Friday, February 29

Workin' it

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If you've ever doubted whether little ones can really 'work it,' take a look at the following sequence of photos. These were all shot within about a 90 second time frame.




Oh, yes! Little Rachel is a Master.

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Thursday, February 28

Heavy Subjects at 6:00 a.m.

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"Mommy?" Rachel whispers as she snuggles up against me for our morning cuddles.

"Yes?"

"When can we get married?"

"Who do you want to marry?"

Blink. Blink. Thinking for a moment.

"Everyone!" Short pause, "MISS MELISSA!"

Ah, yes, the beloved preschool teacher. A little flash of green passes over my eyes.

"Mamma?" Alex pops up from the other side of me.

"Yes?"

"The girls at my school say that you can't marry a girl if you're already a girl."

Hmm. This is a heavy subject for 6 a.m.

"Well, they're wrong honey."

Pause, as she looks up at the ceiling thinking this over.

"But they said you can't. You can't marry a girl if you're already a girl"

"Well they're wrong honey. Think about Aunt Nadine and Aunt Chris. They're 'married' and they're both girls.(1)"

Another pause, as she looks up at the ceiling again.

And then she looks back at me with an odd expression and says, "Can I have a picture of them?"

"Sure. Why?"

"Because I want to take it to school to show them," she says with all the innocence of a five year old who has no idea of the can of worms she's holding in her unsteady little hands.

Crap. Deep stuff for 6 a.m.

I shake my head trying to clear the cobwebs and begin back peddling. Hmm. "Alex, we'll need to check with Aunt Nadine and Aunt Chris."

"Why? Is it their picture? Do they own it? Don't we have one?"

In my head, I'm envisioning the parents who don't share our views coming un-clued. At worst, calling the school and demanding which child is the source of Satan's message. (A frightening, but very real possibility.) At best, raised eyebrows while discouraging their kids from playing with "the poor misguided little girl from that weird family,(2)" causing Alex to be ostracized for something she can't possibly understand. Something she isn't able to form her own thoughts and opinions about.

As much as we're committed to teaching our kids the values and morals we believe in, I also realize that the battles I chose to fight and stands that I chose to take are not theirs. They'll find their own, in time. But for now, some things (most things) are too big to put them in the middle of.

We don't believe in teaching hate. We believe in teaching tolerance and respect for others. In part, it's respect and tolerance that leads to an understanding that questions about same sex marriage—regardless of our own views—is a topic that every parent has the right and responsibility to address with their own children.

I just hope more of them will address that topic from a place of tolerance and respect. There really is enough hate and fear in the world. Please. Let's not intentionally spread it to the next generation.

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(1) Alex is just five and we're teaching her (and Rachel) concepts not legalities and semantics.

(2) OK, so some of the parents may ask this question anyway for other, unrelated reasons. If you’ve been reading the blog or know us personally, you understand.

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Sunday, February 24

The Fix

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From this...,

and because of the aforementioned "Snip, snip" incident, the fix-it lady gave me this...

And, she gave Rachel this...

The cutest, trendy little flippy-do you've ever seen.

Though someone asked me today,
"And what's your little boy's name?"

Ah, yes. Time to stock up on pink hair bows.

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Thursday, February 21

Snip, Snip

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"Hello, Casey?"

"Yes?"

"This is Miss Melissa."

UH, OH.

It's Rachel's beloved teacher from Preschool, and I can hear it in her voice. Something is wrong. I stop, all senses alert. What's wrong? Are my kids OK? Is someone sick? Hurt?

"Hi Miss Melissa. What's up?" Trying to act casual, unfazed by the obvious tension in her voice.

And, when she told me, when she finally got it all out, as horrified as she seemed to be, I had to laugh. "Well, it's not a finger or anything. It'll grow back. But with poor little Rachel that's going to take a while."


Yep, Ray-Ray and her little friend played beauty shop at school today. Snip, snip with little kid craft scissors.

And this isn't the first time...

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Monday, February 18

In My Daughter's Eyes

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In my daughter's eyes I am a hero.
And all because I removed a tiny little splinter
from her very little, big toe.

How G*R*E*A*T* is that !?!?

Seriously, some days it is G*R*E*A*T to be a mom.
And it's always the littlest things that remind me how lucky we are to have these two little miracles and how close we came to a life without them.

Today, I am my daughter's hero!

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Sunday, February 17

Rachel's 1st Photograph


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Our little Ray-Ray's 1st photograph. A masterpiece...

Seriously - Her first photo!
Better than most I've taken
in the past six months!


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Rachel's 2nd Photograph

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This is Ray taking her second photo.
(Anyone notice how often my girls run around less than fully dressed??)

Little Ray-Ray was taking photos of her sister taking photos,
who was taking photos of her sister taking photos.


And the subject of Ray's second photo?
Her sister of course.

Who then returned the favor.

And, this is Ray checking out her new creations!

These pics of Ray and I were taken by Alex
with her small point and shoot.

I'm loving sharing my favorite hobby with my girls.
And I'm loving that they're loving it!
Good times at the Hart House!

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Friday, February 15

Forgotten Lil' Ray

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No Mommy of the year awards here.

We got the whole pre-school valentines day thing wrong for our girls. Alex had a V-day party lunch, which we assumed was for the whole school. So, poor little Ray - when all her little classmates had heart-shaped cookies and sandwiches - showed up on this very special day with nada! A+ parenting there!!

Well - we can only be perfect parent part of the time. The rest? Well, that's what therapy is for!

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Thursday, February 14

Music Lessons

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"Alex, What musical instrument would you like to play?"

"The harmonica."

"No, silly. Like the guitar or the piano or the flute."

"The harmonica."

"Hon. I don't even know where you would take harmonica lessons."

"From the harmonica store."

Ahh - yes. The Harmonica Store.

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Wednesday, February 13

A Working Mom's Dilema

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Stress.

Anxiety.

Longing.

Lack of time.

Less attention to parental details.

Less familiarity with childhood preferences.

Lack of time.

Longing.

Anxiety.

Stress.

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And the grand realization that we can only be perfect parents part of the time.

The rest?

Well, that's what therapy is for!

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Sunday, February 10

Birthday Girl

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In the Hart House birthday celebrations last for days! Sometimes an entire week!

This was celebration #2.

And Rachel knows how good that cake is gonna taste! Oh - yes, she remembers. Just look at that expression. She's almost drooling. Can't you almost hear her, "Gimme, Gimme, Gimme some CAKIE!!"


Oh Yes! She remembers. "Gimme, Gimme, Gimme some CAKIE!!"

"Gimme, Gimme, Gimme some CAKIE!! NOW, please."

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Friday, February 8

An Illusion

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"There's an illusion that you can control who your child will become if you do all the right things, but that's a problematic illusion because parenting is about discovering who your child is and fostering their growth and development as an individual."

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Tuesday, February 5

*Vote*

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Though I'm a Hillary-girl, I'd be thoroughly satisfied with Obama. And, apparently he is turning the heads of a few Republicans as well.

http://damomma.com/2008/02/05/vote/

I couldn't have said it better.

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Saturday, February 2

A Moment in Time

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Every once in a while I catch a little glimpse of who my girls might be as young women. Just a little, crooked smile or gleam in their eyes or an oddly knowing glance. Today I caught it on film.

Alex is just five and yet somehow I see the young woman in her as she plays dress-up and dances around the living room. It's in her eyes and how she carries herself. I hope she never loses that confident, fun-loving, take charge aura. She is a pleasure.

As I watch her, I'm simultaneously proud and sad. It's amazing to watch as my babies grow into people, but each moment is so fleeting. Sometimes I study those moments and focus really hard, trying my best to imprint these memories so that I'll never loose sight of who they were as I watch them become who they will one day be.

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Friday, February 1

February 1, 2007

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"Good morning Sweetie. Happy birthday."

"Am I five? Right now?" she says in an excited, sleepy little voice as she snuggles in next to me for our morning cuddles. Daddy's taking his shower.

"Yep. Right now."

"Hmmm," as she snuggles in against my neck.

Little Rachel joins us minutes later. It's not often that I get to cuddle with them both in the morning. Rachel likes to sleep as long as possible.

"It's Alex's birthday. Can you tell her Happy Birthday?"

"Happ.... something inaudible," as Ray climbs in and immediately falls back into to a deep, breathy sleep.

And Momma smiles.

When Daddy comes back into the room to get dressed - Alex gets up, looks in the mirror and says, to no one in particular, "I don't look five."

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Why do we love Starbucks? Well like most of you, it's usually the coffee, lattes and hot cocoa, not to mention those yummy pastries. But today - I fell in love all over again.

After learning it was Alex's birthday, the barista launched into an impromptu serenade of Happy Birthday and everyone in the place joined him. It was loud, off key and GREAT! She loved it. What a way to start your birthday!

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