Playing House

Cate: Let's play house.

Me: Okay.

Ben: I'll be the father.

Cate: I'll be the mom, and Maggie can be our baby.

Me: What about me? Who should I be?

Cate: You can be the big sister.

Me: Okay.

(We hang out in the play kitchen for a while, cooking and doing the dishes).

Ben (heads upstairs): I'm gonna go get my tools and fix some stuff.

Me (trying for authenticity and so I decide to whine for added impact): Mom, I'm hungry. I need a snack.

Cate: Well I have to go to the gym. I'll get you something when I get home.

Me: Who will watch us? Dad just left.

Cate: Well, you can watch Maggie. You're the big sister. Now, I have to go to the gym.

Me: I'm just a kid. I can't stay home alone.

Cate (thinks for a minute): Let's pretend you're 12 instead...

Almost Famous.

Tis the season for scrapes and bruises and Ben is off to a running start. Following a wipe-out on the driveway this afternoon he is now sporting bruises on both knees.

Tonight before bed I squeezed some Neosporin on his battered knee and pulled out a new Band-Aid. I peeled off the plastic wrapper and placed the white guaze gently against his knee before simutaneously pressing the sticky sides down.

"Grandma puts one sticky side down first, then the white part and then peels off the other and puts it on," he tells me after observing my work.

"Oh yeah," I reply. "Grandma is really good at putting on Band-Aids."

"She's famous," Ben says matter-of-factly.

"She is. Just like Daddy's famous for his hamburgers on the grill," I respond.

And then, even though I know it's a loaded question, I can't resist asking Ben what I am famous for.

What does he see me do or say that is particuarly noteworthy? Will he say I'm famous for my French toast (which he loves) or chicken nuggets (which come straight from the bag)? Will he say I'm famous for giving underdogs on the swingset? For reading "Fox in Socks" without making a mistake? (If you've tried to read this book out loud you know this is actually quite an accomplishment).

Or, as I fear, will the less attractive aspects of my parenting be what is most salient in his mind? Am I famous for yelling? For growling, "ENOUGH!" when I'm about to lose my patience? For frantically hurrying everyone out the door for preschool drop-off while saying, "We're going to be late!"?

So even though I know it's a loaded question and that there's a good chance the answer won't be what I hope to hear, I can't help myself.

"And what do you think Mommy's famous for Ben?" I ask.

He fixes his big brown eyes on mine, smiles and says, "Us."

Daredevil

Rocks, Fossils, and Dinosaurs, Oh My!

Miss Maggie on the Pentacrest

Cate's Stegosaurus

A T-Rex

Today we visited the University of Iowa Museum of Natural History for storytime. (Storytime is held the 3rd Sunday of each month).

The topic: Rocks, Fossils, and Dinosaurs.

Cate, well-trained in the importance of sitting criss-cross applesauce, listened attentively and raised her hand to answer the volunteers' questions.

Ben, clearly a rookie in the preschool arena, hovered next to the volunteer and seized on any opportunity to...share with the group.

For example, the volunteer said, "Today we're going to start by talking about rocks."

Ben immediately stood up and responded, "We have rocks our backyard."

She nodded and, clearly trying to acknowledge him but not encourage him, said, "That's great."

Ben said, "Lots. We have lots of rocks."

(This continued until Ben tired of the stories and headed for the giant sloth. Not, of course, before telling the volunteer that we came to the sloth's birthday party one time. We did. There was cake. And lemonade).

Kids got to see and hold some fossils as well. The entire room was very impressed that one of the fossils was, in fact, fossilized dinosaur poop.

There was also a great activity intended to show kids the meaning of the word "artifact" and help them understand what archaeologists do. The volunteer asked them to pretend to be archaeologists and then she pulled three items out of a paper bag: a baby toy (Ben: "We have a baby at our house."); baby food (Ben: "Yuck."); and a diaper (Ben: "I wear big boy underwear.")

As each item was removed from the bag the volunteer asked the kids to talk about who might have used these "artifacts" and whether or not there were other types of people who may have used them as well.

Then they got to "dig" for dinosaur bones (uncooked pasta) in tubs of sand and glue the "bones" onto paper to create their own dinosaur skeletons.

Not content to let a new audience leave without seeing her best material Maggie also made her presence known. She marched right in front of the preschoolers and started waving at each one while shouting, "HI!" as loudly as she could.

Luckily we were able to lure her out of the crowd with the baby toy...

What?

You don't wear hats inside when it's 50 degrees out?

(Miss Maggie with her baby friend Natalie at the Family Museum in Bettendorf yesterday).

Signs of Spring

Where Did My Baby Go?

And so it seems that overnight my baby has been replaced by a toddler.

Last week while Cate was at preschool Ben, Maggie and I went to the Children's Museum.

Although we go to the museum fairly regularly it was the first time that Maggie was really engaged by the exhibits---pulling out the miniature shopping cart (all by herself, of course) and then deliberately selecting which grocery items to put inside.

She loved every minute of it.

Ben also dazzled me with his extraordinary big brother skills. I realized that I have a tendency to rely on Cate's help when I have all three kids ("Cate, can you give Maggie some goldfish? Hold Ben's hand? Help open the door?"). She is, after all, the big sister.

Clearly I forget that Ben is not just a little brother, but a big brother---and a very thoughtful one, at that.

Maggie was determined to walk from the carousel to the Children's Museum (all by herself, of course). Ben said, "Mom, I'll hold her hand." And he did.

We slowly trekked across the mall, me pushing the empty stroller, Ben attentively helping Maggie navigate the walkway.

A mall employee noticed our (very slow) journey and was kind enough to stop Ben and compliment him for being such a good big brother. Another shopper told Ben that his sister was so lucky to have such a thoughtful big brother.

And he is an excellent big brother, something that I need to recognize more often.

A Silver Lining

More and more these days I find myself constantly lamenting the passage of time.

I got teary-eyed at Kindergarten Round-Up. When Ben told me that he really wanted to go to 5-day preschool in the fall (instead of 3-day) I said, "No way, Jose. I will miss you too much." And Maggie is already waving a stubby little finger at me and saying, "No, no, no."

Why do my babies seem so intent on growing up?

The card that Cate brought home from school earlier this week does, however, indicate that there are some perks associated with these growning pains.

Thanks Cate. I needed that.