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May 29, 2012

I Need A Vacation From My Weekend

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So, how was your weekend?

Mine was…busy. You’re supposed to rest and relax on weekends, right? Especially three-day holiday weekends? Ha. Not for me.

Saturday we took Cosmo to his first public outing as a non-vicious dog. (For those who are confused: a new Ohio law recently took effect stripping the vicious dog laws of any breed specific language. Now a dog is considered dangerous based on the individual dog’s behavior and not just because he was born a pit bull. It also means dogs like Cosmo can be adopted at local shelters instead of held and then euthanized.)

Clearly a threat to all. (Photo by Condo Blues.)

We were downtown for the PetPromise Rescue Run – a 5K fundraiser for the rescue group that gave us Cosmo. So many of the volunteers recognized him, all commenting on how BIG he’s grown.

The event was very dog-friendly and dogs were encouraged to be a part of the 5K. There were baby pools full of water for dogs to splash in and plenty of open grass for play.

Cosmo made a friend.

It was also crazy hot, so we walked two miles of the 5K before calling it quits. Cosmo was not used to the long walk, and to further complicate things, he refused to drink from any of the water buckets set out for the dogs. Somehow I find myself surprised that the dog who eats weeds, cardboard, and bugs had issues with germs from other dogs.

We’re walking…we’re walking…

Sunday was Mira’s birthday. She spent the entire day reminding us she was now five years old, and we responded by reminding her that she now has more expected of her. She didn’t like that part of turning five. We were visiting my mom for our annual Memorial Day weekend cookout, and for dessert we pulled out cupcakes and a candle.

I still can’t believe my little Miranda is five now. She’ll be going to kindergarten in the fall. She’s full of attitude and energy and more attitude and goofiness and yet more attitude and OMG if it’s this bad now what will she be like at sixteen?

Despite her desire to be a comedian, I continue to think of Mira as my sweet, serious baby…who still acted like a teen.

What are you lookin’ at, goat?
Monday was – wait for it – hot again, so we spent most of inside, with one short trip to a cookout. 
This is the last week of school for Cordy, meaning it will be the busiest week imaginable, with awards ceremonies, field day, and the school talent show.
Oh, did I mention Cordy auditioned for the TALENT SHOW? My child, who can’t stand crowds and really hates having attention on her and applause and would usually prefer to hide in the corner with a book, decided she wanted to be in the talent show. And she’s in. More to come on this later in the week – assuming she goes through with it.
Filed Under: Cordy, Cosmo, family time, growing up, holidays, Mira ·


May 21, 2012

Mira’s Turning Five – Everybody Jump, Jump!

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Had Mira actually followed directions, today would have been her birthday. Her due date was May 21, and I had hoped she’d be one of those rare babies born on her due date, continuing a family tradition of being born on the 21st of a month.

Instead, she decided to wait nearly a week to make her entrance so I could endure anxiety over another c-section (she was a VBAC, meaning I was required to go into labor without medical help) and enjoy one more week of being enormously pregnant and spending my nights in the recliner trying to find some small shred of comfort so I could sleep.

She was then born on Memorial Day weekend, ensuring she could never have a successful birthday party on her birthday, because everyone has plans for the holiday weekend. It wasn’t hard for the first few years – we invited only close friends and family to our house. But this year she’s turning five, and after all of the invites to her classmates parties at different party houses around the city, Mira wanted a special party of her own.

So even though she isn’t turning five until next Sunday, she had her big party this weekend at a bounce house facility. (Imagine a big warehouse filled with all sorts of inflatable things to bounce on and slide down.) This was our first adventure at having a party somewhere other than our house, and it went really well.

I had a lot of anxiety leading up to the party, most of which is due to my own issues with birthday parties. As a kid, I had just one party. I invited all of my class, planned out games and food, and wanted it to be a big, fun time. And then no one from my class showed up. The only other person close in age to me who was there was my best friend, who lived two doors down. I was heartbroken that no one in my class wanted to come to my party, and I’ve never had another non-family birthday party since. If it wasn’t for my best friend showing up, I might have given up on the idea of celebrating birthdays entirely.

Hours before Mira’s party, I started to feel that tightening in my chest. What if no one shows up? A few of her classmates had already RSVP’d that they weren’t coming, and several didn’t respond at all. We had three confirmed to attend, but I worried they’d back out at the last minute.

(PSA to all parents: please RSVP to any invites your kid receives. We had limited space and could have invited more kids if people would have responded to us.)

Thankfully, all three showed up, along with several kids from our close friends. We were well short of the 25 kid maximum for the party, but it was still a lot of fun.

Mira, of course, LOVED being the queen of the party.

No, Mira, they’re not ALL for you.

Sigh…my baby doesn’t need help opening her presents anymore.

Everyone bounced and jumped and played, even the adults. Everyone ate snacks and cupcakes. I’d like to hope that every child expended enough energy to sleep well that night. (You’re welcome, parents.) And like a good little hostess, Mira thanked everyone for coming and personally handed out the goodie bags at the end.

Overall I’d call it a success. Now if we could just get her to understand that she’s turning five, not sixteen.

Filed Under: growing up, memories, Mira ·


May 11, 2012

We (Don’t) Wear Short Shorts

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Now that the weather is warmer and my children have proven they’ve grown just enough over the winter to no longer fit in last summer’s clothing, it’s time for my annual disgust at clothing for girls. And really, it focuses on just one item: shorts.

I’ll begin by saying my girls are not the dainty flowers who never show a drop of sweat. Oh no, they’re hot, sweaty creatures who come home from summer camp each day with their sweaty hair matted to their heads. So shorts are kind of a necessary item to help keep them cool.

My problem with girls’ shorts is in the length. Nearly all shorts for girls have an inseam somewhere between barely reaching the top of the thigh and indecent. Those that are slightly longer often have leg openings so wide that they might as well be loose mini-skirts, or are skin-tight bike shorts.

 I love the fabric of these Children’s Place shorts, but that inseam is WAY shorter than you might think!

Cordy and Mira are seven and nearly-five. (Mira won’t let me forget her birthday is coming up in a few weeks.) They are not lady-like in any way. When they wear dresses, we must pair them with bike shorts or leggings, and probably will continue doing so until they’re older. Like maybe eighteen.

I don’t want people seeing my children’s underwear. I want them to have shorts of a reasonable length that they can play in comfortably without fear of someone seeing a flash of Disney Princesses or Dora underneath. Is that really so much to ask for?

No. Way.

Apparently it is. In my search for shorts this season, I’ve come across very few options. When I do find “bermuda” shorts (which fit the length requirements, even though some manufacturers apparently go too far and make these nearly capris), they’re often out-of-stock so quickly that I missed out on the sizes we need. I guess I’m not the only parent looking for longer shorts.

Target had some great longer shorts last year and I bought as many as I could at the time, even buying a few a size up for Cordy. We’re using the larger size shorts now, but we still need more thanks to a kid who is hard on clothing. They have a new bermuda design this year, but the fabric is even heavier and the waistband is very thick – I bought a couple of them to try, but the fit isn’t nearly as good as the previous ones.

Thick fabric (waist tie isn’t real thank goodness), almost knee length, but otherwise not too bad.

All I’m asking for is a reasonably priced pair of knit shorts with an elastic waist (Cordy can’t work zippers or buttons, and yes, we’re working on it.) with a length that falls somewhere mid-thigh with a straight leg or slightly tapered shape to them.

Maybe it’s time to start shopping in the boys’ section?

Filed Under: Cordy, daily life, growing up, Mira, pop culture ·


Jan 9, 2012

Short Hair

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Cordy is a child that prefers everything exactly the way it has always been. She has a routine she likes to follow, and any deviation generally results in drama. Her meals are from a short list of acceptable foods and have to be served in the right order; for example, macaroni and cheese is appropriate for lunch if we’re out at a restaurant, but at home it can only be a dinner, and a sandwich is the obvious lunch choice.

So when it comes to Cordy’s hair, she’s resistant to change. She’s always had long hair, mostly due to fear of cutting it. In the past, I’ve had to sneak in at-home trimming sessions when she was distracted just to keep that thick head of hair under some pretense of control. It knots up with just a gentle breeze passing by, and attempts to comb her hair are met with screams and tears.

I’ve tried to find out why she doesn’t want her hair cut when it clearly bothers her so much to care for it when it’s long. She’s told me everything from it keeps her warm to she’s afraid people will think she’s a boy if it’s short.

In the fall we had luck with getting Cordy’s first professional haircut, although she refused to let us cut off much of it. The appointment was still full of some drama, with Cordy occasionally crying and begging the stylist to stop, but we survived.

The problem with hair is that it keeps growing. And so this weekend, as I ripped through masses of knots in her hair, I decided it was time for another haircut.

But this time was different. “I want a haircut,” Cordy told me. What? Who is this kid?

“And I want it short, mommy.”

Wait…did I hear that right? The girl who has insisted she’ll never have short hair now wants it short?

Cordy held her hand up to the top of her ear. “I want to cut it up to here!” she proclaimed. I then explained just how short that was and asked if we could not go quite that extreme and maybe aim for a cute bob instead? She agreed, but I wasn’t sure she’d go through with it.

Saturday afternoon we took both girls to the salon for their haircuts. Mira, who had no issues last time, happily sat for her trim to get her curly bob bouncy again.

My change-phobic Cordy completely surprised me. She was upbeat, she held still for the stylist, she didn’t cry or scream when she was combing through her thick hair, and she got it all cut off.

You could make another kid from all that hair.

When she was done, I barely recognized my own child.

Excuse me, kid, have you seen a mop-headed little gir…oh. Wait…

As for Cordy? She loves her new haircut! She immediately grinned and said she can’t wait to “trick all the boys” because they won’t know it’s her. (I’d like to think it’s because they like her, but she then said they won’t tease her if they don’t know it’s her. Hmmm…must follow up on that, pronto.)

Now that she’s got the short hair, I’m kinda missing her wild mane. Sure, we fought constantly over it, but it was gorgeous despite the knots. Her new cut is really cute, though. Washing and combing it will be very easy to get used to.

I now understand why my mom insisted I have short hair all through elementary school. Eeeeaaassy.

 I was kind enough to avoid bangs for Cordy, however. 
(Yes, that’s me. Age 8.)
Filed Under: Cordy, daily life, growing up, kid logic ·


Oct 6, 2011

Moments in Time

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I generally have mixed feelings about school picture day. We usually have to order the photos in advance, before the photographer even snaps the picture, leaving me wondering if my expensive gamble will result in a kid with one eye half closed or a frown on her face or if I might luck out with a good shot of her. Committing to two 8×10’s, 4 5×7’s, 2 3×5’s and 2 sheets of wallets without seeing the photo first is hard to stomach.

No matter her look, the backgrounds are dull, the “enhancements” are usually worse and every kid has the same head and shoulders pose that has been used since my grandmother was in school.

But.

School photos also serve as an annual snapshot of where my kids are at the moment. You can see so much personality in their eyes, see how much they’ve developed and changed from the year before, and get an idea of what’s going on in those little heads.

Cordy’s first school photo was when she was three and had just started special needs preschool. She had just received an educational diagnosis of autism, and I think the photo says it all.

All of the struggle against her senses, the confusion, and the uncertainty with the world around her was captured in that photo.

And then there’s her first grade photo.

I could write eloquent (or not so eloquent) sentences about the transformation she’s made, but words would only be repetitive. The two photos speak volumes about what has changed without any added explanation from me.

Right now, I’m incredibly grateful to have these school photos to remind me of where she is in this moment.

—
Pssst…have you voted for Cordy in the Columbus Parent cover contest? I’ve been watching the competition, and there are some other kids getting a LOT of votes at the moment. Do they really have families that big?

C’mon, we can do better than that, right? If you haven’t done it yet, please leave a vote for Cordy!

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Filed Under: Cordy, growing up, memories, school ·