yesterday began the final stretch of three consecutive weeks at various AES day camps for henro. this go 'round is a little different...he's there 9am to 2pm, and it's basically a pre-k4 practice run.
so far henro has revealed little more than he "met the boss of the school." i, on the other hand, have caught a glimpse of not having MY boss around as much. bittersweet, to say the least, but i fink i'll manage.
while i'll certainly miss the little prince, i've gotten a taste of how quiet, productive & tantrum free my mornings & early afternoons will be come august...that is, assuming my JLL gals, pilates classmates & tennis teammates behave themselves :)
einstein here showed henro how to take pics with an iPhone. this should be interesting. i give him a week to figure out how to post 'em online. i just pray he doesn't start blogging about his lunatic mother. nonetheless, stay tuned.
henro completed session #2 of t-gator camp today. 10 fun filled days, 9am to noon, with lots of new friends & activities. as is customary with us, i inquired daily about names & other specifics from his time away from me, but got nothing. until a random, out of the blue moment this afternoon...
"i know one of my friends...quarter."
cool. you mean carter?
"no, quarter. like some people have money in their names."
if you're a facebook friend, you're already well aware that today has been one of "those" days. for you lucky souls who aren't subjected to my FB rants, here's a rough transcript...
8:03am - wake to iphone playing jacko's "don't stop til u get enough" (former ringtone...recently replaced by kenny's "summertime" for obvious reasons). random tidbit of em-fo: yes, my wakeup call is really set for 8:03am. i'm a freak & funny about alarms going off on the fives or zeros.
8:03 to 8:47am - "henry, GET DRESSED!" spoken (perhaps holla'd) at least 58904738290 times.
8:57am - deliver child to AES for t-gator camp & THREE HOURS OF FREEDOM!! (sorry, didn't mean to yell)
9:07am - surprise visit to boo boo & ami. kiddos are so ridonkulously essited, one spits up on mimi a couple times & the other wipes off all her kisses. all in good fun...right, fi?!
9:47am - mimi begins online stakeout at ticketmaster.com
~think to myself, "today is off to a great start"...way to jinx yourself, mimi~
11:57am - retrieve child from AES. it was superhero day, he was superman. that's all the info i got.
12 oh something - broken egg for lunch. sit with georgie & await arrival o' fi & the gang. "celebrate good times, come on!" (wait, that's kool & the gang...focus, em!) henro colors woody & buzz quietly until remaining members o' our party arrive. boo boo receives his TS3 "prise" & channels inner picasso. might this be a nice, calm, conflict free lunch? nope. cue all henro hell breaking loose.
i don't remember the time or what exactly happened next, and it probably wasn't as bad as i reacted. all i remember is my blood pressure rising & a swift exit. a crying, argumentative four & 3/4 year old is not cute & won't be tolerated. so home we went.
the tide has since changed. it seems pulling into our garage triggered some sort of spell that transformed the tearful monster back into the happy, fun, adorable henro i love so unconditionally.
ding, ding, ding. lightbulb. aha!
unconditional love. that's gotta be the key & one of the greatest gifts a parent can give their rugrat(s). plain & simple: it's the reason we don't leave their little tails behind at restaurants, grocery stores, shopping malls, etc, when the going gets tough, tearful and/or combative.
insanely random side note: since i really shouldn't & clearly can't stop when i've had enough, perhaps i should rethink my music selection for wake up calls? kinda sets a false tone for the day, dontcha fink?
i got nothing. apologies to our immensely populated group of followers. we're alive & well & still running the circus, i simply haven't been motivated to take notes as i rattle off a neverending monologue of reprimands. no need to call the authorities. yet.
in completely unrelated news, apparently a moratorium has been issued regarding playroom cleaning. we're not ones to break rules...
i am incredibly blessed to have such ridonkulously great parents. today was pop's day. thanks for being the world's best dad & grandfather. you're our hero :)
i'm on the verge of requiring a "painting with a twist" intervention. seriously.
i'm officially implementing a probationary period. no more palette parties for a while. well, at least not until i'm invited to another. they're simply too much fun & hilariously entertaining to pass up :)
sure feels that way around here!! ok, so maybe it only feels that way to ME. not that henro isn't essited, it just seems mimi is perhaps a tad more bonkers o'er our plans for tomorrow evening...which has been sanctioned an official wdb outing, by the way. for those wishing to witness OR avoid our ruckous: 7:20 feature at the johnston grand. you've been warned.
someone's pronunciation of a particular animated racecar's handle has changed. it's now spoken correctly & makes me terribly sad. for all practical purposes, he'll remain "lightmen nuh queen" in my vocab.
my friends never disappoint. here are a few more little gems that were shared with me today...this chick-k-dee (aot, lol!) has TWIN boys who are about henro's age & definitely his personality type...i'll call 'em "M" and "B" to protect their not so innocence! here goes...
In the last 24 hours B has said things that make M's remarks look mild…yesterday at dinner we were discussing what we learned at VBS… I asked them what Miss Holly said the Bible was…I was prompting the boys and I said it starts with a T.. B blurts out "TIT." (The hubs) and I couldn’t conceal our laughter…He has no clue what this word means.
A little later M turns to me with his fork and says ”Mom, I am going to fork you.” I’m sure the fact that this came after the tit comment made it much funnier to us.
Today we are coming in the back door and I can hear a blower from a lawn maybe a couple lawns away. Our next door neighbors are Brenda and Larry. Larry works for the Baptist convention and Brenda ran their church preschool for years. Salt of the earth people. B stops at the back door and says “Mom, listen, Mr. Larry is screwing something.”
i can't begin to imagine life with henro times two...absofreakin' mindblowing, yet my sweet friend manages beautifully & somehow remains a sane, functioning member of society. hats off to you, girlfriend! please keep sharing ;)
this just in. as reported by a friend & regarding her son...
danger moment #643-- found him holding a bottle of peroxide-- what's the big deal you say? he was dipping his toothbrush in it... seriously, what that kid can do in under a minute is ridiculous... if he's quiet- he's doin something dangerous.
sigh o' relief. i'm not alone in "this" (imagine my hands motioning around the air in my living room, which currently sounds like a circus & looks tornado victimized).
instead of productively maximizing my free time while henro was at camp, today i ventured to a rather large purveyor of children's playthings. it seems "THE" toys have taken over, have quite possibly overthrown the rule of a certain iconic giraffe.
apparently, and contrary to popular belief, my child did not possess every imaginable woody & buzz related doohickey. i've since remedied that issue just a smidgeon (please don't tell henro 'cause the goods are secretly stashed in momma's box o' bribes!).
anywho...as with every grocery & big box store in town, virtually the entire inventory is stamped with the TS3 logo. seriously, like i won't be surprised if they temporarily rename themselves "toy story r'us."
cue mimi's millsaps induced obsession with grammar.
another riveting friday nite: poke chop & brownie eatin' at g&p's, followed by wdb version of the laffa-lympics (ala scooby doo circa nineteen eighty something)...
boo boo was quite the participant. henro's gonna be his agent some day. show mimi the money!!!
henro is entertaining a very special guest this afternoon. presently they're supporting the "eat more chick'n" campaign. however, in all actuality, their efforts seem primarly geared towards eating more tators. oh, and NOT getting their pictures taken. hmmph.
