where do they come up with this stuff?

yesterday may have, quite possibly, been the longest day of my life. surprise days off are always a little crazy, because it throws what little schedule we have into a tailspin. because thomas is home, everyone else wakes up earlier and does things differently. the boys simply follow thomas' lead, which is both a blessing and a curse. it's great that they want to follow him and do what he does, but it also makes for more fights throughout the day.

one frequent complaint on days like yesterday is "god, i just want to be left alone for a little while!" (that coming from thomas, surprisingly, not from me) for real? so do i, but we live in a small house with too many people! and really, you could be in school right now. why aren't you doing cartwheels for joy that you are playing wii in your pajamas at noon on a wednseday? how is having a day off a burden to a nine year old? it makes me wonder where thomas came from sometimes.

another thing that i question in my house is my children's fascination with taking their clothes off. why does the statement "put your pajamas back on!" not faze me anymore. what is the problem with staying clothed? why did caroline just come down from her nap in a shirt, diaper and onesie, while katie (who was in the same room; neither of them technically took a nap) is still fully dressed, including, shoes, socks and barette? she couldn't have been too hot, look at katie. how is this fun? i don't ever feel the need to strip down to my skivvies and walk around. why do they?

sometimes i have to wonder where they come up with the stuff they say and how do they know to use these things in the correct context. for example, when they are playing wii and dennis (who is 3) says to thomas "rock on, freaky bro!" for real? where did he learn that? and when jack asked me earlier why i put so many "mystery marks" after something i typed (i had just typed 3 question marks), i had to crack up. how funny is that? they totally understand the right way to use certain words and terms, even if they don't know exactly what that term should be. it amazes me that they are so perceptive, without having gone to school yet or anything. god help me when they start! thomas already knows he is smarter than us, can you imagine what it's going to be like when all five them think that!

toddlerese

so, i have been wondering lately about the way my children speak; the words they choose to use, they way they pronounce their words and why i am the only adult that seems to know what they are saying. my latest quandry is when you should make a big deal about inappropriate words and when you should just let it slide. right now, both of my girls transpose the consonant sound in the word "coffee." it makes the word "fokee," which is not really something i want my two year old daughters saying to people..."fokee me, mommy? mommy, fokee me!" which would translate to "can i have a taste of your coffee, mommy?" but you can see where it would be a problem if shouted in say, a mall or a dunkin' donuts. do i make a big deal and tell them they can't say it? they don't know they are not saying it the same way i do. other words that fall into this mispronunciation category are: crocs, clock, stick and fork. all make for potentially embarrassing situations, such as the one that took place at my oldest son's christmas pageant. as joseph and mary made their way up the church aisle, joseph carrying his staff, my three year old yells out "where did joseph get that big stick?" however, he pronounces the "st" sound as "d." obviously a problem. so, do we shush him and tell him to stop saying that, or do we answer and act like he didn't just make the christmas pageant a porno? it is quite the dilemma for me.

a similar situation that has arisen for us is the misuse of terms. sometimes the kids come up with their own name for certain things, say...dennis' velcro sneakers...which jack has decided to call "strap ons." technically, he's right, they do strap on, but this can lead to problems in public places. a conversation last night clearly demonstrates this. "den, get your strap ons so we can go to the store." "i need help with my strap ons. can you help me, jack?" as jack helps him, "your strap ons are cool." "yeah, i love my strap ons!" you can see why this would cause my husband to wince everytime the phrase was said. but, how big a deal do we make? we told them it is called velcro, why don't they just call it that. no go. i know that the first time one of my brothers hears this, they will crack up. then the boys want to know what is so funny. so what do we so? do we let them go on speaking this way or do we correct them? if we try to correct it too much, we run the risk of them realizing it is a "bad" word and then using it anyway because they think it is cool and funny. i can't seem to decide how to deal with this.

when thinking of the challenges that some people face, i know this is way, way down on the list. but in the interest of protecting my own butt (and not getting in trouble by my mom, mother in law and grandmother for teaching my kids inappropriate things), i would like to put an end to this. chances are, that's not going to happen anytime soon. so, if you are out somewhere and hear a kid saying something totally crazy and the kid's mother just nodding and going along with it, realize it's probably me and if still haven't figured out how to deal with this!

yay! we're clean

sometimes, it really is the little things that make you feel like you have accomplished something. yesterday, i FINALLY undecorated my house and took down the christmas tree. while taking everything down, i was able to clean and dust everything, too. my next new mission is to locate the valentine's decorations that i know i have, but as usual, can not locate ( because of a huge shortage of storage space, my bins of holiday decorations tend to get farmed out to famil members with storage, therefore making it nearly impossible to find them when i need them). but in the meantime, i have a pretty clean, fairly clutter-free house. which is nice. however, that is not why i feel a sense of accomplishment today. that feeling is due to the fact that everyone left in the house at this point (my husband is at work and my oldest, school), is bathed and dressed! before noon! it's amazing that this is something that makes me feel like i've done something for the day. i feel like because this is done, it's okay if i hang out on facebook until it is time to feed everyone.

how did this happen? i clearly remember a point in my life when getting a shower or bathing a child was something that was just done. not a hurdle to overcome. it's crazy. what's even crazier is that i feel like i should do something with the kids today so we don't waste a clean day. like, someone should see us because we've had baths and showers. that is a warped viewpoint! we should always be clean! but, i don't really think i am the only person who thinks like this. i know that bathing 4 kids is a lot of work and if i know we are not leaving the house (it is freezing freezing cold outside and snowing), why bother with baths and clean clothes? my kids don't care, why should i feel like i am doing something wrong when i let them stay in pajamas all day? and on the flip-side, if i do feel pressure from myself to bathe and dress them everyday, why, on days when i bathe all four of them, do i feel as if someone should pat me on the back and tell me i'm doing a great job? shouldn't i really feel like i've done what i'm supposed to do?

i'm really afraid that being a stay-at-home mother is turning me into a crazy person (and i really don't think i needed that much help to begin with). why do i care what other people think about whether my kids stay in their "jammins" all day? why do i have full two-sided arguments with myself about whether i am doing the right thing or not. seriously, i just laid out all the arguments for both sides. i'm pretty sure that defines a crazy person. and to be perfectly honest, i don't care all that much that i am a crazy person. i'm not a harmful crazy person, so what's the big deal, right?

anyway, i'm feeling like today is a pretty good day, because everyone is clean and dressed. the girls even have their hair done! i may go now and make some beds or something...or not, i think i hear facebook calling my name. chat with you soon.

in the beginning...

so, i am starting this blog at my sister's insistence. i am a 33 year old with five children. i live in philadelphia in a rowhome in an older, close-knit neighborhood with my husband, my 3 sons and my 2 daughters. i have decided to name this blog "be careful what you wish for" because i wasn't careful, and now my life is crazy. my oldest son will be nine in two weeks. my second son is 4, followed 15 months later by my third son. after my ultrasound where i found out i was having my third boy, i cried the whole way home. poor me...i would never buy a communion dress, i would never plan a wedding, etc. etc. i am a pretty "girly girl" and really wanted to do the girly things. well, lucky me, 12 months and 3 weeks later, i gave birth to my twin daughters.

the worst thing about having 5 kids in 6 years is that 4 of them were born within a 28 month time period. that translates to four in diapers, 4 using bottles/sippy cups and technically, 4 in cribs. because we have such a small house, however, we had two in one crib in our bedroom, one in his own crib and the poor second child got bumped to a bottom bunk with the oldest on the top. we got rid of most of the cribs pretty early, because the girls' room is so small that as soon as they could walk, they could climb out of their crib and onto bureaus, switch cribs, etc. not a good thing.

now, as they are all getting a little more self-sufficient, the chaos has changed. before, it was constant feeding and changing and soothing crying babies/upset children. now the chaos is more vacuuming up the can of comet that katie spilled on the rocking chair while wiping the entire tube of chapstick off cara's head and face and trying to prevent dennis from falling off the shelf that he climbed onto that is five feet in the air while trying to maneuver around thomas and jack playing wii and completely ignoring everything going on around them. definitely makes for some interesting days.

so...at the prompting of my sister and some others, i have decided to start this blog to chronicle my days and hopefully give some people a laugh once in a while. people are always telling me "you should wirte a book of stories of your kids" and while that seems a little ambitious for me, i figured i'd give this a try. we'll see how it goes! thanks for stopping by (but mostly stay classy)!