The end of the year writer's block made one thing clear to me. Stop to Smell the Family—A Blog, needed to reflect more family, less Florist. Not that it should be devoid of all creative writing (read: therapy). This year's blog goal is to write Sunday Snapshots, a journal post to record the week. Boring, probably, but it's back to the basics. There's wisdom in that, I'm sure.
And so...our week included:
A shared holiday from work and school, for us it meant a family trip to the North Shore. I'm not sure if that's what the Good Reverend King intended when they made a holiday in his honor, but it was a good time by all. Three cheers for the North Shore, oh--and Martin Luther King.
Driving the circle island tour also proved that our children's understanding of a road trip is completely warped. You wouldn't think it possible to hear a complaint over the blaze of the DVD player, but 45 minutes and 45 times of “Are we there yet” almost ruined the adventure. It was as if we'd set off for a roadtrip to Vegas. Seriously. Good thing the day ended with shave ice in Haleiwa, making whatever amount of time in the car worthwhile.
Plus, the girls and Mr. Forget-me-not, paddled kayaks around Goat Island. Hibiscus tipped over and was sure that she barely survived either death by drowning or death by shark attack. Fostering her overly dramatic perceptions, we sent her back to school and to a week that included rehearsals for the upcoming musical she's performing. She auditioned last Fall, made the cut, and is thrilled to perform this year's musical of “The Little Mermaid.” She'll make an adorable dancing Sea Creature. Hopefully, not a child eating shark.
Columbine and Wooly began a Hawaiian immersion pre-school class together this January. It's federally funded, which goes to show that there is such a thing as a free lunch. Or at least a free preschool snack, if you're patient enough to hold out for a year on the waiting list. Turns out, I'm not the only one with white kids who likes the idea of a free Hawaiian preschool.
Thankfully, Columbine isn't insulted by the obvious: Preschool is so, so last year. On the other hand, for Wooly it's right on the money. He is loving the chance to go to school, just like the big kids.
Still, Columbine seems to enjoy it, especially learning to count and sing in Hawaiian. She asked me what's my favorite part about pre-school and acted surprised when I told her that I like all the different activity tables. “I thought your favorite part was that it's free?” she reminded. Oh, right, that too! So yes, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, paying taxes doesn't seem half bad.
Wooly has officially redeemed himself as the Worst Sleeper in our house, finally making it through (most of) the night in his own bed. Who cares if I had to bribe him with gummy bears for breakfast to get that result? I think he knew that I was on the verge of a(nother) mental breakdown if he kept popping out of his bed a dozen times a night. By the third child, you'd think I'd have all these sleep issues figured. Just goes to show, nine years later and I still don't know jack about parenting. I do know a lot about gummy bears though. I could write a book on the importance of a well-timed bribe. It's a mystery why they didn't send me home from the hospital with a bag of bears instead of those lame Pampers.
For the time being, Mr. Forget-me-not isn't traveling, but you wouldn't know it by the amount of hours he's putting in at the office. Amazingly enough, even with his insane 70 hour weeks, he still squeezes out time to play on both church basketball and a league team. Good to know he's got his priorities straight.
Always on the grow,
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