweet family which excludes women save myself,

Peeing standing up is your birthright. Urinating standing up (or squatting, kneeling or lying down for that matter) in the middle of playgrounds, parking lots, grocery stores, or any otherwise public arena is not acceptable. This goes for all of you, including the big one. Nathan-- your peeing standing up IS cute and your heart is in the right place but please, lets wait until you are tall enough to pee INTO the bowl instead of urinating all over the side of it, ok?

Your loving mother

Who is the parent here?

Isn't it me? Didn't I put these kids to bed? Then why is my 4 year old son sitting in front of me at 9:15 p.m. telling me that I can't use the computer tonight and that I can only use it when the sun is shining?

ARRRRRRRRRGHHHHHHHHHHH!

Backyard chickens!

I want some! I'm at my moms taking care of the chickens, goats and granny while they go to a family reunion and then head to Idaho to visit my sister Becca. My mom has a million chickens. Well, maybe not a million but I'm thinking there are near 100 poultry here. There are setting hens everywhere and half the chickens have a trail of chicks behind them. I've got chick fever. I want baby chicks! And I want them to grow up and start laying eggs so I'll have fresh eggs from my own chickens.

I just have to build a chicken tractor (seen here) and then get my chickens! More to come...

Thoughts on spanking...

Truthfully, I used to spank. Honestly, I didn't know any different. I thought spanking was normal and what you are SUPPOSED to do to kids. My parents weren't big spankers, I can't even remember a time my mom spanked me though I'm sure she did. (Well, there was that time that she slapped me across the face but that was a totally different and totally deserved story for another time ;) )

So naturally, I thought spanking was just what you did as a parent, to your child. Wait a minute, have we really thought this through? We're talking about hitting our children, the beings we love more than ourselves, the little people that we are completely responsible for, little pieces of our hearts running around outside of our bodies... we're SUPPOSED to hit them? And teach them what? That hitting is ok? Do as I say, and not as I do right? Spank your child for hitting their friend or sibling... HUH?

I realized something, something that I have in the past been guilty of but its rotten nonetheless. Do you know how horrible it sounds when a parent threatens a child "You better stop that or you're going to get a spanking!" We have created this word "spanking" to make it sound like less than it is. What if we replace "spanking" with "beat your ass"... its not very nice is it.

Do you threaten to hit any other person in your life that you love? What if my husband and I started threatening to hit each other when we didn't do what the other wanted us to do?

I struggle daily with parenting and the hardest part of it all is discipline. How do we know the right thing to do? It is SO very hard.. but I honestly don't believe that hitting our children is the right way to teach them.