Friday, June 19, 2009



One

I can't believe I'm saying this, and I promise that I won't talk about it all the time, but the shredding is growing on me. I've even gotten my sister to do it with me.

I'm like an exercise pusher now. How has it come to this?

I love that the workout is only twenty minutes long since that's about the outer limit I can get with the kids. On some days I can even squeeze in the video and my treadmill routine.

I've also discovered that, although GRUELING, you will see some terrific results if you have a twenty six pound baby who insists on climbing on your back while you do push-ups.

(PS, in answer to Mirabella Mom: I try to distract the children with a video in the playroom while I do my shredding, but Bun is annoyingly disinterested in television.)

Two

Sometimes I wish that I had started this blog anonymously so that I could rant and cuss and act like a jerk and no one would know it was me.

But even when I know the person with whom I am so annoyed does not read this blog, I can usually count on some reader knowing that person and I have to restrain myself.

(Don't worry, it's not YOU. Promise.)

And then I think that it's a fortunate thing that I am not anonymous in blogland since I would end up being a shrewish writer, all shriveled up inside from vitriol.

It's good for me to know that my mom and my granny and people from church are reading. It keeps me kind, it keeps me accountable, and that's not a bad thing.


Three
Has anyone tried to watch television lately? Because I'll save you the trouble of channel surfing and just tell you that the shows? THEY STINK.

Hurry back, Lost. Love, Aimee.


Four
For all my parental readers, an informal poll: at what age did your children start walking?

Bun is still not walking on his own, although he will cruise around the furniture and take a few steps here and there. He is our latest walker if we don't count Fiver, who we now know was dealing with some serious motor delays.

The girls both walked at thirteen months, but Bun is crowding seventeen months with no seeming interest in any method of propulsion that does not involve his knees or his mother.

I think I would be less concerned if he didn't have some other little issues that may or may not be indicators of something more going on with him. Vague much, Aimee?

As our doctor put it, he's not outside of the bell curve yet, but still . . . .

This is one part of parenting at which I am not very good: having a child with some significant difficulties and not seeing shadows in the other children.

I feel like I need to be ever vigilant with the other children and their development, and not only is it exhausting and dizzying, it can be suffocating and joyless.

Is this just the natural way Bun is developing, or is something else at play? When do I investigate further and when do I let nature take its course?

Five
But in normal development news, Sally is diaper-free! She will be three next week, so she is right on track with my other kids.

I told her that once the big kids were on summer vacation she would have to use the potty, and, being the efficient and scheduled girl that she is, she was immediately on board.

She's had some accidents, of course, but they are lessening. I've always found summer to be such an ally in potty training since we go cold turkey on the diapers. It's underwear or nothing, literally, and it's kind of hard to run around in just your skivvies in February.

We've used no treats or rewards because she is the kind of kid who responds best to simple acknowledgement from the family. All she wants is a hug from me and a high five from her brother and sister.

So far, so good.

Six
The kids and I were singing along to old-timey gospel music while we were folding laundry today.

Does that make us sound too much like The Waltons? Because I love those Waltons, but we fight way too much to be The Waltons. And I don't put up nearly enough food or fry nearly enough chicken.

Anyway, I had to laugh when we started singing The Unclouded Day, because it feels like it has been raining for three months straight. Even Fiver made a comment about it ("Mom, it IS a cloudy day"), but I just love the words to this song:

Oh, the land of cloudless days,
Oh, the land of the uncloudy sky.
Oh, they tell me of a land where no storm clouds rise,
Oh, they tell me of an unclouded day.

Seven
Obedience is servility only to those who have not understood the
spontaneity of love.

-Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen
A little drop of simple obedience is worth a million times more than a
whole vase of the choicest contemplation.

-St. Maria Maddalena de Pazzi

I have been very convicted by these quotes lately, not because I have trouble being obedient, but because I do struggle with a cheerful obedience. These are good for me to chew on.


Visit Jen for more Quick Takes, and have a great weekend, my friends.

12 comments:

  1. I love that you're all Walton-esque like that. You know the Waltons fought, it was just off-camera. ;)

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  2. Anonymous7:25 AM

    First, I bought the shred dvd yesterday based on your recommendation. Flabby batwings be gone! I'll let you know tomorrow if I love you or hate you. No pressure.

    Also, Clingmonkey was not walking at 17 months either- a step here or there but that was it. I called the ped twice because I was worried given Lil P's developmental history. Then she fell off the bed while I was changing sheets and broke her wrist (bad mom award). In the ER as they were splinting her wrists, she quickly realized she couldn't bend it for crawling. Within 45 minutes, she was walking everywhere in the ER. All other motor skills were WNL. Weird, huh? Point- don't worry about Bun.

    The Waltons fought off camera?! Nooooooo

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  3. It's so easy for me to say don't worry about Bun but I know that is hard to do, especially with another child with difficuties. I would like to say, however, that Tigercub began walking at 9 months and has now progressed to climbing on everything...he now goes down the steps standing up and his favorite passtime is climbing on the ottoman and leaping onto the chair, it scares me to death but there is no stopping him. So, maybe, the Lord is just blessing you with a few extra months of sanity (and I do use that term loosely--no one with 4 children can be fully sane, can they?).

    Love the song Uncloudy day! Love to sing the old gospel songs, Love to have singing sessions with the fam. But we are SO unlike the Waltons.

    I would also like to give you hope about the weather. I was about to start building an ark around here, but the sun finally peeked out and now we are whining about it being 85 degrees at 8:30 in the morning, there is hope!

    Obedience--love it in my kids...not so great at it myself! I am a work in progress!

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  4. Enjoyed, as always. Maybe that baby Bun just has a bit of a stubborn streak? Does he have a shopping cart to push around or a lawn mower? It always helped if they didn't actually know they were walking. Performance anxiety or something.

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  5. I found this blog though Jen's conversion Diary.

    I just wanted to comment on take two. I use my own name also on my blog. I've also accepted the consequences also, especially when I go back to work since I do give opinions on controversial political issues. It does keep me in check, that even if I do write something I don't go into a rant I stay to any factual information I may find and apply it to the concept I'm trying to express. I also make my mother-in-law a friend on my Facebook page for the same reason.

    I just read this week from a media blog, here where I live,

    " if you choose anonymity, you should ask yourself whether it's truly necessary (i.e., for work-related reasons) or if, instead, you are using anonymity so that you can express opinions you wouldn't want to see attached to your name."

    I find myself only to go to bloggers who utilize their own identity now.

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  6. My sister didn't walk until 17 months old - which was kind of stinky for my mom, since I was born 13 months after her so she had to carry two babies!

    I agree about it being good that people I know IRL reading my blog making me think twice about writing certain things. It's good to have accountability - and we should always remember if we wouldn't say it out loud, we shouldn't blog it! (My grandma, my parents, even my doctor's wife reads my blog!)

    I really understand about having one child with problems "coloring" how you look at other children. My last baby had some medical problems - and I had them check the newest addition for them. She seems to have the same challenges, but I wonder if ALL of my children had it (it's high blood pressure) and I just didn't know with the others? Maybe ignorance is bliss... my 2 yo doesn't talk so I'm sure later I'll be obsessing about language development with the new baby, too!

    That said, trust your instincts. YOU are the mama and you know your child the best.

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  7. Two babies in my family (my cousin's kids) walked pretty late too. 17 and 18 months. But I can understand it's gotta be hard, worrying about when it'll happen, and why. At least he can't run across a busy parking lot?!

    And about anonymous blogging, I end up liking myself better for not being able to voice any truly negative thoughts about others. It feels like rising above the fray. Or just being too wussy to face my enemy. (Enemy is too strong a word choice there...) Either way, I'm glad to know that I might need to watch my step every now and then.

    Yes, Lost, come back. And ABC? Why on God's green earth do you see fit to wait until JANUARY to put on the best show? Just wondering.

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  8. Logan will be dropped off for potty training school in 5 minutes...call me when he is ready to be picked up.

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  9. Anonymous6:34 PM

    First, thanks for the tip- that usually works here as long as I don't try to actually leave the floor they are on. Secondly, it is great to be like the Waltons. Thirdly, Annaka was just a little over 15mo. when she actually walked on her own. Fourthly (is that a word?) Right there with you on the TV- we when finally crash at night, we have taken to watching Seinfeld DVDs which I think we know by heart anyway. And Lastly, I think I am going to join the shredding band wagon when we return from the beach (yeah, I am going to let the bathing suit push me over the edge).
    Have a great weekend!
    Mirabella MOM

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  10. I've missed you this week, as I have had no time/desire for reading blogs.

    So glad you are liking the Shredding. It is the perfect workout when you have no time for something more, but I have to admit that I usually feel like I am slacking if that is all I do. I've just become too used to hour long classes.

    Walking--my Buddy (5.5 now) did not walk until he was 20 months old! He just was not interested. We were waiting on an evaluation from the Early Childhood people when he finally got it. Now he is fine, but he did take his sweet time. And Butterfly only just started walking in these last two weeks. But I know how it feels to worry, and I know you have had experience with this, so I'll be praying for your peace of mind.

    Jealous of the potty training. Monster (4 in September) continues to show no interest in the idea. I know his time will come, but it is hard to be patient. I'm tired of paying for diapers. I wouldn't mind the extra money in my food budget, you know?

    And cheerful obedience is always at the top of my list of things to work on.

    I wish we lived in the same place so we could meet for coffee and talk about these things in person.

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  11. I am going to comment on the walking question-- while one area of delay doesn't necessarily make a problem, you can always contact your county's Early Intervention. The assessment/services are FREE and the peace of mind is priceless (in my humble opinion). If it turns out everything is fine, you can cross that worry off your list...if it turns out Bun needs some assistance, earlier is better. You can email me separately if you want- I hope this doesn't come across pushy! jtvent02 at yahoo dot com

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  12. Yes, you were the final inspiration for me to buy Jillian's Shred video. :)

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